I-Expo Tower (Night)
"There are more security drones in this room." Jiro said, one of her earphone jacks plugged into a wall.
"There's nothing above us, though." Dominic said, searching for the heat signature of the drones.
The group quickly made their way to the next room, again filled with servers and robots. "How many servers does one building need?" Marnie asked.
"Let's break through!" Midoriya said.
"While I would normally condone violence, look around." Dominic said. "The servers in the last room were minor, dealing with stuff like the AI drive thru. But this is different. We break one wrong thing in this room, and we could potentially cause the security system to blast a hole in everyone on the island."
"We can handle these without damaging the servers." Yaoyorozu said.
"Midoriya, Xiao-Long, Marnie, all of you need to reach the top floor with Melissa." Iida told them.
"We'll be fine!" Hatsume said, activating a pair of nano gauntlets she brought from UA.
"Ochaco, you should come too." Melissa said before leaving for the next floor, followed by Uraraka.
"Everyone, get on Koraidon's back!" Dominic said, bringing out the Paradox Pokemon. Everyone but him boarded the Ride Pokemon, leaving him to rely on his own running power to progress. Eventually, they made it to an exterior part of the tower.
"What is this?" Midoriya asked.
"The wind power generator." Melissa explained.
"Why are we here?" Marnie asked.
"There are probably more robots in the tower, waiting for us to fall into their trap." Melissa said. "But if we climb to the top from here, we can avoid them. There's an emergency exit we can get through."
"All the way up there?" Midoriya asked.
"It's a good thing we have Koraidon here." Marnie said. "Can't it climb up any surface?"
"Not metallic ones." Dominic said, sending the Legendary Pokemon back to its Poke Ball. "Sneasler might be able to, but it would have to make several trips to get us up there."
"Then it's a good thing we have Ochaco with us." Melissa said, turning to the brunette. "Your Quirk can make things levitate, right?"
"Leave it to me." Uraraka said, determined. By touching Dominic, Midoriya, Marnie, and Melissa, she was able to send all of them floating to the top. However, shortly after she did this, a horde of robots invaded the floor.
"Uraraka!" Midoriya cried out.
"I got this one!" Dominic said, getting a Strange Ball from his pocket. "Electrode, come out!" He threw the Strange Ball, releasing the Sphere Pokemon. It landed between Uraraka and the robots. "Take cover!" Dominic warned his classmate. Once she ducked and covered her head, he gave the command. "Use Explosion!" Electrode's eyes began to glow as it discharged all of its energy at once, causing an explosion that wiped most of the robots on the floor. Uraraka was a bit singed by the blast, but otherwise okay.
Unfortunately, there were still several unharmed drones that kept advancing. Then, like a miracle, they were obliterated by explosions, ice, and purple chains.
"Todoroki, Kirishima, Bakugo!" Uraraka said, relieved. Behind them was Pecharunt, still able to battle.
"Now that's timing." Dominic said as he and the others continued to float. When they floated in front of the windmills, however, things went south. They were being blown away.
"Grimmsnarl, use False Surrender!" Marnie said, calling out her partner. Grimmsnarl appeared and shot a tendril of hair at the windmill, destroying it. In no time, they managed to infiltrate the tower once again.
"Okay, we've made it. What's going to mess with us now?" Dominic asked, getting annoyed with the constant setbacks. As if the universe was answering him, a man with a blade for an arm ran up to him and slashed at him. In a flash of light, something appeared between him and the Blade Villain. "Et tu, universe?" the blonde asked through gritted teeth. "Aegislash, use Night Slash." Aegislash changed from Shield Stance to Blade Stance, slashing back at the villain who dared to attack its sovereign.
"You really picked the wrong place to play hero, punk!" the Blade Villain said, transforming his other arm into a blade as well.
"King's Shield!" Dominic called out. Once again, Aegislash changed its stance and dove to protect its king, forming a hexagonal force-field that stopped the villain in his tracks. The spectral energy made the man lose a bit of power, making him tired. Once he let his guard down, Dominic struck. "Close Combat!" Aegislash changed to Blade Stance again, repeatedly slashing at its opponent until his metal blades were nothing more than warped junk.
"That was unexpected." Marnie said. "I didn't think we'd be attacked so quickly."
"Not to mention, this guy was stronger than the others we met in the Plant Factory." Dominic said, pointing to Aegislash's shield. It was small, but there was a scratch visible in the metal. Returning his Pokemon, the trainer thought about something. "Marnie, is Moltres still able to battle?"
"Obviously." the Gym Leader said.
"Good. Cause we'll need it for the final battle against that mask guy." Dominic said. He could tell that that villain was pulling the strings, and if that was true, then his Quirk must've been equally as strong to match. Once he entered battle with him, he wouldn't be able to change his Party. So, using his Box Link, he chose a team of Pokemon trained to face threats far larger than themselves. "Let's go." he said, running up the stairs with Marnie, Midoriya, and Melissa following behind him.
When they came upon a duo of armed guards, Marnie used Grimmsnarl to take the bullets, then send them back via False Surrender. Once they were dealt with, the group finally reached the top floor.
"Where's the control room?" Midoriya asked.
"In front of the central elevator." Melissa answered.
"Wait, there's someone in there." Dominic said, looking into the room.
"It's Papa!" Melissa said, surprised.
"Why's he on the top floor?" Marnie wondered.
"Maybe the villains need something from him." Midoriya suggested.
"Let's go help him." Melissa said, walking to the Storage Room with her friends. When they entered the room, they saw Mr. Shield speaking with his assistant about getting something back from the villains. That everything went according to plan. "Papa, what did he mean when he said it was like you planned it?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're the one behind this." She walked closer to her father. "This was all to steal something? It can't be true!"
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Mr. Shield answered. "Yes. It is." he said.
"The professor was only trying to get back what was stolen." his assistant said. "The invention in this briefcase can amplify someone's Quirk."
"Is that even possible?" Midoriya asked.
"Really?" Dominic said. "We live in a world where an ordinary human can blow up the Moon, but amplifying someone's Quirk is too much to believe?"
"For once, he does have a point." Marnie said.
"Well, it's still being tested." Mr. Shield's assistant said. "Unlike drugs, this device can magnify a person's Quirk without any damage to their body or brain. Despite this, our sponsors confiscated this prototype and our research data, then demanded that the project be abandoned. They worried that something like this would affect the delicate balance of our society. Fearing chaos, governments around the world put pressure on Mr. Shield to end it. That's why we did this."
"Okay, I have to give props for the planning. That was spectacular. Convoluted, but spectacular." Dominic complimented.
"I don't believe this." Melissa said, in shock. "There's something I'm missing, right? You'd never do this! The Papa I know would never act like a villain!"
"I had to do it for All Might." Mr. Shield said. "You probably aren't aware of this, but his Quirk is disappearing. But if he uses this device, he'll be back to his old self. Please just let me hand this to All Might! There's no time to remake it! When he's better, I don't care what kind of punishment I receive."
"Okay, the motivation I understand." Dominic said. "But if this was all supposed to be fake, then what was with the villains that tried to kill us? If it weren't for its shield, Aegislash could've gotten seriously injured."
"What?" Mr. Shield said, confused. "But, it was supposed to be an act."
"Of course it was a performance." the lead villain said, stepping into the room with a subordinate. "But the real act was pretending we weren't criminals."
"So, you're villains who were pretending not to be villains who were pretending to be villains?" Marnie asked.
"Holy crap, we're in a heist movie." Dominic realized. Without a second thought, he threw a fireball at the lead villain, only for him to manipulate the metal in the room to trap him, Midoriya, and Marnie. 'He can control metal like Pyrrha. That's not good.' Dominic realized.
"I can tell that you have metal inside your body." the villain said to Dominic. "You all won't resist if you care about your friend." He then turned to Mr. Shield's assistant. "Sam, hand it over."
"Right." Sam ran down to the villain and handed him the briefcase.
"This was your plan, Sam?" Mr. Shield said, surprised.
"Oh, come on!" Dominic yelled. "Another double-cross? Next you'll tell me the Illuminati's involved with this!"
"He double-crossed me first." Sam said. "Professor, we could've had fame and fortune, but you let them take our work from us! I just need validation, otherwise my entire career has been a waste!"
"Here's your payment." the lead villain said, shooting Sam in the shoulder.
"Why would you want a bullet in your shoulder?" Dominic asked.
"Okay, you shut up!" the lead villain said, using his Quirk to tighten the hold on Dominic's binds. "And for the record, I didn't mean to hit his shoulder." The villain shot again, but hit Mr. Shield instead, who had dove in front of Sam to protect him.
"Papa!" Melissa cried out, running to her father. The lead villain was about to backhand her when, all of a sudden, a blur of magenta and gold rushed to protect her. The villains, Midoriya, and Marnie watched in awe as Zamazenta, the Legendary Pokemon stood in their presence.
"All according to plan." Dominic said. In his hand was an open Master Ball, which he used to release a Pokemon to shield Melissa.
"You little punk!" the villain said, holding up his gun. "I'm going to enjoy shutting your mouth for good!"
He fired, causing a bullet to pierce through Dominic's head.