superpierce: great chapter very well done by the way is the Reindeer Doctor a OC?

Harleking31: "Anthony Cutter", a deer with a PHD
You sneaky bastard. Thought I wouldn't notice, hm? That little One Piece reference?
I mean with his head on Momo's lap he looks more than fine to me.

Re: Wouldn't be the first time this kinda cameo happened. In the Vigilantes spin-off alone I've seen cameos for Wolverine, Cyclops, Ash & Pikachu, Godzilla and Gamera, and so-on; and those are just the ones I know off the top of my head.
A Tony Tony Chopper cameo would be perfectly par for the course.

LoamyCoffee: The power of rich.
It hurts seeing Ochako sad but Big bro Genki is there to comfort.
Genki brings lessons for others to learn. And those jerks know who they are.
To be fair, I figured you were building to Momo being interested from the moment he called her Senpai.
Being aware of the flaws of whoever you're dating is important.
[This message has been truncated due to length]

Re: I don't really see Ochako get a lot of "sibling moments" in fanfic, so these little interactions are always a lot of fun. As for Genki calling Momo "senpai", it was to help lift her up and she is technically "senior" to him in terms of a formally-recognized education. Writing in Genki and Izuku's "bro moment" was also fun since, given Izuku did not go to I-Island with the rest of the class, but with All Might, his ass needed covering. As for Tsuyu, the nuance has been fun to write exactingly because she wasn't meant to find out about his interest in her that-soon, and she seems like she'd have the emotional maturity to realize that dating him "just because" he wants to date her, wouldn't exactly be fair to either of them. Crawler super-owning that Villain Course was also fun to write because he is frightening as a sniper~ And that showing was back when he was still a Vigilante.
As for what Genki has to rush off for…~

*MHA*

Every country had a "city that never sleeps", and I-Island was little different in that regard. Though if anything, I-Island was more like a cruise liner through the night than somewhere like New York, because there were still the established borders of the great walls surrounding the scientific capital of the world. In addition, because I-Island was a "security state" second only to London, it was actually much safer to be out at night there than anywhere else in the world.

These were just some of the observations being made as those with invitations to the Gala made their way to the "I-Tower" in the heart of I-Island's center-most district. From the top-most floor you could overlook the entire island, and countless miles of seemingly-infinite sea in every direction. The sunrise was also one of the must-see sights for island-goers, but because the heart of I-Island's security nexus was located amongst the highest floors, security screening was extremely stringent, and many had to book ahead years in advance, if not know the right people who could "sneak you in the back".

"I look ridiculous," Shinso said as he looked down at his indigo-colored button-up suit, his hair combed completely back until it had the tensile strength of bridge cables drawn taut.

"You're the one who chose the suit while I wasn't around," Genki returned.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time… At least it's just a rental."

"Still sucks you didn't get your own Invite…" Genki hummed.

"Yeah, well, you brought me along anyway, so it's no big deal," Shinso replied. "I just wish I hadn't lost out to… that…" he said looking across to Genki's other side, which Hatsume Mei was occupying.

Unlike everyone else in attendance, she was likely to be the most-casually dressed, clad in only her work boots and a coverall; thankfully zipped up. And someone on I-Island must've been impressed with her talent from the Sports Festival, because she got her own invite to the I-Expo reception dinner.

"I still can't believe you almost got thrown in jail our first day here…" Genki groaned, recalling what exactingly had dragged him away from Izuku and the others.

Long story short, Mei had gotten caught disassembling one of the exhibits.

Short story long, Mei had gotten caught disassembling one of the exhibits in the restricted, under construction section of the pavilion in question, and Genki had had to pull strings -both his parents' own and Principal Nezu's- to avoid charges being pressed against her. That, and the promise that he'd personally chaperone her for the remainder of the Yuuei group's trip to the floating city. No Villain-related crimes had ever happened on I-Island, but espionage was a big no-no that occurred frequently and on the regular, to the point that I-Sec didn't even consider it a big deal anymore when it happened.

If one thought the security going in was touch, they should see what it's like going out. Border Control was the unassailable iron wall that no-one could break through. Villains and/or Spies would be better off trying to swim for it than taking to countless miles of open sky with no cover.

As for Mei, had she gotten into anything really valuable, she might've been outright detained and denied permission to leave. I-Island was considered its own country by and large, and they weren't big fans of extradition.

"I can't believe she got an invite to this shindig instead of me," Shinso huffed.

"Don't be bitter, Purple Man!" Mei grinned madly, humming a merry tune to herself.

"I mean it, Mei-chan. I want you to be on your best behavior for the remainder of our stay," Genki asserted.

"Okey-dokey! But you'll have to watch me… very closely~" she purred getting into his personal bubble.

"Well, at least she didn't get sent to mall jail for soliciting dakimakura of you," Shinso chuckled.

"Quiet, Shinso," Genki pouted as they finished passing through Lobby 6 into Lobby 7, the agreed-upon meeting point between Momo and Tenya. Whereas everyone else stayed in touch via social messaging on 'I-Chat' (and boy did people love the 'I-' prefix here), the President and Vice-President actually had international plans for their phones, if only because their families could afford the frivolous charge.

In attendance thus-far were Tenya, Denki, Mina, Shoto, Habuko, and Tsuyu, Genki and his own entourage bringing the number thus-far up to nine.

"Ah, excellent. You're early," Tenya hummed thoughtfully.

"Denki, Mina, good to see you," Genki greeted.

"Hey, man. How are ya? Lookin' pretty sharp," the electric blond grinned, clad in his Hero Suit.

"You clean up real nice, Genki-kun!" Mina beamed, also clad in her Hero Suit. "Ugh, Shinso, no offense, but that is a 'fashion don't'," she cringed.

"So I've been told…"

"Shoto, great to see you," Genki nodded, the dual Quirk-user clad in a white suit with black trim, blue shirt, and red tie. "Tsuyu, Habuko, you look great in evening wear. Positively lovely," he complimented. Tsuyu was clad in a knee-length light green dress with darker accents and white frills, her hair worn down with an actual ribbon. Habuko on the other hand was clad in a blue cheongsam with coiling snake patterns that showed plenty of leg, contrasting rather nicely with her brushed-down crimson hair, her snake head actually going rather well with the lines of her attire.

"You really think so, kero?" Tsuyu asked, a little red in the face. "Honestly, I probably should've just worn my costume."

"Don't sell yourself short, Tsu-chan! You're positively adorable!" Habuko beamed giving her a hug.

"Save me a dance for later?" Genki asked holding out a hand.

"What about you and Momo?" she asked sourly.

"She and I are just really good friends," Genki returned, a little hesitantly.

"You can have your cake and eat it too, you know~"

"Mei-chan I will LEAVE YOU in mall jail!"

"Ugh, what did she do this time?" Tenya groaned, Mei sticking out her tongue playfully, Izuku running in a moment later with a burgundy stripe-patterned suit, his iconic red shoes unchanged.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! Where're the others?"

"They're not here yet. And what do they think 'attending as a group' means?" Iida asked irately, looking prim and proper in his cobalt-colored suit and yellow tie.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ochako said as she ran in, clad in red shoes, black stockings, a pink shoulder-less dress with lots of frills, a string of pearls, and a flower-decorated bow in her hair.

"O-O-Ochako-chan, you look-!" Izuku stuttered before Momo and Kyoka came in after her. Momo was clad in an elegant light-green dress with her hair done up with an elegant golden brooch, while Kyoka was clad in dark pink shoes, gray leggings, a purple-and-fuchsia dress, and a black jacket, her hair done up with a pink flower ornament as well.

"It's my first time wearing formal clothes," Ochako said nervously as she walked up to Izuku. "I borrowed these from Momo, but I don't know if they really suit me…"

"O-Ochako-chan! You look…! You look really cute!" Izuku blurted out.

"D-Deku-kun! You don't have to butter me up!" Ochako blushed, flailing her arm cutely.

"Genki-kun, I'm happy to see you're feeling better," Momo smiled while Denki and Mina playfully teased Kyoka. "You look very nice this evening."

"Thank you. You look lovely as well," Genki replied, the doors opening up to admit Melissa a moment later. Her hair done up in a high ponytail and tied with a large black bow, bangs swept back underneath a red hairband, she'd foregone her glasses and was garbed in a strapless blue dress with a sweetheart neckline, white ruffled skirt, and black sash with a flower ornament. "Whoa, normally I'm not into 'normies' but… wow."

"You can say that again," Shinso nodded as he fussed with his hair, Genki dodging out of the way of Kyoka's [Earphone Jack] while the [Brainwash] user got only half of her wrath, Momo pouting cutely as all eyes fell onto the new girl.

"What're you all doing here? The party's starting!" Melissa beamed, totally radiant.

"Damn, do all American sweethearts look like runway models, or is it just the ones we run into?" Mina asked, face blushing to a dark fuchsia.

"Iida, have you had any luck getting the others on the line?" Momo inquired.

"No. Neither of them are picking up," Iida said looking up from his phone, klaxons suddenly going off.

"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 homes or lodgings effective immediately. Those that have come a long way should go and wait at the nearest evacuation center. Any who remain on the street after ten minutes will be in violation of the law and arrested without further warning. Please refrain from going outdoors. As a precautionary measure, most of the I-Island buildings will be sealed up. I repeat."

"I've got a baaad feeling about this…" Kyoka said as thick steel shutters went down over all the windows and the door, locking them in as the message repeated, but in a different language from its primary English.

"Something in the air's just changed," Genki said as he loosened his tie. "My 'danger sense' is going off."

"Iida, you getting a signal?" Shinso asked.

"No dice," he said shaking his head.

"Denki, can't you send a message?" Kyoka asked.

"No good. It's a signal jammer of some kind like at the USJ," Denki said tapping at his earpiece.

"I could probably brute force my way through if I had the tools, but it won't do us any good if no-one can receive our output," Mei hummed.

"Elevators are no good either," Mina huffed.

"I don't believe the security system would switch to High Alert Mode just because something explosive was found…" Melissa said adopting a thoughtful pose. "A rogue robot maybe, but not something that pedestrian…"

"Iida, let's go to where the party is. All Might should be there waiting for us," Izuku said stepping up. "Melissa, can you get us there?"

"If we use the emergency stairs, I think we can get pretty close," the pretty blond nodded.

*MHA*

Suffice it to say, by the time they got to the "skylight" overlooking the reception dinner, it'd become blatantly obvious that "the bomb was a lie". All of the Heroes in attendance had been bound up in neon blue polymorphic restraints maded with bleeding-edge tech, capable of keeping even All Might held at bay. Everyone else was kept in check by Kevlar-clad villains with automatic weapons, and who-knew what kind of Quirks, black helmets with silver X patterns obscuring their faces.

"Izuku, Kyoka, see if you can get a message out," Genki whispered, his GI's firing on all cylinders.

Izuku nodding his head and flashing his phone light once he was sure none of the bad guys were looking up, Kyoka took a knee behind a pillar and stuck her [Earphone Jack] into the floor before shooting him a thumbs-up.

*MHA*

As it had turned out, their suspicions were more or less correct; Villains had taken over the island and used the security system to turn everyone there into hostages. David and his assistant had also been taken for some heretofore unknown purpose. After All Might had sent out whispered words to get far away, everyone huddled in a back hallway in the emergency stairwell, stunned with indecision.

"Everyone, I believe it prudent to follow All Might's instructions and escape from this place," Tenya said once everyone had been briefed.

"What good will that do us? It's basically Terminator: Judgment Day out there," Mina pouted.

"Yeah, if the Terminators were all rolling trash cans," Denki hummed, Melissa having told them what to expect on the outside on the way up.

"Not to mention, the specs on these security measures are on par with Tartarus, Naraka, Siberian Outpost Zero, the Vault, the Atlantic Abyss, and Mawall all rolled up into one," Mei added, her exacting eye for detail and all her prior research filling her words with informed conviction.

"So then we just wait here until help arrives?" Shinso asked.

"What help?" Kyoka asked. "Everyone thinks the lockdown is for a bomb threat. It's not like the bad guys are going to let us post what they're doing on social media," she said waving up her phone, the indicator in the upper right still at No Signal.

"We should face facts. No-one on the outside is coming to the rescue," Shoto said stoically. "If we're truly aiming to become Heroes, isn't this exactly the sort of time to take action?"

"Perhaps, but we still aren't allowed to work as Heroes-" Momo began.

"I think you're forgetting something," Genki spoke up. "On I-Island, we can use our Quirks as much as we want, assuming we don't cause collateral. There isn't technically any restriction against using our Quirks on Villains, because the laws are predicated solely on the fact that I-Island's security remains uncompromised."

"We do have a lot of latitude…" Denki hummed, arms crossed.

"Perhaps, but we are still only students-" Iida began.

"I want to save them," Izuku cut him off. "I want to save everyone."

"Izu-kun…" Ochako murmured.

"If Kiri were here, he'd say this was like every 'Muscle Tower Arc' in every battle anime ever," Mina added. "I'm with Deku! Let's shift gears and kick some rears!"

"But are we truly ready for this?" Momo asked worriedly. "This isn't like the USJ where most-everyone were random hoodlums off the streets. These are professionals, with a professional plan, who were able to take over the most-secure security state in the world next to London."

"They have David Shield," Genki added. "Who knows what the bad guys are after, if this is some sort of 'heist movie' scenario… They certainly aren't here for money, you can get that anywhere, and in greater abundance."

"Even just one of the prototypes stored up in the maximum security vault, could be catastrophic if it got mass-produced by villainous hands," Melissa added worriedly.

The fact that I-Island could make restraints capable of holding All Might long enough for the Villains to put the boot to his neck, was the least of their worries.

"Then it sounds like you already know what you have to do."

"Crawler-sensei?!" everyone gawped as they rounded on the stairwell. "How'd you get out of the reception area?" Kyoka blinked as he slid up onto the landing like a hovercraft.

"I used my Ultimate Move, Kowtow Evasion, when no-one was looking," he smirked, even from his restrained position.

"Well, that's great and all, but how're you going to get out of those polymorphic restraints?" Melissa questioned. A moment later, Koichi's body shone with a repulsor field that was brighter around his upper body, the restraints binding him suddenly shooting downward past his feet like a silk stocking and smacking the wall. " . . . Question answered."

"Okay even I'll admit, that was pretty cool," Mina smiled.

"Was anyone else able to slip away?" Denki asked.

"No. Everyone else is too ostentatious. And coming from the guy in the I-Expo Limited Edition All Might Hoodie, that's really saying something," Koichi said as he got to his feet and rolled his shoulders, Izuku silently gushing at the merch he was wearing. "Miss Shield, where would we have to go to reboot the security system?"

"On the top floor of I-Tower," Melissa answered.

"Aaand… how-many floors up is that?" Kyoka asked.

"Two-hundred, give or take!" Mei cut in tactlessly, everyone groaning at the thought of so-many stairs, given the elevators were all shut down.

"I think the fact that we haven't been found out, means the bad guys aren't completely used to working all this hardware," Shinso hummed. "It might be prudent to start climbing sooner, rather than later."

"If at all possible, we should avoid getting into any direct confrontations," Iida sighed, realizing most-everyone was decided on this course of action.

If they were back on Japan, he could hold everyone back by reciting Quirk Restriction Laws to them until he turned blue in the face, but on I-Island, that obviously wasn't the case. That, and the circumstances were quite extenuating. The Villains had completely cut off all communications not part of the security broadcast, so it really was just wishful thinking to hope that "some Hero" from the outside would come and save them. That Koichi, the Crawler, had been able to slip away and meet up with them at-the-least gave them a veteran Hero to work with; one that had evaded countless Pro Heroes before, including a few members of the Top 5 in the country simultaneously. And that had been back before he became a legit Pro Hero and fought countless Villains over in America until the thing with the Nomu necessitated his recalll.

Though he'd never admit as such out loud, he felt very confident about their chances.

"As someone who's trained with Combat Heroes all his life, who actually operate in the real world instead of posing for the cameras, I should probably point out that without any dedicated stealth training between the lot of us-"

"Didn't you train with Edgeshot?" Mina cut Genki off.

"Ninja training doesn't do shit in an airtight tube filled with security cameras," Genki huffed. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted, the likelihood that we can 'Perfect Stealth' up two-hundred floors, with who-knows-how-many security shutters between here and there, with as many of us as there are is pretty damn low. But no matter what, even if, read: when, we clue the Villains in to what we're doing because one of us steps on a pressure plate or steps through a laser, we absolutely have to get Melissa up there-"

"Actually, Melissa should probably stay behind," Izuku cut in. "Without a Quirk to defend herself with-"

"Do you have anyone else who's familiar-enough with the I-Island OS that they can successfully force a reboot?" Melissa cut in, pouting cutely, even though that probably wasn't her intention.

"I could do it!" Mei cut in.

"NO!"

"Hell no!"

"Oh god no!"

"Absolutely not!" everyone else shouted, causing Mei to pout cutely.

"Izuku, having or not having a Quirk doesn't mean a damn thing," Genki interceded. "Every time Aizawa throws hands with a Heteromorph, or a natural disaster, he's functionally Quirkless, and I'm sure with David Shield for a dad that she's had to at least learn self-defense. And Mei, no offense, but I'd really rather not run the risk of you setting off the self-destruct by mistake."

"Genki, those kinds of things are only in movies," Kyoka huffed. "There's no way this tower is actually rigged to blow."

" . . . "

"Melissa, why aren't you agreeing with me?" Kyoka asked when the pretty blond refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"Oh. My. God," Koichi muttered out in English as he palmed his face.

"D-Don't worry. The self-destruct is only usable by the Board of Directors, and the controls for that are actually in the opposite direction from the security system," Melissa explained. " . . . I think."

"I'm sorry, you think?" Denki blinked.

"Can we please get back on track, here?" Habuko cut in as she took off her high heels.

High heels and stairs were a bad mix.

"If worse comes to worse, I can carry Melissa on my back and make a straight shot for the top floor," Koichi cut in. "Of course, I rather would climb the stairs instead of a sheer wall two-hundred floors and change tall. Who knows what kind of point defenses this tower has."

"Drones with machineguns, probably," Mei added helpfully.

*MHA*

"Ooogh… So dizzy," Denki groaned a good while later.

"Now I know how Cloud, Tifa, and Barret felt at Shinra Tower…" Mina added, the big 59 on the wall practically taunting them…

"SHIT!"

"What?!" everyone cried as Izuku swore.

"We forgot to tell All Might what we were doing!" he cried, completely freaking out.

"Do you wanna double back, and then double-double back?" Shinso asked.

Izuku, looking between the big 59 on the wall and then over the railing all the way to the ground floor, still held a conflicted look on his face for several seconds.

"Momo, give me a dry erase board and a marker. I'll tell him," Genki sighed.

"Y-You will?" Izuku asked, eyes sparkling as he tore his eyes away from the spiraling hell they'd surmounted thus-far.

"Yeah, I will," Genki sighed as he took off his jacket and shirt before vaulting over the railing, catching himself on every other floor on the way down, wings beating furiously.

"We won't forget your brave sacrifice, Genki-kun!" Habuko called out.

"He is going to be quite cross if we don't find him some bread or something for when he gets back," Shoto hummed thoughtfully.

"What're we gonna do? Raid a vending machine?" Kaminari asked.

*MHA*

When the young HITs, one Pro, and three Academy students found their way barred by a security bulkhead on the 80th floor where the first leg of the building's emergency stairwell ended, they paused for a moment not only to ponder a reasonable course of action, but to also catch their breath, as well as allow Genki time to catch back up from playing messenger.

When he eventually did rendezvous with them, a repurposed trash bag filled with snack foods slung over his shoulder, he met their incredulous stares and had this to say;

"Villains pried open a vending machine, and no-one can say otherwise."

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about our calories," Momo sighed gratefully, stepping over to Genki and pressing a kiss to his cheek, Ochako, Kyoka, and Mina going red in the face, Habuko's jaw dropping, while Tsuyu had frozen in place.

Melissa for her part was more-worried about the vending machine, but shelved it for a later time.

Plus, if they did manage to help save I-Island, she was sure the Board would waive off the price of all the next-generation snacks he stole.

"S-So, what's the game plan?" Genki asked as he started tossing junk food around to make up for all the dinner they weren't eating, trying not to let Momo's show of affection get to him.

"Melting our way through is out, and so is brute force," Mei hummed. "We can't short it because it's bound to be insulated, and even if I did have the right tools, we'd be stuck here for half the night if I didn't want to set off any alarms."

"How come the emergency stairwell doesn't go any higher?" Genki asked, seeing as they were on the final landing.

"The Plant Factory starts on this floor, and the emergency stairwell was segregated into separate legs because of spies," Melissa answered.

"Well, I kinda figured a 'Perfect Stealth' was going to be out of the question," the Heteromorph sighed as he tore into some carb-heavy snacks and began stuffing his face.

"So we've got no choice but to go through," Shoto hummed.

"Gimme… a second… to regain my energy…" Genki said between bites. "All of you eat too. This might be the last chance we have to eat for the rest of the night. It'll pobably be a complete bum rush up the remaining one-hundred and twenty floors."

*MHA*

Almost as soon as they breached the 80th floor bulkhead, security shutters began clamping down ahead of and behind them. Thankfully, Todoroki was fast-enough on his feet to whip up a glacier, lodging one of the shutters open allowing for Iida to kick down the Plant Factory door with an [Engine]-powered kick. With Ochako's [Gravity] Quirk letting everyone leap through like a moon walk, the fifteen of them were able to break through in what was probably record time.

The Plant Factory itself was an enormous indoor greenhouse, several floors tall and filled with plants from the world over. Catwalks criss-crossing the upper reaches, the waterfalls and street lamps gave it the look of a fancy garden park. The security shutters were down over the exterior windows, but it would've undeniably been a beautiful sight to look out at the I-Island cityscape and the ocean beyond.

"Whoa… What is this place?" Mina gawped.

"The Plant Factory. The research how Quirks influence plant-growth," Melissa answered as they ran for the opposite end of the floor.

"Hold it!" Habuko cried, predatory eyes glinting at the indicator screen above the elevator across the way. "The elevator's coming up!"

"Split up!" Tsuyu said grabbing Genki by the hand, Habuko catching on and pulling Momo in the opposite direction.

By the time the elevator doors opened allowing two Villains through, Tsuyu, Genki, Shinso, Mei, Denki, Mina, and Koichi were on one side, Habuko, Momo, Shoto, Kyoka, Izuku, Ochako, Iida, and Melissa on the other, everyone hiding behind the bushes. There were certainly enough shrubbery to hide behind, but some of the more-ostentatious hair and outfit colors would easily betray them.

"Hey, think we can use that elevator?" Habuko asked looking at the central spire going up into the ceiling.

"No, only authorized people can use the express elevators," Melissa said shaking her head.

"Shh!" Kyoka hissed as the Villains approached.

"I found you, you damn kids!" one of the Villains suddenly shouted. Genki and Koichi readying their Quirks for combat, before they could leap into action-

"HUH?! What'd you say you bastard!?"

'Bakugou…? Kirishima…?' everyone blinked as they peered through the bushes, Bakugou in Kirishima clad in red and blue, and black and gray respectively, as they stood across from the Villains.

"What are you two doing here?" one of the Villains, shorter than his compatriot, demanded.

"That's what I want to know-!"

"Hey, leave this to me, okay?" Kirishima said conciliatorily. "Um… We got kinda lost on the way to the party."

"What sort of idiot climbs eighty flights of stairs and doesn't realize they're completely lost…?!" Genki hissed under his breath.

"I can see right through you, don't lie to me!" the taller of the two Villains roared as his hand ballooned in size, webbing between his fingers and clutching a whirling sphere of air.

"JIIIIII!" Habuko hissed as she shot her head out of the bushes, eyes glinting and the two Villains dropping to the ground, a cradle of ice scooping them up half a second later.

"Huh? Mongoose? Todoroki?" Kirishima blinked as everyone climbed out of the bushes. "What're you guys doing here?"

"We should be asking you that?" Shinso hummed. "How the hell do you climb eighty flights of stairs before you realize you're lost?"

"Dumbass! I told you those were too many stairs!" Bakugou raged.

"Guys, don't you know what's going on?" Denki blinked.

"Yeah, didn't you hear the broadcast?" Mina asked.

"Ah, no, we kinda forgot our phones," Kirishima chuckled.

"Long story short, Villains have taken over the Island," Koichi said stepping forward. "They have the security system in their hands, so we're on our way to the top floor to reset the OS."

"What, these guys?" Bakugou scoffed as he looked at the downed Villains as they came to.

"Man, you guys really suck at this, don't you?" Shinso smirked his best 'heel sneer'.

"Stupid kids-!"

"You little brats-!"

The next moment they went blank-eyed, Shinso's [Brainwashing] taking hold.

"Whoa! What an amazing combo!" Izuku awed, fingers tapping notes on his phone.

"Idiot! This isn't the time for that!" Bakugou said slapping him across the head.

"Hey, don't you talk to Izu-kun that way!" Ochako said returning the favor, the explosive blond sent pinwheeling.

"You two, play the quiet game," Shinso ordered, the two Villains remaining docile.

As long as no-one jostled them, he might be able to see how-long his Quirk lasted, assuming hiis presence was actually needed.

*MHA*

Their ranks swelling to seventeen, the Villains massively over-incapacitated, the near-twenty-strong group were able to make their way up to the upper catwalk with little delay, Bakugou and Kirishima chowing down on snacks once the "eighty floors" finally hit them.

Unfortunately, all they found waiting for them on the other end of the Plant Factory were security shutters. Unlike the doors that Iida was able to kick down, these were built to be as-strong as bomb shelters. Bakugou took that comparison as a challenge, but Habuko stared him down.

"Melissa, do you see something that looks like a door on the ceiling?" Izuku asked as everyone racked their brains for another way forward.

"That's a crawlspace for the sunlight system," Melissa hummed.

"Wouldn't that have an emergency ladder?" Iida added.

"There is a manual ladder release, but we can only access it from the inside-"

"Shooty-Go-Kaboom!" Koichi said throwing out his hand, a repulsor blast shooting through the air and punching a hole through the ceiling a few feet away from the maintenance hatch, another two blasts widening the hole enough for someone to crawl through.

" . . . Okay nevermind…" Melissa deadpanned as Koichi double-jumped through the air and wriggled through the hole before activating the release.

"Damn, Crawler-sensei would be scary as a villain," Kirishima sweat-dropped.

"Fft! I could've done that," Bakugou huffed with crossed arms.

"So why didn't you?" Genki smirked.

*MHA*

"Hey, this is sorta like a 'Muscle Tower', isn't it?" Kirishima grinned as they all traversed the next leg.

"I know, right?" Mina grinned.

"I don't like this… There haven't been any security shutters since we passed the 100th floor…" Genki muttered.

"Maybe they lost us?" Ochako asked hopefully.

"Kyoka and Koichi have been sniping security cameras at every turn. It isn't all that hard to figure out where we've been," Tsuyu hummed.

"So then they're probably leading us into an ambush…" Habuko hummed.

"If it's more Villains, will give them the old 'one-two-three'," Shinso grinned.

*MHA*

"What was that about a 'one-two-three', Brain Boy?" Bakugou huffed as they reached the next bottleneck, a sci-fi looking power station filled with robots visible through the porthole on the door.

"Quiet, Dandelion-head," Shinso huffed back, Bakugou literally biting his tongue to not verbally lash back.

"Think I can fry them?" Denki asked.

"Nah. They're electrically insulated," Mei said shaking her head. "Even at your two-million vees, all you'd do is scorch the paintjob."

"Melting them's out of the question…" Mina said counting the numbers.

"So then we punch through the old-fashioned way," Izuku said cracking his knuckles, pressing a button on his red bracelet, which folded out into a forearm-covering gauntlet.

"Whoa! Where'd you get that?!" Ochako gawped.

"M-Melissa gave it to me. It can handle three of All Might's full-powered punches before it breaks down," Izuku answered, Mei getting uncomfortably-close before Genki pulled her by the scruff of her neck.

"Three of those? That's amazing, Melissa!" the pretty brunette awed. "No wonder All Might took Izu-kun to come see you!"

"R-Right…" she nodded, not really comfortable with lying.

Though she supposed if she got Izuku to sign some sort of Exclusivity Contract with her, it would retroactively cease to be a lie.

*MHA*

Powering through the bottleneck with Iida's [Engine], Izuku's [Superpower], and Bakugou's [Explosion], with Kyoka's [Earphone Jack] the group was able to avoid the roving patrols. Things were actually going really well for them until they got to the next bottleneck, the Server Room on the 138th Floor.

To make matters worse, the freight elevators had been going off non-stop, perceptible only to Kyoka's sharpened sense. Melissa and Mei both were quick to surmise that the Villains were recalling security robots from across the island to shore up their defenses at the tower. And that even mass-produced units could tank full-powered blows from Iida, and 30% blows from Izuku, meant digging in and fighting them off was a losing proposition. At any given time there were thousands of high-end security bots on I-Island, so the Terminator: Judgment Day metaphor was actually an apt one.

Thus, Momo took charge, drawing a line in the sand, sending half their forces forward.

"Genki, you go too," Momo insisted. "Bug-Type v Steel-Type, remember?"

" . . . Alright," Genki nodded. "Buy us as much time as you can."

"I will," she nodded, Genki handing her all the snack foods that remained.

"In case you need a little extra," Genki nodded.

"Right!" she nodded, confidence filling her eyes as she, Kyoka, Iida, Tsuyu, Habuko, Mei, Shinso, Kaminari, Mina, and Koichi stood their ground, allowing the more-destructive of their member to advance. Thanks to Genki's provisions, Momo was able to arm those who were bad matchups with weapons of their own, but she held no illusions they could actually "win". Not with Melissa and Mei's estimates of how many bots were being brought in.

*MHA*

"Finally, fresh air!" Genki cried as they got up to the Wind Power Generators further up the tower, dominated by three radiating spokes of wind-powered turbines several rows tall.

"Why the hell're we here?" Bakugou huffed as they ignored the stairwell; shuttered as it was.

"If we go up through the tower, the security bots will probably be waiting in ambush," Melissa answered. "With Ochako's Quirk, we can probably cut through to the final leg all at once."

"Ochako, let's do the thing," Genki suggested, Ochako nodding as she touched Izuku and Melissa on the back, the two of them growing weightless while Genki took off his shoes before scooping them up one apiece, Ochako making him weightless as well. "Goki Thruster!"

"EYAAAAAAAH!" Melissa squealed as they shot up like an air-powered rocket. The three of them caught a crosswind along the way, but a quick Goki Burst and they were back on track. Halfway up, one of the freight elevators opened admitting more robots. To make matter worse- "Drones!"

"Hold on! Next leg's gonna get rough!" Genki said as he shot them towards one of the quadcopters, leapfrogging from one to the other and avoiding hails of gunfire nipping at their heels. "Izuku! The door!"

"Right! Detroit… SMASH!" Izuku cried as he smashed through the emergency door in the central spire, Ochako releasing her Quirk and joining the others in their own fight.

"W-What the hell?!" one of the Villains cried, standing on the stairwell right above them with a stupefied look on his face before he lunged at them, forearms transforming into segmented sword blades. Izuku scooping Melissa and up dodging alongside Genki, the Villain clicked his tongue before he pressed a syringe to his neck, pupils dilating and tongue blackening before his forearm blades turned into whip swords that filled the stairwell with cutting blades, Melissa letting out a startled cry as one of them grazed her.

"Izuku! Defend her!" Genki said as he leapt into the fray. [Air Pressure Sensing] and years of training guiding his way, Genki zig-gazzed through the hailstorm of cutting blades like an oily shadow before he got right inside the Villain's personal bubble. "Goki Gut Punch!"

"GU-HAAGH!" the Villain cried as he was folded in half by the blow, dropping to the ground as two more Villains with machineguns rounded the corner.

"Genki! Switch!" Izuku called out as he used his Full Cowling, bullets bouncing off of him as Genki retreated and rolled Melissa out of the way, the green-haired teen leap-frogging off the walls and ceiling before landing two powerful blows on the gunmen, on embedded in the wall behind him. "You two alright?"

"Yeah, we're all good," Genki nodded. "Come on. We're in the final stretch."

*MHA*

The three teens advancing up the final leg of their journey to the top floor, the sounds of fighting at the Wind Power Generator slowly died down to a muted howl. On their way to the security control station across the way from the central elevator, before they could complete their journey, the three stopped at a corner, spying David and his assistant in some kind of massive vault, working a terminal.

"So this is a 'heist movie'…" Genki hummed.

"But where are the guards…?" Melissa asked looking around.

"Come on. Let's go save him," Izuku whispered, the three of them crawling across the floor, Genki's eyes on the lookout for ambush.

"I was able to unlock it. Go to block 1147," David instructed, Sameul going to one of the storage lockers as it opened, withdrawing an attaché case.

"You did it, Professor! Everything is here!" the portly man beamed as he showed off the case's contents; a spidery-looking headset-like device in white plastic with blue pointed lights on the ends, a few peripheral items in the depressed foam.

"Yes, I've finally gotten it back. This device and research data… They're the only things I would never give to anyone," David said, his fists clenching. "I'll never give it up."

"Everything's going according to plan, isn't it? It looks like the Villains are doing well too."

"Thank you. It was all because you arranged everything for me, Sam."

"Papa…" Melissa muttered out, the two men rounding on her as she stepped into the open, a betrayed look on her face.

"Mel… Melissa…?" David blinked spying his daughter and the student All Might had brought with him. He'd thought he spotted something in the dark behind him, but it was probably a trick of the eye.

"Miss, what are you doing here?" Sameul asked.

"What do you mean 'arranged'?" Melissa asked as she stepped forward, eyes full of shock.

*MHA*

Genki for his part had slipped back into the shadows; a closed off vault was the absolute last place you wanted to get caught when Villains were wandering around. Best case, they came in after you and you could fight them off. Worst case, they close the door behind you and lock you in with only a couple hours of usable air to you.

Acting as the rearguard while Melissa and Izuku confronted David and Samuel, he overheard the entire story from the horse's mouth.

'A device that mechanically amplifies Quirks with no side-effects…' Genki thought as he listened to David's self-justifications for all he had done that night, from the 'faux-Villains' he smuggled onto the island to the security codes handed over. 'After all the damage the Villain Factory caused, no wonder they mothballed this line of research…'

And Genki certainly understood why things had turned out that way. A magic bullet that ramped up Quirks would massively upset the status quo. And not just for Heroes, but for Villains as well, because there was no way that tech would stay with the Hero side for very long if it had been mass-produced. Since there were arguably always more people who would use their Quirks for ill gain than not, it was understandable why the international community would put the kibosh on the "Q.A.D."

The hardest part to endure, was listening to the sheer depression in David's voice as he espoused that he didn't care what happened to himself so-long as he could get the device to All Might; the very person he made the Q.A.D. for, showing that he'd been in some way aware of All Might's worsening condition for several years.

To anyone not-in-the-know about the exacting specifics, All Might's flagging vitality and decreasing Quirk "uptime" could be mistaken for "Quirk Evaporation Syndrome"; a rare disorder where a person's "uptime" steadily decreased for no tangibly-feasible reason. The disorder had gotten rarer and rarer with each successive generation as Quirks continued to blend together and become more complex, but every once in a while, a case would crop up which would utterly destroy the career of a promising or not-so-promising Hero.

What was even more gut-churning, was the unadulterated horror in Melissa's voice at the story's conclusion. Suffering in silence right beside her was Izuku, who by his body language was probably blaming himself in-part for All Might's continued flagging vitality, even though passing down the torch was the only way to stop the flames of [One for All] from vanishing from the world altogether.

"They risked their lives!" Melissa shrieked, ripping the cloth bandage from her arm, showing her wound. "What do you think Deku and his classmates went through to save the hostages?!"

" . . . What is the meaning of this? The Villains were fake… It should've all been an act," David asked, genuine confusion on his face, which soon morphed into betrayal as Sameul wrestled the attaché case free from his arms, right as the lead Villain from the party swaggered into the room.

"Of course it was an act. An act pretending to be a fake Villain."

"That guy's-!" Izuku gasped, readying his Full Cowling before the man placed his hand against the vault door, sparks of blue lightning dancing outward before the nearby railing suddenly contorted and wrenched itself free, shooting across the room like a striking viper and pressing Izuku to the wall.

'A ferrokinetic? Shit! My worst matchup…!' Genki swore as Izuku struggled in vain, Sameul running up to the Villain with case in hand.

"Sam…? Don't tell me, from the beginning… You were planning on giving the device to real Villains?!" David gasped.

"Y-You're the one who tricked me!" Samuel justified as he clutched the case to his chest. "I served you for so long, but you let your research be frozen so easily, and the honor and renown we were supposed to get all went away…! If I didn't get at least some money, then it was a waste of my time!" he looked over his shoulder, sweat and tears running down his face.

"Here's the reward I promised you," the Villain smirked, Samuel turning around only to meet the barrel of a gun, the loud *BANG!* of the semi-auto reverberating through the vault as a crimson bloom exploded from his shoulder, dropping him to the ground.

"Sam!" Melissa cried from Izuku's side.

"Wh… Why…?" Samuel gasped, holding his shoulder. "This isn't what you promised!"

"Promised? I don't remember. This is your reward," the Villain said leveling his gun once again.

*BANG!*

However, instead of a killing shot, David dove in the way, taking the round in the back.

'Pick your moment, Genki…! Pick your moment…!' Genki grit his teeth as the man hit the ground. 'You only get one free shot…!'

"Professor, why…?" Samuel gasped.

"P-PAPA!" Melissa cried as she ran over to him.

"Don't come over here!" David shouted as Wolfram raised his gun in a backhand.

"GOKI KNEE!" Genki cried as he rushed forward and struck the Villain in the side of his head, half of his mask crumpling from the force of the blow. "IZUKU! NOW OR NEVER!"

"RRRRRRGH!" Izuku cried as he tore free with his Full Cowling, Genki scooping Melissa up and zipping back toward the vault entrance. All that stopped the Villain from barring their path was Izuku shooting at him with another super-powered punch and the wall he had to throw up instead.

"Papa!" Melissa cried over Genki's shoulder as they fled.

"As soon as you reboot the OS, I'll be right back here with him!" Genki said into her ear.

"I-I know that, but still…!" Melissa sobbed as the sound of combat sounded from behind them as they fled.

*MHA*

"I won't let you get past me!" Izuku shouted as he bounced from one side of the room to the other, coming down in front of the vault entrance, only for a column of metal to hit him sidelong.

"Don't get carried away!" Wolfram shouted as he mounted the stairs, slapping his hand against the wall of storage bins and shooting them like corn kernels, Izuku howling furiously as he was rapidly buried under a mountain of debris.

"All Might… I will definitely… save everyone…!" Izuku swore as he shouldered the debris atop him like Atlas's celestial sphere, the measure of Full Cowling ramping up from 30% to 35%. The rubble shifting upward, allowing Izuku and Wolfram to look one another in the eye, both his hands slamming into the floor, the next moment Izuku felt the floor fall out from underneath him, as it literally fell out from underneath him, dropping him into the room below.

"Izuku!" Melissa's voice cried out from the PA system. "The security system's been rebooted, and I opened the central elevator! The others should be here in a few minutes!"

"Dammit!" Wolfram swore as he clubbed David over the head and carried him away, sealing the breach he'd sent Izuku down.

"Rrrgh…!" Izuku swore as he broke free of the debris pinning him, only for his body to give out from the strain. "Move…! Move, dammit!"

*MHA*

"Melissa, where's David right now?" Genki asked once he spied the Heroes in the dining hall taking back the ground they'd lost.

"Th-The Villains are taking him to the airfield!" Melissa cried as she toggled the feed.

"I'll be back in a flash," Genki nodded as he went for the door. "Make sure the others have a clear path in case they have reinforcements."

"R-Right," she nodded, hands trembling as her father got farther and farther away.

*MHA*

Elsewhile, moments after All Might had finally been freed and Melissa had filled him in on what'd transpired.

"I'm near the stairs. Gotta get to the stairs. If I can just get up the stairs I… Awwwww… fuck," the metaphorically deflated Symbol of Peace swore as he craned his neck up the emergency stairwell, his fumes on fumes.

*MHA*

At the same time with Wolfram, a furious scowl on his face as half of its covering fell away, David Shield slung over his shoulder, Q.A.D. in his free hand…

"Boss, what about everyone else?" his tech specialist asked.

"They knew the risks," he said dismissively. The money promised had been too good to refuse, even if they'd have to wait until after the heist itself. "We're leaving before the security system fully reboots."

"Kill… me…" David rasped out.

"Naw. I think I'll add a few more sins to your ledger. Then, I'll make your wish come true."

The sound like a miniature jet engine going off, whirling around, Wolfram felt the force of a small scooter bodily strike him, his hold on David Shield and the attaché case breaking, the rush of wind momentarily blinding him. Blinking his eyes clear, he saw the same Hero brat from before who'd kneed him in the face holding David up by the back of his suit in one hand, while in the other…

"Shit!" he swore as he beheld the Q.A.D. in the teen's hand, free of its casing. "Fork it over, kid!"

Palm smacking the ground, sparks discharging, a pike of metal shot forward. However, when the plain-looking teen held out the Quirk Amplifier in front of him, the Villain swore, redirecting his assault. Even a glancing blow could completely ruin the experimental prototype, and rumor had it that scientists on I-Island would intentionally flub the math on their drives as a precaution for theft. And you only need to hear about an improperly-replicated experimental power source turning a Villain to chunky salsa once to take those sorts of rumors seriously.

"Heh! Looks like we're at an impasse!" the teen smirked confidently. A scowl pulling at Wolfram's face as he shifted focus, to his growing anger the teen zipped out of the way with Amplifier and Shield both in tow as he willed a clamshell of metal to close around the now-empty space. "Hey, are you sure you do this professionally~? 'Cause you kinda stink at if if a buncha kids are whooping you so bad~" he said as he continued to evade capture for a couple more minutes, one-hit-KO'ing his hacker and pilot in the process.

"You little shit…! Don't you dare underestimate me!" Wolfram shouted as tiny wisps of smoke left the corners of his mouth, muscles beginning to swell before he drew a syringe from his coat.

"Oh crapbaskets…!" Genki swore as the Villain jabbed it into his neck, pupils dilating and tongue darkening. "Shield! How do I use this thing?!" he cried as he slipped the spidery-like device onto his head, only for the thing to activate almost immediately, a horrified yowl leaving his lips as his eyes shone an unnatural purple.

*MHA*

"Melissa, I'm sorry! I let them get away!" Izuku apologized, his suit completely ruined.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure your friend's buying us all the time we need," Melissa said as she ran alongside, the trembling of the building around them proof the Villains hadn't left quite yet.

A bestial roar sounding down the hallway, the two teens froze, their neck hairs doing corkscrews as something primal told them to run the opposite way.

Despite what their lizard brains were telling them however, they bulled forward, the metal corridors of the tower giving way to blackest night, the city below them coming back to life as everyone left their shelters.

However, what was going on around I-Island, was not what held their undivided attention.

On one side of the airfield was who was undeniably the metal-manipulating Villain from before, only he'd doubled in size through sheer muscle mass alone which shone a vivid red. As giant chunks of metal flew about the field like buzzing flies, Izuku's eyes went wide as he beheld a blackened tongue flailing about whenever the Villain howled in impotent rage.

The next moment and attacking the wrought iron shield the Villain threw up was a monstrous Heteromorph, his body covered in a tan, brown, and black exoskeleton. Heavily insectoid in appearance with long lanky limbs and claws, an extended neck, wings beating furiously, and green compound eyes going red at the edges shing bright purple at the center, it didn't take long for Izuku to realize that the monstrous thing ripping through metal with yard-long claws was-

"G-Genki?!" Izuku squawked, spotting the ragged strips of evening wear draping his form.

"Is that the Quirk Amplifier?" Melissa gasped as she beheld the spidery-looking device on Genki's head, blue indicator lights flickering against the jet black sky. "Oh god, what did that thing do to him?" she cried with her hands on her mouth as another pain-filled cry met her ears.

"Ah! Dave!" Izuku cried as he beheld Melissa's father huddled behind some debris, it and Genki the only thing stopping the Villain from taking him back.

"I…zuku… Mel… Melissa…" the scientist gasped.

"Hold on, you're going to be okay," Izuku said as he and Melissa ripped strips from their clothes to make a tourniquet.

"Daddy, what happened?" Melissa asked, a chunk of debris bouncing off their hiding place.

"Genki… Ngh! He used my device… when Wolfram dosed himself on Trigger…!" David hissed.

"Guh! Shit!" Izuku swore as the chunks of metal the now-identified 'Wolfram' was flinging grew larger by the second. He didn't even have to touch them anymore as he pulled the building apart around them, and that he'd gone so-far as to cannibalize his own escape craft for material, showed the 'uppers' in his neo-steroid had clouded his mind.

"W-Well at least he won't be going anywhere," Melissa chuckled awkwardly only for a Villain with a camera-like eye to round the corner from behind some debris, blood running down his face as he held a sidearm in hand.

"Get back!" Izuku shouted as he leapt forward, Full Gauntlet at the ready, only for a line of ice to zip across the airfield and shield them. "Todoroki!" he cried as the other members of their forward party began to pour out onto the roof.

"Holy crap!" Ochako cried as she beheld the monstrous Genki slashing apart floating junk meteors.

"Damn, did he get uglier or is it just me?" Bakugou scoffed as the two continued to rip at one another.

"You have to get that thing off of him quickly! We don't know the long-term effects on a Heteromorph!" David called out before he started coughing blood. Off in the background, the mutated Genki let out a howl of pain as his thorax grew in size, his limbs lengthening and his body growing more-monstrous. Even though Genki was still a bad matchup for Wolfram, the Quirk Amplifier on his head had brought them closer to even, and it was only Genki's monstrous speed that was keeping him in the game against a guy who could do with metal what Cementoss could do with concrete.

"Let's fucking smash it!"

"No, don't! If you break it All Might-" David cried out before he clammed up.

"Bakugou, hit the metal-user. It's a better matchup," Shoto hummed.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

Not that it didn't stop Bakugou from bypassing Genki altogether and going straight for Wolfram.

"Ochako! Protect Melissa and David!" Izuku said as he went off after Wolfram.

"FUCKING NERD! FIND YOUR OWN BAD GUY!"

"Hey Genki! Calm down!" Kirishima said as he got into the fray, [Hardening] on max as he stood in Genki's way.

"We don't want to hurt you. We just want the headset," Shoto said skating over on a line of ice.

*HSSSSSSSS!* Monster-Genki hissed loudly, eardrums ringing from the sonic blast.

"Ugh! Now I know how Tokoyami felt!" Kirishima hissed clapping his hands on his ears, his opponent right in his face. "SHIT-!"

*CRACK!*

"AAUUUGH!" Kirishima cried as he was backhanded across the roof.

Before he could go over the edge, the sound of a jet engine firing heralded Iida shooting up through the stairwell, Tsuyu riding piggyback. Her tongue shooting out and wrapping around his waist, Iida braked hard, swinging Kirishima around like a flail until the roof was back under him.

"The others are on their way!" Iida called out.

"What's going on?" Tsuyu asked, eyes going wide. "Is that…?"

"Break the thing on his head or fight the bad guy!" Ochako cried out, looking for an opening to get David and Melissa out of the fray. The edge of the building did look tempting, but shit on the roof wasn't nearly that bad yet.

"Hey! Genki!" Shinso shouted.

*HISSSSSS!*

"Oh fuck that didn't work!" the indigo-haired teen cried as Genki scrabbled across the ground at him on all fours, Mina flinging her strongest acid at Wolfram only for the space-age material around them to block it.

"Why didn't that work?" Habuko cried.

"Too much nerve tissue! I can't affect all of it!"

"Then let me try!" Habuko said snapping golden eyes open, blasting him with her Quirk. The monstrous teen collapsing to the ground in a heap, Todoroki launched a wave of ice at him, only for the Heteromorph to shoot back up and scamper out of the way. "Okay why the hell didn't that work?!"

"Must be the same thing! Nerve distribution or some other bullshit!" Shinso groaned, Kaminari trying to blast Wolfram with electricity, only for the Villain to lift the electrified pieces and fling them at the ones fighting him.

"WE ARE HERE!" Captain Celebrity whooped as he struck a pose, Koichi riding on his shoulder.

"And where have you two been?" Melissa asked.

"Fighting feral robots."

"Yeah, that tracks…" Shinso groaned. "Think you can hold Genki long-enough to grab that headset off him?"

"Well, at least he's not on Trigger," Koichi hummed.

"No, that's his job, apparently," Captain Celebrity hummed as Izuku, Bakugou, Denki, Mina, and Iida all tried to wear the drug-addled Wolfram down, the others trying to get the Q.A.D. off Genki's head without hurting him. The only thing that kept them in one piece was Genki was fighting himself as much as them, compound eyes fluctuating between green and red with that same flickering purple core. "Skycrawler, I'll hit him low, you hit him high!"

"Right!" Koichi nodded as he shot off into the air, Captain Celebrity flying low to the ground. Genki fluttering his wings and backing away, a deluge of repulsor blasts from Koichi sent him tracing complicated patterns in the air. Captain Celebrity coming to a stop underneath and gathering his forcefield around himself, with a mighty heave rivaling All Might's Texas Smash, the high-flying Hero's Quirk generated a powerful tornado. Genki's senses confused from the powerful air current, Koichi slammed into him from above like a falling rocket, sending him toward Captain Celebrity who leapt up, caught him in a rising bear hug, and performed a spinning tornado piledriver, Todoroki, Kirishima, Momo, Kyouka, and Tsuyu scattering as the three bodies hit the ground with a powerful *THUD!* that warped metal and shook the roof.

*Bzzzt!*

"No…" David whimpered as half of the Q.A.D. skittered to a stop in front of his hiding place, wires sparking one last time before going completely inert. To make matters worse, in the scuffle he'd completely lost track of the data drive with all of the Q.A.D.'s research. If he ever wanted to make another one, he'd have to start over pretty much from scratch.

"Whoo! We did it!" Kyoka panted, immediately regretting the Quirk she was born with as the sound of Genki's bones snapping and his exoskeleton breaking filled his ear canals. "Oh god! Why does it sound like a United Studios Japan special effects studio!?"

"That's one problem down, so all that's left is Wolfram," Todoroki said as Genki continued to de-mutate.

"HAAAA HA HA HA HA! I AM HERE!" All Might bellowed as he flew out of the stairwell and onto the roof. While everyone let out cries of relief and adulation, Izuku who knew him the best second only to David, could tell that holding up his Muscle Form for so long left his fumes on the fumes those fumes were on. Any longer and his secret might become exposed.

Wolfram meanwhile, even in his drug-addled mind, realized that fighting one-and-a-half-dozen Quirk users, not the least of which were All Might, Captain Celebrity, and the Hero formerly known as Skyscrawler, was a bad idea.

Unfortunately for everyone else, the choice was taken out of his hands.

*Thoop*Thoop*Thoop*

"AARRRRRGH!" Wolfram howled as he spun around, three syringed stuck in his back.

"The fuck?!" Bakugou cried as the Villain's muscles bulged even further, the building rumbling as panels buckled. Everyone's eyes turning to the far side of the airfield, they found one of the Villains, the pilot, leveling some kind of launcher, a malicious smile on his face before he went over the edge. Captain Celebrity rushing over and catching sight of a hang glider unfurling, before he could dive after him, a tide of metal plates tore themselves free from the tower in tandem with Wolfram's next guttural howl, the stars in the sky going out, how-numerous they were overhead. Even the city lights disappeared as he began to hem them in like a venus flytrap.

"He's over-dosed!" Koichi called out as Wolfram's eyes lost all trace of reason, skin tearing as his muscles grew beyond the pale.

"Shield… Shield…! SHIELLLD!" Wolfram howled as his eyes fell on the professor sing single-minded determination.

"Get him out of here!" All Might shouted, Shinso, Mei, Ochako, and Melissa helping him toward the doorway, only for the hall to invert itself through ferrokinetic forces, sealing them in.

"No good! We're trapped!" Shinso swore before he rounded on Wolfram, barely any hint of moonlight making it through.

"Captain! Uraraka! Get everyone out of here! All Might and I have this!" Koichi said readying a repulsor blast.

"We do-I mean YES! We do!" All Might nodded, glowing chemical rods scattering all over the place and filling the place with as much light as they could.

"This is all I'm good for. I just ran out of snacks," Momo stated as the last flickers of her Quirk went out, a strained look on her face as she cracked one final glowstick.

"DIE!" Bakugou raged as he blasted an exterior wall of their cage, only for it to rapidly fill itself in. "FUCK!"

"No good either. Wolfram really doesn't want to let us go!" Captain Celebrity said as he punched as another wall section, only for it to de-buckle.

"If we can't go out or up, only option left is down," Mina said spilling out her most-powerful acid to eat through the floor with a pained expression on her face, Genki looking worse and worse with every passing second as he painfully de-mutated.

"Spiky-hair! Get to work!" Mei said pulling an improvised crowbar from her coverall and handing it to Kirishima.

"I'll buy us some more time," Todoroki said raising a thick wall of ice between them and Wolfram, his glacial rampart bombarded with debris like hailstones the size of minivans, even as All Might and Crawler fought him off.

*MHA*

"All Might, how much time do you have left?" Koichi whispered as he and All Might stood back-to-back, one of them repelling Wolfram's ranged attacks with repulsor blasts while the other used raw strength.

"Not much. Those restraints really took a lot out of me. I'd planned to just make a fast keynote speech, excuse myself, and swap to something little more form-fitting, but-"

"Do you want to tag out? CC and I 'working together better' seems like a good excuse for you to run off with Mr. Shield."

"The less attention I draw to David, the better," All Might answered as he watched Uraraka carefully lower the now-fully de-mutated Genki, body curled up on itself like a dead insect, down the hole that Ashido had burned through the floor, she herself looking massively dehydrated alongside Momo who looked a little thin.

Cue My Hero Academia OST - You Say Run

"Well then..." Koichi said as he drew his right fist back, tiny repulsor fields lighting up his knuckles like a line of stars. "Let's go beyond!"

"Plus... ULTRAAAA!"

The two of them rushing forward, the energy from their respective Quirks adding a bit more light to the dome around them, as Wolfram sent out another barrage of debris at them, Koichi leapt forward, Knuckle Style ready to go.

"KNUCKLE CARPET BOMB!"

The built up energy on one fist clearing the debris in front of him, as one fist reared back to recharge, the other came forward to attack, the process repeating over and over, blood dribbling down Koichi's arm as the two of them devoured the distance between Todoroki's ice wall and the ferrokinetic Villain.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

All Might leaping over Koichi as he dropped down low, railing a powerful blow into Wolfram's exposed body once Koichi cleared the path, the drug-addled Wolfram took the hit to the diaphragm, sending him flying across the airfield and into the end of his metal dome, massive fissures spreading from his back like a halo as rays of light from the reinvigorated city shone in.

"Damn...! He's still moving...!" All Might cursed as he half-deflated, steam beginning to waft off his body in earnest, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Then let's send him packing with a one-two punch!" Koichi said drawing his left fist back, All Might mirroring with his right, the two pulling all the energy they could from their Quirks, sparks of electricity leaping from All Might's frame and mingling with Koichi's repulsor field, a swirling field of sparking prismatic energy binding their wrists together as they shot at Wolfram, the force of their charge tearing apart the debris Wolfram sent their way.

"DOUBLE...!"

"KNUCKLE...!"

"SMAAAA/AAAASH!" the two shouted in tandem as the force from their Quirks exploded into Wolfram's body, the dome at his back shattering utterly and failing in a full circle in a cascade, his body sent flying over I-Island like a shooting star and bouncing off the top of the boundary wall before falling into the ocean out of sight.

"Ugh... Stick a fork in me..." *Poomf* "Cause I'm done..." All Might grunted as he fell onto his butt, completely deflated.

"Already... there... All Might..." Koichi said as he fell onto his own butt as well, the two letting out a weak chuckle and bumping fists in salute before they fell onto their backs, the sun rising on the horizon as the last of Wolfram's cage fell away

*MHA*

Every author I've read who covered the events of this movie always had the Plus-One get involved with the same fight, or add another "Boss", but I thought it'd be neat if Genki swiped the "Quirk Amplifier" and wore it himself to fight Wolfram, given even if both were in their Base Forms, it'd still be a shitty matchup not in Genki's favor.

As for his second time "Hulking Out", instead of a pure power-type like at the Sports Festival, his new form is heavily inspired by Kogorr's "Battle Form" from Heroman. That one's just always stuck with me, you know? And if you're a fan of Marvel and/or Stan Lee, I highly recommend it.

Anywho, got one more chapter to go before we get back to the mainstream Canon. Can't let all that place-setting I've done for I-Island go to waste, you know? The place has so much potential from a narrative standpoint, and the Worldbuilding was one of my favorite parts of this Arc.

Until then, see you all next time.

GO BEYOND!

EXCELSIOR!