Devastating explosions resonated throughout the forest surrounding the Wild Wild PussyCats' camp.
Trees uprooted from their places were sent flying, wood splinters and rock fragments flew in all directions. Figures slipped through the forest, confused, disoriented, scared.
Dark Shadow's furious roars sent waves that shook its surroundings, its limbs swinging with no apparent control, leaving a trail of destruction behind.
—Fall back!— Vlad King shouted at the dispersed students of Classes 1-A and 1-B as he charged Moonfish.
The villain, with crazed eyes and spitting saliva, unleashed devastation against the Hero and the confused students, trying to tear more flesh. He was not satisfied yet.
However, the row of teeth that raised him above the ground suddenly began to sink, destabilizing his strange posture and allowing the slow students to get out unharmed.
Vlad smiled at his student Juzo's astuteness and charged with all his strength, jumping and taking advantage of a solid air platform that appeared before him to gain more momentum.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed TetsuTetsu jumping from another platform with his whole body hardened by metal. His eyelid twitched, but the brat had already thrown himself alongside him and he did not have time to slap him and scold him.
Student and teacher reached the villain at the same time, but Moonfish attacked at that instant, trying to impale them both.
Vlad used the blood from his body to shield himself while TetsuTetsu bore the brunt of the attack with his body.
—Don't hold back!— the Hero roared, his fists blurring into an endless rain against the extensions, fragmenting them and forging a path toward the villain.
TetsuTetsu followed suit, using his toughness to deliver demolishing blows that sent jolts along the teeth which affected Moonfish.
Two more solid air platforms appeared at the duo's feet, which helped them give a final push and hit the villain on both sides of the face.
Although TetsuTetsu's strength was inferior, his toughness helped Vlad's blow be more effective, which incapacitated Moonfish for a few seconds, seconds that Vlad used to knock him unconscious with a direct blow to the chin that rattled his brain.
Both landed on the ground, with Vlad holding the villain and breathing heavily while the other students quickly approached.
Tsuburaba, Juzo, and Shōji, who had appeared in the forest at some point, reunited with Vlad and TetsuTetsu, who was grinning from ear to ear with excitement after facing a real villain for the first time.
—Wipe that smile off your face!— Vlad King scolded with exasperation, sighing and turning to the others with a serious expression. —Situation report. Shōji Mezō, where are your classmates and what happened in your dormitories?
—Sensei, the villain who opens portals and the one who led the attack on the USJ entered our dormitory. I was dragged through one of the portals before the fight broke out and ended up outside the camp— Shōji explained with a worried tone.
—Several identical individuals entered ours, Sensei. Those portals also took several people, which complicated things. Our fight was interrupted by... that thing— Juzo reported while pointing to Dark Shadow, who was moving further away from the camp, pursuing something or someone they could not see.
Vlad quickly analyzed the information and his frown deepened even more.
—All of you, move together and gather the other students. If you run into any villains, you are allowed to use your Quirks to defend yourselves and fight, but prioritize the safety and well-being of your classmates— he ordered the young people before shooting off in the direction of the half-destroyed camp.
He had to confirm the safety of the Class 1-B girls, who had run in the opposite direction from him when Dark Shadow began its devastation, as well as verify the location of Mandalay, Pixie Bob, and Tiger.
The situation was confusing, his students were dispersed, and an inferno of flames was visible in the distance, where he supposed Aizawa, Ragdoll, and the Terumi brats were.
Almost all the strategies they had prepared in case of an attack were useless now. They had taken into account the involvement of the one known as Mist, as well as a large number of petty villains.
But this was different. This was not just an attack with brute force or numbers. The enemy attacked quickly and precisely, played intelligently, divided them, isolated them.
Vlad could only trust that his students and Aizawa's could stand firm in the face of adversity. After all, they belonged to the Hero Course.
**********************************
—Don't rush—
Tsuyu's words were cut short when Bakugo, recklessly, threw an explosion at the fat man with the disturbing smile who had just shot a large ball of oil at them.
The effect was immediate.
A furious ball of flames roared in all directions, endangering the scattered students.
Shishida and Kaibara lunged at the man at the same time, who barely spared them a glance as the former slipped on the oil on the ground and the latter unwound his arms uselessly, barely shaking the opponent's gut.
—Stop, Bakugo!— Uraraka shouted, jumping to the side as a puddle of oil in front of her exploded into scorching fire.
The blonde, whose body felt on the verge of collapsing after being hit by the idiot Deku, clenched his teeth tightly at the disaster he had caused.
The damned fat man played with the Class 1-B NPCs, ignoring the heavy impacts he was receiving and throwing more oil in all directions, further reducing Bakugo's chances of attacking.
In another location, Himiko Toga was forced to retreat when almost all her knives were cut by Kamakiri Togaru, while Spinner was being beaten by Mandalay and Kuroiro Shihai.
Both Class 1-B students had been transported outside the camp but quickly returned and stumbled upon an injured Mandalay, who could barely contain both villains.
—Hey, that's not fun, buddy! How dare you cut a lady's knives?!— the blonde girl complained, barely evading the agile lunges of the blade user.
In a miscalculation, Toga slipped slightly, causing the blade to nearly sink into her neck. Kamakiri panicked and stumbled, narrowly avoiding a fatal outcome, but immediately regretted it.
A sharp pain made him clench his teeth and fall onto one knee. He looked in confusion at the girl who was firmly holding a knife lodged in his abdomen.
—W-why would you...?— he muttered painfully. Himiko Toga only gave him a dazzling smile, her cheeks flushed and her eyes gleaming, as if she were in ecstasy.
A few tens of meters away, on the other side of the facility, an exhausted Tiger with a bleeding body due to several bullet wounds was protected by another group of students, who had the bad luck of running into the largest group of villains.
Kaminari Denki, Hanta Sero, Bondo Kojiro, Ashido Mina, and Monoma Neito were facing Mr. Compress, an exhausted Mustard, and an arrogant Magne.
A little further away from the camp, the Class 1-B girls' group tended to the wounds of Setsuna and Itsuka, the former having lost a large amount of blood and the latter with an inexplicable urgency in her chest, wondering where their classmate, Tsunotori Pony, was.
—We have to go back!— Ibara insisted with clenched fists. —Our friends could be at risk there.
—You need to calm down, Ibara-san. Splitting up right now is not a good idea. What will happen to Setsuna and Kendo then? What if you go and end up seriously hurt too?— Kodai replied, her usually serene face now twisted with worry.
—Vlad-Sensei can handle that villain who attacked us. Besides, our classmates and those from Class 1-A are not weak. I think it is better to stick together and not be a burden to them— Reiko added with her head bowed.
Before Ibara could protest, the cracking of wood resonated to one side of their position and they all turned just in time to see a huge tree slowly falling toward them.
Ibara reacted instantly, growing her hair and deflecting the tree with a backhand charged with frustration.
Her eyes landed on a shady and suspicious figure, standing next to the stump of the tree that had just fallen.
—Tch, we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Although you are not from Class 1-A, your deaths can contribute to my cause, brats— Tomura Shigaraki commented with a chilling tone, taking a step forward.