Chapter 19: Father-Son Detroit Smash
"I ain't going to that stupid party." Bakugo said, "It's just going to be a bunch of dumb rich people making speeches that don't matter."
Kirishima was smarter than he let on. He knew exactly how to convince his friend. "You'll get to spend all evening with Uraraka, who will be wearing a fancy dress that Yaoyorozu probably provided."
Bakugo glared at him, but there wasn't any real venom in it. "I don't have formal wear."
Kirishima grinned. "Yes, you do." He held up a clothes hanger with a red button up shirt, black slacks, and matching tie and vest.
"When and how?" Bakugo asked.
Kirishima threw the clothes at him, "Thank me later."
Midoriya fidgeted with his tie in the conveniently reflective wall of the elevator. His outfit wasn't as fancy as what he had worn to the Richards Awards, but it was close enough to make him feel uneasy. Black suit jacket, tie, and pants and tied together with a green dress shirt. Yaoyorozu had said that she wanted him to match what she was going to wear. He smiled briefly before the memories of the gala came surging back.
The cold evening air had been nothing compared to the fear that had him in a stranglehold that night. Eclipse threatening them both, holding a knife to Momo's neck, throwing her over the-
"NO!" Midoriya snapped at the otherwise empty elevator. He rested his forehead against the cold metal wall to calm his breathing and heart rate. Why were these memories coming back now? He lightly banged his fist against the wall, a pantomime of frustration.
From somewhere inside his psyche, he felt a jolt of emotion- a... wish to soothe his own pain over the memories, but regret that he couldn't. Was one of the past wielders watching him? Oh, wonderful. Just what he needed, one of them judging him for having trauma.
He composed himself just in time for the elevator door to open. He walked out to find the rest of the guys. Bakugo, Kaminari, and Kirishima were off to the side, while Iida stood in the center of small foyer that he had designated as their meeting place. Mineta was hanging around Iida, oddly enough. Todoroki was there as well. Midoriya couldn't help but notice that Momo's keen eye for what fancy clothes looked good on a guy did not start and end with him. Mineta had a deep purple dress shirt and gray slacks, while Kaminari had a black dress shirt and vest, with a yellow tie.
"Huh? Where are the girls?" Midoriya asked.
"Don't go copying my bad habits, Midoriya!" Mineta said.
Iida ignored Mineta. "They aren't here yet. Does a set meeting time mean nothing anymore?"
Any sort of response was cut off by the elevator door opening. Uraraka walked out, and Bakugo's heart skipped a beat. He promptly walked over to Midoriya. "Midoriya! The hell do I say?" He whisper-shouted.
The elevator beeped again. This time it was Kaminari and Midoriya who were sent into a comedic approximation of cardiac arrest. "Sorry we're late." Yaoyorozu said, "My hair was a nightmare." It was done up in an intricate bun. Her dress was similar to what she had worn at the Richards Awards, but was a deep green instead of red. Jiro wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing a suit.
Kaminari had lost the ability to form complete sentences.
Midoriya's mental faculties were marginally more intact. "Just... tell her she looks great? Perfect? Maybe?"
Bakugo glared at him.
"Hey, when have I ever steered you wrong?"
Bakugo opened his mouth, then closed it wordlessly. He then walked over to Uraraka, who was looking at him expectantly. "Um... hey."
Uraraka tilted her head to the side. "Hey. This is my first time in formal wear, so I feel kinda... weird."
"Don't." Bakugo said abruptly. "You look... I mean... You're... you're perfect, Angel Face."
Uraraka batted her eyes and let herself slip into her southern accent. "Oh, Bakugo. You don't have to flatter me so much."
Yaoyorozu beckoned Midoriya over to her, and he obeyed. Why wouldn't he? "You look amazing, Momo." Midoriya said.
She grabbed him by the tie and pulled him into a kiss. By now this had happened enough that Midoriya had figured out what to do with his hands, thank you very much. One hand went on her lower back, while the other molded to the back of her neck. A very nice floral scent wafted into his nose. While he would like to stay this way forever, his respiratory system had other ideas. They broke away and Yaoyorozu smile at him with a mischievous glint in the eye. "Had to get that out of the way before we have to be proper and such."
"I love you, too."
"Oh good, I thought I was going to miss you guys!"
Iida looked towards the elevators and saw Melissa. More importantly, he also saw what she was wearing. A white and blue dress, topped off with a black sash. She'd done her hair and makeup and... she looked... radiant? Was that a good word for it? Spectacular. That was a word. Yes, that was a word for it. He forced himself to put his best foot forward and followed Bakugo's example. For once. "You look spectacular, Melissa."
She smiled at Iida, and he took a moment to burn that image into his brain. "Thank you, Iida. It's about time that someone my age recognized the effort I have to put in for these parties." At his frown, she explained. "I hate contacts."
Iida nodded. "Whoever invented those maligned torture devices may be lost to time, but I firmly believe that they were a villain."
Melissa laughed, and Iida's heart soared.
All Might did not like parties. Before his less than final battle with All For One, appearing in any sort of group setting for too simply invited disaster. Afterwards, it was a waste of the precious amount of time he could spend working as a Hero.
Somehow, with Inko by his side, he didn't mind it so much.
"Oh, where are the kids?" Inko asked. "They're running late."
All Might looked at her. She wore a green dress that covered basically everything in favor of showing off her legs, which she considered to be her best feature. "They probably ran into trouble trying to get Bakugo into formal wear."
Inko shook her head. "No, he's sweet on that Uraraka girl. All they have to do is tell him she'll be here in a fancy dress, and he'll put on a shirt and tie faster than you can say wrapped around her finger."
Because of their conversation, they had been tuning out the welcome message. Which meant the next line hit All Might like a flashbang. "We hear All Might is here tonight. Would you like to hear him say a few words?"
All Might glanced at David with a mildly judgmental stare. David shrugged at him amid the applause from the crowd. The hazards of being the Symbol of Peace.
With no other option, he took the stage. "Now, formal speeches aren't really my thing-"
Then the alarms started. An automated voice made an announcement.
"We have received a report of an explosive device on the island. I-Island will now go into lockdown."
All Might's eyes narrowed. Something was very wrong. That wasn't the protocol for a-
Every door to the room opened and gunmen wearing masks and brandishing assault rifles waltzed in like they owned the place. The civilians started to panic, and the heroes present immediately started to assess the situation. How could they fight these gunmen without endangering the civilians?
A man in a metal mask walked in, flanked by two others. All Might recognized him immediately. Wolfram! What's that mercenary doing here? More importantly, why is he here?
"In case you haven't figured it out yet, the security system is under my control." Wolfram said. "If you all can play nice and follow my directions, you'll come out of this unharmed. If not... well..." He drew his pistol, "Use your imagination." He pressed a finger to his communicator, "Do it."
Holes in the floor opened up, and restraints shot out and restrained all of the heroes. All Might attempted to break them but stopped after Wolfram fired a warning shot.
"Hey, what did I say, you oversized meathead?" Wolfram moved up to the stage and shoved All Might to the ground. "Follow directions and no one gets hurt, don't and... well..." He scanned the crowd for a suitable target to threaten and grinned when he laid eyes on Inko. Perfect. He aimed his pistol at her and waited.
"No!" All Might said, "Don't!"
Wolfram leaned down and slapped him. "Behave, and I won't harm a hair on her head. Try to escape, and i'll make sure you get to watch her bleed out."
All Might glanced at David who shook his head at him. The look on his face was of grim determination. That... was worrying.
"This is wrong." Melissa said. "Lockdown is not the protocol if explosives are discovered."
Midoriya thought for a moment. "What is that protocol for that?"
Melissa paused for a moment as she recalled it. "Local evac, then send in EOD."
"Shit." Bakugo swore, "Could the system be malfunctioning?"
Melissa shook her head. "No, it's on par with Tartarus Prison, so that kind of thing just doesn't happen."
Iida chewed the inside of his cheek. "Todoroki. Do you have a theory?"
Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "Is this really the time for that?"
Iida smiled ruefully, "Humor me."
"Villains have infiltrated the island and have hijacked the security system."
Silence.
Iida weighed their options. They needed to assess the situation. "Melissa, is there a way for us to get down to the party that evades the lockdown and won't trip security?"
She nodded, "Yeah, the emergency stairs."
Iida nodded and jumped right into action. "Mister Miracle, Headphone Jack, go down there and see what you can see, safely. Do nothing to draw attention to yourself. The rest of us will remain here until you return."
"I get why you're sending me, but why Midoriya?" Jiro asked.
A flash of annoyance crossed Iida's face. "Quirk Analysis."
After they had left, Yaoyorozu approached him. "What are you up to, Iida? You know we don't have our hero licenses."
Iida looked at her, and she was surprised by the fire in his eyes. "If we were back in Japan that would matter, but this is I-Island."
It took but a moment for Yaoyorozu to catch his meaning. I-Island allowed free Quirk usage.
Melissa shook her head, "There's no precedent for that! If things go wrong..."
Yaoyorozu finished for her. "If things go wrong, we could end up in prison. Or worse, expelled."
"After Hosu, Aizawa-sensei taught me something." Iida said, "To keep my eyes open and to always move forward with purpose and intent. No matter what we choose to do here, we must have more information first."
They lapsed into silence, and awaited the verdict.
All Might had dealt with a hostage crisis or ten in his tenure as the Symbol of Peace, but never before had the stakes been so high. All he could do now without endangering Inko was wait and listen. It wasn't for nothing that one of the ancient classics often claimed that knowing was half the battle.
Wolfram walked over to David's assistant. "Hey, tubby. You a researcher here?"
"Yes."
Wolfram motioned to one of the gunmen. "Take him to the vault."
All Might's eyes narrowed. I-Island's vault was on the top floor along with the security system. What were the villains trying to get their hands on that they would risk tangling with the I-Island security system? On top of that, Wolfram and his crew were mercenaries. Who were they working for?
"Let him go!"
All Might barely kept from crying out. What was David thinking?
Wolfram looked at the man, "Ah, the famous David Shield."
"That man is my assistant, let him go. Take me instead." David insisted.
Wolfram shook his head. "Nah, it's both of you now." His gaze drifted back to Inko, "Actually, make that three." He grabbed her by the arm and began to pull her away with him and the others.
All Might saw the flicker of anger in Inko's eyes. He had no doubt that she was about unload on Wolfram.
Inko spoke loud enough for most of the people in the room to hear. "If you kidnap me I swear to God, I will rip your balls off."
Without saying a word, Wolfram flipped his pistol around in his hand and smashed the grip into the side of Inko's face. "And here I thought you'd know how to behave in a hostage crisis, being All Might's arm candy and all. Move it!"
After the group left, All Might began to flex his muscles in an attempt to break free of the restraints. No! I need to save them! I need to subdue these villains and get the security system back online! It has to be me, because I am here!
He was distracted by a flashing light above him. On the balcony above the ballroom's glass ceiling, he saw Izuku Midoriya. He motioned with his hand near his ear, indicating that he could hear somehow? Was young Jiro with him? He glanced around. None of the guards were near him. "I hope you can hear me. A group of villains have taken the tower. The security system is under their control. It's too dangerous, get away as soon as you can!"
"You can't be serious." Bakugo growled, "You really expect us to run away while villains get away with crap!"
"Besides, Iida, weren't you all hyped up to have us go at them by using I-Island's laws as cover?" Kirishima piped up.
Iida was standing next to a wall, gently banging his head against the wall. "That was before All Might told us to leave. We have orders from our teacher, we can't disobey that."
Melissa shook her head, "There's no way for us to leave the building, not while it's on lockdown."
"Wait, what?" Mineta said, "What do you-"
"Tartarus Prison-level security, remember?" Kaminari said.
Hopelessness seeped into Mineta's voice. "So we're trapped here."
"We can't just sit here and do nothing." Todoroki said. "What kind of heroes do that?"
Yaoyorozu's eyes flicked from Todoroki to Midoriya. Oh no. She knew that look in Midoriya's eyes. "We can't! We don't have our licenses, and All Might gave us specific instructions to flee!"
"That's a load of bullshit, Yaomomo!" Jiro snapped, "All of the heroes at the party -even All Might- are wrapped up in some kind of fancy restraints. We are literally the only people who can do something about this!"
"Besides, y'all heard Melissa." Uraraka added, "We can't leave."
"Midoriya? You've been awfully quiet." Iida said.
He rose from his sitting position and looked his friend in the eye. "I have a plan."
"Izuku..." Yaoyorozu said warningly, "If it's twelve percent of a plan again, I swear..."
Midoriya launched into an explanation. "So far, we've largely been able to evade detection even though we've passed through areas that should be under heavy surveillance or that would trip alarms during a lockdown. Even though the security system is under the villains' control, they likely don't know how to use it very well." He started pacing, "The primary objective will be to get the system back online. If we do that, All Might and the others will be released and will deal with the villains."
"The problem is that the security system is on the top floor," Melissa explained, "Which is likely where most of the villains will be too."
"There's no way we can totally avoid fighting them, but if we avoid fighting as much as possible, we still have a chance at ending this!" Midoriya said, "Momo, did I miss anything?"
Yaoyorozu looked at him. Damn those big green eyes of his. Even the fact that they didn't have their Hero Licenses was covered by I-Island's incredibly lax Quirk Usage laws. "No, I do not believe so."
Iida pushed off of the wall. "Alright then. We'll follow Midoriya's strategy. From here on out, Hero names only. We may not have our costumes, but that's no reason to give the villains any more information to go off of. Melissa, you should remain here."
Melissa advanced on him, "You're kidding me, right? I'm going!"
"But you're Quirkless! You'll be in danger!" Midoriya protested.
"in that case, please tell me which one of you knows how to change the settings on the security system." After no one replied, she continued, "I won't be a liability. I know my way around the tower, and what parts of the security system the villains might have trouble figuring out."
"Alright, but you'll need some sort of code name." Iida said, "To make it harder for-"
"The villains to identify me, makes sense." Melissa said. She tapped on her chin before a smile came to her face. "How about... Overwatch?"
Iida nodded. That would have to do. "Alright, everyone! We're moving out!"
Midoriya knew that he probably shouldn't be assigning morality to inanimate objects. That was Maki's thing. But right now, he decided that stairs were evil. Something to do with two hundred stories of them that they had to climb.
As Aizawa-sensei would likely say, it was a perfectly rational conclusion.
He looked behind him to see that Melissa was keeping up. Barely.
Unfortunately, the nightmare came to an end much quicker than they were expecting. Once they had made it to the eightieth floor, they were faced with a barrier blocking their path.
"I guess it was too much to ask for the villains to not block the emergency stairs at some point." Midoriya muttered.
"Breaking through it would alert them." Melissa said. "As would going through that door into the main hall."
"Overwatch, you know this tower. Is there any way for us to circumvent this on this floor?" Iida asked.
Melissa thought for a moment before nodded. "Yes, in the plant factory. There's an emergency ladder we can lower from a control room at the top. However..."
"What's the catch?" Bakugo asked.
"During a lockdown, the only way to approach the control room is from outside, and we'll need to outrace the barriers the villains can close to keep us from getting to the plant factory in the first place."
"I can deal with the barriers." Todoroki said, "I've been working in the density of my ice. The barriers won't be able to break through it, at least for as long as it takes us to pass."
"What about the villains?" Kaminari asked, "They'll probably come to investigate."
"I'll kick their asses!" Bakugo yelled.
"That was the plan, Ground Zero." Iida deadpanned. "If we are interrupted by villains, then you and Icy-Hot will peel off and fight them."
Bakugo broke into a bloodthirsty grin. "Damn straight."
Jiro stabbed her jacks into the wall. "There's no movement from the other side. No direct threat from villains or security drones."
Iida stretched his legs and gave the order. "Red Riot. Open the door."
"Hey, someone just opened a door on floor eighty."
Wolfram whirled around to face his subordinate. "Close the barriers. Trap them. Who the hell is it, even?"
The man attempting to control the security system shook his head, "I don't know! They keep destroying any cameras they go near!"
The villains weren't watching the screen with the cameras. Inko was. And just before a 3.5 millimeter jack pierced the next camera, she saw an unmistakable head of green hair.
Izuku and his friends. They were trying to save everyone.
"You two!" Wolfram said, gesturing to two of his lackeys, "Go down there and find out what's going on!"
"There!" Melissa shouted, "That's the entrance to the plant factory!"
As soon as she said that, a barrier began to close. Todoroki slammed his right foot down and caused a giant spike of ice to keep the door from closing. Iida activated his Quirk and shot forward -ruining his slacks in the process- and smashed the door in. Everyone ran through.
"Hey, what's up with that elevator in the center?" Kaminari asked.
"It goes all the way up, but you can't use it without authorization." Melissa took in a breath. While she did her best to make sure she remained in good physical condition, she was quickly becoming aware that even Mineta was in better shape than her, "Plus it's too fortified to break in and try."
Said central elevator beeped. It was coming down from the top floor.
"Execute the plan!" Yaoyorozu said.
Todoroki made a pillar of ice that brought the rest of the group to the catwalks above. As soon as they were out of danger he turned to Bakugo. "What's the play?"
"Kick their teeth in." At Todoroki's unimpressed dead-eyed stare, Bakugo relented. "Don't get your boxers in a twist, Icy-Hot. You handle whoever they've got that's a ranged fighter. I'll handle their melee fighter."
"And if there's more than two?"
Bakugo shrugged, "We improvise."
The elevator dinged and two villains walked out. One a musclebound midget and one who could pass for a humanized weasel if it wasn't for his massive webbed hands. Bakugo immediately assigned them the names of Weaselface and Meathead. "Hey! What are you two doing here?" Weaselface asked.
"We got lost." Todoroki said.
Bakugo now understood why Midoriya usually had a thousand-yard stare after a conversation with Todoroki.
The villains looked at each other. "Do you really think we're stupid enough to believe that?" Meathead asked.
Bakugo grinned. Finally, "Well, you're villains, Meathead. So, yeah. I do."
Meathead's face twisted into rage. "I'm gonna make you pay for that, you mouthy little shit!"
Todoroki did not think that he could match Bakugo's talent for trash talk, so he remained silent. And took mental notes.
"Hey, Weaselface! You want to rein your buddy in before he pulls all the muscles in his face?" Bakugo said.
"The hell did you just call me?"
"Did I fucking stutter, Weaselface?"
"Something insulting." Todoroki deadpanned.
There was a beat of silence before Meathead activated his Quirk, growing twice as big. And purple. Weaselface fired a blast of some sort of energy from his hands.
Todoroki offered a rebuttal. "FLASHFREEZE FIST!" The beam of cold slammed into both of the villains, but unlike with the battle with Stain, they were more than capable of escaping the ice. Weaselface used his energy blasts to tunnel through, at which point Meathead leapt at Bakugo.
Bakugo weaved around Meathead's ungraceful assault and peppered him with blasts with every dodge. "Come on, is this the best you've got?"
Todoroki focused on his own fight. Weaselface's energy blasts somehow made non-living matter disappear. Fine. Fire it is. He threw his left hand up and let loose with a blast of flame. Weaselface was able to sneak around and fire off a blast at some ice he had left behind. Wait, why-
A second later, a giant chunk of his own ice was careening towards his head.
Weaselface wasn't making matter disappear. He was displacing it. Okay then. Time for one of the stopgap ultimate moves he came up with until he was able to master Flashfire Fist. He ignited his flames again and unleashed a barrage of thousands of fire bullets from his fingers. "Hellstorm Fusillade." It burned though the ice with ease and besieged the villain.
"Yow ow ow!" Weaselface yelled, "Wait a second! Fire AND ice? Aren't you Endeavor's kid?"
Todoroki responded by surfing forward on a wave of ice and conjuring a blade of ice around his right arm that he tried to slice Weaselface with. The villain was able to slip around him, due to his inexperience with bladed weapons. He launched a fireball, but it went wide.
"Ha! You missed, you stupid kid!"
Todoroki smiled and said two words. "Exploding Fireball."
In the immortal words of a certain Internet personality, Fireball was the only attack he had needed. Just fireball. The shockwave from the explosion knocked the villain to the ground, where Todoroki took the opportunity to knock him out with a chunk of ice to the head. He turned to see how Bakugo was doing,
He wasn't doing too badly. He would've won by now if he stopped trash talking.
Noticing that Todoroki had finished with his fight, Bakugo decided to bring his to a rousing finale, "That's enough screwing around with you, Grimace! It's time I put an end to this!" He crossed his arms in front of him and let loose. "HOWITZER IMPACT!"
The resulting explosion knocked Meathead out of his transformed state and knocked him out. Bakugo immediately started dragging him towards the elevator. Todoroki was confused. "What are you doing?"
"Cause the villains scrambled the security system, they probably have access to the central elevator!" Bakugo grunted.
Todoroki helped him drag the villain to the elevator and prop him up for the identity authentication. They got into the elevator, but without authorization from the control room, they couldn't go higher than the one hundred and thirty-eighth floor.
"That seems arbitrary." Todoroki said.
"Whatever." Bakugo said, "This gives us a chance at meeting up with the others again."
He tossed the villain out of the elevator and hit the button.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Wolfram punched a nearby monitor, causing it to spin around and slam into the wall. "Are you telling me we can't stop some stupid kids?"
"I've ID'd the kids, boss. They're from UA's hero course and Professor Shield's daughter. It took longer to ID them because they were sticking with their hero names."
Wolfram hummed in concentration as he looked over their identities. "Wait. Midoriya." He turned to Inko. "Hey, lady. Is that your son?"
Inko smiled, despite the bruise that had blossomed since her close encounter with Wolfram's gun. "Yes. He's going to beat you, and I am going to enjoy every second of it."
With a growl, Wolfram turned back to his men controlling the security system. "Send the security bots to intercept them on the one hundred and thirtieth floor. Use the barriers to funnel them towards the bots. If these kids want to play hero, let them. I'm going to go check on the professor."
So, the good news was that the plan to circumvent the lockdown in the plant factory had been a resounding success. Even if Mineta had gone partially catatonic for a moment at receiving genuine praise from Melissa.
The bad news was that ever since then, the way had been completely open. No sign of blockage from the security system, and no villains.
"We're being led somewhere." Kirishima said, "I can feel it in my gut."
Kirishima's suspicions were confirmed as soon as they turned a corner and found that their only way forward was through a giant laboratory. A laboratory that was teeming with security drones.
"They're not trying to box us in anymore." Iida said, "They're actively trying to capture us now."
"That makes sense." Midoriya said, "They've also probably figured out who we are by now, since there were a bunch of cameras in the plant factory we couldn't disable."
"We need a plan." Yaoyorozu said. "Overwatch?"
Melissa sighed, "Honestly? I can't tell you much. The blueprints for the security drones are classified, and for good reason."
Midoriya thought for a moment. "Okay, plan A. Creati, do you have anything that could scramble their sensors?"
In response she created a chaff grenade.
"Okay, great!" Midoriya said, "Ingenium, you'll throw Chargebolt into the middle of the security bot formation and he'll attempt to zap them with... one point three million volts. If that doesn't work, he'll use one of the chaff grenades to cover his escape. Plan B will be using more of the chaff grenades to scramble them again, and then we'll face them head on. Myself, Ingenium, Red Riot, and Creati will be the frontline."
Everyone agreed. So, mere moments later, they burst through the door to the laboratory, and everyone whose hero name wasn't Chargebolt was huddled under a insulated blanket.
"Here we go!" Kaminari shouted, "Indiscriminate Shock: One Point Three Million Volts!"
The bots folded up, but were otherwise unharmed. "Crap!" He reached for his grenade, but the security bots were just too fast for him. They redeployed and shot out cables that forced his arms to his side. "CRAP!"
"I'll get Chargebolt! You guys-" Kirishima started.
"We're on it!" Midoriya threw his jacket aside and activated the Full Gauntlet. In mere moments it had spread out to cover his right hand and lower arm. Yaoyorozu made a katana and Iida revved his engines.
Uraraka, Melissa, and Jiro tossed out chaff grenades, while Mineta littered the pathway with his balls. The chaff grenades did their job, even causing the bots holding Kaminari hostage to release him. Upon seeing the others bearing down on him, he quickly got out of the way.
Iida struck the lead bot with a rocket powered roundhouse kick. "RECIPRO FALCON!" The force of his kick sent the bot he had targeted pinballing among the others, sowing even more chaos among them.
Yaoyorozu took advantage of the opening and slashed with her katana. She went for the gaps in the bot's armor when they were deployed, and as a result lopped off the heads of three of the frontline. She dropped another chaff grenade and fell back. "Now, Mister Miracle!"
Midoriya clenched his fist. I can't be reckless, there's still a long way to go. So I'll try thirty percent. He kicked off of the ground and brought his fist down. "SMASH!" The robot he made contact with crumpled like a cheap tin can, and the air pressure wave sent the entire squadron of security bots flying off of the catwalks they were on.
Iida didn't waste any time in planning their next move. "Headphone Jack, are there any more of those things?"
"Yeah, from the left!"
"Then we're going the other way! Let's move!"
"Hey, Mister Miracle, what's up with that glove?" Kirishima asked, "It let you punch like that without getting messed up!"
"Overwatch made it!"
Melissa laughed, "I'm just glad you brought it!"
"Uh..."
"You didn't know how to get it off your arm, did you?"
"Nope."
Wolfram was not happy.
"What the hell was that? That green haired kid just punched like All Might!" He barked at his men.
"Uh... we don't know where they're going." One of them reported, "One of them... made a bunch of chaff grenades that scrambled-"
Wolfram drew his pistol and fired in one smooth motion. Luckily for the man that drew his ire, an All Might bobblehead left behind by one of the workers was the only casualty.
"Okay." Wolfram muttered. "Okay, okay, okay. Here's what we'll do. Where are the servers that control the security system?"
"Floor 138, boss. Same floor as the wind turbines."
Wolfram grinned. "Perfect. Split the drone force in half. Half at the server room, and half at the wind turbines. Have them wait out of sight until the kids walk in. Herd the kids toward them, too. If they make it any higher, open up all the paths and let them come. Cause if they can get past all that, I'll kill them myself."
"Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Wolfram turned to Inko. "Please, threaten me again. See what happens."
Inko smiled in that motherly way that was almost unnerving. "Oh, I'm not threatening you. I'm simply going to tell you what I know about the kids that are giving you the runaround."
Wolfram scoffed, "What, trying to get me to release you? Fat chance."
Inko tilted her head, "No. I want you to understand something. When those kids get to you, you will wish it was just All Might you were contending with."
Wolfram didn't say anything. Instead, he put his hand on a nearby metal chair and activated his Quirk. It ripped into pieces, fashioning into restraints and a gag as it hurtled towards Inko. She barely had time to gasp before the gag clamped over her mouth and the restraints tied her to the chair that he had put her in.
"Took you long enough." One of his henchmen said. "Usually you aren't so gentle with hostages."
"Usually hostages don't get our employer to give us a triple payout."
Inko began connecting the dots. They took her hostage because of her connection to All Might. The villains' employer was willing to pay triple whatever had been agreed on to bring her to them. They were also trying to steal something from I-Island, specifically from David Shield who was also...
It hit her like a bolt from the blue. All For One. That was the only possible explanation for the evidence.
While Inko was no stranger to having her life drastically altered by villain attacks -first with Hisashi's death and second with Izuku's chance meeting with All Might- this was the first time being caught up in one herself, and like so many civilians around the world, she was praying for a hero to come save her.
Unlike those others, she knew exactly who the hero was. She knew that he was Mister Miracle, the hero who helped defeat the infamous Hero Killer. She knew that he was the current holder of One For All, a superpower passed from hero to hero for the good of all.
But most important of all, Inko Midoriya knew that her hero was her own son. And she could not be more proud.
This floor was clearly a trap.
Their only ways forward were either through the server room that housed the servers that controlled the security system or through the open area that housed the tower's wind turbines. All other ways were blocked by the barriers that had impeded their group's progress in so many other areas.
In the end, Yaoyorozu was the one who come up with the plan. Given what was at stake, it was bold and decisive.
"We spring the trap." Yaoyorozu said.
Iida blinked. "Come again?"
"It's simple, really. We attempt to go through the server room. If we are attacked, then Mister Miracle, Overwatch, and Uravity retreat and head for the turbine farm and attempt to ascend that way."
Kirishima shook his head, "No way! We've already split up once, we shouldn't do it again! If we just meet up with Ground Zero and Icy-Hot..."
"We can't count on that, though." Jiro pointed out, "The villains might've already boxed them in."
"Wait, hold on!" Midoriya said, "Do you really think I'm just going to up and leave you to fight who knows what? No!"
Yaoyorozu stepped up to him and laid a hand on his cheek. "Yes. It's the only way if we're attacked at the server room. We need to get Overwatch to the top floor, and you are the only one of us that can move in midair and respond to further threats with overwhelming force."
Midoriya caught Yaoyorozu's hand in his own. "But what if I'm not here and you get hurt?"
Kaminari grabbed him by the shoulders and turned Midoriya to face him: "Dude, get out of your head. We do not have time for this." Midoriya opened his mouth to protest but was swiftly cut off, "Do you think I'm not worried about Headphone Jack getting hurt? We're all trying to become heroes, and laying our lives on the line to protect people comes with the territory."
What Kaminari left unspoken cut Midoriya to the quick. If his relationship with Yaoyorozu was going to endure, he had to find peace with her putting herself in harm's way. He had to respect her as a hero. He swallowed. "Okay, let's do this."
The group entered the server room, and Midoriya was blown away by how many there were. There were rows upon rows of servers all taller than all of them. That was without mentioning that there were two separate floors! "Are these all for the security system?" Mineta asked.
"I'm not entirely sure." Melissa admitted, "But some of them are. Others are probably data backup, fire supression, and... one's probably the media server."
"Wait, media?" Kirishima asked,
"Do not underestimate how much the world's top scientists are enamored with Gundam."
The corner of Iida's mouth twitched. "Wing is the best AU timeline."
Melissa scoffed, "Oh, as if! If you're talking about the Mobile Suits in a vacuum, then sure. But the writing is a mess!"
"Can we focus?" Kaminari asked. "Wait. Why the hell am I saying that?"
"Because Ingenium is getting distracted by his crush talking about anime robots." Jiro deadpanned.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. A giant door at the other end of the room opened, and the revealed swarm of security bots activated. They charged and were joined by more of them jumping down from the upper floor.
"GO, MISTER MIRACLE!" Iida shouted. Midoriya reluctantly ran with Melissa and Uraraka in tow. Mineta began laying down a barricade of his balls, and Kirishima started in on holding them back. While he couldn't destroy them as quickly as Midoriya, he could at least incapacitate them in a couple of hits.
"RECIPRO BURST!" Iida roared. The exhausts on his legs belched blue fire and he began to tear through them at top speed. His training to improve his spacial awareness was showing its value, as he didn't have to actively watch out for Mineta's balls anymore.
Yaoyorozu passed Kaminari a gun that she created specially for him. Tentatively named the Chargebolt Caster. When charged by him, it allowed him to fire shots of lightning that were then turned into EMP shots by the magnetic coils in the barrel. To his delight, he quickly discovered that he could blow out the security bots' circuits with a couple shots.
Yaoyorozu then set about creating a much less destructive magnum opus than she had at the Sports Festival. With the servers to worry about, this was no place for heavy artillery. She created a version of her wrist computer, then made several drones. "Cover me!" She shouted, "This is going to take some time!"
Iida's engines picked that moment to stall out, and the robots soon grabbed him in their capture cables. "No!" He said, "Not now!"
"I'm coming, Ingenium!" Kirishima said. He made it to his friend and was trying to cut through the cables when the security bots grabbed him too.
"My scalp's telling me it's time to surrender." Mineta moaned. Even still, he continued to throw his balls, causing him to bleed more. "But I don't give a damn! It's time to be PLUS ULTRA!"
"Can't believe I actually have to follow your example..." Jiro muttered as she ran forward and stabbed her jacks into two of the bots, using her vibrations to shake them apart.
Their efforts only delayed the inevitable and they were both captured.
"Creati!" Kaminari shouted as the swarm descended on them, "If you've got a trick up your sleeve, now's the time!"
Yaoyorozu smiled. Just in time. She touched a button on her wrist computer's touch screen and stood. "Ultimate Creation: Electro-shock Drone Swarm!"
(Music start - Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury OST The Witch From Mercury)
As the drones whirred to life, Yaoyorozu popped two chaff grenades and rolled them into the midst of the security bots. With them disoriented, they were easy pickings for the drones. In an instant, they began to fire projectiles that shorted them out in a manner similar to Kaminari's custom gun.
"How're you shorting them out like that?" Kaminari asked.
"I call them Sticky Shockers." Yaoyorozu explained, "I have versions for use on both people and technology. These ones use a targeted EMP burst that-" She noticed Kaminari's eyes glaze over as he rejoined the fight. Yaoyorozu shrugged. The mechanics weren't important. With her classmates released, they joined the drones in routing the security bots. She allowed herself a moment of smugness.
It was short lived.
"Damn you, stupid kids!"
Yaoyorozu whirled around to see two villains running at her. If she had to guess, they had probably been sulking around to make sure they got caught in the trap. One had pink hair and a scar on his left cheek, while the other had gray hair and wore some sort of visor over his eyes.
Her hand shot to the wrist computer to retask the drones, but it sputtered and died just before she sent the command. An instant later, the drones dropped out of the air and hit the ground hard. She grimaced. One of the villains probably had a technology manipulation Quirk. With the rest of her classmates out of position, she'd have to deal with these villains. The pink haired one rushed her, his hands and forearms turning into massive blades as he ran.
"You picked the wrong place to play Hero, kid!"
How terribly cliche. And his stance while running left him wide open. Yaoyorozu created one of her ICER guns and shot him in the chest. The villain fell face-first with a crunch on hitting the ground. She winced. That was probably his nose.
"Jesus Christ!" The other villain yelled. He was slowly backing away from Yaoyorozu with his hands raised. "Please don't shoot! I'll surrender!"
Well, this was awkward. If he had a technology manipulation Quirk, he couldn't be allowed to be conscious near the servers like this. He also probably didn't know that her guns were non-lethal.
It was funny, really. She could almost hear Aizawa-sensei's voice in her head. There will be times where proper rules of engagement are not rational due to circumstances or details of Quirk specifics. As long as you can justify your actions to an HPSC review board, you may take whatever action you deem necessary. Yes, this is a slippery slope. Take care that you do not fall.
She aimed her gun at the other villain.
"No, please-"
She fired again, and the villain was knocked unconscious by the dendrotoxin payload.
(Music end)
"Geez, Creati." Kirishima said, "That was... cold."
"He had some sort of tech manipulation Quirk." Yaoyorozu explained as she discarded her now useless wrist computer, "We couldn't take the risk of him-"
"It's fine." Iida said, "Let's move." It wasn't fine, actually. Yaoyorozu had just blatantly ignored the standard rules of engagement and had attacked a surrendering foe. But now was not the time for an extended argument about it.
However, after the current crisis was over, they would be having a discussion about it.
Because Tenya Iida would rather be damned than see his friends make his mistakes.
The wind turbine farm was just as impressive as the server room. Three banks of wind turbines with several rows all stacked on top of each other going on several stories. At the top was their objective, a maintenance access hatch that would allow them to skip several floors and hopefully circumvent any further traps the villains had in store.
In theory.
"Alright, Overwatch. Hang on to Mister Miracle." Uraraka said before touching them both, making them weightless. Melissa wrapped her hands around Midoriya's midsection, allowing him full use of his arms. "Okay, go!" She threw them up, sending them towards the access hatch.
They were about halfway up when an door opened and started vomiting out the security robots. "Oh no!" Uraraka said.
"Uravity, release your Quirk and get out of there!" Melissa yelled.
Uraraka shook her head. "I can't! You won't make it to the top if I release it now!"
All Midoriya and Melissa could do was watch as the robots charged towards her at full speed. Until the central elevator opened.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"
Bakugo burst onto the scene, and blew away the wave of security bots that were menacing Uraraka. Todoroki followed soon after, announcing his arrival with a new ultimate move. "Diamond Dust." Ice shards shot out from his right arm and embedded themselves in several of the security bots. He made a fist and the ice shards exploded, ripping the robots to shreds.
Todoroki got the lowdown from Uraraka. "I used my Quirk on Mister Miracle and Overwatch so they can reach the top."
Todoroki nodded. "Stay focused, we'll defend you."
Midoriya and Melissa had made it about two-thirds of the way up when a gust of wind slammed into them and blew them off course.
The cold night air. Formal clothes. Villains attacking him and those he cared about. Being thrown through the air. It all reminded Midoriya of his last encounter with Eclipse. About how Momo had almost-
His hands started shaking, and he could feel his heart racing. Midoriya knew that he had the ability to course correct, but that knowledge was locked in a part of his brain that wasn't in the driver's seat, so to speak.
Todoroki was first to take action. "Ground Zero, aim one of the propellers at Mister Miracle! He's about to float past the edge of the platform!" He blasted out a narrow jet of flame, cooking the electronics of the security bots before him.
"I'm kinda busy at the moment!" Bakugo shouted back. "How many of these damn things to we have to send to the scrap heap?" He chanced a glance over at Midoriya. Wait, what the hell is his problem? Why doesn't he just do that mid-air maneuvering crap he did at the Sports Festival?
While Bakugo was wondering why Midoriya had apparently taken leave of his senses, several of the bots had slipped by him and charged at Uraraka. "Shit! Uravity, watch out!"
Uraraka stood her ground. If she failed here, then Midoriya and Melissa would fall. Her face twisted in frustration. It wasn't fair. She couldn't do anything against the robots since she had to touch them to use her Quirk. And here they were, the entire mission resting on her shoulders, and she couldn't defend herself. She hadn't wanted to be a fighter. She wanted to save people... make sure her parents could actually take a break for once in their lives...
No! She was Uravity! If she had to fight to achieve her goals, then so be it! She ran at the robots and lunged for the lead one with her hand outstretched...
Quirk Awakenings are funny things. Funny things that no one really understands. Just about the only thing about them that's universally accepted is that the person undergoing the awakening must be under great duress and be attempting to push their Quirk past its limits, be they real or imagined. Often times, these awakenings are simple, just enhancing one aspect of a Quirk.
Rarer are the Quirk Awakenings that cause a Quirk to have to be reclassified.
Ochako Uraraka was in the process of undergoing one of the rarest forms of Quirk Awakenings.
The lead robot shot its capture cables at her, but thanks to a combination of her training with Gunhead and the improvements she was able to barely sidestep out of the way. She darted in and tagged it with all five fingers. Instead of the usual pink glow at the point of contact when she used her Quirk, her entire hand glowed purple.
The entire group of robots was blasted backwards as if hit by one of All Might's massive air pressure waves. Some hit other robots taking them out of commission while others were flung off of the tower completely.
Unfortunately for Uraraka, suddenly using her Quirk in this new fashion, in a way she hadn't thought about since she was a kid was more than her stomach could handle. She fell to her knees and threw up.
Unfortunately for Midoriya, this meant that Uraraka lost her grip on her Quirk completely. Meaning that he and Melissa were falling.
They were not over the platform. The ground was a hundred and thirty-eight stories down.
Melissa screaming in his ear was not helping Midoriya to not panic, especially with Danger Sense making his head throb for the first time tonight. I can't... I can't...
Mere moments before the fall began in earnest, Midoriya inexplicably felt like someone had just wrapped a warm blanket around him. "Don't worry, Mister Miracle." A female voice spoke in his head, "My Quirk will keep you safe, what kind of mentor to your mentor would I be if I let you fall?"
His eyes shot wide. One of the past wielders? Here? Now?
Melissa had noticed that they were not falling, but rather floating in midair. "Um... are you doing this? Uravity lost her concentration, right?"
Midoriya swallowed. The comforting sensation that... the Seventh Wielder -if what she had said about being All Might's mentor could be taken at face value- had brought as she gave him her Quirk had swept away his panic. "Uh... no. She must of regained a little control." He flung out his arms behind him and flicked his fingers as he had so many times in the past, sending him and Melissa soaring towards the maintenance hatch. They touched down with no further incident.
After they re-entered the tower, Melissa leaned against the wall. "I just... need to rest for a moment. There's no cameras here."
Midoriya was all for that considering the literal panic attack he just had. "Yeah, okay. Five minutes or whenever you're ready, whichever comes first." He sank to the floor with his back to the wall. Okay, he needed to figure out what exactly his new Quirk was. Uh... hello?
"Yes, Ninth?" The Seventh Wielder replied.
Oh, it's really this easy to communicate with you now? He could've been asking questions this entire time?
"Well yes, but actually no. Only me, Sixth, and Fifth actively pay attention to what's happening to you. So we're the only ones that can talk with you like this, and you can only talk with me because out of the three of us you only have my Quirk. And before you ask, Fourth is a major loner. Also a troll."
Well, that just raised more questions. What's your name and what exactly is your Quirk?
"Did All Might not tell you? Weird. My name's Nana Shimura."
Midoriya blinked, he did remember Torino had mentioned how All For One had destroyed her family. And your Quirk?
"I'm afraid it's nothing fancy, Ninth. It's called Float. Does what it says on the tin." There was a pause before Shimura continued, "And yeah, you got it right when you needed it. That's how it works now that One For All hit its final form or whatever First is calling it. Back in the USJ you used thirty percent of your power. That broke the twenty percent threshold for beginning to get our Quirks. And so you get them when you need them or ask for them. But they have to be given willingly."
That... just raised more questions. Wait, all of you have to decide to give me your Quirks?
in his mind's eye, he saw Shimura nodding. "Yeah, don't expect to get Second or Third on your side any time soon. They're cranky old bastards."
"Alright, I'm ready." Melissa said.
Midoriya noticed Shimura's presence in his mind fade away. He looked up at Melissa. "Alright, let's finish this."
The rest of the ascent was completely clear of trouble, which naturally made Midoriya suspicious. While they climbed, Melissa filled him in on the layout of the two hundredth floor. The emergency stairs would open up into the vault, where technology that was either too dangerous or prohibitively expensive for large-scale production was kept. The control room for the security system was nearby, connected by a short hallway. There was also a door that would lead to the helipad on the roof.
When they entered, the expected to see the villains looting the place. They did not expect to see Sam and David Shield opening up one of the lockboxes. "There! Vault ninety-four B, Professor!" Sam said.
One of the compartments opened and David retrieved a metal case from within. "Finally! We have it back! Okay, I'll tell Wolfram to take his men and leave and we can-"
"Papa?"
Midoriya flinched. He never expected to hear Melissa sound so... broken.
David Shield froze. "Melissa? What are you doing here?"
In that moment, something in Melissa snapped. "Oh I don't know, let's see... let's try saving everyone on the island from the villains you're working with?"
"No, no. The villains are just actors, Melissa." Sam said.
Shimura picked that moment to comment, and her view of the situation aligned with Midoriya's. That's a load of crap if I've ever seen it, and I've seen All For One. Stay on guard, Ninth. Something about this stinks.
"What?" Melissa shook her head. This made zero sense! "Why would you go to so much trouble, risk being arrested for conspiracy and aiding villains, just to steal someone else's-" She interrupted herself, "No... that's not right. Papa. Tell me what's really happening."
David swallowed before holding the case in his hands out before him. "In this case is a device that can amplify a person's Quirk with no side effects. I invented it. The countries of the world deemed it too dangerous and had it locked away, without even listening to why it was invented it in the first place!"
Midoriya stepped forward, "Professor Shield, why did you do this? What is so important about what this device can do that-"
"Not what, Midoriya." David said, "Who. I'm sure that your mother knows this given her... closeness with All Might, but... his Quirk. It's failing. Getting weaker and weaker by the day. The Symbol of Peace must persevere, and cannot be daunted by evil! So I made this device to bring him back to his old self, no... he'd be stronger than ever!" He hugged the case, as if it would be taken away from him at any moment, "I'll accept whatever consequences I must, as long as I can hand this over to All Might!"
"Papa." Melissa said, "The villains aren't actors. We've been fighting them this whole time, all to get the security system back online and save the island."
"What?" Sam said, "No, the villains are-"
With a laugh, Wolfram stepped from the shadows, hauling a gagged and restrained Inko with him. "Oh, of course it was an act. But I never had any intention of letting you keep the device. It's much too..."
Midoriya wasn't hearing him. At that moment, all he knew was that a villain had taken his mother hostage. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. He wouldn't... couldn't lose his mom the same way he lost his dad. One For All: Full Cowling, fifteen percent! He kicked off of the ground and went straight at Wolfram. There was no righteous declaration of a Smash. Just an inarticulate scream of rage and desperation ripped from his throat as he careened towards the villain.
Wolfram was a great deal faster than he let on. He touched the ground and activated his Quirk. A metal pillar shot out of the ground and slammed into Midoriya. Then strips of metal peeled off of the floor and flew at him as he hit the wall that the villain had caused to rise up behind him and pinned him there. One strip gagged him.
"Rude." Wolfram said, "As I was saying, the device you've made is much to valuable to let slip through my fingers. Sam, the case."
"Of course, right away!" Sam snatched the case from David and handed it to Wolfram.
"Sam, what are you doing?" David asked.
Sam glared at David. "You might've become a scientist for some higher ideal, but I did it for one reason. To get rich. We should sell your device and live like kings, not throw it away for nothing and get thrown in prison! I deserve better than that!"
Wolfram grinned as he raised his pistol. "Oh, don't worry, Sam. You'll get exactly what you deserve." Two shots rang out, and Sam fell to the ground, his blood splattering across the case. He turned the gun on David. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Professor David Shield, the brain behind the Symbol of Peace himself! You do know that regardless of your motives, you planned and committed a crime. And this man died because of that. You can no longer remain a respected scientist, because your hands are as dirty as mine." An avaricious grin split his face behind his mask, "And after hearing what ol' Sammy said, the plan has changed."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know, for a smart guy, you're an idiot." Wolfram said, "In case the gun in your face didn't make things clear, you're coming with me. You, me, and All Might's fiancée, all on a little trip. And if you refuse to build copies of this device for me, she dies."
Midoriya began to struggle against the restraints. He couldn't let that happen! He couldn't let Wolfram take them!
"No! Please don't!" Melissa cried out.
Wolfram pointed his gun at Melissa. "This will probably go a lot smoother if you don't have any attachments, really get that moral degradation going. Right, Professor?"
In that instant, Melissa Shield hoped for a light to dispel the darkness and fear that threatened to consume her. For a hero to save her.
Izuku Midoriya did as he always would, and answered the call.
(Music start: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans OST. Iron Blooded Orphans)
He broke out of the restraints and hurtled towards Wolfram once more. "DON'T YOU HURT HER!" A metal wall rose up to block his attack. Midoriya grunted as his fist created a spiderweb crack in the obstacle. He would need to use more than the thirty percent he had been using with the Full Gauntlet to be able to stand a chance. "Overwatch, head for the control room! I'll handle your father and my mom! GO!"
Shaken back to reality by the use of her codename, Melissa scrambled to her feet and made a mad dash for the control room.
"Time to die, brats!" Wolfram said. He caused a metal pillar to erupt from the wall and target Melissa. She looked back and nearly tripped out of panic.
Midoriya interposed himself between them and unleashed fifty percent of One For All. "SMASH!" The pillar stopped dead in its tracks and a giant crack went all the way up the middle of it. Almost... just a little more...
Midoriya was so focused on the pillar in front of him that he never saw the one from the side coming, even with Danger Sense going off in his head. It rammed into his midsection and sent him sprawling, only for one to shoot out of the ground and knock him into the air.
"Hahaha, some hero you are! I'm barely using much of my power and you're helpless!" Wolfram taunted, "A useless hero, ready to sacrifice everything just to fail!"
Because he was using so much of his Quirk in beating the crap out of Midoriya, Wolfram's control elsewhere had faded, and the gag fell off of Inko. "You pressed the useless button."
"I'm sorry, the what?"
Midoriya's anger reached a fever pitch, and boiled over further. "I AM NOT USELESS!"
David picked that moment to try to attack Wolfram. He had seen All Might use that tactic a hundred times before. However, untrained as he was, the villain saw it from a mile away. Wolfram caught David's fist in his palm and shot him in the shoulder.
Midoriya came in for another attack and Wolfram put up another wall. He knew that the Full Gauntlet could handle three hits at the full power of One For All. This was no time to hold back. "SMA-"
"PREDICTABLE!" Wolfram roared. He caused pillar after pillar to smash into Midoriya from all directions, burying him in metal.
"IZUKU, NO!" Inko screamed, "No, not like this!"
Wolfram laughed, "He's alive. Probably, But he won't be coming to save you or the Professor any time soon. So get moving."
As Wolfram picked up the unconscious body of David Shield, the security system let out a hum, indicating it was back to normal.
Midoriya groaned as he broke free of the metal pillars holding him. He fell to his hands and knees, barely able to support his own weight. Come on! Get up! Save David Shield! Save your mother!
He activated Full Cowling and ran, heading towards the helipad. His knees screamed at him with every step, his right shoulder was in a constant state of pain. It didn't matter. He had pushed through broken limbs before! This was nothing!
"Give me more..." Midoriya muttered, "One For All!"
The pain faded into the background. He ignored the vague feeling of concern he felt from Shimura.
He made it to the helipad with mere seconds to spare. The helicopter was spinning up, and both David Shield and Inko were on it. Based on how Inko was bent over David, she was giving him first aid, possibly from a kit on the helicopter. "STOP! GIVE THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!"
Wolfram turned towards him. "You're a tenacious little shit, aren't you? But it won't matter! You haven't even laid a finger on me, kid!" He tapped his chin, "But I've got to wonder... I get why you want to save your momma from me so bad. See, that makes sense. But why do you care about the Professor? He's a criminal. A villain! Are you going to bring him back so he can pay for his crimes?"
Midoriya clenched his fists and broke into a run. "Of course not! I'm here to save him! It doesn't matter what he's done!" He leapt off of the ground and ran up the pillar that Wolfram sent at him. "He needs a hero, so I am here..." He pinballed between several new pillars, knocking their trajectories off enough to keep Wolfram from burying him like last time, "...To twist your desires and make a miracle!"
"Tell me, how do all those ideals stop a bullet?" He aimed his pistol in the direction of David and Inko.
Midoriya immediately kicked off of a pillar and made a beeline for Wolfram, only to narrowly dodge another pillar.
"Forget about us!" David said, "You can't... you're not All Might..."
Midoriya stopped dead in his tracks. "But..."
Wolfram laughed again, "Y'know, being a hero sounds real inconvenient. Having to follow all those stupid laws, not being able to kill unless the villain meets some arbitrary ranking, having to risk your own hide for people who don't give a rat's ass about you..." He took a step towards Midoriya, "Or fighting a futile battle like this one!" With the forewarning from Danger Sense, Midoriya was able to dodge the two pillars that would have sandwiched him. However, his evasion took him right into the path of the third. He punched it, but he barely had enough power to hold it back.
Wolfram got in the helicopter and switched it to semiautomatic mode, enabling even someone largely untrained like himself to fly it. He began to take off. He chuckled to himself. He was about to get a huge payday, plus he had the money from the sale of the Professor's device to look forward to.
Using some of the debris that Wolfram had left behind, Midoriya took a running leap at the helicopter and just barely managed to grab on to the side. "Mom! Professor! I'm here to save you!"
Inko acted immediately. Her own restraints had thankfully degraded enough that she was able to break out of them with little effort. She went to grab the Professor when a gunshot rang out. Inko clutched her arm and slammed against the wall at the back of the helicopter.
Wolfram stormed into the rear of the helicopter and saw Midoriya hanging from the edge. "I'll give you this, kid. You act like a true hero. But you're an idealist, and idealists always die young." He fired his gun twice, but the bullets were deflected by the Full Gauntlet, sparking off of the metal surface as they ricocheted away. Wolfram snarled as the slide locked in the rear position, indicating he was out of ammo. Instead he kicked Midoriya in the face, sending him falling to the ground.
Despite his rapid descent, Midoriya was thinking of nothing but saving Inko and the Professor. What do I do? What can I... He mentally leafed through his abilities and came up empty. Shimura! Do you have any ideas?
The answer was not what he wanted to hear.
"I'm sorry."
He hit the helipad. The physical pain was ignored. But the emotional pain was not.
"The security system's back up!" Melissa said as she ran out onto the helipad. Then she saw Midoriya and the distinct lack of both Inko and her father. "No!"
Midoriya bolted upright. "No! Don't take them!" The tears had started. Would he ever see his mom again? "Come back, damn you! DAMN IT!"
(Music End)
At the moment that the last cinders of Hope were extinguished, they reignited into an inferno. All because of one man, and one phrase.
"NEVER FEAR, IZUKU! FOR I AM HERE!"
With no preamble and no grandstanding, All Might struck. He shot through the open hatch, grabbing Inko and David and destroying the helicopter in one fell swoop. He reappeared on the helipad in an instant.
"Mom!" Midoriya cried out, "Your arm, is it-"
"Just a graze, Izuku. I'm fine now." Inko reassured her son. The tender familial moment was punctuated by the helicopter exploding in the background. "All Might, I've done what I can for David, but he needs medical attention."
"Right," All Might said, "Let's-"
"Toshi... I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
Before All Might could do anything, a metal pillar slammed into him and the floor began to rip itself apart and cables shot out and grabbed David and Inko and pulled them out of sight.
Midoriya gasped. There was only one possible explanation. Wolfram was using the Professor's device!
"You know, you should really be careful what you say! Thanks to the security system, I heard every word!" Wolfram began to rise up atop a giant pillar of metal consisting of material stripped from the tower. "All Might's Quirk is failing! He isn't so invincible anymore!"
All Might coughed, then looked at his hand. Blood. He was coughing up blood. Not much time... I have to end this quickly... "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" All Might shot forward and unleashed a mighty blow. "TEXAS SMASH!"
But it was all for naught. A wall shot into place and blocked his blow. All Might blinked. How? Even with his reduced power, something like this should've been easy to break through!
"Is that all you've got?" Wolfram taunted. Metal rods shot out of the wall, knocking All Might back.
More and more metal from the tower was ripped away to form a veritable bastion from which Wolfram was besieging All Might. "Hahaha! Look's like the professor's reputation isn't all smoke and mirrors! My Quirk's more powerful than ever before!"
All Might could only dodge as Wolfram sent a constant barrage of attacks at him. With David's device amplifying his Quirk, he no longer needed to touch metal to control it.
"Got you!" Wolfram sent a pillar at All Might after he had already dodged. With no way to alter his trajectory in time, he countered with a punch, but the pillar stayed intact and forced him to guard.
Midoriya hazarded a glance. He saw the steam rising from All Might and saw him coughing. Oh no! He's at his limit! I have to do something!
"Don't think I've forgotten about you brats!" Midoriya instantly activated Full Cowling and grabbed Melissa, dodging out of the way of a half hearted attack.
Wolfram returned his attention to All Might so he could deliver the coup de grace. He launched six pillars at him in a pincer formation. If those hit...
"ALL MIGHT, NO!" Midoriya screamed.
"FLASHFREEZE FIST!" A beam of ice arced across the pillars on the right, freezing them solid.
A massive explosion detonated, rattling the other three so much they broke apart. "No one's killing the Symbol of Peace today!" Bakugo yelled, "NOT WHILE I'M HERE!"
Midoriya grinned. Now they had a chance!
In that moment, a rocket arced towards the top of the tower and split into four. They exploded and spread clouds of chaff around Wolfram. "There!" Yaoyorozu said, "That should make it harder for him to track us!"
Midoriya looked back at Yaoyorozu. She was leaning on Jiro and breathing heavily. Was she over using her Quirk?
"Are you really gonna let yourself get beaten by some lame-ass final boss?" Bakugo said to All Might, "HURRY AND TAKE HIM DOWN!"
All Might smiled. "Thanks for the help, young Bakugo."
"We'll do what we can." Todoroki said.
"Let's go, Iida!" Kirishima said.
"Oh, shut up you damn brats!" Wolfram yelled, "Shut up and DIE!" He sent pillars at the students only for Todoroki to block them with ice.
"Uravity, now!" Iida said.
Uraraka dashed forward and slapped her hand on the ground. "Everyone get behind me!" The glow turned from pink to purple and she gritted her teeth. This time she would be ready for the blast of nausea. "URAVITY: UNIVERSAL PUSH!"
The pillars that Wolfram had sent at them, along with Todoroki's ice were blown back as if by a gale force wind. Uraraka gagged, but was able to keep the contents of her stomach contained.
All Might flexed his muscles, renewing his bulked up form. "With my students so motivated, how can I let myself be held back by something so foolish as a limit? It's time to be..."
"PLUS ULTRA!" Everyone shouted.
Midoriya set Melissa down by the others and rejoined the fray. He pinballed between multiple pillars in motion, knocking them off-course with sixty percent smashes with the protection of the Full Gauntlet.
Iida and Kirishima held their ground against Wolfram's ground based attacks and countered cables he tried to use to bind the others. "Don't you get it, creep?" Kirishima said, "The name's Red Riot, and no one behind me is gonna bleed!"
"Hold on!" Jiro said as Yaoyorozu was reloading her rocket launcher. "Midoriya's mom and David Shield are inside that thing!"
Bakugo's eyes twitched. "That bastard's got auntie Inko?" He immediately shot at Wolfram, who reacted exactly as Bakugo predicted and sent more attacks at him. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU BASTARD! HOWITZER IMPACT!" Wolfram's assault had been soundly foiled by Bakugo's rage personified.
Yaoyorozu gritted her teeth. "He's crossed a line." She hissed, "Ultimate Creation: Chaff Cluster Bomb!" Another rocket shot out and behaved exactly as the first one did.
"Damn it!" Wolfram said to himself, "If it wasn't for that bitch throwing those chaff clouds everywhere, I'd have killed them all already!" Perhaps relying on the security cameras he was snatching up with his Quirk was a poor choice.
All Might took point and went right down the middle with a grin on his face. He blew right through Wolfram's reprisal by taking a page from Midoriya's book. "Hey, Wolfram! You know what I figured out? I HAVE LEGS! CYCLONE SMASH!"
Midoriya could only look on with awe as he watched his mentor borrow his own attack, the air pressure from the double kick attack creating a whirlwind effect that not only blew through several pillars but also fouled Wolfram's other attacks. If that was that attack at a hundred percent... what would his other attacks be like?
"This is the end of the road for you, villain!" All Might chambered a blow to take Wolfram down but a multitude of cables captured him and brought him to a stop right in front of Wolfram who reached out and grabbed All Might by the throat.
"Oh, you're right about that, All Might." Wolfram said as his skin began to glow, "It's the end of the road alright. For you!"
All Might tried to break away but couldn't. This seems... unconnected to his ability to control metal. Multiple... "No, it can't be!"
"Heh. Sure is, got a call from the man himself while planning this oper-" Wolfram stopped dead in his tracks as he doubled over in pain, grabbing at his crotch, "What... what the hell is-"
From a crevice in Wolfram's tower, All Might could see a soft white glow. The same soft white glow that surrounded Inko's hands when she used her Quirk! "I told you, you piece of shit!" Inko viciously swore, "If you try to kidnap me, I WILL RIP YOUR BALLS OFF!"
With a gesture from Wolfram, a small metal rod smacked Inko on the back of her head, knocking her out. "Well, I'm really gonna enjoy whatever All For One does to her now."
Before All Might could muster enough strength to break free, a metal rod shot out from the tower just under where Wolfram was standing and forced All Might out to the limit of the cables holding him. Wolfram then caused giant metal cubes to smash into him, one after the other. "Farewell, Symbol of Peace! Steel Coffin: Iron Maiden Execution!"
All of the students could only look on in horror as several metal spikes impaled the cubes that were crushing All Might.
"I won't let you kill my dad!" Midoriya let slip. He leapt towards All Might's prison with only one goal in mind. Free him before it was too late. One For All: ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! It occurred to Midoriya mid leap that this attack needed a name. It was his most powerful attack, after all. In the split second available to him, he settled on a name he hoped would be apt. "MIRACLE SMASH!"
While his attack wasn't enough to completely dissemble the construct, it blew away enough of it that All Might was free. He grabbed Midoriya before any of the debris could hit him and they both landed in relative safety.
"Izuku, you're being way too reckless! Your body can't-" All Might started to say.
Midoriya cut him off, "Not with this." He showed him the Full Gauntlet, "Besides, I'm a hero. It's my job to save people in need. No matter the cost."
(Music start: My Hero Academia OST: You Say Run)
All Might sighed then looked at Wolfram's tower. Due to the circumstances and how much power he had left, there was no way that he could beat Wolfram on his own. "You make a good point, Izuku. Let's take this villain down side by side. What do you say?" He extended his hand.
Midoriya took it without hesitation. "Yes sir."
"Let's go!" All Might said.
And they were off. Like bullets from a gun, they shot towards their target with unerring precision. Despite the dire straits they were in, despite the stakes, Izuku Midoriya's inner Hero fanboy came to the fore. This was a scenario that he had dreamed of many a time when he was a child, and now it was happening.
"No no no..." Wolfram said, "I can't fail him... otherwise I'm dead... SO JUST LIE DOWN AND DIE ALREADY!" Wolfram abandoned all control and sent misshapen hunks of metal at All Might and Midoriya.
Bakugo responded in kind. "TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE!" He pushed past his limits and fired off multiple full-power explosions, blowing away the hunks of metal in All Might and Midoriya's path.
They leapt towards Wolfram, using the debris he was calling towards him with his Quirk as footholds to continue their ascent.
"ENOUGH!" Wolfram roared. He launched a flurry of attacks, targeting the other students.
Midoriya looked back, "Momo, no!"
"Stay focused, Mister Miracle!" All Might called out.
Melissa was thrown from where she had been standing with a scream. Midoriya wasn't close enough to save her, what was going to happen to-
"RECIPRO BURST!"
Quick as a flash, Iida was there. He scooped up Melissa and carried her away mere moments before the debris that fell with her would have crushed her. "I've got you, Melissa!"
She gazed up at him. "My hero."
In a display of sheer might that All Might had not had occasion to display since the USJ, he smashed his way through another once of Wolfram's attacks, causing the giant hunk of metal to completely fracture and break apart.
Wolfram decided to try to focus on the weaker of the two, but it was to no avail. Even with multiple attacks at once raining down on him, Midoriya slipped through them all thanks to Danger Sense and the added mobility of Float allowed him to link back up with All Might.
The two of them jumped to one of Wolfram's pillars and began to run up it side by side as fast as their legs would carry them. With a roar, Wolfram began to gather as much metal as he could, all to create a massive cube of metal.
All Might and Midoriya leapt off a piece of debris and prepared their final attack. As they chambered their fists, they looked at each other for a moment, a moment of questioning. Then a nod. They knew what they would call this attack.
"To overcome the crisis in front of you, with everything you've got..." All Might declared, "And to save people with a smile, no matter the cost!"
"To twist the desires of the evil and the wicked, and make a miracle!" Midoriya shouted.
"THAT'S WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A HERO!" They both yelled from the bottom of their hearts.
"I'll bring down this entire tower!" Wolfram said. He sent the massive cube he had gathered up towards the intrepid duo, in the vain hope that they would attempt to save themselves rather than risk everything.
But the duo were All Might and Mister Miracle. They would always risk everything if it meant saving another from danger.
"FATHER-SON DETROIT SMASH!"
Even with All Might vomiting blood. Even with the Full Gauntlet cracking under the strain. They broke through the massive amalgamation of metal and evil as if it were a paper bag and continued on to their true target.
"Let's go!"
"Beyond!"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
Wolfram wrapped himself in a metal cocoon, but it was pointless. Faced with the power of two users of One For All, his hold on both of his Quirks disintegrated on contact and he was blown away by their double attack. The Full Gauntlet shattered, but Midoriya's arm was largely unhurt.
(Music end)
All at once, all of the material that Wolfram had gathered for his perch fell apart. All Might moved to grab David Shield, and with a combination of finger flicks and Float, Midoriya moved to grab Inko.
As soon as they landed, Midoriya was worrie sick. "Mom, are you okay?"
She sighed, "Yes, Izuku, I'm fine." Inko smiled.
"You did the thing, didn't you?" Midoriya asked.
Inko nodded. "Some organs...
"Count as small objects."
A horde of paramedics and technicians descended on the tower shortly after. The technicians set about assessing the damage, while the paramedics did their due diligence and checked everyone. David, Inko, and All Might were immediately admitted to a hospital on the island. Uraraka was as well when she explained to the doctors what had happened with her Quirk. It was standard procedure to have a re-evaluation of your Quirk in the event of an Awakening. Bakugo ended up going with her when the paramedics realized how dehydrated he was.
The rest were told to go back to their rooms and get a well deserved good night's sleep.
Kyoka Jiro had other ideas.
"Hey, Yaomomo." She whispered as they approached the hotel. "Think you could convince Midoriya to let you crash in his room?"
Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, "Why don't you want me in our room all of a sudden? Do I stink?"
Jiro looked her friend in the eyes. "I need to burn off this damn adrenaline, and I'm going to do it with Denki."
The dots still weren't quite connecting, as Yaoyorozu was exhausted and starving. "Spell it out for me please."
Jiro rolled her eyes. "Yaomomo, I'm going to have sex with him."
The dots were officially connected. "Yes, I believe I can convince him." Yaoyorozu said nonchalantly despite the blush on her face.
"And hey... if you want to celebrate y'know... still being alive with Midoriya, I've just set you up for it." Jiro snarked with a wink.
Yaoyorozu bluescreened for a moment. "Ah... no. Not yet. I do want to... do that with him, but I want it to be special. Not... heat of the moment."
Jiro shrugged, "Fine, be all cultured about it."
Kaminari was soon waylaid by his girlfriend looping her arm through his and dragging him away. "Huh? Where are we going? Aren't we supposed to be going to bed?"
Jiro playfully smacked Kaminari with one of her jacks. "Be a gentleman and walk me to my room."
He complied. Since her and Yaoyorozu's room was on a higher floor, they said their goodbyes to everyone else and made for the elevator. Kaminari still had no idea what was going on. Jiro was buzzing with nervous energy with how she was bouncing on her heels. "Are you good?" He asked.
She smiled at him in a way that made him feel like he was walking into a diabolical trap. "Never better."
As the elevator doors closed, only Yaoyorozu and one other person knew what was happening.
"Godspeed, brother." Mineta said as he threw an extraordinarily military salute.
In the elevator, Kaminari quickly discovered what was going on as Jiro pulled him in by his tie and kissed him. She backed up until her back was against the wall, then broke away and looked him in the eyes. One of his hands had gone to her face and was caressing her face, while the other had gone to her back and her hands were on his chest, one clutching at his dress shirt and the other still pulling at his tie. And his eyes... damn, this boy was smitten with her. She breathed in and... "Holy crap, did your cologne actually last through that whole ordeal?"
Kaminari knew he had a tendency to run his mouth when he was nervous and said nervousness was due to Jiro. He also knew he liked it when she shut him up while he was running his mouth. "Err... yeah. It's from Hawks's line of that kinda thing for heroes and-"
She darted in and laid rapid-fire kisses on him. As she kissed him, she moved from his mouth to his cheek and then to his neck. "Stop talking, Sparkplug." She hissed in his ear.
Kaminari tensed up. He suddenly realized what was happening and was eternally grateful to his dad for slipping him that box of condoms before he had left. "Yes, ma'am."
Kaminari knew he was into for the fun kind of danger when Jiro's jacks wrapped around his neck. She only did that when she was in the mood for more.
"Here's what's gonna happen tonight, babe." Jiro murmured, "We're gonna go back to my room, and I'm gonna have my way with you. Cause we survived that absolute load of bullshit tonight and I want to revel in just being alive with you. Do you want that, Denki?"
Well, he'd have to be an idiot to say no, so... "Yes."
Jiro grinned. "Good boy. Now... by the time I'm done with you tonight you'd better be praising my name, because I'm going to take you to heaven."
To be fair, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu also ended up in bed together. Unlike Kaminari and Jiro, they were much less... active. After they'd made it back to Midoriya's room -and Yaoyorozu had thrown her emergency credit card at a vending machine to raid it for snacks because she was starving- They'd collapsed on the bed next to each other.
"How was your day, honey?" Yaoyorozu asked jokingly.
As he was staring up at the ceiling, Midoriya decided to play into the joke. "I fulfilled a childhood dream of fighting alongside All Might, and we took down a S ranked villain, saving my mom, Professor David Shield, and all of I-Island."
"That's nice." Yaoyorozu said, "I basically pulled an UNO Reverse on the drones in the server room. And made up a new support item for Kaminari on the fly." When she saw that Midoriya was looking over at her attentively she explained further, "Basically an electric gun. He charges it and it shoots lightning."
"Neat." Midoriya said. He slipped his hand into Yaoyorozu's and was content with just laying there. His mind was far too active to just go to sleep. Oh, speaking of that... he should probably tell someone about what was going on with One For All. "So... something weird happened with One For All."
Yaoyorozu frowned. "What happened?"
There was no way to sugarcoat it, so Midoriya ripped off the bandaid. "I'm getting the Quirks of the past wielders of One For All."
Yaoyorozu blinked. Twice. "Izuku... that's impossible."
"I have a Class Six Quirk, Momo. Technically nothing is impossible."
"Okay. Let's assume that you're right, and I'm not in bed with a raving lunatic," Yaoyorozu said lightly, "How is this possible, at least within One For All's internal logic?"
Midoriya stood up and began to pace while he explained. Yaoyorozu was mildly annoyed at his absence from the bed, but she knew the risks of asking him to talk about Quirks. "As near as I can tell, each of the past Wielders left some sort of an imprint of themselves when they passed the Quirk along, and that imprint includes their memories, personality, and Quirk. Now, how the wielders choose to give me their Quirks is... varied. But one thing that is constant is that I had to reach twenty percent of One For All safely before this process started, which I inadvertently did at the USJ." He stopped for a moment before looking back at Yaoyorozu, "Are you following so far?"
She yawned, "Yes."
"It seems now that the order in which I get the Quirks is completely haphazard. For example, after the Sports Festival I had a dream where I talked to the Fourth Wielder. He granted me his Quirk, Danger Sense." Midoriya continued to explain.
"It's basically Spider-Sense, isn't it?" Yaoyorozu asked, referencing a much beloved pre-Quirk era superhero.
"Yep." Midoriya said, "But it's... spotty? It only activates when I'm under serious physical danger, or Fourth is being a troll. Oddly, during my fight with Wolfram, it didn't start working until after my team up with All Might, but in my fight with Stain it was going off near constantly."
"Did Eclipse ever trip it?" Yaoyorozu hated to bring up the QLF terrorist, but her curiosity was piqued.
Midoriya shook his head, "No. Probably because she never intended to harm me during either of our encounters." He paused for a moment, and Yaoyorozu wondered what was going on inside his head.
"I think... Eclipse is going to end up being my nemesis." Midoriya said, "At least, that's not All For One. Our ideals are the same, but our methods are completely different. Or will be, once I become a Pro Hero."
"Izuku, the Quirks." Yaoyorozu gently reminded him.
"Right! The only other one I've got so far is from the Seventh Wielder, Float. It... lets me float in mid air. Unlike before, the Seventh -who was also All Might's predecessor- contacted me directly through some sort of... the best way I can describe it is intra-Quirk telepathy. The Quirk also manifested when I needed it." With no questions from Yaoyorozu, he continued, "It should also be mentioned that the Seventh said that she, Fifth, and Sixth actively keep an eye on what's happening to me, unless I want privacy."
"Like right now?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Midoriya nodded sluggishly before yawning. "I'm gonna go to sleep now." He flopped back on the bed, laying next to Yaoyorozu again.
Yaoyorozu leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. When it became apparent that sleep was going to elude him even with how utterly exhausted he was, she began to sing him to sleep.
She sang him a song about how the world would be different if no one acted selfishly or was violent. He ended up drifting off just after what he would later tell her was his favorite part of the song.
And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be.
A/N: How we feeling y'all? Feeling good? Good. Because things are only going to get more wild as we ramp up to the Training Camp and Kamino Ward.
In any event, let's take it from the top.
Yes, I-Island's Quirk laws are incredibly lax compared to Japan, which is why the I-Island Crew (as I like to call them) will be free from legal trouble for their efforts.
Basically, everyone on the hero side is allowed to actually be as intelligent as the source material says they should be. What with Kaminari having the situational awareness to understand why him going stupid here would just make him a complete liability.
Also, yeah. They use their Hero names. It's always bugged me how they barely use them in canon, so I changed that. Melissa's code name is a direct reference to Felicity Smoak's code name from the Arrowverse.
Ah, the server room battle. First off, Kaminari's new lightning gun is loosely based on the Recharger Pistol from Fallout. Now, let's talk about Yaoyorozu. Unlike in canon, where she fights for approximately two minutes and then keels over, she's in it for the long haul here. As for her takedown of the two villains that ambush the group... Well, she's being trained by Aizawa. She followed said training and did what was rational. Without the means to detain them with a guarantee that the villains couldn't tamper with the servers, she had to knock them out. The second villain's surrender would bring her under scrutiny if this had been an official op, but would likely swing in her favor given the circumstances. Oh, and her Sticky Shockers are based on the item of the same name from Splinter Cell.
Now. Uraraka. Allow me to preface this by saying that I am using the Quirk Classification system devised by Mirrond. Quirks are ranked from Class 1 through 6, with Class 6 being Quirks such as One For All and All For One. The weakest Quirk belonging to a canon combatant would be Ojiro's Tail, which would be rated as a Class 2. There are three main metrics on which Quirks are measured for this system. Activation restrictions, Output, and Adaptability. In canon, Uraraka's Zero Gravity is solidly a Class 3 Quirk, given her only impressive stat is Output. Now, with her Awakening, she's gone up to Class 4, gaining a high degree of Adaptability, meaning she can do more things than just make things weightless.
Finally, yes. Inko did in fact attempt to rip off Wolfram's balls. I was not joking about "some organs are considered small objects".
Kaminari, you lucky bastard. Now look, I ain't writing that out. Sorry. That's not likely to change any time soon.
Now someone else knows about Midoriya's expanding arsenal. And Midoriya decides that Eclipse is his problem. Whether that's right or wrong is up for debate.
Finally, this chapter introduced Midoriya and Yaoyorozu's character themes! I picked the IBO theme for Midoriya because he's a scrapper, just like Mikazuki. They also have the same tendency to sacrifice their bodies recklessly. I picked the Witch From Mercury theme for Yaoyorozu because the choral bits just feel right for when she's popping off. Nothing deeper than that, really.
Anyways. That's it for this chapter. Next up is the training camp... but before that...
Midoriya. Shigiraki. They're going to be having a talk.
