Hello again, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter :)
Deathknight999 - Glad to hear, thanks for reading and I hope you'll like this chapter.
DuckBoi - Thanks so much and most definitely. I can't imagine how stressful working with Endeavour must be. Also I'm happy that you like air dizzy Shoko; she's adorable.
phillyitalian - Thank you so much; perhaps I could devote a chapter to it and fit it in-between the Summer Camp Arc and the Overhaul arc. I pictured Melissa being more of a cat person or someone who likes both cats and dogs equally. Thanks for reading.
Djinn - Thanks, I thought it was time for Lewis to have some extra moves and utilise his gear more. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
RubixJr - That's amazing to hear. Thank you so much.
Guest - Thank you so much, I'm thrilled that you liked the chapter so much. Writing air dizzy Shoko was, by far, my favourite part; it's a mixture of serious deadpanned and cutely needy. Writing Melissa was also fun; she is intelligent, sweet and beautiful. I'm glad you agree to a few (maybe one or two) filler chapters just before the Summer Camp arc. I didn't really like the swimming episode so I think I'll have Lewis do something else. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.
Neo Infinity - No problem. Yeah, I'm not sure if Melissa being a cat person is canonical, but ah well, I've written it. Shoko's airsickness was very fun to write and it's nice to see a more light sided (i.e: needy) side to her. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much and thanks again.
wellingtonlucas282 - No problem, thanks so much for reading.
FanSuperAnime - Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I quite like the 'Dice Grenade' idea; perhaps Hatsume could make it for him just before the Summer Camp Arc. Hope you like this chapter just as much.
Thank you all for reviewing.
Chapter 30: Gate Crashers
Melissa's Lab, I-Island Academy
It was the next morning on I-Island and our hero was woken up by a text sent by Melissa, inviting him to her personal lab. He got dressed, snuck out as Shoko and Moe were still sleeping and followed the address she sent him all the way to the academy.
Currently standing in a empty hallway, Lewis hummed thoughtfully as he looked down at the address on his phone before glancing up at the door in front of him as he made sure that he was in the right place. After confirming that it was the right lab, he knocked on the door and waited patiently for a reply. He did not have to wait for very long as he heard footsteps on the other side before the door opened up to reveal Melissa who greeted him with a bright smile. He blushed heavily when he saw that she had her long unbrushed hair tied back in a ponytail, wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of glasses with thicker frames than her casual ones. He assumed that this is the attire she usually wore when she was working on something and she looked stunning...although, he is now coming to terms that she looked stunning no matter what she wore or did.
"Lewis, thanks for coming. Come on in," she greeted cheerily as she stepped away from the door and allowed him inside, "Sorry for contacting you this early, but I was really excited to show you what I have been doing."
Lewis smiled and stepped through the door, "Don't worry about it. What did you want to show me?"
"I'll just be a moment. I just need to prepare it," she told him before head over to the other side of the room to her work station.
While she was busy, he took the time to look around her lab. It was a spacious, rectangular room with grey walls and a hard blue floor; it was filled with furniture and other technical equipment lined against the wall such as a mechanical arm, a 3D printer and...well, Lewis was not sure what it was, but it was tall cuboid machine with flickering lights on the front and it would ever so often give off a mechanical hum noise. In the centre was a long table with papers, book and diagrams cluttered on it, a potted plant in the corner and, on the far side, was Melissa's personal computer which sat on her work desk. There were other doors that lead onto different rooms which he assumed was for storage. It was much different from the lab back at U.A; it was small, but sophisticated and less likely to explode due to the lack of one pink haired mechanic. This was a space for Melissa to create and develop her work and he could see from the bookcase on which several trophies where perched upon that this was a personal place she was proud of.
His eyes happened to fall on a few framed photographs on one shelf of a younger Melissa and a smiling older man. The man had messy brown hair, a goatee on his square chin and blue eyes concealed behind thick framed glasses. Lewis instantly recognised him as David Shield, Melissa's father and world famous support item creator. The photographs of them showed them having fun; there was one of them dressed as vampires on Halloween, another of an twelve year old Melissa looking proud after building her first robot and even one of her, David and All Might. Lewis smiled as he looked over the happy memoires before his eyes landed on two frames different from the others. One was of David in a suit carrying a pretty woman with blond hair wearing a wedding dress at a wedding ceremony while the other is of the same woman in a hospital bed holding a newly born baby while David smiled proudly over them. Lewis guessed that the woman was Melissa's mother and gave a small smile at the happy family. However, he then frowned sadly as he noticed how her mother was strangely absent from the other photos. He then had the sudden memory of reading David Shield's Wikipedia page a few years ago and seeing the word 'Widower' in his bio. He glanced back at Melissa and then of the photo of her mother, feeling a small twinge of emphatic pain in his heart.
He instantly hid the saddened expression when Melissa turned around with something in her hands, "Alright...are you ready?"
"Y-yeah," he said before he looked down at what she holding.
In her outstretched hands, Melissa held four playing card to him; from left to right, the cards were an ace of clubs, an ace of diamonds, an ace of hearts, and an ace of spades. At first, Lewis thought they were just normal cards straight from a packet, but as he studied them closely and held one in his hand, he noticed something different about them.
"Are these..." he hummed as he inspected the ace of clubs, "...made of the same material that mine are made of."
"Yes...well, no...well, sort of," she answered with a sheepish smile, "I copied some components and added some other aspects. They're a bit more aerodynamic, a bit lighter and more robust. I also gave each card suit a particular design," she pointed at the ace of clubs, "Clubs are your bladed cards, Hearts are the tracking devices you were telling me about and Spades are the exploding ones."
Lewis, who had been inspecting said Spade card closely to his face, flinched when she mentioned that. He gave the card a nervous look before gently putting down on the table.
"This is…amazing, Melissa. But why…"
"And best of all," she said, unintentionally cutting him off as she gave him the last card, "throw the ace of diamonds at this target," she told him before she rushed into her storage room and came out with something and placed it on her work desk.
The object was a robot about a foot tall; it had one large wheel as a means of walking, a thin pole like body where two arms sprouted on either side and a long cuboid camera for a head. Once Melissa put the small robot down on the desk, the machine sparked and began to move around; making small circles around the table and moving his thin arms up and down. Lewis blinked at the robot before looking at Melissa with a questioning look.
"This is my science project back when I was in the fifth grade. Isn't it cute…although I don't think it was able to do anything else but go in circles."
"And you want me to throw my card at him. Aren't you worried I might…damage him."
Melissa shook her head, "Don't worry about it. Rob's sturdier then he looks."
"You named him Rob," Lewis sighed, "I feel even more guilty now it's got a name."
"It's fine," she insisted, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder.
Lewis looked towards Rob the robot and held the card in his right hand. He tossed the card into the air and watched as the card flew across the room and hit the target's camera head. Rather then simply bouncing off it, he was quite surprised to see the card stick to the side of its head before the symbol began to flash a few times. Suddenly, Rob stopped dead in its tracks; its body began to twitch as if it was shocked by electricity before it fell on its side lifelessly. Melissa cheered triumphantly while Lewis stared at what just happened in shock.
"Was…was that the EMP card you suggested?" he uttered in disbelief.
"Yep!" she chirped, "It lasts for up to two minutes and it doesn't cause any long lasting damage to the system. Cool, right?"
"I only told you about my gear yesterday and you managed to redesign them overnight," Lewis uttered in amazement.
Melissa raised a single in the air and smiled brightly, "Not just that but…"
As if on cue, Lewis heard a mechanic whirring sound coming from Melissa. She reached into her pocket and pulled the source of the noise; it looked like a portable DVD player, but it was far too small for any disc to be inserted into it. After brief few seconds, another identical ace of diamonds was printed out of the side it and dropped into Melissa's hand before she held it out in front of her proudly.
"…I created a portable printer that can create more cards once they have been used so you never run into the possibility of running out," she told him brightly before she turned to her work desk once again, picked up something and giving him the other stack of cards she had made, "fifty two cards in total meaning that you have thirteen for each suit," she told him before she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "If I had more time I could have-"
"No, no," he immediately cut her off, "this is great…more than great. Thank you so much. You really didn't to."
"I know," Melissa sighed in amusement before she turned back to her work desk to tend to Rob, "But I wanted to. I may not be able to be a hero or be of any use in a battle, but that doesn't mean I can't help by making support items," she said with a small smile, "There are so many great heroes out there who do wonderful things in order to uphold society, but the great ones always depends on hero gear. Just being able to provide them with the support…it's just an amazing feeling knowing that I can do my part in protecting everybody."
For a few seconds, Lewis was lost for words at what she said. She spoke with such conviction and determination; it reminded him how Midoryia or anybody else in his class spoke about becoming a hero; there was such potential that she was eager to demonstrate to the world…and he was very impressed.
"Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?" Melissa jokingly said, "I do that when I talk about heroes."
Lewis gazed at her smiling face as she looked down at her robot before he gave an earnest smile himself, "You know…" he said, catching her attention, "…for somebody who says they can't be a hero…you sure act and speak like one. You kind of like the All Might of the support item world."
Melissa eyebrows raised in surprise for a brief second before she shot him a bashful look, "Thanks. That's sweet of you, but All Might's the greatest hero in the world while I'm not even the greatest mechanic on I-Island."
With one blink, Lewis disappeared before her causing her to frown in confusion. However, she felt a finger prod her shoulder, making her look around to see him right next to her.
"I suppose, but All Might didn't start off as the greatest hero," he told her softly, "if that's the case then could it mean you're not the greatest mechanic…yet."
A flash of surprise filled her face once again, but, this time, her cheeks turned a little red. It quickly disappeared as she gave him a determined smirk.
"That's what I strive to be," she agreed wholeheartedly.
Lewis chuckled before he looked down at his cards, "Is there anyway I can pay you back for this?"
"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I wanted to make them for you. I should be thanking you for giving me such a challenge."
"Are you sure? I would feel bad if I didn't."
Melissa placed the robot down on the desk before she tapped one finger against her chin thoughtfully, "Well, since you insist," she hummed, "You know, since we're going to the gala together, maybe we could do something?"
Lewis blushed, "W-what like a d-date?"
She sweat dropped at that, "I was actually thinking on the lines of talking about your quirk and other support gear we can create for it," she answered, making him blanch in embarrassment, "But if you want to-"
"Forget about what I said," he hurriedly told her, shaking his head rapidly, "Yeah, let's discuss more about my quirk."
"Aww, are you sure?" she said with a grin, "I always wanted a Prince Charming to take me to the ball."
Lewis hummed in slight annoyance and turned his face away to hide how red it was, "I get it. You're making fun of me."
Melissa gave a sweet giggle, "Sorry, but it's sweet that you get flustered so easily," she said in a teasing tone, "I'll promise I'll stop...for now," before he could say anything about that, she immediately changed the subject, "Anyway, you wanted to talk about suits that make the invisible?"
Lewis cleared his throat and nodded, "Not quite. One of my classmates has a quirk that allows her body to reflect light making her invisible, however I recently discovered that her her hero suit consists of...shoes and gloves and nothing else."
"And how did you discover this?"
"I thought we were done with the teasing?"
Melissa raised her hands up in defence, "Sorry, sorry. I'll be good from now on," she said before she rubbed her chin in thought, "I'm guessing you want me to make her a suit that becomes invisible along with her."
"Yes, training at U.A is harsh and if she trips and falls or gets accidently gets hit by something then she then she had no way of protecting herself. She's going to get serious cuts and scraps that could get infected," he explained, "Also, winter is in a few months and I'm not going to let my friend die of hypothermia all because she doesn't wear a hero suit."
"I understand and you're right, she can't go on like this," Melissa hummed before she went over to her computer and began tapping away at it, "It won't be easy. There's a limit to technology and not all of it is compatible to every type of quirk. You say your friend's skin cells reflect light so we need something that could do something similar that won't be easily damaged in combat and it probably needs to be flexible," she looked up from computer at him, "It might take a while. I'll go through all the scientific journals I can find on the subject and maybe come up with some prototypes...I might even have to hack into my dad's computer again to access all of I-Island's files," she muttered before she flashed him a smile, "But I know I can do it. I hope you don't mind the wait."
Lewis was about to reply when he heard another voice coming from the door, "Sounds like you two are busy. I hate to interrupt."
The two teens jumped in surprise and turned to see, the one and only, David Shield leaning on the door frame with his hands in his pockets. He smiled in amusement as he saw their shocked looks before he stepped inside the lab.
"Dad," Melissa said joyfully before the smile was wiped off her face, "How...long have you been listening?"
The older man raised an eyebrow at his daughter, "If you are referring to you hacking into my computer then don't worry. I know you've been doing it since you were eleven.
"Y-you have?"
"I found cookie crumbs in my keyboard and I don't usually eat while I work," he pointed out.
Lewis saw her cough bashfully and subtly move a couple of sweet wrappers off her work desk and into the bin below.
David turned his attention to Lewis and smiled gracefully, "And who might you be?"
In response, Lewis held out his hand for him to shake, "My name is Lewis Fleetwood. Melissa and I met yesterday at the Pavilion."
David shook his hand, "Of course, you're one of the U.A students, aren't you. I think All Might mentioned you," he released his hand before his bright eyes lit up in realisation which reminded him of the same thing Melissa would do when she's excited, "That's right. Cheshire: The Disappearing Hero is what he called you. Glad to finally meet you."
"Same to you...it's an absolute honour, sir," he said, 'He knows my name!' he yelled excitedly in his head.
"Please just call me David," he told him, "So what are you two working on? Anything I can help out with to save you from breaking into my poor computer," he asked, sending a teasing look at his sheepish-looking daughter.
Lewis and Melissa explained the situation to David, causing him to nod in understanding.
"Interesting," he hummed, "You're right about the difficulty. However, it's not impossible. I recommend Dr Claude Griffin's work on photo manipulation as a basis and I'll see what else I could find," he suggested before Melissa shot towards her computer and began looking for that particular scientific journal.
"Thank you, that's really kind of you," Lewis gratefully said, "You and Melissa are so amazing. I couldn't do it without you."
David gave him a bright grin, "Your more then welcome. Helping heroes is our speciality."
"You got that right," Melissa called out over her shoulder.
Lewis could not help but think happily about the father and daughter duo; they were both so intelligent and humble, "Will you be at the gala tonight, si- I mean David? It'll be great if we can talk more."
To his surprise, he saw David's eyes lose its brightness for a split second as if he was dreading something. However, it quickly returned as he nodded in response.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it. It'll be nice to meet up again."
'That...was weird,' Lewis thought as he sensed the uneasy tone in his voice.
Melissa looked over her shoulder and grinned in excitement, "I know right, Lewis and the rest of his classmates are going to meet up and go together. I can't wait."
David's eyes glanced over to his daughter and once again, to Lewis' astonishment, the brightness left his eyes for the briefest of seconds. He was, admittedly, unnerved by this.
"Oh, l see you're still going as well," he said, "I thought you would be...too wrapped up in your work."
"What? Never. I've been looking forward to this for months."
"I see," David said hesitantly before he locked eyes with Lewis, giving him a steely look that Melissa didn't notice, "You're going together, aren't you? Do me a favour and make sure you don't let her out of her sight."
"Y-yeah," he stammered uncomfortably, "Sure I will."
David chuckled and broke the tense atmosphere that appeared in between them, "Sorry, I only ask because there's going to be a chocolate fountain and Melissa has a bad history with them due to her sweet tooth. One time, I took my eyes off her for a single second at a party and, the next thing I knew, she had fallen head first-"
"Okay!" Melissa loudly exclaimed as she slid in between her father and Lewis, "He doesn't need to know that!" she crossly said, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she glared at her father, "A lot of young kids make stupid mistakes like that."
David grinned and looked over his daughter's shoulder at Lewis, "She was fourteen."
As Melissa hung her head in shame and David laughed at her misery, Lewis couldn't help but think about what he said to him about making sure not to lose sight of her.
He may have said that to embarrass his daughter...but Lewis felt like it was more of a demand then a joke.
Outside
Lewis stepped out of the academy's campus gates and headed back to the hotel whilst admiring his new cards. He smiled happily to himself as he thought about using the new EMP cards and the tracking cards; he could not wait to try them out sometime. Perhaps he could join for a new course to give them a test drive.
He began walking down the street when suddenly, from within his pocket, he felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and checked the screen; only to raise his eyebrows in surprise to see that Hatsume was calling him. He answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey Guinea pig! How's it going!" the mad preppy voice of the engineer called out, "Feels like forever since we last spoke! You avoiding me or something!?"
Lewis raised a questioning eyebrow, "Hatsume, I've been trying to contact you for a month, but you keep declining my calls. I was really worried."
"What really?" she asked, "Oh right. I remember. I was working on a new baby and I needed to concentrate."
"...For an entire month?"
"Yep!"
Lewis sighed, "Of course you would."
"So anyway. The new baby is done and I need you to test it out. I've tried looking for you, but you're not in class. That grumpy teacher of yours said you were on holiday. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried, but you weren't picking up my calls."
"Oh right yeah. Anyway come on over here and let's test this new baby out. I know you're going to be impressed."
"Sorry Hatsume, I've got plans this evening and I don't want to potentially miss it by going to A&E," he answered honestly.
"Hey! What makes you think that…" she paused for a few seconds as she thought about it, "…on second thoughts, you might be right. The latest baby is kinda…combustible," she admitted, making Lewis sweat drop, "Oh alright, maybe another day. Where are you anyway?"
"I'm on I-Isl-"
"I-ISLAND!" Hatsume yelled, making Lewis cringe in slight pain, "No way! And you didn't tell me!"
"Again…first time I've spoke to you in a month."
"This is so awesome," Hatsume madly giggled and ignoring his deadpanned remark, "You get to see so many babies being created and demonstrated! I wish I can get my hands on them, take them apart and put them together again just so I can make them better. I'm so insanely jealous right now! Did you take photos!?"
Lewis smiled, "Yep, took them especially for you."
"Can you bring me back laser gun as a souvenir?"
"No, but I can get you a keychain from the gift shop."
"…can I turn that into a laser gun?"
"If you want," he said, earning a celebratory whoop of joy. Suddenly, he remembered something that he knew Hatsume would definitely would love, "oh, I've got something to show you. Are you in the Support classroom?" she said that she was and so Lewis made one of his cards disappear to where she was, "there should be a card on the table. I just had it made now."
He heard some scuffling on the other side of the phone and Hatsume's muttering.
"Wow! So cool! Your first baby made on I-Island," he heard her say, "You gotta tell me what manufacturer you used and introduce me. I've got heaps of baby ideas that I can show them!"
"Actually, I didn't make this one. Melissa made it for me."
"Melissa? Is that an A.I or something?"
"No, Melissa Shield, the daughter of David Shield," Lewis excitedly, "They're both really cool and Melissa redesigned them for nothing. You know how we were having trouble finding a tracking device light enough to fit on the card, well she managed to find one over night. Not only that, but she designed one that can disable electronic equipment and we never thought of that before. She's brilliant, Hatsume I think you would really like her and she can help us come up with more ideas. How does that sound?"
He waited for a few seconds with a broad smile, expecting her equally as excited response. However, he was quite surprised when he heard Hatsume not respond at all; the other end going silent for a few seconds. Eventually, when she did speak, he noticed a shift in tone that he never thought she could achieve.
"Oh…I see…" she uttered, much to his confusion.
Lewis frowned in worry at her reply. She sounded disappointed by what he told her; the lack of her previous enthusiasm disappearing in a second.
"Is everything alright?" he asked awkwardly.
"…Y-yeah…I'm fine…why wouldn't I be?" she hesitantly, "Well, she certainly sounds impressive and I can see from the example that she has some serious baby-making skills. I'm glad you get a chance to work with somebody…other than me."
Realisation finally kicked in as Lewis now understood what was happening, "Hatsume, I'm not trying to replace you or anything. It was just a one time thing."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she replied, trying her best not to sound miserable.
"No seriously. It was just a one time thing. Besides you make babies for other heroes without me, don't you? Don't you want to work for a company that sells them in the future?"
"I know that," Hatsume sighed, "It's fine, I'm fine. You can make babies with other people if you want."
"But I love making babies with you," he told her. He flinched slightly when he noticed two young women walk past him on the street having heard what he said and staring at him strangely, "Not actual babies. They're-" he tried to tell them, but they quickly sped up before he could finish. Lewis sighed in despair before turning back to his phone, "I didn't mean to upset you, Hatsume..."
"Upset? I'm not upset. You can do whatever you want. Anyway, I have to go now. I've got plenty of babies to make, bye Fleetwood!"
'Fleetwood!? She has never called me by my real name,' he thought, but before he could say anything, Hatsume had already hung up.
Lewis sighed and put away his phone and continued his walk back to the hotel. He knew he hurt her feelings, but it wasn't as if he intentionally asked Melissa to help redesign his support gear. However, now that he thought about it, it was her that made the original cards based on his designs; she used her time on something that could have been used for other inventions. He was still very torn up about what had happened, but he decided he should talk to her as soon as he gets back and focus on getting ready for tonight.
Hotel Room
A few hours had passed and the sun was already descending over the horizon. The lights on I-Island were being switched on making the city just as vibrant and bright as it was during the day.
Moe, who had barely moved from the sofa since yesterday, was flicking through the channels with a bored look on her face. She sighed, sipped her beer before looking up when she heard Lewis exit out of one of the bedrooms. He had changed into the clothes he was wearing to the gala consisting of black trousers, suit jacket and bowtie as well as a emerald green dress shirt with silver cufflinks which he was busy fiddling with. His wavy black hair was combed back into a something more appropriate for an evening event and this thick framed glasses were cleaned and polished. Moe gave a wide smirk before she wolf whistled at him.
"Not bad, kid. You look like one of those pretty boy butlers from a shoujo manga," she commented, earning an inquisitive look from Lewis.
"Thanks...I think," he said before noticing that Moe was still wearing her casual clothing, "Weren't you invited as well?"
Moe shrugged, "Not my type of thing. I prefer festivals with games and fireworks over stuffy gatherings with tiny foods on crackers," she gave him a small wave, "With all those heroes about, I can finally relax and stopping worrying over the boss' daughter."
Lewis sweat dropped as he observed the sidekick slumped on the couch, flicking through channels with the remote in one hand and grabbing a handful of crisps in a bowl with the other, "Is she saying that she hasn't been relaxing already?'
He heard the door open from behind him which signified the Shoko was already done changing and turned around, "Hey, Shoko are y-"
The words got caught in his throat when his fell upon the sight of her. She wore a knee-length halter neck dress; the nape of it was black as night but the colour grew lighter all the way down to the wavy hem which was white as snow and wore a pair of black high heel shoes. She wore her hair partially up with a hairband with two bangs of hair framed her face while the rest of it cascaded elegantly down her back. In her left hand she held a black clutch bag to complete her look. He felt his heart skip a few beats. She seemed to sparkle and shine as she gracefully left her room; something that even her stoic expression couldn't suppress. Lewis knew that she was beautiful, but words could not express how wonderful she looked.
"Hurk!" Lewis suddenly cried as he doubled over and clutched his heart as if he was in pain.
Shoko, obviously surprised by his reaction, frowned in concern, "Fleetwood, are you alright? You're not having a heart attack, are you?"
Still clutching his heart and bent slightly over, Lewis looked up with his eyes closed and a blissful smile on his face, "No, no, I'm fine," he replied casually, "It's just that your elegant and sophisticated dress work so well with your usual cool and collected features. It's so wonderful that my shocked my emotions enough to physically hurt my entire body."
"There's blood coming from your mouth," she pointed out.
Lewis nonchalantly wiped the trail of blood with a tissue, "That's normal."
"I-it is?"
Suddenly, his phone began to ring in his pocket. He stood up straight, threw away the blood-stained tissue and answered it, "Hello?"
"Fleetwood!" the voice of Iida barked through the receiver, "Where are you and Todoroki!? We are supposed to meet at Central Tower at eight PM sharp along with the rest of our classmates!"
Shoko cocked her head slightly to the side as she watched Lewis talking on the phone, "Let me guess...Iida?"
Lewis mouthed the word 'yes' at her whilst his classmates continued to shout at him in his ear. He glanced at the time on his phone and saw that it was '19:59' with only a few seconds until their meeting time.
"So, you are saying that Shoko and I have less then twenty seconds to meet you," he said with a small mischievous grin.
Ground Floor, Central Tower
"Indeed," Iida, who wore a dark blue suit and yellow tie, strictly confirmed, "The hotel you are staying it is roughly an half a kilometre away which means you will not be able to make it to our choosing meeting time."
As Iida continued to berate Lewis over the phone, Mineta and Karminari, who had chosen to wear their waiter uniforms since they were not planning on going to the gala originally, watched him from afar and shook their heads in disappointment.
"He's not going to be like this the whole night, is he?" Karminari sighed.
"You do realise that this is Iida we talking about," Mineta grumbled.
The three were currently standing in the lobby of the Central Tower; a large square room witch had four elevators that would take them to the upper floors of the tower. Each elevator would take them to different floors with some of them going to floors that were exclusive to those working or own the building and can only be obtainable by a pass; the passes that they received allowed them to go up to the second floor where the gala was being held in the reception floor. However, Mineta and Karminari were forced to stay in the lobby while they watched the Class Rep call their late classmates and yell at them for now getting there on time...
...fair to say that they evening was not the most entertaining.
"Honestly, Fleetwood," Iida sighed as he began to pace up and down the lobby, "I expect much better from you. As vice rep of Class 1A you have a reputation to uphold. I managed to drag Karminari and Mineta all the way here to avoid being late," he looked down at his wristwatch, "Now you have less then five seconds until our meeting. Chop! Chop! Or you two will be-"
"Right on time."
Iida jumped in surprise and looked up to see Lewis standing in front of him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. The Class Rep blinked in shock before looking down at his watch to see that Lewis had arrived dead on eight o'clock. He coughed sheepishly and gave him a stiff nod.
"I...completely forgot you can do that. My apologies. I think the stress is getting to me."
"It's fine. I stopped by here early today so I knew where we meeting."
"And where is Todoroki?"
Lewis flicked his hand to make his hat appear before placing upside down on the ground. Suddenly, Shoko's head popped out of it and stared up at Iida.
"I am here," she said in her monotone voice.
They heard the automatic doors to the lobby open up on the other side of the room and turned in time to see a out of breath Midoryia run in. He was wearing a brown and black stripped suit with a yellow shirt and brown bowtie. Iida turned a full 180 degrees and marched towards him while Lewis helped Shoko out of his hat. As soon as they caught sight of the usual stoic girl in a dress, Karminari and Mineta rushed over to them with perverted grins.
"Wow, Shoko! You actually don't look bad," Karminari said with a thumbs up, "You don't look nearly as scary as you usually do."
"Yeah," Mineta agreed wiping away some drool seeping out of his mouth as he stared at her legs, "Damn, those legs are pretty good. They just go up all the way to- OOF!" he cried out as Shoko kicked him square in the stomach before he could finish his sentence.
Karminari stared down at the short boy as he rolled on the floor and clutching his stomach in agony before looking up at Shoko. He gulped in fear as she shot him an icy, menacing glare that sent chills down his spine.
"You two stay at least one meter away from me for the rest of the evening otherwise I freeze your legs in ice and drop you in the ocean," she darkly threatened.
'S-still scary,' Karminari thought, 'Don't let the dress fool you.'
Lewis gave a warm smile and patted her shoulder, immediately calming her down to Karminari's shock, "I think what they were trying to say was that you look gorgeous, Shoko. More so than usual. I think so too."
Shoko looked up at him with a blank look before she looked away with a small blush, "Thank you," she whispered, "You look very...handsome."
"Beast tamer, "Karminari uttered as he gaped at Lewis.
The automatic doors to the lobby slid open once again making everybody turn towards them. Momo stepped inside with a shy smile, wearing a long bright yellow ballgown. She wore white high heel shoes, a yellow sash around her waist and her usual spiky ponytail was styled that it went over to her head and hung just above her brow. Again, Lewis felt his heart skip a few beats at the elegant and graceful lady stepped inside the lobby; looking as if she was a princess from a fairy story...
...and once again Lewis was so overwhelmed by her appearance that he doubled over in pain and clutched his heart, but only Shoko, Karminari and Mineta seemed to notice.
"What? Again?" Shoko muttered.
"You alright there dude?" Karminari asked, "You want me to call an ambulance."
Lewis shook his head and smiled as if nothing is happening, "No, I'm fine. I just felt like a benevolent and fair queen has walked in and I'm just a lowly peasant who was graced with her presence. "
Karminari sweat dropped, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Huh? Usually I'm like that, but the blood comes from nose," Mineta hummed as he watched the trail of blood pour from his mouth.
"He told me that's normal for him," Shoko said as the blood flow.
"Not it isn't!" Karminari cried.
"We apologise for being late," Momo said before she noticed that she was all alone. She turned back to the door and popped her head out, "Come on Jiro. There's no reason to be shy."
"I'm not shy," the voice of Jiro muttered from outside, "I just think I look stupid in this."
"No, you don't," Momo insisted, "Besides you promised you would come along."
"Fine," Jiro grumbled before she stepped through the automatic doors into the lobby.
Jiro glared at her feet and nervously played with one of her earlobes, trying her best not to look at anybody as she was embarrassed about what she wearing. She really had no reason to be; she just looked as amazing as Shoko and Momo. She wore a short dress which was dark blue and purple and a pink skirt. She wore a black blazer over it, grey tights; burgundy shoes and gloves, a brown choker and a pink flower headband in her hair. Lewis also noted that she wore the navy blue nail polish he saw her where when they were at the shopping trip.
"A PERFECT MIXTURE OF REBELLIOUS PUNK ROCKER AND ELEGNANTLY BEAUTY THAT ONLY SHE COULD PULL OFF!" Lewis yelled as blood spouted from his mouth like a geyser.
"Not again!" Kaminari yelled as he and Mineta stared wide eyed at him in shock.
"How are you shooting so much blood! What are you an anime character!" Mineta cried
Eventually, the blood stopped and Lewis wiped a tear from his eye, "It's like an nineteen-eighties John Hughes move where the punk girl wears make up and a dress for the first time and for some reason automatically becomes more beautiful then the terrible popular girl."
"That's a very specific reference!"
"Sorry, I'm late," a voice chirped from outside before the automatic doors slid open to reveal Ochako.
She wore a short white sleeveless dress with pink ruffles down the front and a wide pink collar. She wore grey tights, black high heel shoes, a brown choker and a white flower headband in her hair. She grinned and gave a cute wave to everybody in the lobby.
"Wow! Everybody looks amazing," she said excitedly.
"Hey Uraraka," Lewis greeted normally, "You look lovely."
"Aww thanks."
Karminari and Mineta stared at him in disbelief, "Huh? No reaction," Karminari uttered in confusion, "Not even a drop of blood. What make her special?"
"I'm wondering why the girls are coming in one at a time," Mineta said, "They're arriving seconds apart from each other and they're walking in like a fashion show."
"Is that everybody?" Momo asked as she glanced around the room.
Iida shook his head, "Not yet. Bakugo and Kirsishima have yet to reply to my calls. I can only assume that they are on their way. Bakugo may be difficult but he is always punctual."
"Don't forget about Melissa," Midoryia spoke up, tearing his eyes away from Ochako, "She said she'll be here soon."
At that moment, the automatic door slid open once again and somebody stepped through the door, "I'm sorry everyone," a familiar voice said catching everybody's attention, "I was wrapped up with my work that I lost track in time."
Everyone turned and were blown away by the appearance of Melissa Shield. She wore a short strapless dress which has a dark blue top, a white skirt with black lining and a black sash wrapped around her waist that was decorated by a white flower. Her hair was tied back in a long wavy ponytail and held in place by a red headband; there was even a small black bow tied in her hair. In her right hand she carried a black clutch bag and she no longer wore her glasses revealing her bright blue eyes for everybody to see as they sparkled in excitement.
"Whoa, she's so hot," Mineta said as saliva dripped from her mouth.
"I know," Karminari agreed eagerly, "I wonder if I have a chance with her. Hey Fleetwood what do you thi- Holy crap!" he cried out as he found Lewis lying a pool of his own blood with a blissful look upon his face, "I generally think he's dead now!"
"That last move was Super Effective," Mineta muttered.
Lewis lifted his head up and gave a peaceful smile as if he was on his death bed, "Venus...incarnate..." he whispered before he fell unconscious once again.
"Stay with us dude!" Karminari yelled as he shook by the shoulders to try and wake him up, "This can't be how you die!"
Meanwhile, as they were trying to revive Lewis, Melissa skipped over to Midoryia and Ochako with a bright smile, "Deku, Uraraka, you guys look awesome."
"T-thanks," Midoyia stammered in reply, "S-s-so do you, Melissa."
Ochako gave a cute pout and poked his shoulder to catch his attention, "And what about me?"
"Y-yeah look great, Uraraka," Midoryia stuttered, looking down at his shoes in embarrassment.
"Aww thanks," Ochako said, slapping his shoulder and grinning brightly with a small blush, "You're too kind."
"Oww Uraraka, that kinda hurts," Midoryia said as the brown haired girl continued to slap his shoulder.
"Please retrain yourselves," Iida barked at them.
By that time Lewis had woken up and was back on his feet, although feeling a little shaky. Melissa spotted him and skipped her way over to him with her signature bright smile.
"Lewis, you look great. Love the bowtie," she said, reaching out and adjusting it slightly.
"Thank you," he bashfully said, "You you look...beautiful...really, beautiful."
Melissa giggled in delight, "Aww that's sweet of you. Maybe we really should treat this as a date, huh?"
Lewis sighed, "You're teasing me again, aren't you?"
"Maybe I am...maybe I'm not. Let's see how it goes," she replied cryptically before changing the subject before he could comment, "By the way, I forgot to give you something earlier," she reached into her clutch bag and pulled out a device that looked like a mobile phone, "This is for your tracking cards; a map and the cards current location will appear on the screen. It should boot up automatically once the card has been activated," she explained.
"Brilliant," Lewis said as he admired the device in his hand, "This should be useful."
"If I may," Momo cut in politely as she looked down at the device, "Can I ask what you have there?"
"Melissa was kind enough to make me some support gear," Lewis explained, "This one is a tracking device."
Momo's eyes lit up, "A tracking device. Fascinating. I myself have been wondering if I should learn how to make one. It could come in handy. May we talk more about it at the gala?"
"Of course," Melissa eagerly agreed.
Lewis nodded his head in agreement before he felt something poke his shoulder. He looked down and saw Jiro's earphone jack stretch back to the side of her head. She was looking away; her arms crossed in front of her chest in a casual way.
"So...err...you want to hang out at the party. We can find a table and chat or whatever," she said coolly although with a hint of shyness, "I only ask because staying with Karminari and Mineta would be unbearable, Midoriya is probably hanging out with Uraraka and Iida is...well, Iida. You don't have to if you don't want."
Lewis blinked in surprise before he gave a soft smile, "Yeah sure," he said before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "By the way, you look really awesome."
Jiro flinched slightly at that, but continued to look away, "Thanks...whatever," she muttered.
Shoko glared calmly to the crowd of women surrounding Lewis with a small hum. She looked towards Lewis black and green suit and then back down to her black and white dress; her eyes widening slightly in realisation.
'We match. That's what Fuyumi meant.'
The next thing anybody knew, Lewis in particular, Shoko had slid up to him, grabbed his arm and glared coldly at the other women, "Please respect the customs of the event and let us go together."
"Customs?" Momo said in confusion, "What customs?"
Shoko pointed at Lewis' suit and then to her dress, "Our colour schemes match. That means we must stay together the whole night."
Melissa gave an amused chuckle, "I'm sorry?"
"You heard me."
"Is that a real custom?" Momo questioned, "I've never heard about this."
"Of course it isn't," Jiro sighed, rolling her eyes, "Todoroki is just making it up."
Jiro, however, flinched slightly when Shoko's cold eyes landed on her, "I assure you, I'm not making it up."
Lewis thought it would best to step in before it got out of hand and tried to settle for a more peaceful solution. Meanwhile, Karminari and Mineta watched on from a distance; a small depressed rain cloud over their heads.
"Do you feel like sometimes you've been pushed out into the side lines in your own story," Mineta sighed.
"All the time," Kaminari agreed as he watched the group.
"Everyone," Iida announced, catching everybody's attention, "I have not been able to make contact with either Bakugo or Kirishima. It may be best to continue to the party and catch up with them there. Let's all go and-"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Excuse me! Is somebody in there!?
Everybody turned to the automatic door and saw a woman who looked to be in her early thirties with light brown hair standing there. She looked like a normal civilian or tourist wearing a dark green hoody, black trousers, a pair of sunglasses and a straw hat.
"Huh? Who's she?" Midoryia hummed.
Momo frowned slightly, "She looks troubled."
Iida marched over to the door and talked to her through the door, "Can we help you, miss?"
"Hello! I need help!" she called out, "My friend has sprained his ankle and my phone has run out of charge. Can I come inside and use your phone!?"
At the sound of a medical emergency, Lewis instantly made his way to the door and made his First Aid Kit appear in his hand and opened the door, "Don't worry. I'm First Aid trained," he reassured the woman, "If you take me to your friend then I can treat him."
The woman sighed in relief, "He's not too far away. Please hurry."
"Fleetwood?" Shoko said with a small frown.
"If it's just a sprain then it shouldn't be too hard to fix," he called back to the others, "You guys head to the gala. I'll catch up," he told them before turning back to the woman, "Please lead the way."
"He's this way," she told him as she jogged over to where her friend was with Lewis following closely behind her.
The others watched them leave until the automatic doors slid back shut before they all exchanged concerned glances.
"I hope her friend will be alright," Melissa mumbled, earning nods of agreement from the rest.
Second Floor, Central Tower
Meanwhile, a few floors above the groups heads', the gala was in full swing. Heroes, scientists, engineers and exclusive members of the public from across the globe had gathered in the large hall as they talked to each other, ate from the delicious buffet and enjoyed the atmosphere.
All Might, in his powerful form, gazed over the guests with his perfect smile on his face, happy to see so many people having fun; including himself. He had met up with David and his assistant Samuel Abraham, a stocky man with balding blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes, and were chatting with each other over trivial matters. However, there was one thing that concerned the Pro Hero and that is that neither Midoryia nor his friends had showed up yet. He searched around for them, but could not seem to find them anywhere.
"DAVID!" he said in his usual boisterous voice, "YOU HAVEN'T HAPPENED TO SEE YOUNG MIDORYIA, HAVE YOU?"
David hummed and shook his head, "No, I can't say I have. Maybe their taking their time getting here," he suggested with a small smile, "Don't worry, Melissa is with him so he won't get lost."
"I...SUPPOSE," All Might replied hesitantly with a small frown, feeling uneasy for some reason.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the guests fell silent as they turned their attention to the presenter on the stage across the room, "Welcome to I-Expo's opening night. We hope you all are enjoying yourselves. Now I wonder if we can get All Might the number one hero up here; he's come here all the way from Japan. Would you all like to hear him say a few words?"
Some of the guests cheered in delight at that, earning a small sheepish laugh from All Might as he shook his head.
"Perhaps a round of applause will convince him," the presenter encouraged, "Let's welcome him onto the stage."
All Might gave another chuckle as the guests began to clap for him. He was about to deny one more time when David lightly pushed his back to the stage. Eventually, All Might relented and headed to the stage waving the applauding guests. He stepped onto the large stage and the presenter allowed him to step in front of the microphone. The hero grinned and leaned in close, looking over the audience as he did so.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'M VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE TONI-"
"Emergency! Emergency!"
Suddenly, the large screen behind All Might lit up red with the word 'Emergency' across it appeared. Over the speaker system, a women's voice blared warningly for all to hear.
"This is an announcement by the I-Island security system..."
'Security system?" All Might thought as he looked over at David.
David merely shrugged with a concerned frown on his face; he had no idea what was going on as well.
Shopping District
Meanwhile, the same message was being shown on every screen and announced every tannoy across the island. Mina, Toru and Asui were in the middle of late night shopping down the highstreet when they heard the call, making them and every other shopper stop in shock.
"...We have received a report from the security system that an explosive device was placed in the I-Expo area..."
"A bomb," Toru uttered in disbelief, "Here?"
"I thought this place was super secure," Mina said as she saw hundreds of security bots, which were stumpy white robot with flashing lights on the top rush all about the place.
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel -ribbit-," Asui suggested, "We'll wait there until it's over."
Lobby, Central Tower
"...I-Island will now be on high alert mode. Residents and tourists should return to their homes or lodgings. Anyone still outside ten minutes from now may be arrested without warning..."
"What the hell," Karminari uttered as he and the others listened to the warning go off.
"An emergency right now," Momo murmured, "This came out of nowhere."
Melissa frowned in concern and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Strange this isn't the protocol for a bomb threat," she said out loud, catching Midoryia's attention.
"Hey!" Mineta cried out from one the automatic door, pressing the open button rapidly, "The door's not opening. We're shut in."
Streets
"...in addition, most of the main buildings will be sealed off by the security system for everyone's safety..."
Lewis was still following the woman when they stopped at the sound of the announcement. Lewis' eyes widened in shock; mind was in a state of panic; first somebody was injured and now their's bomb threat somewhere and now they have to get off the street. Lewis shook his head to calm himself down.
'Okay, don't focus on it now. My priority is helping the injured and getting the both of them off the streets. If anybody tries to arrest us then we can explain the situation,' he thought to himself before looking towards the woman, "we have to be quick. How far away is your-"
He stopped suddenly when he noticed something odd about the woman. She was stood very still with her shoulders slightly slumped, her knees buckled and her head leaning to one side; she looked like a puppet that was waiting for a master to pull her strings.. She made no noise or movement; Lewis would have expected to do something when the announcement went off. She stood facing away from him, merely a few feet away, doing absolutely nothing.
Lewis frowned, approached her and laid a gently laid a hand on her shoulder, "Miss, are you alr-"
As soon as touched her shoulder, the woman collapsed in a heap; completely shocking him. He leaned down and turned her over to her back to see what's wrong, but, as soon as he did so, her sunglasses fell off her face. Lewis gasped and moved back at the sight of her eyes…
…they were completely grey. No pupil, no iris and not a single speck of life; all of it was nothings but a cloudy grey.
"What the-" he uttered before he sensed somebody behind him.
He was about to move when a felt bag was shoved over his head and one strong arm wrapped around his torso.
"Hey!"
His cries came out muffled from within the bag. He was about to use his quirk when he felt a heavy fist collided against the side of his head. He was stunned by the blow for a few seconds; long enough for his captor to hid his hands and snap some sort of collar around his neck. He heard the sound of tyres screech to a halt on road beside him and then felt himself unceremoniously picked up and thrown into the back of a van. He heard the sound of the van doors slam close and he was driven away.
Second Floor, Central Tower
"...I repeat. Anyone still outside ten minutes from now may be arrested without warning..."
As the siren continued to blare, the doors into the hall slid open to reveal several men in black uniforms and masks marched inside, pointing semi-automatic rifles at all the guests. The guests screamed in shock and tried to back away from them as best as they could, but they had quickly surrounded them. The heroes didn't have time to react at all.
One of the last people to exit was the tall, menacing man who was talking to Farkas and Elda the previous day. However, he now wore a mask made out different parts of soldered metal; the only thing the guests could see was his dark eyes, his vicious smile and his long red hair poking from the top. He casually walked into the room and looked over the crowd with a sharp look; focusing on each and every hero and guest in the room.
"We have taken over the security system. Don't think you're going to put up a fight. If you do..." he nodded to the screen which now shown dozens of residents surrounded by the security bots threateningly, "then the security bots will bare their fangs at all the good people on the island."
All Might clenched his fist in anger at the sight, seeing innocent people at the mercy of this unknown villain.
That's right! All the people on this island are my hostages!" he announced proudly with a wolfish smirk, "And, of course, all of you are hostages as well."
That's it for now, hope you enjoyed it.
It's not looking good. With Wolfram and his army taking a hold of the I-Island, the hero students locked inside and Lewis being captured will our heroes manage to save the day?
Find out next time for part three of the I-Island arc.
I would like to say a special thank you to the artist Wolfy 1298's comic 'Todoroki the Girl' for the inspiration for Shoko's dress. I could't do it without you...literally because, let's be honest, I more or less stole the design. Thank you and sorry Wolfy 1298!
Thanks for reading :)
Omake - Deleted Scene
Hotel Room
Lewis was in the middle of getting dressed for the gala; wearing only his trousers and dress shirt. He steeped out of the bedroom and into their the shared living space and began to look around for something with a small frown.
"Hey Moe, have you seen my-"
He stopped short when he saw the sidekick slouching on the sofa with a tub of ice cream and spoon in her hands whilst watching T.V like she always did. However, it was her attire that made him pause. Moe currently wore a loose, thin strap black vest that was quite revealing and a pair of pink hot pants which displayed her slender legs. She also had her wild green hair tied up into a ponytail which showed off her pretty face to him. Moe, without looking away from the T.V, pointed to the coffee table next to the sofa.
"If you're looking for ya phone then it's on the table," she told him lazily.
THUMP!
"Huh?" she murmured in surprise at the sudden noise and turned to look at Lewis; only to help in shock as she found him lying in a pool of blood, "What the hell! Fleetwood are you alright!?"
"A pro hero…on her downtime," Lewis whispered as if he was in his deathbed, "A…glorious sight to behold."
"What the hell are you talkin' about!?"