Jiro rose from her seat, glancing at her teammates, "The lockdown has begun..."
~~
Five minutes earlier~
"Do you all understand your goals?" Aizawa asked.
Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Asui, Todoroki and Kirishima replied in synchrony, "Yes, Sensei!"
"Good. You have thirty minutes to complete them. You may begin as soon as the doors lock." Eraserhead left without another word, probably going to watch via the security cameras. The infiltrators were gathered by the main entrance to the replica building, prepping themselves for the battle ahead.
"We should probably come up with a plan of action, ribbit," Asui said.
Todoroki looked to Momo, a faint smile on his lips, "Yaoyorozu, any ideas?"
Yaoyorozu returned the small smile then spoke to the group with a subtle blush dusting her cheeks, "I came up with a quick plan whilst Sensei was informing us of our goals."
"Alright!" Kirishima pumped his fist into the air enthusiastically. "What is it?"
~~
Present~
As soon as the training had begun, Bakugo grinned and stormed over to the door. He aimed his palms at the surface and fired a couple of large explosions until it flew backwards as it ripped off its hinges. "They'd better be prepared to DIE," Bakugo yelled as he raced out the classroom and down the corridor, sending off more explosions to draw attention to himself.
"Oh gosh. He's gonna get himself killed," Mina breathed.
Jiro twiddled her lobe with her fingers, "Please tell me someone has a plan that doesn't involve running through the school, screaming and exploding everything in our path."
Midoriya rose from his seat, pressing his palms against his desk, "I think I have an idea." His classmates faced him to show they were listening. "We don't know where the villains will be or whether they'll split up or stay together, so we can use Jiro's Quirk to find out their locations. In a real lockdown situation, the last thing a student should do is engage the infiltrator, so I think we need to be sneaky and try to escape the building. Once we know where they are, we can slip around them and get to the ground floor and find an exit. There will be metal barricades, but Ashido's acid should be able to create a hole, big enough for us to climb through and escape. Shinso and I can stand guard and fight if we have to, whilst Jiro listens out for anyone approaching us. Once everyone's out, I'll go and find Kacchan and try to convince him to escape with us. I think that's how we can win this."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Shinso said.
Jiro smiled, "I like it."
"What're we waiting for then?" Ashido prompted.
"On it." Jiro quickly stepped over to the wall and pressed her earphone jack against it, narrowing her eyes as she listened. "They're all on the ground floor, by the main entrance, I think. Sounds like they're splitting up, though. Two of them are heading towards the stairs leading to where Bakugo is," as if on que, the aforementioned's bellows could be heard from the other side of the hallway as he challenged the infiltrators to a fight," another two are heading up the stairs closest to us, and I can't hear where the last person is headed."
His voice flat, Shinso observed, "We're pretty much surrounded and we need to avoid fighting, so we should find somewhere to hide and let them pass us. Then we can use the stairs they came from and get to the exit."
Midoriya pinched his chin, eyes narrowed as he took in the information. He hummed, "My best guess is that they sent Todoroki and Kirishima to fight Kacchan, as they have strong offensive Quirks and are the least afraid of him. That means Yaoyorozu, Kaminari and Tsu will be looking for us. Or possibly be setting up a trap for us. I think Shinso's idea is our best shot, but we'll need to find somewhere to hide."
"Shouldn't we try and help Bakugo first, though?" Mina inquired. "It won't be easy fighting both Todoroki and Kirishima on his own."
Shinso stated monotonously, "That idiot will get what he deserves. He's already failed the test by drawing all that attention to himself. We should stick with Midoriya's plan and lay low. Engaging with the infiltrators will lose us marks."
"Sounds good," Jiro agreed. The group left the classroom and scanned the hallway for somewhere to hide. "What about one of the other classrooms?" Kyoka pondered.
"There aren't any hiding places and they'll probably check the classrooms first," Shinso pointed out.
Mina puckered her lips as she rolled her head back. She paused, looking up at the ceiling, "How about up there?" Everyone's gaze drifted up to the ceiling, which had square panels that could be shifted aside.
Midoriya grinned, "It's perfect! I'll get a chair."
~~
"Surely they're smart enough not to be in our classroom. It's obvious that's the first place we're gonna check," Kaminari whispered.
Yaoyorozu's eyes darted back and forth as they passed each room, heading straight for 1-A's classroom, "In a real lockdown, students are actually advised to stay in their room. But we need to double check, anyway. And they may be hiding nearby, so keep an eye out."
"Yes, ma'am," Kaminari replied, drifting over to a door to peak through the small window before moving on. When they arrived at the 1-A classroom, they observed that the door had been blown open, by whom it was obvious. "Yep, all clear," Denki confirmed after checking inside the classroom.
Momo bit her lip as she analysed the situation, eyes falling on a random chair, propped up against the wall. A subtle smile nagged at her lips and she looked back to Kaminari, nodding her head sideways, "Let's search this way." She led the way down the corridor, towards the explosions and yells from Bakugo. Once they had disappeared around the corner, Mina hissed.
"Is it safe to jump down now?"
Jiro blinked as she listened for a moment before saying, "It's safe; they're gone." Shinso shifted the panel to the side before holding onto the ledge and kicking his legs over the edge. He dangled from the ceiling before letting go, bending his legs as he landed on the ground. Once everyone had jumped down from the ceiling, they began hurrying in the opposite direction to Momo and Denki. They reached the stairs that led to the ground floor and crept down as quietly as they could. The students stopped when they made it to the main entrance; a wall of metal was barricading the large doors.
"Ashido, you know what to do," Midoriya said.
Mina nodded and pressed her hands against the metal barricade, using her acid to begin melting it. "This might take a while," she warned.
"It's okay. Jiro, listen out for the others. Shinso and I can hold them back if they approach us," Midoriya instructed.
Kyoka nodded and plugged her jack into the wall. "Right now, I can only hear Bakugo, Kirishima and Todoroki fighting."
Izuku hummed, "We just need to figure out what Yaoyorozu, Tsu and Kaminari are trying to do. Getting to the exit was way too easy."
"Surely they'd be trying to prevent us from escaping. But, then their best option would be to guard the exits. We're literally at the main entrance, so it doesn't make sense that they're not trying to stop us. Unless they have something else up their sleeves," Shinso added to Midoriya's line of thinking.
"That's a good point," Izuku agreed. "We need to be careful."
~~
Asui hopped soundlessly through the replica school until she reached the Principle's Office. She tried the door and, not surprisingly, it was locked. Although, luckily for her, she had come prepared. Taking out the rake and tension wrench Yaoyomomo had made for her, she recalled Kaminari's instructions on how to pick a lock. It was slightly worrying that he knew how to, but she guessed it was just what he did in his free time instead of doing homework. Tsuyu wiggled the tension wrench into the keyhole before placing the rake above it. She shifted them around for quite a while, trying to create the right pressure. After quite a few minutes, there was a click and the door finally unlocked. She jumped with glee and pushed the door open.
The girl stepped inside the office and glanced around. She began searching the Principal's desk and then the bookcase, but she couldn't find it. Spotting some drawers behind the desk, she hurried over and tried to open the top one. She sighed when it wouldn't budge. Tsu then began searching around for a key, but to no avail. There was no time to pick the lock again as it had taken her several minutes to get through the door. She would need to find another way to get it open.
~~
"DIEEEEE!!" Bakugo screamed as he fired an explosion at Kirishima's face. Eijiro raised his hardened arms to shield his face at the last moment, although the impact sent him flying into a wall. Todoroki sent a pillar of ice towards Bakugo, who used an explosion to dodge it.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes. He glanced at Kirishima over his shoulder and gestured something with his hands. Kirishima nodded and stood next to him, clenching his fists. Shoto turned back to Bakugo and fired again, purposely sending his ice a little too far to the right.
Bakugo leaped to his right to avoid the attack, eyes widening when he saw that Kirishima was there, waiting for him. A hardened punch to the face sent Katsuki flying backwards into the wall. He winced before sitting up and grinning, "You'll pay for that, you bastards!"
~~
"OK, I'm just about through!" Ashido announced.
Midoriya glanced at her and nodded, "Right! We'll go get Kacchan, then!" He then turned back to Shinso to exchange a nod before they began running down the corridor, towards the stairs.
Suddenly, their path was blocked when Denki stepped out from around the corner, smirking, "Whey."
Midoriya's eyes widened when he saw the boy point at him and Shinso, sparks of electricity flashing across his body. "Shinso!" Not having enough time to activate Full Cowling, Midoriya leaped in front of Shinso, holding out his arms to increase his surface area. The electricity hit him and he yelled out in pain, falling to the floor as his body convulsed. Shinso stood frozen when his teammate darted in front of him to shield him, now staring wide-eyed as Midoriya shuddered on the ground before stilling as he lost consciousness. Hitoshi gritted his teeth, shooting an enraged look up at Kaminari, "You're going to regret that!" He kneeled down next to Midoriya to check if he was alright without touching him; he was unconscious but his breaths were steady.
Denki pressed his lips together to prevent himself from replying. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and wait for Yaoyorozu to return.
Shinso rose to his feet and slowly began stepping forwards, a smirk appearing on his face, "I know what you're thinking: all you have to do is keep your mouth shut. Well, lucky for me I don't always rely on my Quirk." He lurched forwards and landed a mean uppercut to Kaminari's jaw. Once the other boy had lost his balance, Shinso swiped at his legs with a hard kick, sending him to the ground. Denki winced as his back hit the floor but he quickly recovered and rolled to the side before jumping back to his feet, clenching his fists. Just as he was hoping for Yaoyorozu to return soon, she came jogging around the corner and paused as she observed the situation.
"Did you get Kirishima?" Denki asked her, keeping his eyes trained on Shinso, who now seemed hesitant to attack.
"Yes."
Denki stole a glance at her, "Your hair looks a little singed. Are you okay?"
Momo pulled out a pole from her chest and then began making some chains whilst she spoke, "Bakugo almost got me, but I'm fine. Good job getting Midoriya down." She lowered her voice, "Can you zap Shinso too?"
"No, I almost went past my limit with Midoriya. I feel kinda bad; it was at such a close range and it was meant for two people, so it must've hurt like a buttcheek on a stick."
"Midoriya's strong, don't worry. But we need to focus on our training. You get Midoriya, I'll go after Shinso."
Kaminari nodded and took out what seemed to be a fake knife from his pocket, "Right."
Shinso had decided to hold back when Yaoyorozu appeared. He could take on Kaminari easily, but two against one wouldn't be in his favour. Instead, he listened in on their conversation. Get Kirishima? What for? To attack Shinso? No, they wouldn't need three people for that. Maybe to get Ashido and Jiro? That must be it. He needed to warn them. He was a little surprised to see Kaminari take out a fake knife; Aizawa must have given one to each of the infiltrators to use to 'kill' the students. But where was Yaoyorozu's? Her chosen weapons were chains and a pole. Chains... were they trying to capture Shinso? His eyes widened—Was that one of their goals? But Yaoyorozu told Kaminari to go for Midoriya. So did that mean they had to capture a student and kill the rest?
~~
Earlier~
"Yep, all clear," Denki confirmed after checking inside the classroom.
Momo bit her lip as she analysed the situation, eyes falling on a random chair, propped up against the wall. A subtle smile nagged at her lips and she looked back to Kaminari, nodding her head sideways, "Let's search this way." She led the way down the corridor, towards the explosions and yells from Bakugo. Once they had disappeared around the corner, Yaoyorozu grabbed Kaminari's arm and placed a finger to her lips. The boy gave her a puzzled look. A moment later, they could hear the sound of feet landing on the ground and then hurrying quietly in the opposite direction. Momo whispered, "Just as I suspected. They were hiding above us."
"Why don't we chase after them?" Denki hissed.
"Because four against two is no match. We are going to have to be smart about this if we're going to beat them. My best guess is that they are trying to get to the exit, most likely the one we just came from. They probably figured their best shot is to stick together. I think they'll use Ashido's Quirk to melt through the barricade. Lucky for us, that'll tire her out and make her easy to kill. We'll let them think they got out, but before they can, they are going to look for Bakugo to help him because there's no way they'll leave him behind. They'll probably only send two of them to go. I'm guessing Midoriya and either Shinso or Jiro. When they come into sight, you can immobilise them with your Quirk whilst I find Kirishima to tell him to kill the two waiting at the exit; I'm sure Todoroki can handle Bakugo alone and we can help him kill him at the end if needed be."
"Woah, woah, woah. You want me to take on Midoriya and someone else at the same time?"
"They won't be expecting you to be waiting for them so you can electrocute them as soon as they come into sight. I'll come back and help as soon as I can, just in case anything goes wrong."
~~
Present~
"Jiro! Kirishima's on his way to kill you and Ashido!" Shinso shouted, hoping that the girl was listening. He looked at Momo and Denki smugly. "If you want to kill Midoriya, you're going to have to go through me first," Shinso challenged. The two infiltrators exchanged a glance before they began to advance on him, moving towards the opposite walls to surround him.
Hitoshi stepped towards Kaminari, about to snatch the knife from his hands. He sensed movement behind him and instinctively ducked, just as Momo's pole swiped above his head. Denki took this opportunity to jump out of Shinso's reach and Yaoyorozu positioned herself between them. The student gritted his teeth; they could now reach Midoriya. "Come on, now. Two against one is hardly equitable. How about we make this a fair fight?" His attempt to provoke a response was useless as Momo pressed her lips together and began twirling her pole around as she prepared for another attack. "Is a pole all you could think of to make? No offence, but there are many other weapons that would be much more effective. I'm not gonna list them though, of course. Don't want you stealing any of my ideas—" he jerked backwards as Yaoyorozu took another swing at him. She didn't give him time to regain his balance as she jabbed her pole into his stomach, causing him to reel. Shinso let out a grunt of pain. He grabbed the outstretched pole and yanked it towards himself. Yaoyorozu fell forwards as the pole was snatched out of her grasp, although this gave her the opportunity to get Hitoshi in a headlock. The boy let out a small gasp as he saw Kaminari stood beside Midoriya's unconcious body, about to stab him with his fake knife.
Shinso couldn't move. He couldn't get to Midoriya in time. What was he going to do?
Author's note~
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter & the cliffhanger O.O
Updates are going to be between one to three weeks from now on. Real life is really dragging me down right now and I don't want to rush the chapters, so I'll be taking my time and updating when I can. I hope y'all can understand. Also, I just wanted to say thank you for all your lovely and amusing comments; I really appreciate them ^^
Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!