After another day of training, grades A and B finally got their carrot instead of a stick. In the middle of the day, Pixie Bob announced the Test of Courage in the evening. And so, after dinner, the whole class A gathered near the trail into the forest.
"Bellies are full, and plates are clean! Next up-"
"The Test of Courage!!" Mina finished for Pixy Bob, her energy overflowing.
"Sorry to break it to you, remedial group..." Aizawa didn't look sorry. "You've got extra lessons with me now."
"NO WAAAAAAY!" Ashido's face was distorted beyond recognition and Harry thought that her choice of the name 'Alien Queen' would be quite appropriate now.
"Run!"
Screamed Kaminari, but no one had time to even take a step towards the forest, as Aizawa tied them up with his capture weapon. He dragged five teenagers with him with surprising ease towards the main building.
"You were slacking during training earlier, so now I'm gonna cut into your playtime."
"WAHHH! Give us a break! Test our courage!!" The screams of the Remedial group were heard for a few more minutes, until they completely died down.
"Right." Continued Pixy Bob. "Class B will be on the offensive first. They're already standing by. Class A will head into the forest in teams of two, one team every three minutes. You'll find name cards at the halfway point. Grab your own, and than come back here!"
"Glory to the Higher Powers this time it's just cards..."
Harry muttered, but in the silence - which was formed without the usual troublemakers - everyone could hear him. His classmates were confused by his words, but the Pussycats knew exactly what he was talking about.
Two years ago, Potter's goal was not just to survive in the forest, but to collect five ten-kilogram weights from several zones. Two for the legs, two for the arms and one for the belt. Each zone was guarded by one of the Pussycats and Bang. He had to collect as many weights as possible and return to the camp carrying them on his body.
Ragdoll and Pixy Bob tried to hide their laughter behind a cough, but failed miserably.
"Ahem! So... The scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact. They'll be just using their Quirks to startle you as best they can. So get creative!" Tiger, Ragdoll and Pixy Bob took a group pose. "Whichever class makes the other wet their pants more wins!!"
Mandalay, who was standing behind her teammates, had an unreadable expression on her face.
Harry just sighed heavily and looked into the woods. He tugged his white gloves and nodded in satisfaction as they sparked a little spark. At night, Potter let his paranoia take over and was fully equipped for battle. Since it was already night, he did not take his knives with a fishing line, there were enough shadows.
Rowena and Helga wrapped themselves around his waist, and Godric took his place of honor on his head. The Basilisks took over their friend's caution and also became more attentive at night. This is why Harry was so calm at the Orphanage. With three Basilisks patrolling its corridors, it has become arguably the safest place in Japan.
After drawing lots, the Potter and Shoji team was the first and the two imperturbable teenagers went into the forest. They didn't know each other that well, so neither one started a conversation.
In the darkness of the forest, Harry felt much safer than usual. Perhaps this was due to the Stone of Pride. Perhaps with the fact that he spent eleven years of his first life in a dark cupboard under the stairs and eight more in his second one. The child's mind clung to the only straw of safety in his life and darkness became a part his comfort zone.
And maybe that's why Potter and Shoji never got scared. Harry only gave them advices on how to improve their tactics with a shit-eating grin in his face. Halfway through the journey, Ragdoll gave them their cards, followed by the rest of the journey with the same not-so-scary teenagers. Harry was in a good mood, right until Godric began to speak.
§Sssalazar, I sssmell sssmoke.§
The teen immediately stopped, forcing Shoji to stop too after a couple of steps. He looked at his classmate with a raised eyebrow.
"Potter? What's the problem?"
Harry just raised his hand to tell his teammate to wait, and turned up his sense of smell. His nose immediately smelled fire, blood and smoke... Two types of smoke.
"Most likely we are under attack, the forest is on fire. But I really hope that this is just an accident. Otherwise, these bastards were able to figure out our location."
Harry didn't want to think about what that might mean. Shoji's eyes only widened for a second, and the teenager nodded and became more alert.
"How did they...? No, it doesn't matter right now. Are we going to Ragdoll or are we going back to the Camp?"
Harry thought about it before answering.
"... Let's stay here for a few minutes, I'll check our surroundings. Ragdoll will be able to fend for itself. I will send my friends after her." Shadows around Harry begin to move and dozens of green eyes appear on them, §Row, Ric, you return to the woman and make sure all the friendly humans return alive.§
Rowena nodded and slithered down his leg, swinging up to 15 meters for quick movement. Godric teleported to her central horn and the two Basilisks set off for the road.
"If something happens, Godric can quickly get to my location. He always knows where I am."
Shoji just nodded, grateful for the answer to the unasked question, while Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on the shadows.
"Everyone!" Mandalay's voice rang out in the heads of the two teenagers. "We're under the attack of two Villains! And there might be even more out there! All those who can should return to the camp!! If you encounter an enemy, don't engage! Just retreat! You could only use your Quirks in self-defense!"
""Fuck."" Two teenagers said at the same time. Their fears were confirmed.
Pride first reached the exit from the forest, where two out of three of the Pussycats were holding back the villains. Pixy Bob lay unconscious with a head wound that would definitely leave a scar. So his that when the shadow thorns stuck in the knees of the two Villains, Harry did not feel much remorse.
"WAAAAA-gh!"
The lizard's cry interrupted Mandalay's kick to his temple. Meanwhile, the tiger knocked out Magne with a right hook and immediately looked towards the shadows.
"Kid, I would give you a good thrashing, but I'm too grateful to you right now."
A mouth appeared on one of the shadows and began to speak.
"I sent two Serpents to Ragdoll and the students behind us, they should be safe. Where's Kota?"
Mandalay began tying the two unconscious villains and didn't even lift her head to look in the direction of the voice.
"He's in camp, still sleeping. Last night was too tiring for him."
The mouth closed in the shadows and they went back into the forest, not even waiting for a reply.
At the same time, Potter found a second problem. Moonfish. The bastard was a couple of tens of meters ahead of them. The villain did not even have time to scream, as dozens of huge mouths tore him apart. The cannibal's fate was to be eaten alive.
The third thing Harry found made him frown. He opened his eyes and saw Shoji staring at his shoulder.
"What have you found?"
Potter just stared at him for a few seconds, then disappeared from his place and appeared over Shoji. With one chop to the neck, Harry knocked out his classmate and silently looked at his body.
§Helga, take his body back to camp. Protect the students and tell Ric and Row to do the same.§
The Basilisk looked at him with worry in her multi-colored eyes. She had never seen her friend like that before. He looked like a time bomb that was about to explode.
§Sssalazar?§
He pulled out his phone and dropped it to the ground so that he couldn't be tracked.
§Go.§ Potter just ordered and Helga complied.
As soon as the snake left his body, Harry used Shunshinko to get to his destination faster. Potter had already realized that his secrets would be revealed tomorrow.
---
Rowena, with Godric on her head, quickly crawled to the middle of the path where Ragdoll was. The two Basilisks did not speak to each other, fully focused on their task. Even before reaching the final point, the snakes could smell the strange poisonous smoke. Unfortunately for the Villain who emitted this poison, the Basilisks had incredible resistance to more than just physical attacks.
§Godric, look for the Sssmoke Man and knock him out.§
The Black Basilisk said nothing and just disappeared into the forest. Over the course of several months of training, Godric was able to learn how to control the effects of his poison, they ranged from ordinary sleeping pills to death in a second. So now Salazar's team had not only an assassin, but an endless source of medicinal poisons too.
The sister continued on her way alone and stopped at the stand. Ragdoll was nowhere to be found.
Godric, meanwhile, quickly teleported to the center of the smoke. Basilisk understood that where the smoke was thicker, there was an enemy. In total, there were three people in the center, a Villain in a gas mask who was holding a revolver at the head of an unconscious teenager and a girl in a panic. Tetsutetsu took four bullets instead of Kendo and was knocked unconscious by the gas.
Basilisk did not think long and teleported directly to the enemy. He bit him in the neck and the Villain immediately fell to the ground.
"Huh? What happe- Oh."
The smoke cleared and Kendo was able to see a small black snake on the Mustard's body. The class B President remembered Harry Potter's companions and recognized Godric.
"Potter sent you?" A nod. "Do you know where everyone else is?" Another nod. "Right... I'm talking to a snake... I'll take Tetsutetsu and you show me the way."
The basilisk teleported onto the girl's shoulder and pointed its tail in the direction where Rowena was. Kendo extended her arms and took her classmate.
The two people and the Basilisk went to the evacuation point, where Yaoyorozu and Yosetsu were already waiting for them. Both teenagers sat on Rowena's back still bloody and a little shellshocked after her surprise appearance.
"What happened to the two of you?"
Kendo asked as she took off her gas mask and climbed onto Rowena's back as well, glad to finally throw Tetsutetsu off her. Momo looked at the beast she was sitting on and shuddered.
"We were attacked by some Nomu, but we managed to put a tracker on his body. Then Row appeared and... bit off his left hands... I will never get used to how cruel Potter and his friends can be."
Yaoyorozu didn't like the idea of crippling Villains. She perfectly understood that sooner or later she might even kill someone, but she definitely did not want to do it.
Yosetsu just nodded in agreement, first a huge Villain with a bunch of hands, and then a huge Snake ?! Class 1-A was definitely a bunch of madmen.
§I sssmell more humansss.§ Godric said and disappeared again.
---
Earlier, Ochako and Tsuyu were passing the Test of Courage hand in hand. The screams in the distance created a depressing atmosphere and Uraraka trembled a little with fear. But the next minute something happened that no one expected.
A completely black human silhouette jumped out from behind a tree and knocked out Ochako with one blow to the temple. Tsuyu immediately took her unconscious friend and jumped back.
"A Villain here...?"
Frog Girl put her friend on her back and wrapped her tongue around her so that she would not fall. The villain smiled, showing his sharp teeth and spoke in a metallic voice.
"I'm here to close the deal. Should you call the first person you see a villain? Some people might be offended."
He went on the attack again and this time it was even faster than the previous one. Tsuyu dodged his claws and then a knee kick in the stomach. The girl jumped back again to create distance between herself and the Villain, forcing him to frown.
"Slow... Too fucking slow." He growled. "Well, then I need to make it up with technique." He charged, his arms spread wide and ready for another attack.
'Hardening Quirk, like Kirishima- no, more like Tetsutetsu. I don't have the strength to break through his defenses and it looks like he has a lot more time using his Quirk. Ochako is unconscious and I have no permission to fight back, I need to retreat.'
Tsuyu crouched down on all fours and jumped up the tree, but it broke immediately to the surprise of the girl. The villain broke the tree trunk with one blow and Asui managed to see the red lightning that flashed on the wreckage.
"Not gonna happen, Froggy. I have a hundred and fifty years of personal experience and a few hundred more in my memories."
She quickly fell down, and could not use her tongue to grab on to anything else, otherwise Uraraka would fall to the Villain. Tsuyu could not grab the branches with her hands, they were too far away, so she fell straight into the arms of Homunculus.
Greed grabbed her by the throat with his left hand, allowing her to see the Ouroboros symbol before she passed out from shortness of breath.
"Well, that was fast. But what could I expect from people now? Damn, give me Ling back, at least it was fun with him..."
"You're going to have so much fun now that you're going to die, fucker."
A voice rang out from behind and a kick flew into Greed's skull, sending him flying. Homunculus broke several trees along the way before stopping.
Harry checked the condition of his classmates and seeing that they were alive was able to calm down a little.
"Greed, explain." He growled.
But not so calm as not to want to break the dying Homunculus's skull.
"I took these two hostages and made you surrender. You put on these handcuffs and I will carry your 'unconscious' body to the meeting point."
He tossed a pair of futuristic handcuffs to Potter, which immediately ended up on the teenager's wrists. Harry just nodded and spread his shadows around again, looking for the nearest students.
"You were able to get me when I was distracted and knocked me out. I cut off access to all Stones except Pride in order to train this Quirk, so I did not have time to react."
A red lightning flashed across Harry's face and a wound appeared on his temple.
"Found them."
Todoroki, Bakugo, Midoriya, and the fourth teenager whose name Harry did not remember, quickly walked in their direction. Izuku's hands were bloody and broken. He sat on Shoto's back, while Katsuki was dragging a class B student on him.
"Do you think I'm made of glass?" Bakugo grumbled.
"Kacchan, you're one of the targets, we can't-"
Harry's shadows suddenly appeared in front of the four teenagers, and their mouths opened.
"Todoroki! That fucker got Tsuyu and Ochako! He doesn't give a shit about my attacks! Get them to the camp, I'll try-"
As quickly as they appeared, the shadows abruptly disappeared, causing Midoriya to start muttering. Todoroki and Bakugo started to run but were able to find only two girls on the ground. Next to them lay the severed arm of their classmate full of familiar scars.
"... He said to get them to the camp, he probably lured the Villain away from them. Kacchan can you wake them up?"
Bakugo put Kanibara on the ground and sat down next to Tsuyu and slapped her cheeks a little. The girl slowly opened her eyes and just stared at Katsuki's annoyed face for a few seconds.
"I didn't want to wake up to this, ribbit."
"Oi, the hell are you talking about?!"
Bakugo's rage-filled cry woke Uraraka as well, she touched the head wound and groaned.
"What was that? The teams shouldn't make direct- Deku!"
Ochako's eyes widened in panic as she saw Izuku's condition. His arms were again broken and his whole body was covered in blood.
"I'm fine... We need to get back to camp now. But I don't know where Harry is now..." Midoriya glanced at the hand that laid on the floor. "I just hope he's okay."
---
Harry created an inconspicuous shadow eye in his clothes to observe his surroundings. Right now Greed was dragging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes whistling some old tune.
"Chinese folk songs? Really?"
"The best in the whole world, kid. Now shut up, we're getting close."
The homunculus approached Dhabi and Twice, who were already at the rally point.
"Just the two of you? Where are the rest of the idiots?"
Twice immediately turned towards Greed and jumped towards him.
"Trust in our allies! Most likely they are all already dead!!"
Dabi just glanced at the long-haired teenager with no left arm. He raised an eyebrow at the state of their target and turned his gaze to the Homunculus, who had already removed his impenetrable shield.
"Can Potter live another twenty-four hours? We still need him."
Greed rolled his eyes and threw Harry's body onto his other shoulder.
"Relax, the bleeding has stopped. The kid knows how to use his brain, I'll give it to him."
Air whistled from somewhere behind, forcing the three villains to turn around. The next second, Mister Compress fell in front of them, and Midoriya, Todoroki, and Asui fell on his back breaking the ground beneath.
"I know these brats! Who are they?"
Dabi raised his hand on which blue flames appeared immediately.
"Mister, dodge."
"Roger."
Dabi's hand flew backward from the force of the blast, and his fire hit Midoriya, who was already struggling to move. The tip of Tsuyu's tongue was also burned, but her wound was nothing compared to Izuku's condition.
Greed just looked at all this without even covering from the fire.
"Well, that certainly is getting fun."