When they reached the lobby of the central tower, they found the boys all gathered in there save for Bakugo and Kirishima. Iida seemed annoyed at how late they were. " Sorry, but Yaomomo wouldn't let us go before she was all satisfied with our outfits." The white head cradled the back of her head.
She was clad in an azure-colored dress that brushed the top of her knees with a white waistband, white knickers and bright blue bow dress shoes. The dress receded around Sora's back, revealing it while its collar wrapped around her neck in a nice bow. Yaoyoruzu had managed to free her hair from its accustomed plaids and comb it back into a half-up braided tail.
" Yaoyorozu did a good job." Remarked Todoroki as he approached her. The girl gave a sheepish smile.
" What do you think of it, Yuu?" She asked worriedly when she noticed Yuu staring for so long.
The purple head was clad in a crimson simple tux with a black shirt, blue necktie and black dress shoes. Whisper, somehow, managed to manifest a small tie on him as well. Seeing as the boy didn't even utter a word to answer her, Whisper clouted him on the head. Yuu rubbed the lump he got before turning back to Sora. " Astonishing. You look astonishing."
" You look handsome too." Sora complimented.
" Though I've borrowed it from Iida-san."
" I borrowed mine from Yaomomo." Sora laughed when the doors flung open, leading in a sprinting Melissa, making Kaminari and Mineta kneel before her.
" All that's left now are Bakugo and Kirishima." Pointed Todoroki.
" Those two are really late." Iida seemed to grow impatient by the moment.
Suddenly, some kind of warning permeated the whole island. " 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. Those that have come a long way should go and wait at the nearest evacuation center. Anyone still outside ten minutes from now 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."
They all turned around to see the doors and windows getting blocked by metallic shutters.
" What's happening here?" Sora wasn't sure that was the appropriate way of dealing with plausible bombs.
" Bakugo-san and Kirishima-san, they're still outside.," Yuu said as he reached for his phone only to find there was no signal at all. " No signal?"
" My phone has no signal too," blurted Todoroki. "It looks like all reports are being blocked."
" And these shutters are soundproof. I can't hear a thing across," said Sora knocking on one of them.
" The elevator isn't responding either," stated Jiro as she plummeted the button.
" I don't believe the security system would switch to high alert mode just because they found something explosive." Melissa seemed to doubt the situation.
" Speak of exaggeration." Snorted Whisper.
" Iida-kun," Midoriya spoke up then. " Let's go to where the party is being held."
" Why?"
" Because All Might is at the party." Upon hearing these words, she could see relief hitting all of them. But of course, if the symbol of peace was there, then there was no reason to fret. Or so they hopped. With Melissa's suggestion to use the emergency stairs, they hurried to the party floor.
________________
As they peered down at the party venue from above, the situation didn't seem promising at all. All of the heroes, even All Might, were tethered and sprawled on the ground unable to move.
" Wh... what's happening here?" Uraraka couldn't believe her eyes.
" Bombs, huh? Doesn't seem like the case." Yuu's eyes narrowed at the armed men strewn around the place.
" Can you hear anything, Seijin, Shirogane?" Sora and Yuu shook their heads at Todoroki.
" I can." Jiro stepped forward, flaunting her earlobe before them.
" Alright, we need to get All Might's attention first," Midoriya said taking out his phone from his pocket. " Everyone stand back, we don't want them noticing us."
With a collective nod, they all backed as the boy used the flash feature of his phone to draw All Might's attention. It seemed to work, for he mimed something to the man. They could all see Jiro's face growing dim by the moment as she listened to whatever All Might had to say before turning to Midoriya. " Th-This is bad, Midoriya."
They decided to take the talk back to the emergency stairs out of fear of being found by the villains. Jiro told them everything about the island being hijacked by the villains and the heroes being unable to retaliate.
Being the ever so responsible class representative he was, Iida's immediate thought was to follow All Might's orders, find a way out and ask for help. Yaoyorozu seconded that thought.
However, their enthusiasm was soon thwarted as Melissa pointed out that the defense of the facility was on the same level as Tartarus.
" An inescapable prison." Yuu summed.
" Then, all we can do is wait until help comes..." Kaminari's suggestion didn't settle well with them too. Jiro was the first to voice her disagreement.
" You don't feel like you should go help?"
Sora looked back at the door leading into the main hallway. They were close, so close. Why can't they offer a hand? She couldn't accept that the only thing that was left for them was to wait. They were never taught to stand still. " If we turn around at this point, then what does that make us?" She said looking back at all of her classmates with a dead serious glance.
Todoroki got what she meant and held up his hand. " We're trying to become heroes."
" Yes, but we're still not allowed to work as heroes-" Yaoyorozu protested but Todoroki's resolve wouldn't be shaken that easily.
" Does that mean it's all right for us to not do anything?"
" Th-that's..." Silence. Midoriya then voiced his own thoughts.
" I want to save them."
" Deku-kun?"
" I want to go save them."
" You're all planning to go fight villains. Didn't you learn anything from UA's USJ, all of you?!"
" It's not like that, Mineta-kun. I've thought about it. We need a way we can save All Mighty and the others without fighting the villains."
" I understand your feelings, but is there something that convenient..."
" Even if it's hard, I still want to try!" Midoriya persisted. " I want to look for the best way possible and then go save everyone!"
" Deku-kun." They fell silent, each trying to marshal their own thoughts.
" Let's give it a try." They all turned to Yuu as he spoke. He was the last one they expected to agree to that reckless thought. " I know it's risky. But right now, this is the only best next thing we could afford. Those villains are here for something, and unless we can alert the heroes outside, they would slip away unnoticed."
" Seijin-kun..." Iida didn't know if the Yuu who was talking to them was his usual self or Whisper's takeover, for he wore a confident air all over him.
" We don't necessarily have to fight." He looked at Midoriya and then the rest, trying to convince them. " We only need to contact those outside. Or even hack the system..."
Melissa stepped forward then. " I-Island's security system is on the top floor of this tower. If the villains have taken control of the system, then the authentication locks and passwords should have been disabled. We should be able to restart the system. We just need to get away from the eyes of the villains and get to the top floor... Then, maybe we can save everyone."
" Melissa-san."
" What do you mean by 'get away from the eyes of the villains'? How?" Jiro didn't want to lose the chance that showed before them.
" Currently, none of us have actually been harmed. I think the villains aren't used to working with the security system." Pointed the blonde girl.
" Avoid fighting and get the system back to normal, huh? I see." Todoroki summed.
" It's like the final exam, we need to escape and find help. Only we can't escape this building," Yuu stated just as Whisper phased through the wall and took his spot around Yuu's shoulders.
" There are no villains all over the other floors. The only problem would be the security system, the cameras and the robots. But you guys know how to deal with them after all." The ghost smirked.
" We could do it, don't you think?" Cheered Kaminari as he got fired.
" Yeah." Jiro agreed.
" Even if they're not spread across the building, the villains are waiting on the top floor..."
" There's no need to fight!" Midoriya shot. " If we get the system back to normal, then All Mighty and the hostages will be released. When that happens, the tables will be turned in an instant!"
" Deku-kun, let's do it!" Uraraka jumped, her fists clenched, incurring their surprised looks. " I don't want to sit around doing nothing if there's something we can do. I think that's something that's more important than whether we're heroes or not."
" Yeah, let's help the people who need us." Midoriya jumped to her side. " Let's do what our natural instincts are telling us to do."
" Yeah!"
One by one, their friends were joining in on the plan, even Mineta who was trembling in fear a moment ago. Iida made it clear that continuing or retreating depended on his words and everyone seemed fine with that. Sora and Yuu exchanged satisfied smiles as they declared their resolve out loud like the rest. That alone helped them steel their resolution even further.
Finally, Melissa joined them as well, seeing as how no one else could restart the system except for her.
" Let's go and save everyone!" A collective node from all of them was their response.