After making their own food, the other students of both class 1-A and 1-B were finally finished eating.
"Alright! Now that you have full bellies and cleaned the dishes, it's time for…!"
Pixie-bob announced to the students, trying to get them excited.
"A totally awesome test of courage!"
Mina interrupted, jumping eagerly for the coming test.
The students were all hyped, especially the ones who were taking remedial lessons, looking to have fun.
"Not so fast."
Aizawa cut them off.
"It pains me to say, but the remedial class will be having lessons with me tonight."
Just like that, Aizawa destroyed the good mood of the students.
"Dude, you are the biggest buzzkill in the world. No wonder you are single. That, and you look like an unkempt hobo."
Sam pitched in, roasting Aizawa.
Everyone who heard that felt like their eyes were popping out due to the being widened from shock.
Even the Pussycats got out of character for a bit and looked stunned beyond words.
Aizawa felt like he got stabbed in the heart. He was about to activate his quirk and try to intimidate Sam, but then he remembered what he did to Sam.
'He isn't letting that go anytime soon, is he?'
Aizawa sighed.
"Remedial class. Follow me."
Aizawa calmly said, shocking everyone about how lax Aizawa's response was.
After they left, the Pussycats got back into character, shaking off their surprise.
"Alright! Class B will be the scarers first! When they are settled, class A will enter the forest in pairs. Every three minutes, a pair will enter the forest. Your goal is to collect the tags with your names on them at the end of the route!"
They explained, keeping character.
"Revelry in the dark."
Tokoyami randomly said, making Sam raise an eyebrow and leaving Uraraka a bit nervous.
"Now, those who are scarers are forbidden from touching others! Use your quirks to terrify the others! Got it?"
The Pussycats were laughing and having fun, clearly excited for the coming test of courage.
'For fucks sake this is dumb as hell.'
Sam turned his back to them and started to walk away.
Midoriya saw that and called out.
"Sam! Where are you going?"
Sam stopped.
"I'm not doing this little game. You guys have your little test of courage. It's pointless for me."
Sam said, not turning around.
He then walks back to his spot underneath the tree.
He lay on the ground and just stared at the beautiful night sky.
'Test of courage? Tch. Nothing is more terrifying than a war zone.'
Sam thought to himself, feeling tired.
He decided to try and take a nap, as he rarely sleeps at night.
He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since he layed down, that he smelled smoke.
His eyes shot open. He knew that smell very well.
He shot up to his feet.
He looked around, on high alert.
'What the fuck is going on? Did Todoroki accidentally cause a forest fire? No. This isn't the smell of an accidental forest fire. This is an attack.'
Sam was an expert in battle and was very familiar with fire. He watched people be burned alive and saw forests of Africa be razed by inferno.
If this was accidental, the smoke wouldn't be as strong as it was currently. Forest fires can grow quickly, but not this quick. Sam knew this was intentional.
He decided to go back to the forests entrance and find the others.
When he arrived at the entrance, he saw a passed out Pixie-bob, laying on the ground with a head injury.
He quickly went over to her and got on his knees. He carefully lifted her head and checked the wound.
"She will only have a concussion. She will live, though."
Sam sighed in relief.
He carefully put her down, making sure not to aggravate her wound too much.
"Whoever did this, must be close. I have to find the other brats."
Sam decided to hurry and find the students.
He went into the forest of courage, where they were taking their test. However, he caught the smell of something else, other than smoke. He quickly clasped his hand around his mouth and nose, knowing that what he smelt was not natural.
'It's chemical! I feel a bit drowsy! It's a sleep agent!'
Luckily, Sam could hold his breath for a while, but he had to hurry and get out of the forest.
Just as he was about to exit the forest, he caught a glimpse of some passed out students.
He tried to see who it was, but the gas was thick and impeding his vision.
'Shit. This sucks.'
Sam could just go back, but he couldn't just leave the brats in this forest with some idiot with a sleeping gas quirk.
He rolled his eyes and went deeper into the forest.
———
Not far from Sam, Itsuka Kendo and Tetsutetsu from class 1-B were hunting the villain producing the gas.
They were given gas masks thanks to Momo's quirk, allowing them to breathe.
Tetsutetsu thought this was the perfect chance for them to outdo class 1-A. For the whole semester, 1-A had been the topic of discussion due to the USJ and even Stain. He believed that this was the moment his class was waiting for.
Kendo, who is much more rational, didn't fully agree with Tetsutetsu's and asked him to escape the forest with her, but on refusal, she had no choice but to go with him.
"It's getting thicker. We should be close."
Tetsutetsu calmly said to Kendo.
She nodded her head, and looked carefully, through the fog. After a bit of searching, they found a small figure with a gas mask on, holding a revolver.
"Alright, I'm gonna go attract his attention, you knock him out from behind."
Tetsutetsu tells Kendo, who is shocked that he wasn't being muscle-headed and rushed in recklessly.
She hums in acknowledgement and gets behind the villain. Finally, Tetsutetsu reveals himself and turns metallic.
The villain is spooked, seeing someone walking in his gas, but noticed the gas mask and shot his revolver. However, Tetsutetsu hardened and tanked the bullets.
Kendo snuck up behind the villain.
However, someone arrived before her.
"Give me that."
Suddenly, they hear the annoyed voice of someone and they see the silhouette of someone ripping the revolver from the villains hand.
"Now!"
Kendo noticed the figure looking in her direction, indicating that it was her turn to incapacitate him.
Right behind the villain, she enlarged her hand.
Chop!
With a hand chop, with her giant hand, she knocked out the villain.
As soon as he hit the ground, the gas stopped forming.
As soon as it cleared out enough, they heard someone take a deep breath.
They saw Sam, right before them, holding the revolver while keeping his hands on his knees, trying not to pass out.
"Goddamn… that's some strong gas…"
Sam muttered.
Unfortunately for him, the gas was still present in the air. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it was still debilitating. Thus why he allowed Kendo to knock the villain out.
He carefully took a knee, trying to keep himself steady.
Tetsutetsu and Kendo see this and run up to Sam.
"Suzuki! Are you okay?"
Kendo asked, concerned for him.
"Do you need anything?"
Tetsutetsu also pitched in.
Sam waved them off.
"I'm fine. Just took a huge gulp of that gas at the end there. I'm feeling a bit drowsy. Luckily, I was taught how to combat sleeping gases."
Sam said softly.
Both Kendo and Tetsutetsu were confused, until they saw Sam remove his army knife from its holster, and cut himself on the arm.
"Dude!"
"What are you doing?!?"
Kendo and Tetsutetsu freak out seeing this, but Sam feels the adrenaline from the pain rushing into him, offsetting the sleeping gases.
"Calm down! I just cut myself to keep me awake. It's not perfect but it should do the trick for a bit."
Sam stood back up, not even concerned about his bleeding arm.
The cut wasn't too deep, and he made sure to avoid any veins when cutting.
He wasn't some punk emo kid who cuts for fun, but he needed to stay awake right now.
He looks down at the revolver in his hands.
"Hmm… this is a Smith and Wesson revolver. Outdated and definitely black market. Not even close to military grade weaponry. However, this appears to be unserialized. Three bullets left in the barrel."
Sam flicked open the barrel, examining the bullets carefully.
"Bullets are average gun store ammunition. Nothing military grade. Shit like that's way too expensive for a little brat like this fucker."
He spins the barrel around and flicks it shut before putting the revolver in his back pocket.
"I'm gonna leave this fucker to you guys. I'm gonna go find the others. I have a really bad feeling about this mess."
Before they could even say another word, Sam was already running off, out of the forest.
Tetsutetsu and Kendo can only watch as he runs off.
"…that was so manly."
Tetsutetsu feels tears fall from his eyes as Sam was the coolest motherfucker he ever saw.
Kendo saw this and rolled her eyes at Tetsutetsu. But even she had to admit, Sam was pretty cool.
———
Despite feeling the adrenaline, Sam was still feeling drowsy. He needed to find the others and try to help. He was currently feeling like he was back in Africa, running through the forest, fighting the enemy.
He was calm. Unnaturally calm. The sort of calm he had when he was shooting down his enemy in combat zones.
This was dangerous, as Sam was not thinking like a civilian. He was thinking like a soldier. He was armed now and he was ready to put a bullet in the next hostile he sees.
Luckily, Sam came across some students along with Vlad King, the teacher of class 1-B.
He also saw Aizawa, who looked pissed off and some other classmates. He noticed Iida, Mineta and the other students in the remedial courses.
Eraserhead quickly turned around the moment he heard someone's footsteps approaching.
But he relaxed when he noticed Sam.
"Yo."
Aizawa sighed in relief
"Sam!"
Mina cheerfully yelled, happy he was okay.
"I'm glad you're alright Sam!"
Iida says while chopping his hands.
Sam nods. But he thinks about something else.
While running around, looking for the others, and while concentrating on staying awake, he heard a voice through Mandalay, who told them the target of this.
'Kacchan. She said they were going after Kacchan. Dipshit Izuku likely told her that was the Chihuahuas name. I doubt the other students would recognize that name.'
Sam criticized Izuku in his mind.
"Suzuki. Are you okay?"
Aizawa asked with worry.
Sam shook out of his thoughts and glanced at Aizawa.
He saw Aizawa looking at his bleeding arm.
"Oh, this? I ran into a little bastard with a sleeping gas quirk. I breathed some of that shit in, and cut myself to stay awake."
Aizawa widened his eyes, looking even more concerned.
"Did you hit a vein? Are you certain you're fine? At least let me patch it up."
Sam rolled his eyes at Aizawa's excessive worrying. But Sam knows that he is only concerned for his student like all the others.
"I'm fine. I promise."
Sam said, trying to reassure Aizawa.
Bang!
Bang!
Sam twisted around, but he couldn't dodge as two bullets hit him. One in the shoulder and one in the leg.
He felt the hot pain immediately and fell to a knee, holding his shoulder.
Despite the burning pain from being shot twice, he only grunted, before locking his eyes in front of him. Deadly serious.
The others were shocked, processing what just happened. Aizawa and Vlad were the first to snap out of it and rushed to Sam.
""Suzuki!""
They both yelled as they ran over to him.
""Sam!!""
The other students of class 1-A that were nearby were worried about their friend and hurried over to him as well.
"Stay back!"
Sam yelled at the approaching students.
They were shocked, so were the two teachers. The tone they heard in Sam's voice was one of absolute seriousness.
His eyes were sharper than a knife, and his muscles were stiff and ready to react to the smallest movement in front of him.
"Suzuki?"
Aizawa got more concerned seeing he wasn't even saying anything about the bullet wounds.
They all just stood still in silence. The students weren't stupid, and knew that someone with a gun was in front of them.
Mineta was shivering in this tense moment, and the other students were sweaty and ready to fight if they must, even if Sam said no.
But the fear they felt, seeing Sam so serious, made them reconsider.
"…come out."
Sam calmly said.
"…I know you aren't here to kill me. Come out."
Sam said, still not taking his eyes off of the area in front of him.
The students and the two teachers look tense, waiting to see who is about to reveal themselves.
"…Just as I was told. You are quick to grasp situations."
A low voice said, obviously being altered with a voice modulator.
Sam narrowed his eyes, not recognizing who was speaking.
Finally, the shooter revealed himself.
Dressed head to toe in black. Wearing a bulletproof vest, and tactical gloves. Steel toe boots and black cargo pants. He has a hood over his head, and black mask with a white mark on it.
He couldn't tell who this person was. But he immediately knew who they were with, the moment he saw the patch.
"…you're from the Pale Hand."
Holding a smoking Glock 19, clearly military grade, the figure stopped walking, standing still and confident, even in front of two pro-heroes.
"…Samuel Suzuki. Or should I call you 'Canvas?'"
Sam gritted his teeth.
'So they finally came?'
The moment he saw the white hand print patch on the shoulder of the shooter, he knew the situation went from bad to worse.