30 minutes later,
Large airplanes dropped tons of water to extinguish the forest fire.
The blinking red light of ambulances and police vehicles drowned the entire area around the campsite.
Far into the distance, Captain Celebrity lifted the rocky mountain that looked out of place to see if it held more clues to the Villains' location.
Of the forty students, fifteen were in a serious condition due to the poisonous gas, including Kyoka Jiro, Toru Hagakure, and Yuga Aoyama from Class 1-A.
Out of the remaining students, fifteen had minor injuries, while the last ten were practically unharmed.
And that had stood out like a thumb to all Pros, police officials, and medical teams.
The sheer sight of the disaster hinted toward the students suffering major injuries, at least.
However, only Midoriya's state was close enough to be declared an emergency, with an ambulance taking him to the nearest hospital right away.
The question was befuddling, to say the least.
The Villains attacked the students' training camp on an unprecedented scale!
They were wearing Quirk Amplification Devices, making themselves capable of taking on multiple Pros!
Not only did the most wanted criminal, Dr. Blessed, make an appearance, but even Hero Killer Stain was sighted, despite the latter being held as a prisoner in Tartarus!
Yet… after the involvement of so many Villains, causing unimaginable destruction… only one student out of forty was in an emergency?!
As the attack was something the Pros were already expecting, Detective Tsukauchi also arrived at the scene at a moment's notice.
Now, on one side, a bleeding Sand and Midnight were briefing him about Stain and how the Villain had almost killed them before exploding into a mass of mud under their combined attacks.
Not far from them, paramedics were attending to Gran Torino and Mirko, who, despite having no visible injury, had yet to wake up.
Pixie Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger from the Pussycats were already taken to the hospital.
Surprisingly, Erasure Head and Mandalay survived the crash after being hurled across the forest. Just before crashing, Aizawa had used the white cloth he carried around his neck to latch onto a tree with Mandalay, both coming out relatively uninjured as a result.
Then there were Villains.
The police only managed to find Muscular, Mustard, and Moonfish.
The rest of the Villains seemed to have run away with Kurogiri's help just before the arrival of Captain Celebrity.
No matter how one looked at the entire episode, there would be no one who would proclaim it as a win for the Heroes.
Yet, even then, there was a hidden sense of victory lingering somewhere in all this… bringing relief to many shoulders — along with half a smile.
…
The next day,
UA High
The entire event exploded overnight, becoming viral on the internet.
Presently, hundreds of media personnel gathered in front of the School, demanding that it take responsibility for last night's blunder.
Once the number of the Pros present in the forest had gone out, it didn't take people much time to realize that the Heroes and police had, to some extent, known that something like this could happen.
Yet, knowingly and willingly, they put the children's lives on the line?!
In the Meeting Room of the School, Nezu switched off the TV as the news anchor wondered the same aloud.
"The internet is filled with criticisms of UA right now," Nezu said, facing the tablet he carried toward the teachers.
— UA's Worst Scandal!
— Careless Management, Hidden Agendas!
— UA's Credibility in Question After Repeated Villains' Attacks!
All Might (as Toshinori), Erasure Head, Snipe, Midnight, Present Mic, and Vlad King looked at those headlines with grim expressions.
Nezu put down the tablet and looked at the Pros.
"We were preparing to get one over the Villains," he said, "… but the Villains had already prepared to declare war. Not only did we fail to capture all the Villains, but we also failed to anticipate the use of Quirk Amplification Devices. As a result, many students are injured, and people are losing trust in us. And rightfully so…"
All Might curled his fingers into fists.
"Speaking of trust…" Present Mic said. "… It's safe to say now that — we have a traitor among us."
Instantaneously, the atmosphere changed.
"Only the Pros in the forest and Pussycats knew where the Training Camp was being held!" Present Mic slammed his hands on the table. "We purposefully stationed the police and medical teams way away from the mountains so that they wouldn't know the exact location, either. It's clear—"
"Stop it, Mic—" Midnight gasped.
"How can I?!" Present Mic countered. "Give me…"
"There's no point in doing this now," Erasure Head suddenly said, holding his bandaged left hand. "None of us can confirm if one of us is truly innocent. We cannot afford infighting at such a delicate time. The matter of the traitor is important, but it isn't as important as figuring out a way to make sure that no Villain comes after a student anymore."
Nezu nodded. "I, at least, trust all of you," he said, "even if I cannot prove my innocence. For now, as a School, we must do all in our power to guarantee the safety of the students. Unless they figure out how to counter these Quirk Amplification Devices, we cannot take any chances."
The mere mention of the devices brought a frown on all faces, their gazes landing on Midnight.
Among the teachers present here, only she had faced a Villain who was wearing the device.
Just remembering the Villain's first attack made Midnight cross her arms. "… It's a miracle…" she said, looking up with a mix of dread and relief in her eyes. "… that we didn't lose a Pro or, worse — a student."
Erasure Head and Vlad King shared a glance.
"It's… not a miracle…" Aizawa sighed, catching all attention.
"There's something we need to report," Vlad King added. "Deciding that it was UA's internal matter, we didn't share all the details with the police last night."
"What do you mean?" All Might asked, the others looking at the two Pros with apprehension.
Erasure Head sighed again.
"It's…" he said, taking a deep breath. "… It's related to Luke."
********************
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