As the I-Expo preview closed for the day, Denki and Nimona both collapsed in relief.
"Sweet relief!"
"If this is only the preview, how's it gonna be during the actual expo?"
"It won't be so bad. We're not the only students who applied for work, so we can visit the expo in shifts." Mipha said.
"Hey, guys!" Izuku called out as the rest of the group approached.
"You look like you were working hard. So we thought we'd offer you a reward."
Tenya offered four tickets for the reception party. Denki, Minoru, and Nimona teared up in joy as Mipha smiled graciously and accepted her ticket.
"You guys should be thanking Melissa. She figured you could use a break." Kyouka said.
"I-It's no big deal. I just had a few extra tickets." Melissa blushed.
"There will be many Pro Heroes at the party as well. I highly advise that we do not do anything to give ourselves a bad image." Tenya said.
"Oh relax, Four Eyes." Katsuki scoffed. "Not like UA has much of a reputation to begin with."
"We will be going as a group. It is highly advisable we all arrive at Lobby 7 of the Central Tower at 6:30 sharp." Penny said.
"Considering our track record, I say lateness is inevitable," Ben smirked.
David had just gotten finished dressing up for the party and was walking there with Toshinori, once again in his All-Might Form. David gained a wistful expression as his memories wandered.
"I still remember the first day we met. One of my experiments had gone haywire and the lab was on fire. Just when I thought I was done for, you come busting through the wall."
"I remember, that's when I first unlocked [Danger Sense]." Toshinori chuckled. "I have the other Quirks piggybacking off of OFA, but I prefer to save them for emergencies."
"Remember all the gossip about us being college boyfriends?" David smirked.
Toshinori scoffed playfully. "Good grief, I know you're bisexual, but I don't exactly swing that way myself and we both knew that."
The two of them shared a good laugh as they continued going over old memories together.
"P-Please! I have a kid! You don't have to...!"
The guard was knocked out with a sharp strike to the side of his head with the butt of a rifle stock belonging to the mercenaries that had infiltrated the island. Specs, the group's hacker, looked over as the guards were all gathered and tied up.
"Relax, I don't kill people that aren't our targets. Professionals have standards after all."
"Yo, Boss, the guards are tied up. They shouldn't pose a problem going forward" Specs contacted the leader.
"Keep them alive but bound. No need to make more of a mess than we have to. Focus on the security system." The boss ordered on the other end as he put a metal mask over his face. "Now the fun can begin."
Izuku, Hilda, Ben, and Penny looked around the small lab where Melissa was doing her work, Sonia was also helping out.
"Wow, it looks so professional," Izuku stated, looking at all the hi-tech machinery around the room. He could barely identify half of them. As he continued to look around, he noticed several trophies on her bookshelf.
Hilda smiled. "Melissa, you're quite talented."
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Sonia playfully called out.
"Friend Melissa, I don't think we've ever met your mother," Penny noted.
Melissa frowned. "Mom's not in our lives anymore...she was murdered in a Villain Attack."
"Oh, I-I'm sorry..." Penny apologized, bowing her head.
"It's okay, you didn't know," Melissa reassured. "It's part of the reason why Papa and I moved to I-Island, and the reason he started to have a darker view of the world."
"The Prof's Quirk was never good for Hero Work either. He can only bend his fingers around all crazy-like. So instead of using his power to become a Hero, he took to science as a way to fight for peace, improving the lives of others." Sonia explained.
"When he met Uncle Might, he took to supporting heroes with his science." Melissa finished.
"That's a good goal to have," Izuku noted. "Without people backing up heroes from the sidelines, we wouldn't be nearly as effective."
"Say, what's your Quirk, Sonia?" Ben asked as the big beautiful scientist grinned and waddled over, pressing up to Ben as he blushed slightly, which made Penny feel strangely jealous for some reason.
"My Quirk is actually [Fix-It], I can repair any kind of damage to any kind of technology. It's good for making sure everything works perfectly fine." She then moved over to Penny. "I already know about you, sweetums. Any damages you need me to check~?"
"N-No, t-that's okay!" Penny said hurriedly, her freckled cheeks turning red.
"Oh! Hilda, I wanted to give you this!" Melissa said, hoping to steer away from the awkwardness this scene was turning into as she handed Hilda a wrist strap, which she put around her right wrist.
"What's this, boxing tape?"
"Press the button on the back."
When Hilda did so, the strap turned into a gauntlet that wrapped around her forearm, making her gasp in amazement, her eyes sparkling.
"This little beauty is called the Full Gauntlet." Melissa proudly said. "The display unit can give you a full read-out of how much power you're putting into OFA, letting you know how much you can control it. Plus, it's great for defense. It's strong enough to handle even a thousand of Uncle Might's punches at full power."
"Whoa! That's amazing!" Izuku gasped in amazement.
"And Ben, I know you have a hard time with your elements, so I made this for you!" Sonia said as she reached into the crevasse of her large breasts and pulled out a type of amulet that attached itself magnetically to Ben's chest. "It's called the Elemental Signal, which allows you to better cycle between the elements that compose your... 'power'."
Ben nodded thankfully. "Thanks, Sonia."
The gang soon gathered back together, dressed up for the party, and were now in the lobby.
"We apologize for taking so long. Jiro was embarrassed by the ensemble." Momo said, Kyouka hiding behind her.
"Awwww come on! You don't see us getting embarrassed!" Sonia said as she, Momo, and Hilda were all wearing lovely dresses that were the perfect size for their large, plump figures.
"You all look magnificent." Mipha smiled as she addressed everyone. "Shall we get ready for the party?"
"Ugh, why am I wearing this dress? It itches." Nimona grumbled, having been provided a dress of her own by Momo.
"Oh suck it up, ya big baby!" Minoru said.
"They sure are a lively bunch, huh?" Melissa giggled.
"Oh, you have no idea," Ben said, shaking his head.
"Is this everybody?" Katsuki asked as he looked over everyone present.
"Indeed. Everyone who received an invitation is present!" Penny smiled as she scanned everyone, getting a perfect head count.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's paint this party!" Sonia cheered.
Inside the reception hall were dozens of guests from sponsors, scientists, and heroes, all gathered around and enjoying themselves with the wide variety of food and drinks provided for them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the I-Expo's reception party. Let's have the #1 Hero of Japan, All-Might, who is visiting us today, to say a few words and lead us in a toast! Everyone, please give him a round of applause!" The announcer/host of the party stated.
All-Might looked around in confusion as everyone began to applaud and cheer for him. Even other heroes from varying countries respected All-Might, hearing all his legendary feats. Despite mainly thriving in America and then Japan, almost everyone around the world knew about the Symbol of Peace. Therefore, they weren't offended when All-Might was suddenly chosen to lead them in a toast.
"Realy, Dave?"
"Not my idea," Dave insisted. "But it was bound to happen once everyone learned you were in town."
"Fine, but you owe me for this," Toshinori said as he stepped onto the podium. "Thanks for inviting me. I am All Might. I don't like formal talk, so-"
Before All-Might could even start a speech that he had made up just now, a loud sound rang throughout the tower. The television set behind him suddenly blared red with the words 'emergency' on it.
"This is an announcement by the I-Island security system. We have received a report from the security system that an explosive device was placed in the I-Expo area. I-Island will now be in high alert mode. Residents and tourists should return to their homes or lodgings immediately. Those without lodgings for the night can report to the nearest evacuation center for temporary residency. Anyone still outside ten minutes from may be arrested without warning. Please refrain from going outdoors. In addition, most of the main buildings will be sealed off by the security system. I repeat- This-"
The gates began closing as the announcement blared out over all of I-Island. In their respective areas, Izuku and All-Might both felt [Danger Sense] blaring wildly before the reception hall was stormed by men in masks with guns.
"In case you haven't caught on, the security system is under our full control. I know we've got a lot of heroes in here, but if you decide to make a scene..." The leader of the mercs began as he showed the monitor, civilians on the streets. "Then the drones will be made to think the people they have in their sights are dangerous criminals. You can consider everyone on this island my hostage. So you'd better play nice."
Suddenly, holes appeared on the floor before a blue cable shot out from them, wrapping all the heroes in attendance and trapping them. The heroes found themselves unable to break off from the restraining devices nor use their Quirks for fear of hitting others. All-Might managed to stretch the cables with his muscles and had been prepared to break out of them before a gunshot rang in the air, freezing him in his place.
"Don't move!" The boss threatened as he walked up on stage. "If you take even one step, then I'll kill everyone here in a second."
"Shit!" All-Might cursed as he was kicked onto the floor, unable to do anything less he risked the lives of others.
"Good boy," The leader as he looked out to the crowd. "You're going to all learn from All-Might and do as I say nice and quietly, capiche?"
All-Might locked eyes with David, telling him that he could break out of the restraints if needed, but David shook his head, the two of them silently communicating via body language. Reluctantly, All-Might refrained from breaking free.
"Young Midoriya and his friends were late to the party. And they have permission to use their Quirks in an emergency. I don't know how strong these people are, but at worst, they're likely to be gunrunners. Such villains, along with terrorists, are the only sorts of villains who would try and attack I-Island, and terrorists wouldn't bother to hide their faces."
Izuku and the rest of the gang managed to hole themselves up in the lobby.
"I'm not getting any signal. My service has been completely blocked." Shoto said.
"None of the elevators are working," Kyouka noted.
"Something's off about this. The security alert wasn't the right protocol for discovered explosives." Melissa said.
Izuku rubbed his chin. "For now, let's head up to the party. All-Might is sure to be there, and we might get a better idea of the situation. Melissa, how can we get to the party without the elevators?"
"We can take the emergency stairs over there," Melissa said.
"Onward, gang!" Sonia shouted.
"If you all stay calm and don't do anything rash, then you'll be released once we get what we came here for." The merc leader said before getting an alert from his earpiece. "What's up? Yeah, I got it. I'll be right up."
He looked around and spotted Sam.
"You a researcher here?"
Sam nodded. "Yes, I am."
The boss nodded. "We'll be taking this one up."
Sam started to protest until Dave approached.
"Stop! That man is my assistant! What do you plan on doing to him?"
The boss looked at Dave. "Professor David Shield, yes? I've heard of you. We'll be bringing him as well."
David frowned. "And if I refuse?"
The boss smirked. "Then somewhere on this island, you'll hear a pretty little blonde girl scream."
"Do you even know how many blondes are on this island?" Dave asked with a wry look. "You'll have to be more specific."
The boss shrugged. "Okay, let me try a more direct threat. If you don't come with us, your assistant here comes up as a corpse."
Dave sighed in resignation. "Fine..."
All-Might watched as Dave and Sam were led away.
"This was far too planned. Dave is one of the few people who knows the full security system. The mercs had no way of knowing he might be here tonight... Unless someone told them and gave them information that might make him compliant. If I could only get a distraction, I could take out these gunmen before they had a chance to kill any hostages in the dining area."
He then saw the glint off Izuku's smartphone from a higher level. Kyouka, Ben, and Penny were next to him.
"Good timing, kids!" He whispered, "Some villains have taken the tower. I suspect they're only gunrunners or some other type of black-market collectors. Either way, they're likely to be dangerous. Right now they have control of the security systems, and they have everyone on the island held hostage. If you can, try to find a way up to where the security office is and retake control."
"How could villains have even infiltrated I-Island in the first place?" Tenya wondered. "The security here is tighter than Tartarus Prison."
"The most logical explanation is that they had someone on the inside," Shoto said. "For some reason, a resident of the island gave these gunrunners clearance to enter the island legally, including all their weapons."
"We can worry about the 'hows' and 'whys' once this is over," Ben said, "Let's just focus on getting All-Might and the other pros free so they can destroy these guys."
Sonia nodded. "Once the security system is out of the villains' hands they're out of hostages and they can't direct the drones to attack anyone!"
"We need to be careful not to fight any of the villains unless we're either confronted or we know we can take them without any issue." Mipha pointed out.
"This is what we're training for... To be able to save people. We have to do this. Whatever these villains want, we can't let them get it." Izuku said.
"Oh yeah, let's destroy some bad guys!" Nimona grinned wickedly, her eyes seeming to glow with fire.
"But at the same time, we're still just students. We don't know how powerful these guys are. So for now our best chance is to sneak into the control center and free the heroes, letting them do the rest of the work." Penny pointed out logically.
"I know where the security center is," Melissa said, "Sonia and I can guide you all there. We need to get to the top floor of the central tower, 200 floors up. Chances are they disabled the authentication locks and password, which would let us restart the system without issue. If we stay off the villains' radar, we should be able to take out their hacker and get the system running."
"Pretty big 'if'," Katsuki said.
Hilda nodded. "If they've planned this far ahead, then I wouldn't put it past them to have the stairs blocked off at some level, just in case someone lagging behind got to the party."
"We do have one advantage; The villains haven't discovered us yet. The security system could have easily sniffed us out. The fact that it hasn't means they don't know how it works very well." Melissa said.
"That won't last long," Kyouka said, "I overheard the leader taking away your dad and his assistant. Not to mention they'd be stupid to have their hacker by himself in the security room."
"True, but most of the regular gunmen will be in the dining hall," Momo said. "At worst we'd only be dealing with a few lieutenants."
"I like those odds." Ben said, channeling ice into his fist and clenching it tightly.
"Let's do this! We'll hit that security network and save everyone!" Ochako said.
Tenya nodded. "Even if I was against this plan, trying to get to safety would be pointless. The only possibility would be to somehow reach the airport and leave the island. Reaching the security system to regain control seems far easier compared to that."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Eijirou said. "Let's get going!"
Kirby smirked. "Yeah, let's show those guys! We'll blitz past them and have the heroes on their butts before they can cry 'Mommy'!"
"I'll be going too," Melissa said, getting out a red orb, "It's a good thing I brought my Thneed with me, just in case. Besides, none of you know how to change the island's security systems."
"And you got five hundred pounds of pure fat power here!" Sonia smirked, flexing her blubbery arms. "Anyone needs a cushion, I'm your gal!"
"Hey, don't go showing me up!" Hilda laughed as she bumped sides with her fellow fatty.
Meanwhile, David and Sam were brought up to where Specs was still working on the security network.
"Ah, good. You brought someone. Have him unlock the vault, Swordkil. Damn thing's on a separate network from the rest of the security."
Swordkil activated his Quirk, [Blade], to turn his arm into a blade, then held it up to David's neck.
"You heard him. Get that vault open."
"And what could you possibly want from there?" David asked cooly, his eyes narrowed.
"You'll find out when you get it open," Swordkil said, "Now get to it or I direct this blade to your friend instead."
Dave scowled but did as instructed. He could only hope help would arrive soon.
Yeah, I kinda want to get I-Island done with here. I think I might have overstepped my boundaries including the gals from Class 1-B in this.