After having finished getting changed, Mirio headed to the expo only to find two kids standing in the lobby. One was one of the kids he and All Might had talked to after the USJ attack. The other he recognized from the news as Tenya Iida, Ingenium's younger brother who was recently attacked by Stain and Midoriya. Ida had an almost collar-like device wrapped around his neck.
"Oh, hey! I guess Melissa and I aren't the only ones who are late. Both of you are students at UA too, right? How's it going? I heard about the thing with Stain and Midoriya… I'm glad to see you both made it out alive!" Mirio greeted, trying to be friendly.
"We are doing as well as we can be, all things considered… You go to U.A. too?" Ida asked, his voice having an artificial twinge to it suggesting it was most likely being synthesized by the device on his throat.
"Yeah, I'm Mirio Togata, a third year in the hero courses. I'm one of the Big Three. Nice to meet you. Though I'm pretty sure the two of us have already met. Todoroki, right? Endeavor's son?" Mirio inquired.
"Yeah, we have. Right after the USJ attack. I remember. All Might introduced us." Todoroki said.
"Mhm! That's right. I—" Mirio paused mid sentence as the door opened again and a few more people walked in.
"Sorry I'm late. It took me a while to get ready." A girl Mirio didn't recognize said as she walked in.
"Apologies for the tardiness. Jiro's feeling shy." Said another girl that Mirio didn't recognize as another girl hid behind her.
"This is fancier than anything I've ever worn before… It feels like a costume." The girl who was apparently named 'Jiro' said as she and the girl she had just been hiding behind walked in.
"Hey, who's this?" The first girl asked, looking at Mirio.
"Mirio Togata, third year in the hero courses at U.A. High. Nice to meet you! I'm guessing you three know these two?"
"Yeah, we're all in the same class… At least we were until these two decided to be stupid and try to fight Stain and Midoriya." Jiro stated, giving Ida and Todoroki a disapproving look.
"A mistake I regret every day…" Iida said with a despondent look on his face. This caused pretty much everyone in the room to give him a sympathetic look, save for Todoroki whose demeanor remained stoic.
"Well regardless, we'll be back in class after summer break is over." Todoroki stated.
The door opened again and someone else entered. Looking, Mirio saw it was Melissa and smiled.
"Oh good, I thought I was gonna miss you!" She said as she came jogging in. "Let's get downstairs to the party!"
"Melissa! You look absolutely beautiful in that outfit!" Mirio complimented her as she entered.
"Aw, you're so sweet! Thank you. So, who are all of your friends here?" Melissa asked, looking around at all the first years.
"I don't really know. I only just met most of them myself. So, how about a round of introductions? That way we can all get to know each other." Mirio suggested.
"Sounds good! I'll start. I'm Melissa Shield, daughter of the head researcher here at I-Island David Shield, and a third year here at I-Island Academy. It's nice to meet you all."
One after the other all of the students introduced themselves.
"There was supposed to be two more of us coming but they're both late." Yaoyorozu stated.
"Give me a moment, I'll call them." Iida said, taking out his phone. After trying a few times he lowered his phone and said, "It's no good. Neither of them are picking up. Knowing those two they're just blowing off the party."
Suddenly a warning siren went off and an automated voice said, "This is an announcement from the I-Island Security System. We have received a report that an explosive device was discovered somewhere on the I-Expo grounds. I-Island will now be in high alert mode. Your safety is our top priority. Residents and tourists should return to their rooms. If you are unable to return to your room, please find shelter in the nearest building. Anyone remaining in the street after ten minutes will be in violation of the law. Please clear out of public areas. As a precautionary measure, most of the main island will now be sealed off. I repeat, we have received a report…"
Giant metal shutters began sealing the doors and windows.
Todoroki took out his phone and looked at the screen. "I'm not getting any signal. It looks like my service is completely blocked."
"The elevator's not working either!" Jiro said as she continued pressing the button in a futile attempt to call an elevator.
"It's strange that the system would go on high alert. That's not the protocol whenever explosives are discovered." Melissa said, raising a hand to her chin in thought.
Mirio frowned. He didn't like this. Something was off about this. He could feel it in his gut.
"Everyone, listen. I don't know what's going on, but right now my priority is the safety of everyone in this room. So let's go to the party." Mirio stated.
"For what reason?" Iida asked.
"Because that's where we can find All Might and the other pros." Mirio answered.
"Wait, All Might's in there?" Uraraka inquired.
Mirio nodded. "Yeah, he is. So, Melissa, do you know of any way we can get down there without the elevator?"
"Yeah, sure. We can use the emergency stairs." Melissa said motioning to the emergency stairs. "That will at least get us close."
"Lead the way." Mirio told her.
All of them rushed down the stairs until they reached a walkway above a glass roof looking down into the room where the expo was being held. Looking down they saw All Might and all the other pro heroes tied up by powerful restraints and criminals in the room holding everyone hostage at gunpoint.
"This isn't good…" Mirio said, gripping the railing hard. "If only we had some way to communicate with All Might, we could ask him what to do."
"Can you get his attention somehow?" Jiro asked.
"I have my phone, I guess I could try flashing the flashlight at him. Why?" Mirio inquired.
"My quirk, earjack, will let me listen through the floor. So as long as you can get his attention and get him to talk to us, I should be able to hear it." Jiro explained.
Mirio nodded before pulling out his phone and flashing the light at All Might. After a moment All Might looked up at him.
Putting away his phone, Mirio looked at Jiro. "I have his attention. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, ready." Jiro responded.
Mirio held up a hand to his ear and motioned that he could hear All Might if he talked.
He could see All Might's mouth start moving.
Once All Might had finished talking, Jiro retracted her earjack and said, "This is bad."
"Let's get away from this glass then you can tell me what you heard. I don't want those guys with guns looking up and seeing us." Mirio said in a quiet tone as he backed away from the railing.
Jiro nodded and the group headed back to the stairs.
"Alright, so what did All Might say?" Mirio asked as soon as they were all inside the stairwell.
"He said that villains have taken the tower. Apparently they have control of the security system and everyone on the island is being held hostage, including the heroes at the party. He also said to get away from here because it's dangerous." Jiro answered.
Mirio frowned and looked down at the ground. On the one hand, he knew that if All Might was telling him to leave then it must be extremely dangerous. Particularly for the hostages. On the other hand, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing!
"What are we going to do?" Ochako asked.
"We've received All Might's orders loud and clear. I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place. Otherwise we'd be going against his will. Besides, I don't want any of you to be injured like I was after I went up against villains despite lacking the necessary skills and experience. And I don't want any of you being punished like Todoroki and I. Learn from my mistakes." Ida said with a grim expression on his face.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with what Ida is saying. We're still only students. We can't fight these villains without our hero licenses." Momo stated.
"Well, then it's a good thing I have mine." Mirio said, stepping forwards.
"Wait, you have a hero license? I thought you were a third year, not that you had already graduated." Todoroki said, looking at Mirio.
Mirio smiled at him. "You'd be right! I am a third year! But I do have a provisional hero license. Students can take the hero license exam to get one, which is held twice a year. I got mine in my second year, after Sir Nighteye recommended I take the exam, and it hasn't expired just yet. Regardless, it lets me use my quirk for hero work with recognition for the law. I don't need a pro's supervision to act, especially in an emergency like this. So, I'm going to do whatever I can to stop these villains."
"Just out of curiosity, does your license mean you would count as 'supervision' for those of us here without a license?" Jiro asked.
Mirio scratched the back of his head and smiled at the first years. "Well… Yes and no. I could bring you guys and none of you wouldn't get in trouble for following me since I do have my provisional license and I'm a third year. That said, I might get in trouble since I'm not actually a pro just yet. At least if I actually let you fight the villains."
"So you want us to stay here and do nothing?" Todoroki asked. "I understand Ida's point. I was there when he fought Stain and Midoriya. But aren't we trying to become pros too? Is it right that we should just stay here and do nothing at all?"
"Well, it's complicated…" Momo said, looking down at the floor.
"I know where the security system is. It's on the top floor of the tower. If these villains managed to take control of it, then the authentication locks and password have probably been disabled. We should be able to restart the system ourselves. We just have to stay off the villains radar until we can get to the top floor, that's all. If we do that, the whole island will be safe again.""
"Sure but how do we keep on the low for that long?" Jiro asked.
"The security system hasn't discovered us yet. That means the villains probably don't know how it works very well." Melissa stated.
"So we avoid fighting anyone and try to get the place back to normal. It could work." Todoroki said.
Mirio smiled at them. "Sounds good to me!"
"Okay. Let's do it!" Jiro nodded.
"But many of our enemies are likely gathered there on the top floor…" Momo said, nervously.
"If we're fast enough, hopefully we won't have to fight them. If the security systems go back to normal, All Might and the other pros will be released and will take things from there. That said if we do end up running into trouble, I'm going to need whoever comes with me to listen to me. If I tell you to help me fight, you help me fight. If I tell you to run, you run. Hide if I tell you to hide. Everyone understand? No matter what happens to me, your safety is my top priority next to freeing the pros." Mirio told them.
All of them nodded.
"Let's do this, guys!" Uraraka exclaimed. "I don't want to sit around here being helpless. Not if there's something we can actually try! What's important is that we're helping people even if we're not real heroes!"
Mirio patted her on the shoulder and laughed for a moment before giving her a big smile. "Spoken like a true hero! I knew I liked you guys! Alright then, who else is coming?"
"I'll go with you too." Todoroki stated.
"I'm in!" Jirio said, giving a thumbs up.
"Mr. Togata, are you sure this is a good idea? I know you have your provisional license, but we're only first years. As you can see, I have the scars to show what happens when we get in over our heads." Ida asked, rubbing the device in his scarred throat that allowed him to speak.
Mirio's expression grew serious as he looked at the injury. "That's why I need you all to agree to follow my lead. The moment I think it's getting too dangerous for all of you, it's over. I'm going to tell you all to run, and I'll keep going by myself. Remember what I said. Your safety is my number one priority next to getting the security system back to normal. I won't put any of you in any unnecessary danger. You have my word."
"Alright. Then I'll join you as well." Ida stated.
"If that's the case, I'll go too." Yaoyorozu added.
Mirio approached Melissa with a large smile on his face. "Melissa, you should wait here for us. We'll be back soon."
"No, I'm going too." Melissa stated confidently.
Mirio looked at her in surprise. "But you don't have a quirk. You'll be in serious danger."
"I don't suppose any of you have any idea how to change the settings on the Island's security system." Melissa retorted.
"Well… No…" Mirio said, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm a student at the academy. I'll be useful to you. I know I might just get in your way, at least until we get up to the top floor, but I want to help! People are in danger! Please!"
Mirio gave her a big smile. "Wow… You'd make for an amazing hero, Melissa! Alright. Just stay close to us. If anything happens, I'll be sure to keep you and the others safe. Let's go!"
Melissa smiled back and nodded. "Yeah!"
Mirio went back out towards the glass and looked down at All Might. All Might looked back up at him and they could both tell what the other was thinking without a word passing between them.
'Oh no… That look in your eyes, don't tell me… Please, run away!'
'I'm sorry All Might…'
'It's too dangerous…'
'I can't just sit back and do nothing. I have to help!'
'Togata…'
'A true hero wouldn't leave people in danger like this! I know you'd do the same in my situation!' Mirio nodded at All Might before turning and running to join back up with the others.
'He's not going to leave… I know I should be furious that he's ignoring his teacher's wishes, but who am I kidding? If he didn't act right now, then he wouldn't be my successor! I'll just have to keep this form up, and have faith that they can get us out of this situation on their own! We're counting on you.'
Elsewhere on the Island, the League of Villains was active. Izuku had decided to use Wolfram's attack as an opportunity for a second Tartarus level mission to spread even more fear and chaos. Though since Wolfram was doing most of the work, Izuku wouldn't be getting rewarded for this mission. Which was fine. He was already more than satisfied with his Hard Light, Kinetic Energy Absorption, and Cognitive quirks. He still hated his telekinesis but he could swallow his issues with it and use it if necessary.
Stain and Dabi were out hunting any false heroes that hadn't gone to the party. Lady Nagant was doing something similar but instead she was out sniping scientists, board members, and officials who hadn't gone. Though only those who Izuku could find evidence to suggest they were genuinely corrupt in some form or another. Kurogiri was helping Lady Nagant get into better positions to snipe her targets.
That only left Izuku and Toga, who were both dressed up like Wolfram's soldiers. Toga had ambushed, killed, and stolen one's blood and identity just to blend in better. While Izuku had just killed one that was roughly as short as him and had simply stolen his uniform.
Wolfram had no idea Izuku and the others were there. The League had helped him set up the operation in the background, but that was supposed to be the extent of their involvement. He had no idea they had infiltrated the Island along with him and his crew.
Toga and Izuku were both up in the security control room pretending to be normal guards.
There was a beep from the console and the hacker that was currently in control of the security system flinched in surprise.
"Something wrong?" Swordkil, one of Wolfram's higher ranking mercenaries, asked the hacker.
"A door on a high floor just opened…" The hacker responded.
"What the hell? I thought you scanned each level and they were all clear." Swordkil said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth.
The hacker growled and contacted Wolfram, letting him know the situation.
Izuku stood off in his corner, observing the situation curiously.
Just a few minutes earlier, Mirio and the others were running up the stairs.
"Level 30…" Iida commented, looking at the number on the wall.
"How high does this place go, Melissa?" Mirio asked, looking back at her.
"200th floor…" She informed the group, already out of breath from running up so many stairs.
Mirio looked up. "That's a lot of stairs…"
"But it's still better than running into the villains." Yaoyorozu commented.
They continued their way up the stairs. From the 30th to the 40th, 50th, 60th, and 70th floors.
At around the 50th floor, Melissa was forced to ditch her high heels to keep up with the rest of the group.
When they finally reached the 80th floor, their path was blocked off by a steel door.
"The route's blocked." Iida commented.
"What should we do? Break through it?" Todoroki asked.
"If we did that, I'm sure the security systems would alert the villains that someone's in here." Melissa informed everyone.
"Do we have any other options?" Mirio asked.
Melissa thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No… Everything I can think of would end up with us being detected no matter what…"
Mirio looked around and saw another door. "Well, if we're going to be detected no matter what, we might as well try to find an easier route up rather than wasting all of our energy running up more stairs. So let's go this way." He walked over and opened the door before leading everyone through into a separate hallway.
As they were running through the hallway, the barriers started to slam shut.
"The gates!" Ochako exclaimed.
"The ones behind us too!" Yaoyorozu pointed out.
"Todoroki!" Iida exclaimed with his synthesized voice.
"I'm on it!" Todoroki said before slamming his foot into the ground and sending a wave of ice forwards to jam the door open.
Iida rushed forward, with a slight limp in his run, jumped through the gap in the barrier and proceeded to smash open another door with a kick burning off the section of his pants around his calf. When he was done he collapsed to the ground clutching his right leg.
"Iida, are you alright?!" Ochaco asked as the group caught up with him.
"Yes… I'm still getting used to the pain in my right leg, that's all… I'm sorry everyone. I can push through it. I won't let my injury slow me down anymore than it already has."
"Don't push yourself. If you can't continue, let us know and we can find somewhere safe for you to rest until this is all over." Mirio told him.
Iida shook his head stubbornly. "No. I'm fine. I can keep going."
Mirio, having only just met Iida he couldn't tell if the first year was being honest or not. But Iida likely knew his own limits better than Mirio did. So he decided to trust him on this and keep going.
Entering the room Iida just kicked open Ochaco asked, "What is this place?"
"It's a plant factory. They research the effects quirks have on fauna here."
Jiro stuck her arm out and made everyone stop. "Hold on! Look." She pointed ahead. "The elevator's coming up!"
"Everyone hide! We should just let them pass." Mirio ordered.
Everyone went and hid behind a relatively large planter.
"Melissa, can we use that elevator to reach the top floor once they're gone?" Mirio whispered as he peeked over the planter at the elevator.
"No. Only authorized people can use the controls, unfortunately. And it's built like a bomb shelter so we can't even break in and try." Melissa responded.
A moment later the elevator door slid open and two villains stepped out.
"Look at their uniforms… They're definitely the villains from the party…"
"He said the kids came in here…" One of the villains said as he stepped out of the elevator.
"They just had to pick a place with so many hiding spots…" The second grumbled in annoyance.
"They're after us…" Ochaco muttered in fear, covering her mouth to muffle her voice.
Mirio just raised a finger to his lips and motioned for her to stay quiet.
He and the others stayed quiet, and hoped the villains wouldn't notice them.
"Hey, we see you, stupid kids!"
Mirio clenched his fists and was about to jump out and fight the villains when he heard something that made his blood run cold.
"What'd ya say you stupid bastard?"
Someone else was here?! He peaked over the planter and saw it was the other two first years he had met after the attack on the USJ. He didn't remember their names but he recognized their faces.
He gritted his teeth. 'I have to do something!'
"What are you two doing here?"
"Heh… That's what I wanna know too." The blond one said aggressively.
"Hey man, just leave this to me, okay?" The red haired one said, taking a step forward. "Um, we kinda got lost looking for this party. Can you maybe point us in the right direction?"
One of the villains morphed his hands into something like giant cups or shovels and said, "Don't lie to me or you'll regret it!" He swung his hand and created a big blast of air.
"Hey, watch out!" The blond exclaimed.
"NO!" Mirio shouted, golden lightning arcing around him as he was about to jump forward and tackle the two first years out of the way.
However, right before he could, a massive glacier appeared between the villains and the two first years.
"This looks like…" The blond started.
"Todoroki?" The redhead finished
There was a loud banging from the other side of the ice.
Todoroki knelt down and touched the ground. Suddenly ice creeped across the ground and formed beneath Mirio and the others. "The three of us can keep them busy down here! Look for a way to get to the top!"
"What are you doing?!" Mirio exclaimed, caught completely off guard by this.
There was another bang and the ice began to lift them all up as a pillar formed beneath them. "I'm fine, go!" Todoroki told them.
"Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed.
"I'll be right behind you after I clean up this mess!" Todoroki shouted up at them.
"R-right!" Yaoyorozu nodded.
Mirio gritted his teeth in a mix of concern for the first years and frustration towards himself. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He was supposed to protect these kids, not let them fight villains on their own! What would Sir Nighteye think? Or All Might?
Still he had to reach the top floor. And he had seen the first years during the Sports Festival. Todoroki and the blond kid both had very impressive quirks and all three of them had apparently fought villains at the USJ and made it out fine. So he just had to trust that they would be alright.
Once the pillar of ice reached the bridge over the top of the room he jumped off onto it with the others.
Rushing to the next door they opened it, only to find another sealed hallway.
"This way's blocked as well!" Iida exclaimed.
Mirio looked around and eventually spotted something. "Hey, Melissa, where does that vent on the edge of the ceiling lead?"
"I think it runs under the maintenance room for the sunlight system."
"There's probably an emergency ladder in the maintenance room, right?" Iida asked.
Melissa nodded. "Well, yeah there is, but it's a manual release so someone would have to be inside to let it down for us."
"Is this really as far as we go?" Ochako asked.
"No, there's still a possibility." Yaoyorozu said, raising a hand to her chest and making a small metal device. She then threw the device up at the door to the vent. The device stuck to it and exploded, blowing it open. "If someone climbs through the vent and to the exterior wall, they can get into the maintenance room!"
"Wait, there must be another vent leading inside!" Ochaco realized.
"They can get in that way!" Melissa added.
"Great! So we know what we have to do! Does anyone have a quirk that can help me get up there?" Mirio asked.
Ochako raised her hand. "I do! Just leave it to me." She then grabbed him and threw him up towards the vent, causing him to float weightlessly towards it.
Reaching the vent, he squeezed inside and crawled up through it, using his quirk to make parts of himself intangible to make it easier. Upon reaching the top and reaching the external wall, he straightened out his clothes. After that he had no choice but to use One for All to launch himself up to the next vent, and even then he barely managed to reach it. Ripping the vent cover off, he climbed inside and slid down, finally reaching the maintenance room where he was able to lower the ladder down for everyone else.
Izuku stared at the screen from his position in the back of the control room, smiling under his mask. The hacker had traced the intruders' faces and discovered all of them, except one, were from the hero courses at U.A. high. Izuku recognized all of the faces, but one in particular caught his eye. Mirio Togata. All Might's successor was here. He supposed he should have expected as much, but he still found it exciting. He might finally have the chance to meet him face to face!
"Boss, those are no ordinary kids in the tower. They're students from U.A. High's Hero Course. One's a third year. They're well trained…" There was a pause as the hacker listened to whatever Wolfram was saying. "Yes, sir." He then made a disapproving noise, apparently not liking whatever orders Wolfram had just given him.
"I don't like this. The path's been clear since we passed the 100th floor." Mirio said as the group kept running.
"You don't think we lost them?" Ochaco asked.
"No. I think they're trying to lead us somewhere." Mirio said seriously.
"Likely." Iida commented.
"If that's the case, what should we do?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"As much as I don't like it, we're already so close to the top floor. Our only choice is to keep going." Mirio stated.
They kept running until they finally reached a laboratory on the 130th floor.
"So many robot sentries." Ochaco whispered.
"The villains aren't just trying to block us in anymore. It looks like they're actually trying to capture us now." Iida said, having lowered the volume of the device embedded in his throat so he wouldn't be heard either.
"They must have realized we're in the hero courses." Mirio commented, golden lightning arcing around him as he activated one for all. "Everyone stay here. I'll clear the way." He then opened the door before immediately leaping into action. He started off with a detroit smash using as much power as he could without hurting himself. He could have used the glove Melissa had given him as he hadn't taken it off, but he wanted to save it for if he really needed it. So he held off.
Some of the robots were thrown off the bridge with his first punch but others weren't. They ford cables at him in an attempt to wrap him up, but he phased through the cables, losing his shirt, tie, and suit in the process and smashed the rest of the robots off the bridge.
Grabbing his clothes off the ground he started putting them back on as the others came out of the hallway and joined him on the bridge.
Jiro knelt down and embedded her earjacks into the ground for a few moments before saying, "More, coming from the left!"
"Then we go right. Come on, everyone. We can't let these things slow us down!" Mirio said encouragingly before rushing off towards the right with everyone following along behind him.
"I'm a little disappointed you didn't use the Full Gauntlet." Melissa told Mirio as they ran.
Mirio looked back at her and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Melissa, I just remembered what you said about it being able to withstand three of All Might's punches. So I want to save it for when and if we really need it!"
She smiled at him. "Alright, that makes sense!"
As they reached the server room on the 138th floor, they door on the far side of the room opened and hundreds of the security robots came pouring through.
"A trap." Iida stated as he dropped into a fighting stance. Golden lightning began to arc around Mirio as he got ready to fight too.
"Wait a sec! We can't damage these servers! It could affect the Island's security system!" Melissa objected.
"We can handle these machines while protecting the servers!" Yaoyorozu declared as she readied herself.
"Togata, go! Take Melissa and see if you can find a different route." Iida ordered.
Mirio hesitated, not wanting to leave the first years unattended. However, ultimately pragmatism won out. He couldn't do much to fight the robots without risking destroying the servers in the process. One for All was just too destructive. Frustrated, he nodded. "Alright… Be careful! Melissa, come on!" He then turned and started making his way in the opposite direction.
Melissa was about to follow him but turned and said, "Ochaco, you should come with us too!"
"But the robots…"
"Do it! They might need you. Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and I can handle this." Iida stated.
Hearing that, Ochaco listened and followed Melissa and Mirio.
The three of them kept running until they ended up somewhere outside where there were what looked like a bunch of fans.
"Where are we?" Mirio asked.
"The wind power generator."
"How close is this place to the top floor?" Mirio asked
"It's still really far, but there are more robots in the tower, probably just waiting there for a chance to ambush us. But if we climb to the top from here, we'll avoid them. There's an emergency exit we can enter."
Mirio looked up. "That's really far up."
"But we have Ochaco. Your quirk makes anything you touch weightless right? So this should be easy."
Mirio saw Melissa's hand shaking, showing how afraid she was. He mentally kicked himself. She was a civilian, not a hero like them. Of course she was afraid. He had been so caught up in everything that he hadn't even thought about that.
Ochaco nodded. "Leave it to me. Melissa, hang onto Mirio."
"Okay!" She said, before grabbing onto him.
Ochaco then touched both of them before throwing them up towards the emergency exit.
Looking down, Mirio saw robots pouring out of the tower, heading to capture Ochaco. "Uraraka, run!" He shouted down at her.
"Release your quirk and get out of there!" Melissa called out.
"I can't! If I do that you might not make it to the top in time!" Ochaco shouted up at them.
"Ochaco, no!" Melissa exclaimed.
Mirio stared down at the robots. He considered activating the Full Gauntlet and using a 100% power Detroit Smash to blow the robots away with air pressure, but if he did then he and Melissa would be blown off course. He would have to use a second smash to reorient them back on target, which could be dangerous if he was off target.
Activating his Full Gauntlet he was about to risk it when suddenly an explosion destroyed a robot that had leapt at Ochaco. Not even a moment later, a veritable iceberg formed and enveloped several of the robots. Looking he saw the three first year boys who had stayed behind to fight the villains. They were safe and had arrived just in time! He laughed excitedly, overjoyed by this sudden turn of events. "Great job, guys! Glad to see you're alr— Whoa!" He was cut off as the wind started to blow him and Melissa off course.
"Oh no! They're blowing away!" Ochaco exclaimed.
Todoroki removed his suit jacket and rushed to get himself in position. "Bakugo, aim the propeller at Togata, quick!"
"I told you not to give me orders!" Bakugo shouted, though he did what Todoroki asked anyway, blowing up one of the propellers to force it to aim at Mirio and Melissa.
Todoroki then blasted the propeller with his flames, forcing it to act sort of like a jet engine and blow them back on course.
"They did it!" Ochaco cheered.
"Yeah!" The red haired boy cheered with her.
Mirio smiled happily until he heard Melissa say, "Mirio, we're going to hit the wall!"
Turning, he saw she was right. They were heading straight towards the wall. With the full gauntlet already active, golden lightning arced around him as he called on one for all.
"Melissa, get ready! I'm going to smash the wall open!" He told her.
"Okay!" She responded, clinging to his back a bit tighter.
Once they were close enough, he punched the wall blowing it open and allowing them to float safely inside. A moment later, gravity reasserted itself and they started falling. Mirio grabbed Melissa and oriented himself under her to cushion her fall.
"Swordkil, and the rest of you, the boss wants you all to go intercept the third year and the girl! We can't let them reach the Control room!" The hacker ordered.
Swordkil and the other mercenaries rushed out of the room while Izuku and Toga stayed where they were. Noticing them not moving, Swordkil looked at them. "You heard him, move!"
"I don't think it's a good idea to leave him by himself. I think me and him should stay here, to guard the controls, just to be safe." Toga said, her voice sounding like the person who she currently looked like.
"Are you disobeying orders?!" Swordkil growled, morphing his hand into a blade.
"Just go. The boss can deal with these two cowards when he gets here." The hacker said, not turning away from the console.
Swordkil growled, apparently not happy about this, but shook his head and ran, leaving Toga and Izuku alone with the hacker.
The two of them waited a bit until they were sure Swordkil and the others were far enough away to not hear anything before Izuku snuck up behind the hacker and proceeded to snap his neck. The hacker gurgled as his body went limp. Unlike in movies and video games, snapping someone's neck generally didn't kill them instantly. It took at least a few minutes for them to actually die. But he was incapacitated and would be dead soon.
Izuku then picked him up and said, "Let's find a place where Wolfram won't see the blood. Then you can take his form. We have to be fast so help me carry him!"
Toga nodded. "Right!"
The two of them rushed the hacker away, quickly finding a place where Wolfram wouldn't see the blood or find the body. Izuku then walked away while Toga drank the man's blood and changed into his clothes. When she was done, he and Toga went back to the control room.
Wolfram arrived a few minutes later. He looked at Izuku then looked back at Toga. "I thought I told you to send everyone to deal with those brats."
"I thought I should keep one back, just in case the kids beat Swordkil and the others and got here before you did. I didn't want to have to try to fight off a third year from the hero courses at U.A. by myself." Toga responded.
Wolfram narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before shaking his head and sighing in exasperation. "Fine… Both of you, follow me."
Melissa climbed off Mirio. "Mirio! Are you okay?" She asked, helping him up.
Mirio smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Bit of a rough landing, but I'd still call that a smashing success!"
Melissa looked at him for a moment before she registered the pun. Then she raised a hand to her mouth and giggled. "Puns, at a time like this?"
"Yup! Gotta lighten the mood a bit somehow, or else we might just crash! But on a more serious note, are you okay? You didn't get hurt at all, right?" Mirio asked, looking her over.
Melissa nodded and raised her arm to let him see. "I'm fine. Just some scratches."
Mirio smiled at her for a brief second before seeing movement out of the corner of his eye and tackling her out of the way as a villain tried to slash at them with a sword arm.
The villain didn't let up and tried to cut them again.
Mirio raised the Full Gauntlet and blocked the strike before using his other hand to phase through the blade and punch the villain in the nose, knocking him back. Standing up Mirio dodged as the villain morphed his left hand into a sword as well and attempted to stab him. Mirio then grabbed him by the upper part of his arm, that wasn't a sword, and delivered a One for All powered punch to the jaw that sent him flying into a wall where he was knocked unconscious.
He then rushed back towards Melissa, "Melissa, I didn't hurt you, did I?!"
She shook her head. "No. I was just a bit startled. In fact, thank you."
Mirio smiled at her as he helped her back up to her feet. "Of course. Now let's go! We're almost to the top!"
"Yeah!"
He and Melissa then proceeded to continue their way up with Mirio leading the way.
Eventually as they were rounding a corner to the 200th floor, they encountered a pair of villains with guns. Mirio quickly lept into action, using One for All to dodge their bullets and easily took them both out.
They continued their way into a hallway and Mirio asked, "Where's the control room?"
"In front of the central elevator."
Hearing a noise up ahead, Mirio pressed his back against a wall and motioned for her to do the same. "I hear someone up ahead." He whispered to her. They both peaked around the corner and saw Melissa's father and his assistant Sam.
"Papa!" Melissa exclaimed quietly.
"Huh…"
"What's he doing on the top floor?" Melissa inquired.
"Maybe the villains brought him here. They might need something from him." Mirio whispered back,
"We have to help him!"
Mirio nodded. "Agreed."
The two of them then began approaching the room, trying to be as quiet as possible.
"I've unlocked it! Block 11-47!" David told Sam.
"Wonderful!" Sam exclaimed before running over to the locked box.
"It's opening!" David said happily.
Sam reached in and pulled out a briefcase of some sort. Opening it he said, "You did it, Professor! Look, everything is here, it's perfect!" He showed the contents to David. It was a head set of some sort.
"Finally… I've gotten it back…" David said, emotion heavy in his voice. "All my research, and they just took my device away from me. But now it's mine."
"Just like we planned! And it looks like the villains are holding things down." Sam said, closing the case and holding it.
"Thank you! I couldn't have done any of this without your help." Said David as he walked up the stairs towards Sam.
"Papa…" Melissa muttered.
David whirled around and looked at her and Mirio. "Melissa… no…"
"Miss, what are you doing here?" Sam asked.
"What does he mean that it's like you planned it?" She asked, slowly walking towards him. "Don't tell me that you're the one behind this… This was all you, just to steal something…? No! It can't be true!"
Mirio walked after Melissa, just as shocked as she was.
David closed his eyes as shame spread across his face. "Yes, it is…"
"Papa… How could you?!" Melissa demanded.
"The professor was only trying to get back what was stolen." Sam told her. Holding out the briefcase he continued, "The invention inside this briefcase can amplify someone's quirk!"
"You mean like the drug, Trigger or Ideo Trigger?" Mirio asked, having unfortunately encountered a couple villains using those illicit substances while he was interning for Sir Nighteye.
Sam nodded. "Yes. It's still being tested, of course. But unlike with those drugs, it can magnify a person's quirk without doing any damage to their body or brain. Yet despite that, our sponsors confiscated our prototype and our research data. Then they demanded the project be abandoned. They worried that something like this would drastically disrupt the structure of superhuman society. Fearing chaos, governments from different nations put pressure on your father to end it. That's why we did this."
"I don't understand… There's something I'm missing, right? You'd never do this!" Melissa pleaded, taking another couple steps forward.
"I'm so sorry…" David apologized, stopping her dead in her tracks.
"This doesn't make any sense! The Papa I know and love wouldn't act like a villain, no matter what! So why then? Why?!" Melissa demanded, barely holding back her tears.
"I had to, for All Might. You two probably aren't aware of this, but his quirk is disappearing. However, if he uses this device he'll be his old self! No… His abilities will be even stronger than they were! The number one hero, the Symbol of Peace can get his strength and light back again! He can keep saving people just like he always has!"
He took the briefcase from Sam and held it out in front of him. "Please! Please just let me hand this device over to All Might! There's no time to remake it! When he's better, I don't care what kind of punishment I receive!"
"They risked their lives… Mirio and the others went through so much! Do you know how dangerous this was?! How hard we were trying to save everyone on the island?!" Melissa shouted.
"No, what do you mean? The villains are fake… It's all supposed to be an act." David said, sounding shocked.
"Of course it was a performance." Said a new voice from behind Mirio and Melissa. Looking they all saw the leader of the villains, and two of his underlings standing at the door. "But the real act was pretending we weren't criminals."
Golden lightning began to arc around Mirio as he got ready to attack.
Before he could move, however, the shorter masked villain raised his gun and shot the leader in the head. Suddenly the briefcase was ripped out of David's hand, was torn open and the device inside flew over to the short villain. Ripping off his mask Mirio's heart skipped a beat as he recognized Izuku Midoriya. The device landed directly on Midoriya's head and immediately lit up.
Raising a hand to his ear, Midoriya said, "Kurogiri, it's time. Come get Toga."
"Izuku Midoriya… You're behind all this?" Mirio demanded.
A swirling black vortex appeared behind Izuku and the other villain. Izuku stayed where he was, while the other villain went through it. The vortex closed behind him, leaving Izuku alone with Mirio and the others. "Actually, no. Wolfram did get a bit of help from my master but the true 'mastermind' is him. He planned to give this device to Wolfram the entire time." Midoriya pointed at Sam.
"Sam? This is your plan? You were going to hand it over all along?" David demanded.
Sam hesitated for a moment before saying, "You're the one who tricked me, professor! I've been your assistant for all these years, and you let them take our work! We could have had fame and fortune, but no! I deserve more! I need to be rewarded, otherwise my entire career was a complete waste of time!"
Izuku raised his gun and shot Sam in the head, killing him.
David gasped.
"Sam!" Melissa cried out in horror.
Mirio was about to move again but Izuku pointed a finger up and suddenly everything above them exploded as a massive pillar of green light completely annihilated the entire roof. "Don't move, Mirio, or else. I'm not here to fight you. At least, not right now. I just want to talk a bit. Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Talk? You want to talk?" Mirio asked, baffled by this.
Izuku smiled at him. "Of course! You're the one All Might chose as his successor! I've just been dying to meet you ever since I figured it out!"
"All Might's successor…? W-what do you mean by that?" David asked.
Izuku turned to look at David, his smile turning from perfectly friendly to something darker. "All Might's quirk is different from other people's quirks. It can be passed from person to person. So the reason he's losing it is because he passed it onto Mirio here. So all of this, bringing Wolfram and his men here, was for nothing. You brought an actual villain onto the Island because All Might didn't trust you enough to let you in on his little secret. Isn't that just heartbreaking? One of your best friends, keeping something so important from you."
"No… That's…" David muttered.
"Impossible? Sorry you had to find out this way, but it's true. Go on, Mirio. The secret's out. So tell them." Midoriya ordered.
Mirio clenched his fists and looked down. "It's true…"
"N-no… All Might…" David muttered.
"I'm sure he had his reasons. He always does…" Midoriya said. He opened his mouth to speak again but Mirio cut him off.
"Your master has been lying to you! Just think about it! Don't you think it's a bit strange? How could he have known who you were or that those people were your parents? How did he find the villain who killed them? The only way it makes sense is if he set all of this up himself! He's manipulating you! Look, Midoriya, I'm not going to lie to you like he is. You've done some very bad things and there will have to be consequences. However, if you turn yourself in and tell us everything you know about him and his operations, it's possible we could work out a deal for a lighter sentence. You're still a minor and you've been lied to and manipulated by a villain! You're a victim too! So if you turn yourself in now, you can use the quirks he gave you and become a hero someday!" Mirio tried. Though he left out the part where Sir Nighteye had told him
Midoriya kept smiling but his smile became sad and melancholy. "Master told me you or All Might would say something like that. And you know, if I was still the same dumb kid All Might met back then, it might have actually worked… If only he had actually tried to encourage or help me back then, or had even just saved my mom and dad… But no. My master has already explained to me exactly how all of that happened. So I know better."
The sadness drained from his face, replaced by a calm dark expression. "And even if I could get a lighter sentence, I don't want to be a pro hero anymore. I have no interest in being a fraud like All Might. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm more interested in you. What made All Might choose you over me? Is it because of your quirk? Was it because I wasn't good enough? Do you just fit his idea of a 'hero' better than I did when I first met him? I'm just so curious…"
Mirio opened his mouth to respond but Izuku raised a hand to cut him off. "Stop, don't tell me. I'd rather figure it out for myself. I'm pretty sure anything you could say would just make me angry anyway. Well, whatever the case, I just want you to know I hate you. You and All Might both. You have no idea how much I want to rip you limb from limb right here and now. But before that I do I need to figure out why All Might chose you. Why he didn't help me when he had the chance. And for that, I need you alive."
Izuku paused as tears started welling up in his eyes. Clenching his fists he wiped the tears with his forearm. "Damn it… W-why am I still s-so pathetic? Letting m-my enemy see me c-cry like this…" He took a deep shaky breath to try to force himself to calm down before looking back at Mirio with complete and utter loathing. His voice still shaky he continued, "Make no mistake, Mirio, I am going to kill you. And I'm going to make it hurt. But I need to know why… So I'll let you live for now… So I can figure it out for myself…"
There was another pause and Izuku pointed his finger at David. A green orb formed around his finger. "NO!" Mirio shouted, golden lightning arcing around him as he lept towards Izuku, his fist raised and ready to punch him. But he was too late. Izuku fired a giant ball of emerald green light at David, obliterating him and punching a massive hole through all of the walls behind him.
"PAPA!" Melissa screamed in a combination of loss and horror.
Mirio punched Izuku full force with 100% of One for All using the Full Gauntlet, yet Izuku didn't even budge. He seemed to have just completely absorbed the impact like it was nothing. Completely caught off guard by this, Mirio didn't react in time to phase through a back hand to his face that sent him crashing into the solid steel ground hard enough that he left a crater.
Mirio felt his jaw come out of socket from the punch, while his shoulder dislocated and his leg twisted awkwardly as he hit the ground.
Looking up he watched helplessly as Izuku floated up into the air and flew away at high speeds, surrounded by a bubble of green energy.
Groaning in pain, Mirio pushed himself up to his feet. Grabbing his jaw, he forced it back into place with one hand. Seeing his shoulder was dislocated, he considered doing the same for it too. However, he didn't want to hurt himself even more than he already was so he decided to let someone else help him with that later.
Looking, he saw Melissa just staring at the empty space where her father used to be in shock as tears streamed down her face. "Papa…" She mumbled.
He limped over to her before kneeling down next to her and wrapping her in a hug, trying to comfort her. She turned and started sobbing into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few moments before the entire Island suddenly began to shake.
"This is an announcement from the I-Island Security System. Dangerous levels of water have been detected in the sublevels of the Island. Please remain—" The Island shook again this time more violently and a pillar of bright green light erupted into the sky. "Extremely dangerous levels of water have been detected in the sublevels of the island. Please remain calm and begin making your way to the emergency lifeboats. This is not a drill. Please remain calm and begin making your way to the emergency lifeboats. This is not a drill. This message will repeat…"
"He's destroying the island!" Mirio exclaimed. "Come on, Melissa. I'm so sorry. I wish I could give you time, but we need to get to the security room and free the heroes now! Then we have to go get the others and get the heck out of here!"
Melissa was still crying but managed to collect herself enough to stand up and run, leading Mirio straight to the security room. Sitting down in the chair, she began typing on the console, regaining control over the security system. Melissa handed Mirio her cellphone and said, "C-call… Uncle Might… I… I can't…"
Miro took the phone from her and nodded. "It's fine. I understand." Looking at the phone he searched through her contacts until she found one labeled "Uncle Might". Clicking on it he called All Might. The phone rang once and All Might had already picked up.
"Melissa, what's happening?"
"All Might, it's Mirio. Melissa can't talk right now. Her dad…" Mirio trailed off.
"David? Wait… You don't mean… No… Damn it! What about Melissa, is she alright?!" All Might demanded.
"She's fine, but… She's not taking it very well… All Might, Izuku Midoriya was here."
"What?!" All Might asked,
"He killed the villain, stole a device Melissa's dad was working on for you, and now I'm pretty sure he's using it to destroy the island! I'm so sorry, All Might… I managed to punch him with one hundred percent of One for All but he wasn't even phased! I couldn't stop him…" Mirio apologized.
"One hundred percent… It's not your fault, Mirio. Both of you need to get down here as soon as you can. If Midoriya is trying to sink the Island, then we need to evacuate." All Might told him.
The Island shook again. Mirio paused before saying, "Melissa and I aren't the only ones up here. There are some first year hero course students from U.A. We need to go get them before we can leave." Mirio told him.
"Alright. I'll be waiting at the entrance. Hurry!" All Might said before hanging up.
Izuku had a big bubble of solid light around him, keeping the water out and holding the air in so he could breathe. He was currently in the ocean under the Island and was melting giant holes in the bottom of the island.
He had the headset's briefcase in his left hand because his right arm was completely shattered. If he was being honest, he was just lucky that he still had his right arm at all. It had very nearly exploded off of him when he used all of the kinetic energy from Mirio's punch to slap him. The pain was worth it though. He just wished he had done worse than a simple slap in the face. But that wasn't a fight he could win, even with the quirk enhancing headset. Mirio was more skilled, more experienced, could phase through any of Izuku's attacks, and was just as strong as All Might had been in his prime. So he wasn't even close to ready to face Mirio head on just yet.
He needed more quirks. He needed more skill and experience. He needed to get stronger.
He could have Lady Nagant shoot him in the head while he was in class or while he was sleeping, of course, but he didn't want that. This was very personal for him. He wanted to be the one to kill Mirio. And he wanted Mirio to suffer while he died. Just like how his parents suffered before that villain had killed them.
If he had been All Might's successor, All Might would have actually tried to save them. He was sure of it. So the fact he chose Mirio as his successor instead meant Mirio was responsible for their deaths just as much as All Might was.
Tears were pouring from Izuku's eyes as he blasted a few more holes in the bottom of I-Island. Once he was sure the Island was going to sink, no matter what the heroes did to try to try to save it, he levitated himself out of the water and flew to the place where Kurogiri was waiting for him.
"Are you ready to leave?" Kurogiri asked, the disdain clear in his voice. It was clear he still held a grudge over Shigaraki.
"Yes…" Izuku responded.
Without another word, Kurogiri made his warp gate, and Izuku stepped through. He found himself in All for One's base.
"Ah, Izuku. You're earlier than I expected. So how did the attack go?" All for One asked.
"I Island is sinking as we speak. The heroes won't be able to do anything to save it in time. They'll have to focus their efforts on evacuating everyone." Izuku reported, taking off the headset and putting it back in the briefcase. He then stepped forward and handed the briefcase to All for One. "This is the quirk enhancing device David Shield designed. I'm pretty sure the Doctor should be able to find a way to install it in your head gear, Master."
"Excellent. You've done well, Izuku… I see your arm is broken. Tell me what happened."
"I met Mirio Togata. I let him punch me and I used the kinetic energy to hit him back… It was stupid of me. I nearly lost my arm entirely…" Izuku explained.
"Very well. Do you want me to heal you then?" All for One asked.
"No, master… I… I cried in front of him… I deserve worse than this…" Izuku said, looking down at the ground.
"I see… In that case, report to the Doctor. Assuming it doesn't need urgent treatment lest it leave permanent damage, I'll let you keep that broken arm for a few days. And you're quite lucky I won't be inflicting worse upon you. Such appalling weakness can not be tolerated Izuku. You should know this by now." All for One told him
"I know. I'm sorry master. I won't let it happen again." Izuku said, bowing to All for One.
"See that you don't. Now, get out of my sight." All for One ordered.
Izuku didn't hesitate to turn and leave.
All for One opened the briefcase and took out the headset and examined it the best he could with his infrared vision. "Hm…"
Notes: Note for any old readers that haven't seen the new title and description. The story has been rewritten starting from Chpt 5.
Anyway, sorry this chapter took so long. I'll be honest this chapter was hard to write because Mirio is pretty much a HARD counter against Wolfram which made any fight or interaction between them difficult (To be honest Miro with One for All is horrendously broken just in general). Then I got busy and this got put on the very back burner. And I'm sorry to say I don't think the hiatus isn't entirely over yet. I just wanted to post this chapter and rewrite a few parts of the previous chapters to say, this story isn't dead. I haven't given up on it. I'll try to get back to it as soon as I can but it might be awhile. Also sorry I didn't respond to reviews this time. It's past midnight as of me writing this and I'm exhausted.
Anyway, serious question. Do you think this version of Izuku would be willing to hurt Mirio's parents given how much he hates him? Or would his desire to be a hero outweigh his hate towards Mirio?
Also, I sort of want David Shield to die and I Island to be destroyed. But I'm not sure if the quirk enhancing device in All for One's hands is an instant win for the villains. So should I rewrite this chapter so it gets destroyed or something? I do have another idea of how Izuku and the League could destroy the island without it.
Potential spoilers ahead, you have been warned:
I might have Mirio fight All for One along side All Might, and with Melissa's Full Gauntlet maybe that would balance things out a bit with All for One having the quirk enhancing head set? (I'm not sure if I want All for One to stay free, if I want All Might to die, or for All Might to die and All for One to be captured.)