Mirio: And now it's time for Deku's test of courage...

By the time Izuku dragged himself to dinner at the end of the second day of training, he was smiling. Sure, Toga was still a challenging opponent, but he was getting better and unlike yesterday, he had actually gotten a positive amount of points! By his count, there were still a handful of targets left in the woods and he'd wanted to find them today, but he'd run out of time before the Mandalay had called them all in for dinner. It wasn't a huge deal, he knew where they all were and it'd be easy to find them in the morning, but he'd wanted to prove that he could, not only to Eraser, but to himself.

It was easy to push aside his annoyance when everyone was so excited though and Izuku would be lying if he said he wasn't excited too. After two whole days in these woods, he knew all the best places for an ambush and even if it hadn't been confirmed, he knew Toga probably wouldn't miss a chance to mess with the students, which meant that he was already a leg up as both a runner and as a scarer. Even if he didn't win, however, it was sure to be a fun night.

Nejire: Well it would've if the League-

LOV: We get it, you don't have to keep telling us about how we ruined your camping trip!

He and the rest of 1A winced sympathetically as Eraserhead dragged the remedial students away. It probably would have been good training to have them join in the exercise as well, but Izuku understood that there had to be some consequences, especially with all the logical ruses Eraser tended to pull. That meant that there were only fourteen students left to participate, though, so they'd have to work hard if they wanted to beat class 1B.

Iida: Fourteen- oh right, I've been suspended.

The Pussycats gave their opening explanation and Tiger grinned savagely at them, "Class 1B will take the first turn as scarers. The winners are the ones who make the most people piss their pants!"

Izuku nodded and went to stand by Koda, his assigned partner for the exercise. They watched their opponents disappear into the woods and Izuku could see Koda getting more and more nervous, so he gave him a small smile, "Hey, it's alright! There's a lot of animals around here, so you can always send them ahead to warn us of any traps. This'll be a piece of cake!"

Koda(whispering): I wish it was...

Koda nodded frantically and he started shaking marginally less, so Izuku was just gonna count that as a win. It was almost a shame that Eraser wasn't participating, considering how much he loved scaring them all on a daily basis anyway.

1A(shuddering): I'm glad he wasn't...

Toga giggled and blew them all kisses as she ran off into the woods, "Good luck cuties! See you later!"

"Oh wonderful." Jirou said. "We're gonna have to run from ourselves, aren't we?"

Toga: Yup! Wait, I'm going to watch myself fight you guys aren't I? Oh I'm sorry...

Dabi(sighing): Whatever, Toga. You get to have a better life with an actual decent parental figure so as long as we don't kill each other I won't be that mad.

Aizawa(looking at Vlad): Decent parental figure, huh?

Vlad: What are you doing?

Aizawa: It's called payback for all the times you teased me about being a dad!

Vlad: I didn't adopt Toga in this world!

Aizawa: Well I need my payback somehow!

"I guess so." Yaoyorozu frowned. "But, mean, running from yourself should be easy, right? I mean, you know obviously know that you're the real you."

Monoma: Still going to be very creepy though.

"Still gonna be trippy though." Bakugo pointed out. "Now come on and let's get started already! The sooner we all get back, the sooner we get the scare the @#$(* outta those 1B losers."

Izuku rolled his eyes and waited with significantly more patience as the first team entered the woods. This was gonna be fun.

Midoriya(worriedly): No it's not...

Dabi looked out over the woods, smirking as he relished the peace that they were here to destroy. Behind him, the rest of the vanguard action squad began putting on their masks, already anxious to go cause chaos as soon as Dabi gave the go ahead. He was the one in charge here, the one with all the power and he loved it. So what if his old man hadn't thought he had what it took to be a leader? Here he was, proving him wrong in the best way possible. Maybe he should give Shoto another scar while he was here? May as well go for a matching set and make the kid's face symmetrical.

Todoroki: I don't think it's easy to make it symmetrical.

Dabi: That's what you're concerned about?

Todoroki: Should I be concerned about something else?

Kaminari: Your brother burning half your face off!

"How much longer?" Muscular complained. "I wanna see some blood!"

Dabi was tempted to make him wait a little longer, just to make sure he remembered who was in charge, but the sun was already down and they were wasting time, "Ketchup, go on ahead and start up the gas."

"It's Mustard." The brat muttered. "And it's a poison, not a condiment."

Toga: Aw be nice to Mustard, Dabi.

"Yeah, whatever, Relish." Dabi smirked. "Just make sure those kids don't have anywhere to run."

Mustard nodded and headed into the woods as Dabi lit the nearest tree on fire and turned to the rest of the league, "Spread out and attack whoever you find. Let's show these hero brats the other side of the coin."

(everyone tensed)

Izuku saw Pixiebob sniffing the air and did the same. He hadn't come across that scent before while he was here, and he couldn't help but be grateful. It was terrible, like a cross between rotten eggs and something burning. Pixiebob didn't seem to like it better.

"Hey, Tiger, you smell that?" She asked. "Is something burning?"

"It could be a fire on the mountain." Ojiro suggested. "Is it wildfire season?"

Kamui: No it's not...

"No." Mandalay answered. "It's not."

They all whirled around when they heard Pixiebob yelp, but there was nothing they could do as she was pulled backward and pinned under the giant weapon of someone who wasn't supposed to be there. Izuku recognized Magne from some police reports he'd been given, but he couldn't think of a single good reason why she would be here, especially not with someone else holding a giant sword standing right next to her. The guy with a sword had a lizard mutation quirk and Izuku's brain rushed to find their weaknesses as the villain started talking, "Tonight, Stain's will will be carried out. We are the vanguard action squad, and I hope for your sake that you are true heroes."

Spinner: And it begins...

"Everyone! We were attacked by two enemies and there might be more on the way! Return to camp and regroup! Do not engage the villains!"

Shouta was filled with a sense of dread as Mandalay's telepath echoed through their heads. At least two villains, but of course, no one would be stupid enough to attack a group of heroes and hero students with only two people.

Twice: Yeah there's... (starts couting) uh Dabi, Toga, me, Spinner, me, Magne, Mustard, Shigaraki- no Shiggy wasn't there, Muscular-

Shigaraki: Twice you can stop now!

"Vlad, stay here." He ordered as he ran out the door. "I'll take care of the other students."

Thirteen: Reminds me of the USJ...

If this was a full scale attack then they were in big trouble. They had limited the number of heroes under the assumption that it would ensure the camp's secrecy, but now it seemed like they'd just shot themselves in the foot. Depending on the number of enemies, they might not have any choice but to authorize the students to fight back.

"It seems your concern has you distracted, Eraserhead."

1A: Sensei!

Shouta barely had time to react before a wall of flame was coming his way. He managed to dodge, barely, and growled under his breath. He didn't have time for this. He had students to save!

Momo: Sensei!

Aizawa: I'm fine, he missed.

As soon as the flames were gone, Shouta activated his quirk and launched a kick at the villain, who looked like he'd been stitched together by a really bad seamstress. The guy looked skinny, but he was quick and dodged Shouta's attack with only minor difficulty.

Dabi: I don't remember that- oh it's the clone.

"You should just give up, Eraserhead." Patchwork said. "We're not after you."

Shigaraki: Huh, new insult acquired.

"That means you're after the students." Shouta accused, shooting out his capture weapon. "I won't let you hurt them!"

"What a hero." the villain sneered. "What, do you want a medal or something? You see, this is why we're here: to knock down a few pedestals!"

A gunshot echoed through the clearing and the flame user hissed and started dissolving into grey goop, "Son of a &*$@#! No wonder Shigaraki wants him..."

Midoriya: I just shot him!

Twice: He's a double, he's not actually dead. You murderer!

Mt. Lady(faintly): I forgot Deku had a gun.

His mouth disappeared before he could finish his sentence and Shouta forced himself to look away. Deku stood with a group of other students near the entrance to the woods, gun smoking in his hand as he stared in horror at what used to be the villain.

"That, uh..." Deku gulped. "That was some sort of copy quirk, right?"

Cementoss: Yeah, he's not actually dead.

Snipe: Deku's bullets aren't enough to kill anyone.

"Yeah, must be." Shouta nodded. "Your bullets aren't enough to kill anyone. How did you even get your gun?"

"I hid a few weapons throughout the woods to help me fight off Toga." Deku answered. "I had Yaoyorozu make me some more bullets too. I know the cpussycats ordered us not to fight, but, uh... "

Vlad: Better safe than sorry.

"But you picked it up just in case." Shouta said. "Good work, kid. Get the rest of the students ins..."

Has anyone seen Kota?! I already told him to come back, but I'm not sure where he goes when he's in the woods!

(everyone froze)

Midoriya(panicking): Oh no! How do I rescue him without One for All?! He died in Mastermind!

Inko: Izuku please calm down I'm sure he'll survive-

Midoriya: No you're not!

They both froze at Mandalay's message before Deku turned to him, face grim as he cocked his gun, "Go. I'll handle things here."

Shouta shook his head, "Vlad can..."

Midoriya: Right, sensei knows where Kota is...

"Vlad can go help the students still trapped in the woods and we can barricade ourselves here." Deku answered. "We'll get inside and keep fighting to a minimum, I promise. Now go, you're wasting time!"

Shouta wanted to argue, he really did, but the problem child had a point. Out of all the students, less than a dozen had returned to camp so far, which meant that most of them were still out in the woods facing who knew how many villains and Shouta wouldn't be able to help them until he knew Kota was safe. They couldn't afford to leave the most defenceless students on their own and if the kids stayed inside, they would have at least one layer of defense.

"You are authorized to use your quirks only in defense of the building." Shouta said gravely, making sure to make eye contact with every student in his line of sight. "Do not enter the woods and do not go after the villains. Do I make myself clear?"

1A: Yes, sensei!

"Yes, sensei!"

"Good." Shouta huffed and started running. Deku and the others would get the message to Vlad and if all went optimally, every student that made it back to camp would be able to bolster its defenses. He could only hope that he'd made the right decision as he ran faster toward the place he'd seen Kota hiding the night before.

Uraraka(whispering): Please make it in time...