Something Different

Aurdel walked into the staff room with a data pad in his hands, looking over the sets of schematics that he had drawn up. He was trying to recreate the superstructure and general layout of a Paris-class heavy frigate, one of the many ships that he’d had committed to memory a long time ago. Upon noticing a few measurements that had incorrect values, he quickly adjusted them. “Thirteen, has anyone signed up to use the USJ this afternoon?”

Thirteen was typing away at her computer, working on a lesson plan for next week regarding rescue training. “No, not this afternoon. However the business management course is going to be using the USJ this morning for supplemental classes for smaller scale disaster response management simulations.” She looked up, “Wait, do you need the USJ this afternoon? I haven’t heard anything about you holding any classes on weekends before.”

“Just because I hadn’t yet doesn’t mean I never would.” He put two fingers on the datapad, zooming in on the front half of the ship. It had been a long time since he’d actually put down the specs of a ship to paper, at least without the aid of a database. The last time he had was around fifteen years ago when he submitted the design for what he coined as a ‘light rapid-assault carrier,’ aiming to fill a role the UNSC desperately needed by designing a ship with greater force projection than a small task force of frigates. Ultimately his design was turned down due to being deemed ‘an inefficient waste of resources.’ He still held some bitter resentment over it. “But yes, I would like to have access to USJ from two to six if possible. I have plans for a supplemental class I want to hold for my students.”

“That’s quite a long time… But since I don’t expect anyone else to ask to use the USJ today, then I suppose it’s fine if you stay there for that long.” She was about to go back to typing, “Though, can I ask what exactly it is you’ll be doing? I still remember getting an earful from Vlad about the USJ being destroyed after All Might turned normal rescue training into a faux Villain ambush. Not to mention, I and Cementoss had to spend an entire weekend of unpaid time repairing the grounds.”

He looked up from the data pad, “You already know that if I cause damage during a class, then I make sure to repair it once we’re finished. Besides, I don’t plan to do anything nearly that destructive.” He stuffed the data pad away into a bag he carried with him, “I’m going to give them two options for the class. The first option is to use this class as simply a normal training day, where I can provide them instruction for anything they ask. After all, we've been focusing on nearly pure combat scenarios recently.”

“And the second option?”

“An endurance test, a sort of glorified scavenger hunt that will go on for almost the entirety of the time we’re there.”

She went back to typing, “A scavenger hunt hardly sounds like it would be intensified enough to be called an ‘endurance test.’ But I suppose if that’s what you have planned, then I won’t go against it.”

“I’ll just have to make some temporary modifications to the training grounds.”

She stopped again, “What kind of modifications?”

“Hey,” Aurdel had his shoulder tapped as he sat

in the auditorium where everyone had gathered.

“Yeah?”

“James overheard from the trainers what the Chief was planning for us,” Kurt said, “Our next mission is supposed to be a week long of underwater combat and navigation training.”

“A week long? I don’t think I’d ever want to set foot near a body of water again after that much time underwater,” Musa remarked.

“Yeah, but get this. He’s also going to sabotage our air tanks during the mission. In some of the spare air tanks there are tiny shaped charges to blow through them.”

“Did you tell this to the other teams?” Aurdel asked.

“Obviously, they’re all passing the news around right now.”

“Do we have a plan?”

“John said that if the Chief is going with us, then we could take-“

“Officer on deck!” One of the trainers in the auditorium shouted, they snapped to attention towards the door with a salute.

“At ease trainees,” Chief Petty Officer Mendez walked into the auditorium, taking the center position on the stage. “As I’m sure you have all figured out by now, for a week of your training we’re going to be taking you offworld. The beautiful and pristine outer colony of Emerald Cove.” He pressed a button on the podium, and a holographic projection of the planet popped up. “Despite the warm sandy beaches and the crystal clear water, you will not be taking a vacation here. Instead, you will be subjected to a week's worth of grueling underwater training. Deep sea navigation, underwater battle, rapid marine assaults and endurance training are only some of the many things that you will face in anticipation of your introduction to training in zero gravity.”

“All that, huh…?” He murmured.

“The shuttle that will take us to Emerald Cove will arrive at oh eight hundred hours, I expect you all to be awake by oh five hundred and all packed by oh six hundred. Those that slack and do not meet the time schedule will have the task of personally cleaning every inch of the shuttle by toothbrush. And with seventy five trainees, there will be a lot to clean.” Mendez looked around, “Is that clear trainees?”

“Sir yes sir!” All the Spartans answered.

“Good, then you are dismissed. Déjà is in the classroom with your exam, I expect you to all pass with flying colors.” Each of the Spartans stood up, making their way towards the classroom.

“We need to find a way to get the Chief’s air tanks…” Kurt murmured as they walked

“Maybe if we-”

“-Mr. Aurdel. Sir!” Aurdel snapped out of it, being brought back to reality. “Are you alive?”

“Yes, I’m alive. I was just deep in thought,” he relaxed his posture. Auditory and visual hallucinations in the form of memories… He would have to examine the transmitter carefully once he was done here. There was a crossed wire somewhere, and it was taking, sending and receiving mixed messages. Regardless… “It’s nice to see that you all elected to show up for this supplemental class, even though it was by no means necessary.”

“Not necessary?!” Mineta said, “Mr. Aizawa said that if any of us didn’t show up for this class then we would be given an exam on the first actual school day of the week!”

“Yes, that was the lie that I asked him to tell you all to try and encourage you to come.”

“Seriously?!”

“Don’t act so surprised, you’ve had this sort of lie told to you before. Either way I don’t want to hear any complaining. Plus Ultra, remember?” He looked around. “Now I want to hear some enthusiasm or else I’ll start holding supplementary classes every weekend, and they’ll all be mandatory.”

“Plus Ultra!”

“Much better. Now,” he began to walk as he started to explain, “I wanted to hold this class because though I felt that you were being pushed towards your limits, you still needed some dedicated time to just stretch your legs and keep up your pace.”

“Huh…?”

He sighed, “Alright, fine. Let me put it this way. I don’t think you guys are actually pushing your limits like you’re supposed to.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Kaminari shouted.

“On an almost weekly basis, I push you guys to your wits and body’s ends. But that isn’t enough.”

“Not enough?! You’ve almost beaten us to death in training!”

“Yeah!” Hagakure said, “And ever since you became a teacher we’ve been doing more than twice the exercise that we did before!”

“Tell me, what would you do if you broke your arm?”

“Huh?” His sudden question was met with confusion, but he pressed them.

“What would you do if you broke your dominant arm? The arm you write, eat, type and do everything with.”

“Well… I would get it healed and wait for-“

“But what if you can’t wait?” He folded his arms, “What if you’re in the middle of a fight and a Villain breaks your arm? What if there’s no one else except for you there, and you can’t retreat or get help?”

“That’s…” There was no immediate response from most of the class.

“You would keep fighting with the other arm, and the rest of your body,” Midoriya said. Right, he’d almost forgotten how Midoriya originally fought. To him this was like preaching to the converted. But he needed to make sure that this message went out to the rest of the class too.

“That’s correct. And though some of you can already do that, I want to make sure that all of you are capable of doing so.”

Ida raised his hand, “Mr. Aurdel, what is it we’ll be doing for this exercise?”

“…I was just about to get there,” Ida lowered his hand. “I am giving you two options. First, you can use this day as a normal training day. Work with your quirk or with your muscles, just make sure that I can tell you’re putting in serious effort.”

“And the second option?” Someone asked. He quickly turned his head, making his displeasure at being cut off again clear.

“Your second is the slightly more enjoyable option, a scavenger hunt across the USJ where-“

“Hurray!” There was a sudden shout as most of the class easily decided which option they would take, he could only sigh in response.

“I think it’s safe to assume that you’re all going for the second option.”

“Of course,” Ashido said, “Who wouldn’t go for something much more fun?”

“Actually,” Yaoyorozu began, “There is some merit in-“

“Well in that case let this serve also serve as a secondary lesson,” Aurdel reached into the ground, pulling out a large box and slamming it down. “If you’re going to do the scavenger hunt then you’ll need these.”

“Need what?”

“Tools.” He cracked open the box, revealing its contents.

“Are we hiding a body?!”

“No. The shovels are for digging the objects I placed underground, the rope is for tying one arm behind your back as you work.”

“Why would you hide things for a scavenger hunt in the ground?!” Sero shouted.

“Yeah, and how are we supposed to dig with only one arm?!”

“That’s for you to find out. If I hadn’t been interrupted, I would have gotten to it. There’s a lesson in patience for you.”

Grumbling over their situation, the class accepted the terms that they were given. Each of them went over, picked up a shovel, tied one arm behind their backs and each took a list of clues. “By the way, since you’re all here I may as well grade this like a normal exercise,” Mr. Aurdel said. “So if you could just do-“

“I don’t need to hear this!” Before he could finish Bakugo blasted away with one hand, using his shovel like a pogo stick every time he fell towards the ground.

“Bakugo, wait up!” Kirishima chased after him.

“I don’t think he’ll ever change…” Midoriya said with a sigh.

“…Just do your best. Also, if you manage to complete the entire list then there’s a reward-“

Over half the class quickly ran after hearing that, eager to complete the list. “Is there some aversion to complete sentences that I don’t know about?”

“They're all just eager to get the reward,” Uraraka said, with a small laugh.

Mr. Aurdel folded his arms, “I suppose it just comes from a difference in matter of perspective. You’re teenagers in highschool on a weekend during peacetime, you have all the time you could ever want. But some of you still act like the end of the world is tomorrow. It’s disheartening.”

Midoriya could hear the pain in his voice, it was hard to imagine what he’d been through. “Mr. Aurdel. I don’t know if you’re willing to talk about it, but what were things like where you’re from?”

There was a pause, “That’s… not an easy question to answer.”

“I can narrow it down. What would someone around our age be doing?”

“Well, most kids your age are still attending school. Going to class every day, working part time jobs, having fun. That’s how it was in the inner colonies.”

“Inner colonies?”

“The planets closer to Earth, the ones that were relatively more safe from the Covenant. The outer colonies were different.” He looked up, staring past Midoriya and the others. “People on the outer colonies tried to live normal lives, but the constant threat of possible invasion looming over them made it nearly impossible. Mandatory blackouts, curfews, constant evacuation drills and preparedness procedures. And with the war having taken so many lives, nearly every planet had a local militia formed. Set up to buy time in case UNSC forces weren’t in the area at the time of an invasion. Ages sixteen to sixty, though those parameters weren’t set in stone. At times it was just anyone who could hold a gun at that moment.” He stopped again, taking a moment to collect himself. “At first I couldn’t stand the sight of the casualties, but with time it was just another feature of the battlefield. Children with rifles they can barely hold, wearing gear that doesn’t fit them. A fourteen year old being backed into a corner defending his family against alien creatures he can’t understand, Hell doesn’t begin to describe it.” There was no real way to respond to that… “Things like that are why I want you all to appreciate the time you have, to take things at a reasonable pace. Because once you’re adults and officially pro-Heroes you’ll have all the opportunities you want to live life fast. But you won’t be able to get back any time you wasted.”

“Mr. Aurdel…”

“But, hey,” their teacher had a rather sudden tonal shift, “You’re free to take or ignore my advice, I’m just a man in the waning years of his prime that feels the need to pass something on.” He started to walk away, “Now, get to finding those items on the list. Otherwise you won’t get that reward. Or a good grade”

“R-right!” Midoriya had been so focused on the conversation that he’d almost forgotten that this was meant to be a class.

“Midoriya.” Ida, who’d remained silent for quite some time, finally spoke up. “If this exercise is to be graded on completion rather than personal accomplishment, then I suggest that we work together to find everything.”

“Deku, we can help too!” Uraraka said, Asui with her.

“I think it’d be okay if we worked together,” Midoriya said, a little nervous. It was hard to focus with what they’d been told. Something so… awful. He couldn’t help but wonder just how much it affected Mr. Aurdel’s teaching. Or, more importantly, how it affected him personally. Even as his classmates started to gather around and begin to discuss where to look, he couldn’t help but watch as their teacher walked away. It was really hard to tell what was behind that visor sometimes.

Search and You Shall Find

“Bakugo, wait up!”

“Why would I do that?!” Bakugo shouted as Kirishima chased after him.

“Because you didn’t even stop to look at the list he gave us! You just started running in one direction.”

Bakugo put his hand forward, letting out a series of blasts to slow his speed. Eventually he came to a stop. “Moron, do you know why I immediately went to this place?”

Kirishima looked around. “No, not really…?”

“If he gave us shovels, then it was because he expected us to have to use them. And of all of the different zones in the USJ, in only one of them can someone be reasonably expected to dig up massive amounts of crap.” He picked up his shovel with one hand, “The landslide zone. The dirt here is filled with a bunch of crap to make sure it’s always loose, to mimic the conditions of a landslide.”

“Huh, that’s actually pretty smart of you to notice…”

“Then get digging!” He whacked Kirishima with his shovel.

“Ow! What the hell?! Can’t you just blow all the dirt away with your explosions?”

“We’re supposed to find whatever it is he buried, not destroy the mountainside. If I blow away the dirt then it’ll take whatever is here with it.” He put the head of his shovel into the ground, using his foot to drive it in. “Start digging the perimeter. I don’t want those extras digging in the middle, dumping their dirt in the way and then making double the work.”

“Right!” Kirishima put his shovel to the dirt and began to dig. Bakugo would win this exercise, and he would do it indisputably.

“Man, why did he have to make these clues so confusing?” Uraraka said, exasperated.

“It’s to prepare us for the eventuality that we may receive confusing orders in the field,” Ida tried to explain, “You might not understand them at first, but it’s our duty as Heroes to try and understand what we’re told in those moments.”

“Riddles are a lot different than confusing orders. Ribbit.”

“Regardless of the contents, we must learn from the lessons we are given!”

Midoriya interrupted, “Arguing about it won’t get us anywhere, we just need to accept it and get started. Here, give me all of your lists.” Midoriya took each of the lists that his classmates had, laying them out next to each other.

“Hey, some of the lists aren’t finished!” Uraraka said.

“More than that,” Ida said, “Several of the riddles are different, have numbers switched around or are completely different… “

“Let’s ignore the ones that look like they’ve been tampered with, which ones are the most consistent?”

“There’s only one,” Ida crouched down, picking up one of the papers. “Number seven: ‘Here you will find one in this place that needed two, for which forty would ride the night before the army that marched through.’”

“What kind of riddle is that?”

“It sounds like it’s referencing a historical event… but I’ve never heard of anything like it.”

“It certainly doesn’t like anything I’ve heard of.”

“Maybe it’s not Japanese history?” Midoriya suggested, “It could be from somewhere else.”

“Maybe it’s American history?” Uraraka interjected, “As far as we know Mr. Aurdel isn’t Japanese, and all those really old sci-fi movies that showed something like what he described usually had Americans in the lead roles.”

Midoriya let out a sigh, “I don’t think it’s wrong to say he’s close to an American, but I think that he would find that reasoning somewhat insulting.”

“I suppose that narrows it down.” Ida went to grab his phone with his right hand, but when he remembered that it was still tied behind his back he switched hands. “If we consider ‘ride the night’ to imply the use of horses, then that would narrow the timeframe to the eighteenth and nineteenth century.”

“If they’re riding before an army, that would make them scouts. Right?”

“That would, but I don’t think armies back then really moved or fought at night. That’s also working with the assumption that those riders were with that army.”

Midoriya tried to think, what could it be referring to? “Maybe they were trying to warn other people about the army instead?”

“That may be it,” Ida typed with his one hand, then searched the internet. “You were right, the first result is ‘Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.’”

“Oh, I know about that!” Uraraka suddenly jumped up, “That’s where that quote, ’One if by land, two if by sea,’ comes from.”

“How do you know about something so obscure?”

She let out an embarrassed laugh, “I was always looking for ways to earn a little more cash. My school sometimes hosted trivia competitions with prizes, so I always made sure to study for them when they came around. World history was one of the topics they had.”

“So what are we looking for then?”

“Well, the quote I said was in reference to lamps being set up to show whether or not the British army were showing up by land or sea,” she picked up one of the papers. “‘One in this place that needed two.’ That must mean we’re looking for a lamp somewhere in the sea.”

“The only place in the USJ that could be like the sea is the flood zone. Ribbit.”

“Then let’s go! We can’t afford to spend as much time on all of the riddles.”

Bakugo drove his shovel into the dirt again. With one arm he then pulled it up, driving out a large clump of dirt before tossing it to the side. Then he did it all again. “Bakugo, don’t you think you should at least look at the paper now? I don’t think we’re going to find anything over here.”

“Do what you want, I’m going to keep digging,” he drove out another clump of dirt. “Following orders is one thing, but the best Heroes are supposed to follow their own intuition and gut feelings. The kind of Hero that just knows that an accident is about to happen, and manages to get there right before it happens. And my gut is telling me that there’s something here.”

“Well that’s really manly, but also sounds kinda dumb.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” He turned around, brandishing his shovel.

Kirishima put up his hand defensively, “I’m not saying that your intuition is wrong! I’m just saying that given how flexible you usually are it seems weird how fixated you are on still digging here. We’re almost a foot deep into the dirt.”

“He wouldn’t bury it only a foot underground!” Bakugo shouted, “He’s trying to make us exercise, not work up a slight sweat.” He put his shovel down, “Besides, are you trying to tell me you’re a god damned quitter?”

“Huh? No, I’m-“

“You keep saying you’re trying to be manly, but you’re giving up way before your goal is even in sight! How is that supposed to be manly?!”

“I’ll dig it up!” With a renewed fire, Kirishima began digging again. Tossing out waves of dirt onto the large pile that they’d already started. He’d find that damned thing that was buried in the landslide zone, or he’d fail trying. It had to be here. He just knew it.

“Isn’t this…”

“…Overdoing it a little?” Asui and the others looked out to the flood zone, there was a massive object in the water.

“Isn’t that the maze from the obstacle course that Mr. Aurdel had us run? Ribbit.” Asui put a finger to her lip, “What’s it doing in the water?”

“I figured that it would be too easy if I just put the lamp at the bottom of the lake.”

“The robot!” The four of them suddenly went on alert as-

“Calm down!” It raised its hands, “I’m just using this for observation purposes, I’m not turning this into a combat exercise.”

“Oh.” They relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Like I said, it would be too easy if I put the lamp at the bottom of the lake. After all, one of you can breathe underwater,” the robot gestured towards Asui. “So, I decided to complicate things by putting the lantern in a maze.”

Ida raised his hand, “Sir, wouldn’t it be ineffective due to us having already run the maze?”

“Yeah,” Uraraka said, “And what’s stopping us from just breaking through? We’re allowed to use our quirks this time.”

“Both very good questions, and I have an answer for both. First, I changed the layout of the maze and removed the original exit and entrance. It’s also designed that when you retrieve the lamp, the maze will shift and change shape. The walls are also reinforced.”

“That doesn’t sound-“

“There are also some traps inside, designed to stall your progress. Some of which were made by Hatsume.”

“Oh…”

“Yes. For the sake of safety, I’m going to ask you to please not damage anything in the maze. I didn’t actually check the quality of her welds or wiring, and I’m not confident enough to say that something won’t short circuit and electrify the water.”

“Isn’t that a really serious concern?!”

“It is, but I wouldn’t put you through anything that I haven’t done myself.”

“Have you really done something like this before…?”

“If there’s anything that I can tell you with absolute certainty, then it’s that there wasn’t a single boring day during my training.” He looked around, “Now, I’m off to go check on the others. So good luck with getting through this.” After that he walked off.

“It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice.” Midoriya turned to Asui. “As- Tsu, I don’t think there’s anyone else we could ask to do this. In our class you’re the best swimmer, and the greatest when it comes to doing anything underwater. Can you do it?”

“I won’t say no, but…” She looked around, “If this is meant to be an exercise for us all, wouldn’t it be best for someone else to go in? Ribbit.”

“You’re probably right, but given the circumstances I don’t think there’s much of a choice to be made,” Ida said. “Had we been given the chance to prepare and acclimate to our situation, someone else could have gone. Then again, pro-Heroes often deploy to their strengths. In a way it more properly mimics the deployment of actual Heroes.”

“Somehow, I don’t think Mr. Aurdel would be happy with that answer. Ribbit.” After that Asui walked over to the edge of the lake that made up the majority of the flood zone. With a leap and a bound she dove in headfirst, swimming towards the maze located at the bottom of the lake. Doing so was made somewhat difficult by only having one arm available, but she managed to get by. After about a minute of searching she eventually located the entrance to the maze and pulled herself inside, proceeding slowly in order to allow her eyes to better adjust to the lower level of light.

Carefully she traced her way through the first few turns of the maze, using the pathfinding skills that they were taught to make sure she didn’t lose her way. She also took her time to watch the walls and floor of the maze, looking out for all of the traps. And there sure were a lot of them. There were sets of tiles covered with thorns and barbs designed to prick her and throw her off her balance, fishing line hooked up to a switch with a bunch of lights that would have blinded her, a pressure sensor below her that was presumably linked up to the trap door above it and would have sent her flying out of the maze and even a trigger for a cage that would have dropped down and trapped her inside. Even for a relatively normal exercise some of these obstacles were pushing it.

After around two minutes of continuous single-armed swimming, Asui reached a dead end. She was about to turn back around and head in the other direction when she noticed that there was a gap between the ceiling and the water. It was an air pocket. She swam upwards into the thin air pocket, craning her neck into a specific position that put her mouth and nose above the water. Then she took a deep breath. If the rest of the maze were designed like this, then it meant that she wouldn’t have to worry about any unreasonable level of danger while down here.

Once she’d had enough time to rest she dove back down into the water, moving at a quicker pace through the initial incorrect path she’d taken. At the first turn she could take she went in, keeping up her pace since she now knew what to expect. The same traps that she was careful to avoid before were now just simple annoyances that she had to avoid, paying little heed to them besides that. And after what felt like an eternity of swimming through long winding paths, reaching dead ends and taking breaks she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Quite literally. Upon turning the next corner she was able to see a dim light, one that was clearly shining through a set of glass. She picked up her pace as she swam closer, eventually making out what it was. It was the lamp.

After carefully searching the room that the lamp was in, she approached it. Then, after taking another moment to carefully look at the lamp itself, she grabbed it. Less than a second later, the walls of the maze began to shift.

End of the Hunt

The moment that the walls around her began to shift, Asui became incredibly alert. Even through the water she could hear the sound of machines whirring and moving around. The cracks of light that also shone through parts of the maze rapidly fluctuated between very little and large amounts, nearly blinding her in the process. But she fought through the moment, and after roughly a minute everything went back to silence. With the dim light of lamp lighting the way, she began to wade her way through the water and out of the room. Coming back through was more difficult due to the fact that she now had to carry the lamp, depriving her of the only arm she’d had available to swim. She couldn’t carry it with her legs, nor could she hold it between her teeth.

Asui moved slowly, carefully stepping over and around the traps that lined the floors and walls. But it was nearly impossible. She ended up brushing against a string covered with barbs, tearing through the right shoulder of her costume and draining some blood. Reflexively she tried to move her right arm, the sudden movement throwing her off of her feet and causing her to fall over. Her costume was pierced by more of the barbs as she landed on another set of strings, drawing more blood and causing even more pain. She was just barely able to catch herself though, stopping herself from letting go of the deep breath that she was holding onto. Eventually she managed to calm down, carefully pulling herself off of the barbs and trudging forward. Even so it didn’t get any easier.

After around five minutes of weaving through obstacles and traps she came to one long stretching path, one that was likely the way forward to the end of the maze. But by no stretch of the imagination could it be called easy. This one hallway was littered with more traps and obstacles than she’d seen throughout the entire rest of the maze. Getting through it… Would be impossible. She leaned against the wall, taking a moment to rest.

Series of strings covered with barbs stretched across the hallway from left to right, making them nearly unavoidable. Tripwires attached to lights and nets were strung through the space between them, something that would funnel her straight into the other more dangerous traps. Around them were even more traps designed to capture or slow her down. If she tried to force her way through she would likely run out of air before even getting half way, though that’s not even taking into account the number of wounds she would sustain along the way. Mr. Aurdel wouldn’t want them getting needlessly hurt, there had to be another way for her to get out of the maze. She looked around, searching for something, anything, she could use.

Then it hit her. Quickly she backtracked through the maze, going back to one of the traps that she’d avoided along the way. It was one of the pressure traps linked to a trap door, one that would likely send her flying out of the maze when triggered. Something like that would have been bad had she triggered it on the way in, before she’d grabbed the lamp. But now that she had what she came for… She could leave

Asui pushed herself off of the floor and floated above the pressure sensor for a moment before dropping down, firmly placing both feet on the ground. A second later the trap activated, the door above her head opening and an immense force sent her flying upward. In fact it was so immense that she launched all the way back up, flying at least ten feet into the air after breaching the surface. “Tsu!” Uraraka called out to her the moment she was in sight.

“I’ve got her!” Midoriya reached out with his left hand and used his quirk, grabbing Asui out of the air and pulling her in. Eventually she was back on the ground. “Asui, are you alright? Your costume-“

“I’m alright, just a little roughed up. Ribbit.” She looked around, “Shouldn’t you guys have gone to look for the other items?”

“We were considering it,” Uraraka said, “But we decided that we would stay to help you! Just in case something went wrong.”

“It was tough, but I got through without any problems.” She raised her left arm, “I got the lamp too. Ribbit.”

“Nice work!”

“If you have the lamp, then we have no time to waste,” Ida said. “Let’s bring the lamp back to Mr. Aurdel and then proceed with the rest of the list.”

“Yeah!”

Bakugo drove his shovel into the ground, muttering under his breath. “Damnit…” He tossed the dirt out of the hole, adding to the large pile. Then he looked backed towards the ground. “Damnit… Damnit damnit DAMNIT!” He threw the shovel against the ground, then began to stomp on it. “GOD DAMNIT!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Kaminari shouted back, putting down his own shovel. Kirishima had conscripted two other dunces to help them dig.

“What the hells the problem?! There’s nothing here!”

“You mean that you’re only admitting that you made a bad call after almost AN HOUR of digging?!”

“There should have been something here!” Bakugo growled, “It doesn’t make sense, why the hell isn’t anything here?!

“Maybe you were just wrong-“

He jabbed a finger towards Kaminari, “You say that again, I dare you!”

“Cool your head a little Bakugo!” Kirishima said, “We’re just frustrated that we’ve been digging so long and haven’t found anything yet.”

“YOU spent a long time digging, he hasn’t.”

“Hey! I-“

“In fact, what the hell were you doing when we found you?!”

“I was looking for something too!” Kaminari shouted, “Then you guys came over and told me to help you, since you thought you knew where one of the objects was!”

“So now you’re blaming it on us!”

“What? No-”

“Bakugo, he’s just-”

“I’ll kick your ass!” Bakugo picked up the shovel again.

“Crap!” Kaminari began to run, clambering over a rock.

“Get the hell back here!” Bakugo quickly blasted after him, catching up in little no time. He cracked the long end of the shovel against his back.

Kaminari dropped onto the ground on his back, looking up. “H-Hold on!”

“Say your last words!” Bakugo raised the shovel.

“Look, I’m sorry!” Kaminari said as Bakugo kept the shovel raised, that was when Bakugo noticed it. “I was just frustrated that-”

He put down the shovel, “Shut up.”

“But I-!”

“I said shut up!” He grabbed Kaminari by the shoulder, tossing him to the side. Then he put his shovel back to the dirt.

“Huh? What are you doing now?!”

“There’s no way!” He dug rapidly, not caring where he tossed the dirt that he pulled up. Then he hit something solid. “You’ve got to be…!” He tossed his own shovel down, reaching into the loose dirt. He pulled out…

“…Another shovel?” Kaminari said, confused.

“What the hell… is this?”

Kirishima walked over, holding the piece of paper that each of them were given. “Uh, I’m looking through the list and… There it is. ‘Destruction lies in its wake and through torrential rains it comes to take, but here you'll find what you use hidden just outside your point of view.’”

“He knew exactly where we would look for it, so he moved it just far enough that we wouldn’t find it at first…” He clenched his hands around the shovel that he’d pulled out of the ground, gripping so tight that he nearly cut off the blood flow to his fingers. It has been planned out perfectly, counting on his intuition to bring him here and then his pride to keep him from figuring out what was going on. His damned pride… “GOD DAMNIT!”

Eventually an hour and a half would pass, and the scavenger hunt was over. And once that time was up his class returned to the main courtyard with seventeen of the eighteen items that were on the lists. “Good work everyone. I’m proud of-”

“Who taught you how to organize a scavenger hunt?!” Around half the class shouted at him, up in arms.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

“For what we believed to be a rather straightforward hunt, there was a greater deal of danger than we expected,” Yaoyorozu said. She was covered with dirt, bumps and bruises.

“That’s understating it, I think we could have been killed!” Ashido shouted, “What kind of maniac stuffs a room full of tripwires and exploding garbage cans?!”

“Yeah, who would set up all those traps inside of a building like it’s some kind of boobytrapped ancient temple?!” Hagakure added.

“Encountering intricately planned and executed traps by the enemy is a common occurrence you should be prepared for. Others have gone through far worse than what you have in the name of training, in fact some of them were very well put through things that would have killed them.”

“And how do you know that?”

He got irritated. “Because I did everything that you did, while under a time limit and all I’m one go. And I was even y-“ Upon realizing what he was about to say, he bit his tongue. He cursed himself for nearly slipping up. Despite everything, he didn’t feel that he was ready to tell anyone about just what he’s been through. He let out a sigh, “Well, let’s just say that back then I had a little more spring in my step, though I suppose that’s besides the point. You’re probably expecting your reward.”

“Reward? But we didn’t find everything,” Kaminari pointed out.

“Did you?” He reached over towards a set of coolers he’d gathered while they’d been searching, the class was confused. Most of them went back to the lists that he’d handed out, comparing them.

Slowly but surely, they put it together. “Was the last thing we had to look for… You?”

“It was meant to be a sort of trick riddle, since you were guaranteed to come back to be at the end of your hunt. But I thought I would include it as a way to sort of rack your brains. Now,” he opened up one of the coolers, “I hope you’re all a fan of seafood, or else I’ve made a real error in my judgment.”

“Woah!” He flipped open the coolers, revealing their contents. There was an assortment of lobster, crab, shrimp, clams, oysters, a variety of fish and a large number of bottles of water and soda. Bakugo walked away from the rest of the class

“Mr.Aurdel, can you really cook?!”

“Obviously. I’ve eaten a lot of MRE in my time, but I can’t call myself self-sufficient if I was unable to cook.” The robotic body walked over, carrying a propane grill. “Of course, I have to also clean up the mess you all left behind. So I’m going to go do that while I also control this thing to cook,” he jerked a thumb back towards the robot body. Then he walked away.

But of course before he went to do his work there was someone he had to talk to. Bakugo stopped in his tracks. “I don’t need your pity.”

“If you think that I’m pitying you, then that means you didn’t learn anything.”

Bakugo lowered his head. “My pride, it got in the way of the proper solution. If something like that happened in the actual line of Hero work I’d get trampled over.”

Aurdel let out a sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with feeling pride, it’s just part of the human condition. The problem is that there’s a thin line to tread between feeling pride, and being self-indulgent. Once you’ve fallen into that trap there’s little that will pull you out.”

“Then how do you do it?” Bakugo turned around, “You have so much, have done so much, but when anyone looks like they’re about to give you any credit you deflect it elsewhere.”

Aurdel closed his eyes, “There is very little that I feel I deserve credit for. My life is the result of a cosmically inconceivable set of circumstances, one that I had no choice in deciding. Only adding fuel is the simple fact that most of my actions, ultimately, have been utterly inconsequential. The world will continue to spin, and people will continue to live their lives.” He opened his eyes, “Don’t mistake what I’m saying for some thinly veiled idea of nihilism though. I believe that in life there are choices that truly matter, and those choices are what I hold pride in, but each person has a different set of choices to make. That’s why I don’t seek validation.” He gave Bakugo a pat on the back, “But I also try to keep myself present, something that I’d suggest you do too. So go on. First round of grub will be ready in around five minutes, no sense in missing out.” With a begrudging grumble Bakugo relented, walking back towards the class and leaving Aurdel alone.

With his focus split between two bodies doing separate things, his mind could feel the mental tool it was taking on him. Walking away in one and listening to his students have fun from the other. Eventually it triggered another memory.

Aurdel sat on the shore of the beach, letting the tide lap against his feet as he stared out across the crystal blue ocean. Eventually he heard two voices calling out for him. “…Aurdel! Hey!”

He turned his head, shouting back, “I’m over here guys!”

Kurt and Musa ran over, “What are you doing all the way over here?”

He looked back towards the water, “Do you think he’ll be alright?”

“You mean the Chief?” Musa asked.

“Nothing can kill him,” Kurt said, “If anything, he’ll be happy that we turned his plans around. It means that he’s gonna have to make them even harder the next time around.”

He put on a weak smile, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” But the smile quickly dropped from his face, and for a moment there was only the noise of the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

“Being here reminds you of Arcadia, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he lowered his head.

More silence. “We could always take the Pelican, fly it out to the nearest settlement. Then we can take the first shuttle off-“

“I can’t go with you guys if you leave.”

“Huh?”

“Aurdel, when we were first conscripted you were the one who wanted to go home the most,” Musa pointed out.

He put his arms around his legs, resting his head. “It was because I didn’t know what else to do, it was my first instinct. But after all those escape attempts, and after all the training we did… I don’t want to leave you guys behind.”

“Don’t you want to see your parents?”

“I already told you, I woke up while I was being kidnapped. I saw what they did.” He shook his head, his voice cracking slightly, “There’s nothing to go back to.”

The three of them stared out towards the water, in silence. Kurt and Musa looked at each other. “Then I guess that’s settled it,” Kurt said, “We’ll stay too.”

Aurdel looked up, “What do you mean?”

“If we go and leave you behind, Chief, the doc and the others will raise hell against you. And we can’t make you face that by yourself,” Musa said.

“We’re a team, and a team sticks together. Even if it means making a few sacrifices.”

Kurt put a hand on his shoulder, “You guys…”

“Besides, somebody has to keep the other teams in check. If Jerome, John and Fred get too big for their boots, then I don’t think you could knock them down a peg by yourself.” That put a smile on his face, and gave him a small chuckle. “Now come on, the others are organizing brackets for a fighting tournament. We can’t get started without you.”

He took Kurt’s hand, standing up. “Who am I up against?”

“That’d be our very own rabbit.”

“Kelly? She shouldn’t be too tough.” The three of them started to walk back together.

“I wouldn’t discount her if I were you, but I think you can deal with her,” Musa said, “What you’ve really got to watch out for is the next bracket. James and Cal.”

“Holy crap, James is going to get folded!”

Kurt gave him a playful shove, “Speak for yourself, she’s going to fold YOU!”

“That may happen. But if I do lose, then I’ll make sure it’s the only way any self-respecting man ever should.”

“Between a pair of legs!” The three of them shouted out together, laughing as they walked over to where all of the Spartans had set up camp together.

Then Aurdel blinked, and he was back in reality. A bittersweet smile was stretched across his face. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut, muting his helmet and letting out a heavy labored breath.

Staying present… He couldn’t even follow the very same advice that he’d given. But it was because of that past that he was working so hard to preserve the happiness of those around him.

It was only fair…

Right?