Shinsou, Bakugou, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, Ashido and Tokoyami were in the middle of a jungle, and they were completely and unmistakably lost. They had been separated from Aizawa and the remainder of their classmates as they had fallen behind whilst engrossed in preventing an argument between Shinsou and Bakugou.
Yaoyorozu and Bakugou were now leading the group through the foliage; Momo had created machetes for herself and Bakugou so that they could cut down the vines and bushes covering their path. Ashido and Kaminari were behind them, complaining about the insufferable heat. Tokoyami, Midoriya and Shinsou were at the back, wandering in thoughtful silence. The group were wearing light, protective clothing and sturdy trecking boots. The dense, humid air hung heavy under the insulated canopy of the towering trees. Sweating had become obsolete as moisture clung to the students' skin like a sloth to a tree. The air had a sweet and exotic taste, unique to the particular biome and unlike any perfume that could be bought. The Colombian jungle was abundant with life; various birds sang their beautiful cultured melodies and monkeys howled playfully at each other. Accompanying this was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the highest trees, creating a soothing orchestra of nature. Emergents dominated the skies in their continuous battle for sunlight. Meanwhile, the clustered undercanopy formed its own virescent sky, blocking out the rest of the world and encapsulating the students, as if forcing them to become a part of its ecosystem. Early morning sunlight peeked through the sparse openings in the understorey layer, highlighting every surface it could reach like the touch of an angel. Shadows of various hues were displayed in an intricate mosaic pattern that was scattered across the vegetated earth and danced across the student's hair as they passed by. All manners of critters scuttled across the ground, darting in and out of shrubs to snag some food before taking cover from the watchful eyes of predators. A tangled mess of shrubs and vines weaved around one another, creating a barrier that Bakugou and Yaoyorozu were, at present, hacking away at with their machetes.
Tokoyami disrupted the vocal silence between the students as he pondered aloud in a low mutter, "How were we foolish enough to get lost."
Shinsou let out a small, grim snort, "We would still be with the rest of the group if Bakugou hadn't raced off to threaten the monkeys, who were 'apparently' laughing at him."
"Shaddup, Brain-Drain," the aforementioned growled in annoyance. "I wasn't threatening them." Unconvinced, Shinsou arched his eyebrow.
~Flashback~
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT? I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU STUPID APES!"
~End of flashback~
"Sure," Shinsou replied sedately. "And they were monkeys, not apes. Any dumbass would know that."
Bakugou stabbed the machete into the earth and spun on his heels. His palms popped with small explosions and his face contorted with fury, a murderous glint in his eyes. He began to stomp forwards but was held back by Yaoyorozu. "That's enough. Both of you," their classmate stood in between them, casting a stern glance at Bakugou, "The only way we'll make it back to the group is if we stick together and work as a team. Not murdering each other."
"Tch," Katsuki crossed his arms begrudgingly, swinging his head away to glare at a tree.
Shinsou let out a breath through his nose, "Whatever. Let's just keep moving." The group continued on their trek, taking it in turns to chop through the undergrowth. The temperature was constantly rising as the sun loomed over them.
After two more hours of trudging through the dense vegetation, they decided to take a break by a small stream. Large, jagged rocks sandwiched the stream and a miniature waterfall trickled down, merging with a larger stream below. Ashido dramatically fell to her knees, crying out, "We are so lost! We'll never find our way back!"
Momo was perched on one of the smoother rocks, her hand over her chin as she contemplated, "I was so sure we were going the right way. And our pace was much quicker than the group's, so we should have caught up by now."
"It's easy to get turned around in a place like this. For all we know, we could be walking in circles," Midoriya acknowledged.
"Why are we trying to find our way back to them, anyway?" Kaminari inquired, leaning his back against a tree and folding his arms. "Shouldn't they be trying to find us?"
"Don't you ever listen?" Bakugou snapped. "Sensei explained before we left that if we get lost, it's our problem, not his. We have to find our way back ourselves."
"Well that's great. Just great," Mina whined.
Tokoyami stared down at the trickling stream, as if mesmerised, "We are doomed."
Midoriya chuckled nervously, "Let's not get our hopes down just yet. It's only been two hours and we still have a long time until nightfall; we can do this if we work together!"
"And we've been doing a great job of that so far," Shinsou deadpanned, wearing a jaded expression.
Bakugou's head snapped toward him, "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"
As the others were bickering in the background, Ashido abruptly scrambled to her feet and began walking away from the group. "Hey, where're you going?" Kaminari questioned.
Mina glanced over her shoulder and replied, "Girl's gotta pee." When she turned back to locate a bush to hide behind, her eyes locked onto something that froze her in her tracks. Ashido felt her stomach lurch; her skin prickled with fear and her primal instincts were bellowing at her to run. She began taking slow steps back towards the group. "G-guys..." she stuttered, her whole body trembling with fear.
"Hm?" Yaoyorozu replied, looking up at her. "Oh my gosh," she breathed, eyes widening as she saw it. The boys gave her a quizzical look before swivelling their heads to find out what the two girls were staring at.
A jaguar, it's glossy ochre yellow eyes fixated on the humans, was cautiously approaching them. Its underbody was touching the ground, shoulders hunched as it readied to pounce at any moment. Despite its dangerous temperament, it was a majestic creature; it's coat pattern had an intricate design, unlike anything else, and its long, curling tail gave it perfect balance. Its wide paws sunk into the earth and its fangs were bared in readiness.
"Don't make a sudden move," Yaoyorozu warned in a whisper. "Kaminari, I'm talking to you." Denki paused mid-step, body trembling. The jaguar observed each of the students carefully, as if selecting its victim. Its eyes stopped at the bird-like hero.
"You must be kidding me," Tokoyami muttered.
"What do we do?" Ashido hissed.
"Don't run or it'll give chase. And keep your eyes on it. We need to back away from it slowly," Midoriya appraised quietly.
Bakugou gritted his teeth into a ferocious snarl, jumping to his feet. Explosions erupted from the nitroglycerin in his skin as he taunted the creature. "I'M GONNA EXPLODE ITS FACE," he screamed. The jaguar flinched at the sudden yell and looked at Katsuki as if deciding on whether or not he was a threat.
"Wait, no! Don't kill it! Jaguars are on the boundary of becoming extinct," Hitoshi pleaded, surprising everyone. He just really likes cats.
"I wasn't going to kill it!," Bakugou retorted angrily.
"Then what should we do?!" Kaminari cried out as he saw the jaguar avert its focus back to Tokoyami.
Midoriya was hurriedly trying to come up with a plan. Surely one of their Quirks could help them, but nothing he could think of would work. One For All, Explosion, Electrification and Acid could all seriously harm the jaguar. Creation would take too long and Momo was already tired out from the humidity. Most of the light was blocked out by the leaves, so Dark Shadow would go berserk. And Brainwashing doesn't work on animals. He could see that backing away would do them no good now; the creature was seconds away from attacking. There was only one final option now, "RUN!" Midoriya activated full cowling and surged forwards, pulling Fumikage out of the jaguar's reach moments before it could sink its claws into him. Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Kaminari turned and bolted, leading the way through the jungle. Shinsou pushed Bakugou, urging him to run instead of fight, earning him a grunt, but they both began running, following after the others. Izuku and Tokoyami turned on their heels and fled. Midoriya glanced over his shoulder to see that the jaguar had given chase; It was quickly gaining on them. He focused his attention back on where he was going, trying to improvise a plan. At the front, Bakugou was now leading the miniature stampede. He spotted a thick wall of vines approaching them and swore when he realised he had left his machete back at the stream. He changed direction, turning right, only to be stopped by a rapidly moving river. Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Kaminari soon caught up to him and stopped.
"We're gonna have to swim across," Bakugou declared.
"Are you kidding? Look at how fast it's moving! We'll drown," Denki protested.
"DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA, DUNCE? IT'S EITHER THAT OR GET EATEN."
Yaoyorozu nodded at Ashido and they both jumped into the water. Bakugou grabbed Kaminari's shirt and pushed him into the river before spinning around to see Shinsou appear. "Where's stupid Deku and Bird-Face?"
"They're right behind me," Hitoshi panted. As he'd stated, the two last students came into view, racing at top speed. Shinsou gasped at how close the jaguar was to reaching them. Spotting a large rock on the ground, he picked it up and threw it over their heads as hard as he could. It crashed into the undergrowth, startling the jaguar and delaying it a moment.
"NOW GO," Bakugou roared and pointed at the river. Once everyone had jumped in, he turned and dived. The sudden rush of water was cool against his skin, despite the liquid's temperature actually being quite warm. The current immediately began yanking at Bakugou's clothes in a desperate effort to drag him down to the riverbed. The adolescent held his breath as he used his arms to propel his body back up to the surface. As soon as his head resurfaced he sucked in the air and glanced around frantically for the others. He spotted Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Kaminari further downstream, standing on solid ground and watching with worried expressions. Shinsou was just making it to the bank, with Deku and Tokoyami close behind him. Katsuki grunted as he fought to stay above water, making his way towards the other side. The current carried him closer to his classmates and he finally made it to the bank, grasping onto a large rock that was jutting out of the earth. A hand appeared before his face and he glanced up to see Shinsou extending a hand to him. "Get outta my way," he barked, disregarding the helping hand and hoisting himself up onto the ground himself.
"I wouldn't be surprised if your ego was the highest score you've ever reached," Shinsou riposted, stepping back so that Bakugou could stand. Katsuki was too winded to retort so he just shot him a glare.
"Is everyone alright?" Momo queried, concern lacing her voice. Everyone nodded.
"That was close," Denki said, raking a hand through his dripping wet hair.
"How come it didn't follow us?" Ashido asked.
"Jaguars are excellent swimmers, but those rapids could have seriously injured it. It probably figured it wasn't worth the risk," Shinsou explained as he shook the water droplets from his long hair.
"If we weren't finding our way back to the others before, we have no hope now," Tokoyami said dismally. He added, "And thank you, Midoriya. Your quick reflexes saved me from becoming cat food."
Izuku flashed him a smile, "Of course." He looked up at the trees, managing to get a glimpse through a small opening in the leaves at the dimming sky. "We should probably find a place to rest for the night. It'll be dangerous walking around at night in the open."
"Midoriya's right," Yaoyorozu said. "We need to find someplace quiet and secluded to sleep. We'll have to take shifts to watch at night." The students agreed and began walking.
Shinsou walked alone at the back, becoming lost in his thoughts. Bakugou hung back to fall in stride with him, a scowl etched into his expression. "Don't ever look down on me again or I'll kill you." Hitoshi blinked as he came back to reality. He cast a sideways glance at Bakugou, taking a moment to recall what his classmate had just said. He then let out a short laugh as a response and looked back ahead. "THE HELL ARE YOU SCOFFING AT?"
Shinsou smirked a little and shook his head, "Nothing." Bakugou's lip curled into a snarl but he huffed and began walking ahead. "You should seriously get it into your head that not everyone is out to compete against you or think themselves above you. It's annoying." Bakugou paused before stopping directly in front of the other boy, pointing a finger at his chest
"YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO."
Hitoshi raised his voice to match Bakugou's, "YOU'RE SO SELF-ABSORBED. THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOU, BAKUGOU. NOT EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET YOU. WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR YOU TO JUST MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR CLASSMATES AND LET THEM HELP YOU INSTEAD OF INSULTING THEM ALL THE TIME. YOU'RE INSUFFERABLE TO BE AROUND."
"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, BRAIN-DEAD AND WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHO TO BE."
"WELL IT IS MY BUSINESS BECAUSE I'M YOUR CLASSMATE AND I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOUR BULLSHIT ALL THE TIME."
Yaoyorozu's sharp voice cut through their arguments as she shouted, "Both of you, stop! This is exactly what got us lost in the first place! If you had just stopped trying to pull each other's hair every five minutes then we wouldn't be in this mess! You two need to grow up and help us so that we actually have a chance at surviving this." Bakugou and Shinsou's faces were tinted pink from screaming at each other. They now looked down, ashamed.
"Uhh—guys?" Denki's voice trickled through the awkward air. When he received no reply, he tried again, "HELLO?!"
"WHAT, DUNCE-FACE?"
"I think we found something," Ashido said excitedly. The previous argument was quickly forgotten as the students curiously walked over to where Denki was holding aside some overhanging vines. In the expanse before them lay a ruin hidden from above by the cathedral-like branches arching overhead. The surreal scene presented the remnants of what appeared to have been an ancient city, now half-sunken to form an eerie mangrove. The ruins were layered with moss and overgrown weeds so that they blended in with their surroundings, although something mysterious glinted underneath. The students gazed at the masterpiece, trudging slowly through the shallow water as they edged further into the lost city. As they neared the closest eroded building, Kaminari stepped up to it and peeled some of the moss from the surface, gasping at what it revealed. "It-it's made of gold!"
Shinsou narrowed his eyes, "Looks like it's gold plated. Although some of it has been removed, look," he pointed to a naked section of the building, exposing the bricks.
"Maybe it was taken by the indigenous people. Or explorers." Midoriya suggested.
Momo shook her head, dark eyes fixated in wonder at the breath-taking sight, "No... excluding the local tribes, I believe we are the first people to discover this place." She shook her head again, "It can't be."
"What?" Ashido questioned.
"I think—this is El Dorado," She looked at them with a disbelieving expression, "The Lost City of Gold."
"Who?" Denki quirked a brow, dumbfounded.
Momo explained, brow furrowed as she recalled, "Around the sixteenth and seventeen centuries, Europeans believed there to be an ancient Aztec city that holds infathomable wealth, with all the buildings plated with gold. Explorers searched for the city, but it was never found. No one has managed to locate it... until now."
Kaminari's jaw dropped, quickly turning into a grin, "We're gonna be rich!"
"I don't think we should touch anything," Midoriya warned. "This place is ancient, remember. Also, it appears that most of the gold seems to be missing."
"Well, can we at least explore? This place is so pretty," Mina chirped.
Nodding, Yaoyorozu replied, "I would love to have a look around, myself. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Although, we need to be careful; we don't know what creatures may be lurking around here, especially in the water." The group nodded in understanding, although Denki seemed quite nervous and Bakugou just grunted.
"At least we now have a place to sleep for the night," Tokoyami said.
"Yeah!" Midoriya agreed. The group made their way down what probably used to be a street until they reached a magnificent temple, stretching almost high enough to reach the canopy. Most of its golden plates were still in place, apart from the eroded edges. It was pyramid-like in shape and featured various golden sculptures of ancient gods. Sunlight poured through a gap in the trees above, illuminating the metal and creating an array of iridescent golden hues.
Now stood before the entrance, the students peaked inside. There was no door, only a wide rectangular cut-out, revealing a dazzling interior of golden statues, shrines and even tombstones; all were covered in cobwebs and dust. Momo began, "I feel like we shouldn't—Bakugou wait!"
Bakugou took the first step inside, only to find the stone slab he'd placed his foot upon sink into the floor. His arm was yanked backwards, pulling him out of the way just as a dart shot out from a wall, missing him by a hairs breadth. The dart hit the opposite wall and clattered lightly to the floor, rolling over to their feet. Bakugou stood there, eyes wide. Momo let go of his arm, "I was trying to say, I think the place is boobytrapped."
"Watch out there, Indi," Shinsou smirked at Bakugou, who returned a dirty glare.
"They really had traps back then?" Tokoyami pondered aloud.
"Oh yes, definitely. Poison darts, caiman pits, pendulum blades, you name it. Not everything you see in pop culture is fiction. The Aztecs were very creative," Yaoyorozu lectured.
Midoriya automatically reached for his notebook to make notes but realised with a start that he didn't have it with him. Instead, he made a mental note that he could add later. "I guess we'll just have to look at the temple from the outside."
A sudden feeling of dread latched onto the group when they heard a deep growl behind them.