Chapter Text
Alright, let's make this simple.
Mercenary company running rampant, took over the most technologically advanced island in the world, and the number one hero is locked away.
It was honestly sad that this wasn't even the worst party that Peter had gone to.
"Alright, we might have to fight fire with fire."
Shoto quirked an eyebrow.
"Maybe 'give 'em a taste of your own medicine' would have worked better?" Peter mused as he looked at the phone.
"Do you want to go over analogies and metaphors or do you want to stop this crisis?" Karen asked dryly. "Now then, listen up, I have a plan. Melissa." The blonde girl perked up. "Can the security room be disabled remotely?"
"Well, you could, but you'd either have to knock out all the power, or find a way to hack into the servers. Then, you get full access to the island and everything within that isn't under a dozen layers of firewalls." She answered.
"A dozen firewalls? How boring." Karen replied cheekily while Melissa put her hands on her hips, brow quirked up. "Anywho, that itself answers my own question… We can solve a lot of things on this island if we go for the brain of the Island itself. The servers that run all the bandwidth and internet here."
"What would you consider the heart then?" Fuyumi asked.
"Bit of a nonsequiteur but that would be Melissa Shield's father. The main villain seemed intent on taking your father from that broadcast, know where he might take him?" Karen asked. The girl looked nervous, but she nodded.
"I'm not sure… he could take him anywhere... But if he's keeping him alive…" Melissa cupped her chin in thought. "The vault. It's over my Dad's office. But, why there?"
"Well, I mean, vaults hold important stuff." Peter mused.
"No, it's not like a typical bank vault, it's a public display one. All the gear up there is on display. They're fakes…"
"Then he may be going to David's office." Izuku spoke up. "It's why he took him there after all. Maybe he has something on his computer?"
"But it doesn't add up." Melissa shook her head. "If they wanted only what was on his PC, they would have done it a lot more quietly… And without all this hostage stuff. Why bother going through with it?"
"Ms. Shield seems to be on the right track here." Karen spoke out. "Before the satellites went out, I had access to in-depth information on I-Island. The vault is as Melissa described: a public display, probably for higher-ups within the Foundation that can be accessed via a steel door. Yet that villain needs him up there, so…"
"Something is legit up there." Peter finished for her.
"We're running out of time. What's our plan here?" Shoto cut in, stepping forward as he reached up and loosened his tie.
"We have to save David Shield and stop that villain no matter what. But the entire Island is under his control…" Izuku muttered, looking down.
"And that is where I come in." Karen said proudly. "If I can get into the system here on I-Island, particularly the servers so that I can sneak right in without needing to trigger an alarm, and have the entire island freed and under my control." Peter perked up.
"But your… safeguard thing. Wouldn't that be an issue for a city-state like I-Island?" Peter didn't notice, but Izuku cocked an eyebrow.
"I cannot access government or military installations Peter." Karen was smirking with that tone. "But man-made islands designed by a private company? That's fair game…"
"So we better move fast. Me and Karen can handle going to the servers. Melissa, you know where they are?"
"Fifth basement level." Melissa pointed towards the stairs. "I don't think the elevators will work assuming we trigger any alarms if they have this island on lockdown… Best place to access and control the servers would be the main terminal at the backend of the room. Giant supercomputer past all those server towers, can't miss it."
"Okay. Are there any USB cords on you guys? Like any phone charger stuff?" Peter inquired.
"Mine is my purse, and I left it back at the Gala…" Fuyumi rubbed her arm.
"Didn't bring mine." Melissa shook her head.
"Me neither."
"Damn. Could use Momo's hel-" Peter cut himself off, and suddenly the mood changed. He felt a growing pit in his stomach at this thought...
"Yaoyorozu's here, isn't she?" Fuyumi asked, sensing where this conversation was going as he could sense that his feeling was indeed mutual.
"She's either being held hostage, or she's out there against those robots, we don't know." Izuku replied. His voice was firm. "Listen, we can only focus on what we can do right now. Besides, Yaoyorozu can handle herself." The American boy sighed. Leave it to Midori to be a calming influence.
"Sooner we get Karen into the system, the better. You guys take the elevators then?" Peter asked.
"Assuming they're not on lockdown…" Fuyumi looked away, holding her arm.
Shoto spoke up next. "So our best route to get to the top of the tower…"
"...Is the stairs." Izuku finished for him. "We won't be able to make it in time! Todoroki, can your ice surge carry us up there?"
"I could try, but I'll slow down fast. Two hundred floors plus. The height of this tower is no joke." Shoto said stoically as he looked back to the green-haired youth.
"If I can get into one of the elevators, I can bust into the circuitry to hardwire it." Melissa stepped up. "But I need to be inside one of them and play with the wires."
"So that settles it." Izuku nodded. "Peter, will you need anyone to help you down below?"
"I can handle it my-"
"Ummmm."
He turned, finding Mei looking somewhat nervous, which was unnatural on her face, even with her smile.
She cringed. "That security camera is active."
She pointed and sure enough, nestled in a corner just past some pipes he could see a camera blinking with a red light.
Well crud.
"We better move." Fuyumi said.
"Stay close to me." Shoto put a hand on his sister's arm, looking at Izuku. "Midoriya, I'll back you up. I don't think my quirk would be beneficial in a server room unless we want this island to sink into the ocean…"
"Me and Mei will go down below and handle the servers. With any luck, you won't have to play with wires like Jack Bauer and it's a smooth ride to the top, or All Might beats you up there and all's well." The brown-haired boy said as he went to the door that led to the further basement stairwell. "They know we're here… Can't hide it now."
(X)
Ruby saw Parker depart from the group and smirked, her eye showing his line of sight as he left the first floor and headed to the stairwell.
"Hey Wolfram, Shield's daughter is with some strong-ass kids. U.A. Sports Festival types." She said with her hand to her earpiece as she walked amongst the towering servers within the cold room.
"Who am I looking at exactly?" He replied gruffly.
"Something wrong with the ride up to the top?"
"We're at floor 115, but it's gonna be slower when we pass 175…" He growled, making Ruby quirk an eyebrow. "Anyways, I have a team going over to the basement now."
"Better establish a defensive perimeter and guard the elevators, if at all possible, destroy 'em." She suggested. "We got escape choppers for you guys, right?"
"On call, yeah. You have yours waiting on standby at the hangars by the Airport. My men will have them open and my pilots will pick us up when we have what we want."
"Good. We'll get into position."
(X)
Peter and Mei were trotted across the third basement floor as they departed that stairwell, heading towards the fourth floor. The walls were becoming more gunmetal grey than the inviting whites and blues from before, as this was becoming more of the 'tedious' part of I-Tower's facilities no doubt. Where the all-nighters, janitors, and IT Techs worked around the clock.
"Okay, so if they have the servers on lockdown Mei…" Peter said as they got to the doorway leading to the fourth stairwell. The sign to the side identified that it led to basement levels 4 and 5, meaning this would be the last one. "I'm gonna have to take them down. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure. Wassup?" She asked with a grin.
"You seem… awfully calm."
"Would it be better if I was freaking out and making sure that everyone on the island knows where we are?" she asked.
"Uhhh, no?" Peter tried.
"That shouldn't be a question Peter," Karen said in his ear.
"Give me a break, I'm about this close to breaking out Die Hard quotes, and that's not how anyone would want to live their weekend."
Mei didn't comment on his reference. Neither did Karen, both of them were probably on the lookout. Mei's quirk-enhanced eyes scanned every surface, looking for traps, or just enemies in general.
Walking down to the final step of the basement, the label 'Basement Level 5' was emblazoned over the door leading inwards. Mei nodded in confirmation of something, but he trusted her to mean that it was good to open. A quick twist later, he paused, inching his head through the doorway. Both sides were clear, with the exception of the rotating cameras.
"Two cameras," he said, glancing down at his wrists and sighing. He was gonna bring his web shooters with him from now on to any event, unnecessary or not.
"Probably would have spotted us anyway since ya poked your head out, but no biggie." The pinkette mused.
He handed his phone to Mei, and the girl looked down at it. "Can you keep her safe?"
"My hardline connection is letting me get a signal through to this platform through the faraday cage. If something happens to it, I'll be cut off like all other external signals from the island. This phone gets destroyed, you're on your own." Karen explained from the phone, and Mei looked down at her, then back to Peter with her eyes creased in worry, but her smile still present… but not as wide.
"Yeah. I'll keep her safe," Mei gave him a warm smile.
"Thank you." Peter patted her on the shoulder and gave her the phone. "Okay, I'll go first. Ready?"
The pinkette nodded, and Peter took a deep breath. "Go time." He uttered, opening the door and walking forward with her, taking the lead as they exited the stairwell.
The servers seemed to take up the whole sublevel, they were standing in a large box-like warehouse, with servers hugging the walls and lined up perfectly along the room, reaching high like stacked bookshelves.
At the far end of the room he could spy a glass pane door with a large computer terminal inside.
Had to be the control room.
His spider senses exploded, coming from behind. He grabbed Mei and embraced her, launching both of them to the side. The door to the stairwell entry was blown apart by an explosive as the two landed. They rolled across the ground, Peter on top of her as Mei screamed, clutching the phone to her chest.
"You woulda been better off hidin' in a broom closet til this whole thing blew over, kid." A voice called from above, Peter looked, finding a familiar redhead with a pixie cut.
He blinked. Staring at the woman. "Greeeeat. My first fan turns out to be a terrorist. That's just my luck." He muttered, helping Mei back to her feet as he turned to look at the stairwell doorway where a fat bald black guy was standing, pulling a machine gun out of his gut as he lumbered through the shattered remains of the door.
"I'mma ask you once." Ruby, if that was her name, drawled, leaning over the railing of the catwalk above, rifle in hand. In the place where her eyepatch was, Peter could make out something shiny in there… like a gemstone of sorts. "Sit there, play nice and you and your girlfriend won't get killed tonight. Give me a hard time," She cocked the rifle menacingly, "and winning that Sports Festival will be the highlight of your very very short life."
"Peter-" Karen 'whispered' in his ear. "this close, I can hack into the local camera feeds. There's five of them. Two more by the north side, one to the west, they're surrounding you. Keep them off of Mei... and I can lead her through to the terminal without being seen."
The servers would give them a natural cover... both to hide and from gunfire. Their enemies couldn't cause too much damage to them, otherwise the whole island's security system would shut down and All Might would be freed anyway. Probably why they were asking him to just play nice...
Ok... ok.
"Mei." He swallowed, looking at the girl who's eyes now glimmered with tears, but still she clutched the phone tight, looking directly at him and hanging on his every word. Peter felt sick. "When I say that I need you to run, listen to Karen from the phone. Ok?'
She gave a single, shaky nod.
Peter turned his eyes up, looking to Ruby as the woman eyed him with an all-too-smug smirk on her face.
"Alright." He said, loud enough for her to hear. "I give."
"Good boy." She looked to the black guy, jerking her head. "If you would please."
The man reached into his stomach, his hand and forearm sinking into his exposed gut as light seemed to shimmer as his hand was inside, reminding him of Momo's Creation Quirk, only to pull out some heavy-duty handcuffs, the kind meant to restrain strength quirks.
He tossed the cuffs. "Put em on."
The heavy metal clanked hard over the floor and Peter reached for it.
He watched the man out of his peripheral vision.
He lowered the rifle just a hair.
And Peter threw the cuffs straight at him.
The man brought the rifle up, only for the heavy cuffs to slam into the rifle and then his chest, denting the rifle visibly, rendering the weapon completely useless as Peter rushed forward, shouting behind him. "RUN!"
He heard Mei get up and start to run, her sneakers thumping against the floor.
He heard Ruby curse and Peter pushed himself faster, leaping up and over the still-reeling black guy to land behind him, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back as he leveraged his massive strength advantage to force the man in front of him, using him as a human shield.
His spider senses tingled, west side.
He turned his head, looking and finding some... projectiles rushing towards him, each visibly distorting the air as they barreled towards him with the size of golf balls.
He kicked the black guy in the back, shoving him straight into a server with a crash as he leapt up and away to clutch the side of a high server, skittering along the walls to break line of sight as he heard the strange projectiles hit the wall in bursts of air.
His senses tingled again, turning his gaze up towards Ruby where the woman fired two quick shots from her rifle.
He dodged once, jerking to barely avoid the other as it grazed his side.
Dropping back down to the ground level he ran, rushing into cover to gain some distance in the maze of servers.
"Hey Dor!" Yelled the black guy, coughing and wheezing in pain. "Get the girl! She's headin' around the side!"
Mei!
Peter moved, rushing as fast as he could. He didn't know where she was, or who the hell Dor was but he couldn't let her get hurt!
He was just about to rush across an open lane between the servers when his Spider Sense exploded across his brain, screeching at him of danger.
He stopped dead, swiveling fast and only just felt the bullet graze across his ear in a heartstopping moment that spiked his adrenaline and sent his heart to racing.
What the-
"Bullshit!"
His eyes snapped up towards Ruby, still on the catwalks, snarling as she adjusted the rifle in her hands, infuriated at the near miss.
She fired off another shot and Peter ducked past her firing lane, into the cover of another server as he felt the bullet rip across the loose back of his suit jacket.
He breathed, slowing down his heart before looking around and assessing the damage.
"This was a rental!" He complained loudly, hoping to draw more attention to himself.
He heard Mei scream, a shout of pure fright, and Peter didn't waste another second, rushing to where he heard the sound he spotted Mei backing away from someone at the other side of a server tower.
He smashed straight through it.
Wire, shards of metal, plexiglass and everything else was blown apart, the debris smashing into someone that Peter bowled over before his spider senses exploded in warning again and he brought his arm up, feeling knives dig into the flesh of his forearm as he blocked a strike with little more than a suit and dress shirt to act as armor. A man with a pale complexion, glasses, and slick green-black hair had a scowl, his katana-like blades sprouting from each of his fingers as he swiped and slashed at Peter. What made it more complex was the unique ring-like device around his head, and he had some kind of plastic-metal boots that made him hover above the ground.
Peter ducked and weaved between the blows before countering with a solid left hook that slipped between his opponent's guard. It sent the man reeling, hover boots carrying him back in an uncontrolled spin to slam into another server tower.
His Spider Senses tingled.
Above.
Snapping his gaze straight upwards, he half-expected to see Ruby again, but it wasn't her. Instead it was a winged monster, screeching loud enough to make his ears ring before it slammed straight into him. His new opponent's legs crashed down onto Peter's arms as his own legs buckled beneath him and he crashed to the ground.
"GO!" He screamed again, feeling and seeing Mei jump in fright before she turned away and did just that.
The monster above him screeched and howled, trying to claw at his face and eyes, looking to tear him open as Peter did his best to fend off the monster.
He was stronger. But those claws were sharp, tearing into both skin and flesh.
Finally, he managed to get his feet between them and kicked it off. It scrambled back to its feet but he was faster, twisting to plant his feet on a server he struck with an uppercut that clocked the bat thing right along the underside of its jaw, knocking it on its back before he performed a jumping flip off the server to crash onto the fallen monster in a drop kick that smashed into its ribs.
His spider sense tingled and he ducked back and away, avoiding a swipe of the Freddy Kruger impersonator before he leapt back and high, gaining some distance and sprinting away along the server.
He felt himself being pulled down to the ground suddenly, yelling as if some invisible hand of God was grabbing him and smashing him down. The air exploded out of him, the metal floors buckling and denting under the impact.
Spider senses tingled before he did a backwards roll, getting back into cover just before the black guy hosed down the lane he'd landed in with machine gun fire.
Damn… What was that? Was tha-
Peter yelled in surprise as he felt himself being tugged out of cover, going towards the wall in a curve as his Sense flared up. He twisted, latching onto another server with his fingers and forcing himself to cling to it with all his might.
The metal buckled, gave way and was ripped clean off, but it'd stalled him enough apparently to throw off the shot, the sniper bullet ripping through his side and emerging clean out the other end.
Pain seared across his body. He hit something hard, bringing him to a stop but he didn't have time to catch his breath. He forced himself to move, all but diving into cover as Ruby took another shot.
He took a breath, making a mental tally as his hand cradled his now bleeding side, feeling the sticky warmth of his own blood.
Alright. Fat guy that can pull stuff out of his gut.
Ruby doing a Professor Snipe impression.
Freddy Kruger.
And a Freaky Bat thing.
So that must mean the guy he knocked down when he ripped through the server to get to Mei was the one pulling him around the room. Maybe when he touched the guy? Had to be. Otherwise he'd be tossing Mei around too.
He heard footsteps drawing close and the lights above suddenly went dark, bringing the whole room into almost complete darkness.
Karen?
"The hell's goin' on!?" Someone said.
"Musta damaged some of the systems with all this gunfighting." Ruby's voice crackled through the radio." Get the girl. I don't have eyes on her!"
"On it."
"No you don't!" Peter thought, forcing himself to his feet before turning and running.
(X)
Izuku led the way as Melissa trailed behind him, Todoroki taking the rear with Fuyumi as the four ran across the basement halls. Seeing the security cameras, Todoroki wisely used his ice to freeze the wall and the cameras to halt their progress. Using Melissa's guidance, they got to the corridor where the elevator shaft was.
"Here!" Izuku yelled, pointing at the multiple doors of the 1st Basement Floor elevators as Melissa ran up to the panel, pressing on the button. The holographic display above it blared 'ACCESS DENIED'.
"I need to get into the wiring by removing this panel," Izuku reached forward, before Melissa put a hand on his. "Delicately. L-Like a blowtorch or something. I don't have any tools to get it otherwise…"
"Here, let me." Fuyumi stepped forward, smiling and lifting up a finger as a steady flame emitted from it. She knelt down, and began to flare her quirk as she began to slowly trail her finger down the metal, cutting through the light pane. "It will take a mome-"
The sound of footsteps made them pause, and Todoroki turned, lashing out his arm as ice surged out en masse down the other direction much like how he conjured the glacier at the Sports Festival's War of the Flags. The hallway was smothered in ice, and they could hear shouts of surprise and orders to advance.
"Villains." Todoroki growled. He heard a roar, and the ice was being chipped away. Izuku stood behind him, glowing.
"Any faster?" He asked, looking back to Fuyumi.
"I gotta be steady, I'm going as fast as I can!" She yelled back, and then they heard loud crashes from the other side of the glacial barriers
"They have power-type or transformation Quirks." Todoroki uttered, looking back. "Midoriya, I can erect the glacier barrier again, but we will have to take out those stronger villains first. When they come through, we take them down, and I get the barrier up in a hurry."
Izuku glowed green and nodded, lightning arcing around him. "Leave it to me." They could see the outline as the first Power-type user neared.
"Okay! Here they come!" Todoroki levied his arm, warming up to get rid of the frost on his red suit. The ice was broken down, and a massive man in kevlar towering at ten feet tall burst through. He looked like a Japanese Oni, with giant muscular features, purple skin, a bushy white beard, gnarly teeth, and a horn.
"Not so-"
"Texaaaas!"
"Huh?!"
"Smaaash!"
And he got a fist right to the face, and the giant was sent sprawling with a gargled roar, smashing into some of his fellows on the way.
'One for All… Ten Percent!' And the power rushed through him as he leapt into the fray, tackling the first surprised merc he could see with a leaping punch and sending the armored villain flying.
He heard a roar and saw something green flash by as he yelped, falling backwards as he avoided small arms fire. The other Power-type was some hulking man with the head of a person combined with the claws and legs of a lion!
Izuku leapt away, back into the elevator room as Todoroki sent another massive surge forward, pushing away the old ice and catching the rest of the armed men in the process.
"That'll hold him." Todoroki turned towards his sister. "Progress?"
"Halfway… done…" Fuyumi uttered. They heard more yelling, and Izuku just barely made out the english words for 'back up'. He turned towards her.
"They're gonna bring more down here. Just gotta-" He caught himself, seeing one of the lights above the elevator doors glowing. The icon indicating the second floor was glowing… and moving down to the first floor. "They're gonna flank us!" Izuku called, as he heard small explosions on the other end. They had to be using grenades to get at the ice, keeping their distance this time.
Todoroki ran to where he was, seeing the elevator that was going down about to settle on the Basement icon as he aimed with his left. As the door opened, he surged out his ice, catching the villains and freezing them within as they yelled in surprise.
"They'll bring down more." He said, turning back to Fuyumi as she continued going over the panel delicately with her flame. "We need to hurry."
"Todoroki, can you frost this over to cool it down?" Melissa stepped back as the two boys walked up. The dual-haired youth obliged, freezing over the panel lightly as the sides steamed from the sudden burst of cold. With that done, Izuku dug in with his fingers, grimacing as he used One for All to strengthen his fingers and pull the panel like a door. As it screeched, he exposed the wiring and circuitry within.
"My turn boys." Melissa knelt down as Fuyumi stood up, slightly shaking her finger and sucking on it. Todoroki turned.
"Your finger." He took her hand, seeing that her index fingertip had the skin peeling back.
"Sorry, been a hot minute since I used my quirk for that long."
"Okay… move the wiring here…" Melissa uttered, tinkering around inside. "Should activate the system…"
The sound of a walkie talkie being on caught their ears.
"Give me a status report! What's going on down there!" Yelled a gruff male voice.
"Got it!" Melissa declared, and with a ding, the elevator door opened, all of them turning and getting inside.
(X)
"What do you mean you lost control of that elevator!?" Wolfram barked as his elevator strolled past floor 194. The other mercs were giving him a wide berth, with Shield by their side and quiet as the red-haired man yelled into his earpiece. As they ascended the tower, they could see the dim-lighted view of I-Island at night, swathed in red with the lockdown in place.
"They must have hardwired it! I'm trying to commandeer it, but it's no good!" Swordkil responded.
"If they do hardwire it, where would they go…"
"I got a team ready to hold Security here." Swordkil said. "We have knock-out gas at the ready."
"Fine, you hold it there. If they come your way, let me know, we only need the girl alive, and that can be…" He turned, glaring at the founder of the Shield Foundation. "A very broad term."
"You won't hurt her." David uttered out. One of his men gave him a rifle butt to the back for his comment.
"What's the situation in Ballroom 3?"
"I sent some men down to the basement after those brats. I can call them back to infiltrate that room."
"Fine," Wolfram uttered. "Go in hot. Leave no one alive."
"You can't! Those are civi-"
"SHUT UP!" Wolfram backhanded the uppity plump scientist against the wall, stunned. He growled at the sight of the groaning man as his men let him sit there dazed, looking out to the rest of I-Island. David said nothing, looking distraught as Sam groaned. "Split the team watching over the first floor to Ballroom 3 and-"
"Sir look." Said Parks, and Wolfram turned.
"What?" He saw it. Out in the city… were big fiery explosions. "I need cameras on the city. What's going on?" If Joker fucked things up in her fight against those kids in the Server room…
"Getting cameras up now…" Swordkil said. "Sending feed to your tablet." The red-haired man reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his phone and seeing the screen display a street filled with security drones. They were firing laser whips and bullets at… something, before a gout of flame consumed them as big as the street, making Wolfram's eyes widen. The drones exploded, and leaping down, was a man in a torn-up business suit swathed in flame. And red hair…
"ID, now." Wolfram growled.
"Checking…" Swordkil replied, and as they rose up to floor 195 and stopped, the door opening and closing, Wolfram bit his lip. The one thing that can fuck up over a job was a surprise. He HATED surprises…
"No way... "
"What? Who was that?" Wolfram asked, sensing the fear in his lieutenant's voice.
"Sir, the match is that of a Top Ten Hero, from Japan! It's Endeavor!"
"What?!" Wolfram uttered. "The only Top Ten Pro Hero from any country coming here was All Might. Those private plane dossiers and registry said so!"
"I-I know! I-It's like he just appeared out of nowhere! There were no cruises coming in, and… checking over the commercial flights now…" Wolfram growled, pocketing his phone. "Oh crap," Swordkil spoke up some more. "His route… he's heading here for the Tower!"
"But his fire can't get through the metal barriers on the first floors." Martinez spoke, listening in on their conversation. "We should be safe!"
"You wanna bank on that?" Wolfram growled. "Martinez, leave a few men to watch over the first floor civies. Direct the team from the basement and the second floor from most of them watching the other ballrooms outside to get into position. Direct Lazlo's team to keep an eye on Ballroom 3. Doesn't look like they're gonna do much of anything but if they do, gun them all down the moment you hear something funny on the second floor." Wolfram ordered. "Swordkil, keep an eye on those cameras. Joker?"
"Busy right now! This little spider doesn't know when to stay put and die!" Yelled Joker on her end, gunfire heard. "Obi! Find that pink-haired bitch and put a bullet in her skull! Kil! Get the lights back on in here! We're in the fucking dark!"
"Quit having a period over it, I'm directing power now." Swordkil scoffed.
Wolfram sighed and breathed through his nose. The intel was all coming bellyfuck up now… His client and David had given him the dossier to all private planes that heroes took… So how in the goddamn hell did the Number Two Hero in Japan wind up here!?
(X)
It surprised Momo how quickly she could function automatically. Her hands moved practically on their own, even as her quirk kept making everything that they would need.
Which was a lot, especially when it came to the fact that the room was no doubt about to be besieged by several armed mercenaries who more than likely wouldn't want to take any prisoners and-
"You're overthinking things."
Momo flinched slightly at her mother's tone, and despite the gravity of the situation, seeing her mother check several grenades with one hand while adjusting the sights on her quirk was still surreal. She grabbed some of the bread the tables had and munched on it.
"Just how are we going to get everyone out of here?"
"Once they realize holding this position will do them more harm than good, they'll leave us alone," Maiya said, "And once All Might is freed, we'll be the last thing they'll have to worry about. Speaking of which, how is he?"
She didn't direct the question towards Momo, it was instead pointed at one of the other guests. An older man with a peppered beard and enough mass to fill out his suit, by the name of Timothy Bale. The man had volunteered to help get them eyes on the Number One hero. Courtesy of the device Momo had conjured up, a long-tethered camera with a single lens, he had walked backward from the balcony overlooking All Might's ballroom back to her's, then connected the wiring to someone's smartphone who had a full charge.
"Struggling, those light-tethers are tight around him, but he seems to be managing. I think he's trying to get into a position where he can get those villains before they turn on the hostages, if I had to guess" the man answered.
Maiya let out a sigh of relief, a feeling that Momo shared, though it did have some downsides.
Not the stealthiest of plans, but the mercenaries already knew that this room was compromised, so anything else wouldn't exactly make any difference.
With that in mind, the rest of the guests that were willing to work, and those who were unwilling to be under the ire of Maiya continued barricading the doors. Tables for the raw weight and tv wires to tie the doors together. Within the fifteen minutes that they first took control of the room, they practically had several barricades, and even some firing lines. Though, those firing lines only had people with meager protection firearms, and that was only the people that had them in the first place. Under the fire of military-grade weaponry, they wouldn't last.
Besides Maiya herself, they barely had ten weapons to the room's name, taking whatever firearms and ammunition they had from the dead mercenaries. Not a situation where anyone would want to be in, so Momo was evening the odds. Flashbangs, grenades, web bombs, anything that everyone with a hand could use when the situation came down to it.
Everything they needed to last a bit longer before the Number One hero freed himself.
"So it's only a matter of time," Momo muttered.
"We can only hope," Maiya commented.
"Hang on, I see movement." Bale spoke out. "A few mercs are leaving the room."
"Why would they lessen All Might's guard?" Maiya mused.
"For all we know they may just be moving outside." Bale said, looking back to the chestnut-haired woman.
"Or they're going to back up the breach team and kill all of us faster."
Her gaze hardened when the sound of wood splintering filled the small room. What little conversation that was happening between the other guests died. On the south end, the door started to bend outwards with a massive crash.
"Everyone ready!" Maiya called.
She raised her weapon, taking a stance next to her daughter. Momo in turn brought up two different explosives, and the others put themselves behind the cover and metal shields that the black-haired beauty had made for them. Those who didn't or couldn't fight ran to the back of the room behind additional cover.
They didn't have to win, just last until All Might arrived.
(X)
Peter breathed hard in the hallway as he slumped against the wall.
He closed his eyes, hearing yelling from that Ruby chick from out in the main foyer. The only lights there were the blinking lights of the servers.
"Fucking hell Kil, get those lights back up! I can't find Parker without those lights!" He heard her cry out.
He heard more voices, one of them gruff… "Let me use my echolocation, I can find him and the girl." Echolocation, didn't dolphins use that? And...
"Bats…" Peter uttered under his breath, wincing as his hands ached. He was in pitch-black darkness in a hallway, leaning against the middle.
"Do it Morg'. They had some plan when they had their little huddle up top. Has to revolve around that phone he gave her."
Peter's mind raced as he looked at the ground. Okay, so Ruby knew of the plan back on the first basement floor… but what about the phone? That was right before they entered the server room! He gave it to Mei but…
"East corridor! Movement!" The gruff female voice roared, and his blood froze.
Sense flaring up!
Peter legged it, running as he got to the luminated hallway with windows looking out to the blinking servers.
Right when a massive bat monster crashed through, claws stretched over the shower of broken glass as Peter closed his eyes.
He ducked, and grabbed her outstretched wing-claw and gave her a punch right to the face, slamming the beast into the wall using her momentum and turned, sprinting.
"Leg it Leo! Grab him!" He heard Ruby bark.
Peter felt his sense tingle as he performed a diving leap into the other hallway, rolling as he seemed to avoid danger and turned. He saw the pop of a grenade being launched from a rifle, and he momentarily caught a glimpse of the leering obese black man, holding not one but two rifles with grenade launchers in his strong meaty hands. They were trying to box him in!
He turned and sprinted backwards, dodging left and right to avoid rifle fire as he got to the open space and did his best to leap forward.
His sense was still up, and he felt himself become grabbed by the invisible hand of god and be sent flying out of the corridor in an arc. Up in the rafters, he saw the man with his glowing hands aimed at him.
He crashed into the wall, and his Sense flared hard again as he moved his head aside, the ping of a sniper shot just missing his ear but causing a ringing as he fell to the ground.
"Come on!" He heard Ruby yell as Peter was dropped, and landed on his feet as he felt the sharp pain in his legs. Within the server tower rows, Peter ran, arms pumping as he sought cover, running as fast as he could.
No sign of sword guy which meant.. He was looking for Mei...
He barreled through a side door, in the dark of an office as he heard the sound of a frightened yelp coming from somewhere. It was young sounding too..
"Wha?" He turned, seeing the janitor closet within, and he saw movement at the end, the room barely lit only from the light of the servers.
Then he heard a pinging noise and turned, seeing two grenades land outside the office.
Peter dove, grabbing the desk as he flipped it over himself, bunkering down, hands to his ears as he shielded himself.
The grenades went off, fire and fury erupting. He was pushed against the janitor closet, yelping in pain as he panted, groaning. The desk bore the brunt of the blasts, but the wood was splintered, and his vision was getting hazy.
Save Mei… save her…
"Mister…?"
It was the voice as Peter turned, panting as the fire spread around the room before the sprinklers went off.
Before they did, his vision was blurry… but he saw it, if only for a moment, and the voice and scared breathing confirmed it. A scared little girl with black hair looking through the busted crack, hands on her ears and eyes wide with fright.
Peter panted… There was someone… here…
"He's still alive!" Ruby shouted. "The girl's in there with him!"
Peter blinked.
This wasn't Mei...
Peter closed his eyes, and his Spider Sense flared…
…
His enemy swooped into the wide open and smoldering office like a bat out of hell, wings outstretched to land.
He heard the girl within two feet in front of him scream, and the bat reeled, caught by surprise. "Huh? That's no-"
Peter grunted, kicking his legs back into the desk, right into the surprised bat woman who was sent flying courtesy of a hot and charred desk, hearing her yell as he stood up.
Ok... she knew he was alive... she knew that there was a girl here with him. He'd barely seen her in the dark. She kept complaining about not being able to find him without lights... and her eye was a gemstone of some kind.
Maybe she could see him? Or through him? She'd seen him in the hallway with everyone. Even saw him giving the phone to Mei.
Seeing…
He shut his eyes tight before he took a deep breath and sprinted out of the room. His Spider Sense kicked into gear as he leapt, his sight blinded as he shut his eyes tight.
He could just sense it across his mind, the faint outline of the server towers as he ran out of the burning office towards the struggling and writhing batwoman...thing.
As if time had slowed down, he heard gunshots, in his blindfolded state as bright red sparks far away…
"What the fuck?!" Ruby yelled from afar, and he could make out her form for a blip before it vanished into the black.
He stepped forward, leaping up and giving a paylay to the still dazed bat monster, right to the back of the head as he sent her snout-first into the ground. He used her head as a jump off point to land beside where the bent and broken table was.
He heard footsteps in the rafters, closing in on him.
"Orbit him up!" Ruby yelled. "Obi! Gun the fucker down!"
He grabbed the leg of the table, and like a discus thrower, Peter grunted as he chucked the table with all of his might at the rafter before leaping upward himself. The table shattered, but it made the overlook wobble as the man stumbled and screamed.
He landed behind him, and Peter pivoted on the spot with a lightning-fast roundhouse kick. The blow caught him in the head as the man let out a squawk before flying off the rafter, and landing in a heap on the nearby server tower.
His Sense flared, his darkened world lighting up once more as he jumped and twisted, running fast along the rafters to avoid gunfire from the far right and the immediate left. The far right was far more intense…
It was the Fat Albert on roids.
He got to the edge, and launched himself, feeling the bullets whiz by him.
He twisted, but one finally clipped him in the shoulder and Peter felt the pain turn his vision white, bone shattering and blood bursting just as the man ran out of ammo.
Peter landed beside him, and he turned with a punch right into the man's stomach with his still usable arm. He let out a wheezing cough before Peter gave him another punch in the jaw, then another, followed by running up his tall fat body and finishing his opponent off with a kick square to the chin, sending him flying off of his feet and onto his back.
His sense flared as he twirled, avoiding the incoming sniper fire. He tried to move his left arm, but found that he couldn't. The pain was too much.
He heard movement down one of the halls and turned, sensing something hovering off the ground and accelerating away. Along with the patter of footsteps…
Mei!
Peter grit his teeth and began to sprint, running as fast as he could. Thankfully, it was all in one straight line as his legs pushed him on. The Freddy Krueger wannabe was right behind Mei with his finger blades scratching the walls like nails on a chalkboard as he zoomed after her on his hover-boots.
"Nighty night!" Peter yelled, dashing forward with a launching punch as he sensed the outline of budget-Freddy turn in utter shock, and the left jab got him right in the jaw, hearing bone crack as a result of his blow. The man was sent sprawling, skidding across the floor like a rolling sack of potatoes before crashing into the metal wall down at the very end of the darkened corridor.
He could hear Ruby calling into her comm. He turned as he leapt up, moving away from Mei as he ran across the server towers, his footsteps echoing as he saw the outline of the server towers around him. As he ran into the black, he could sense it, the bullets whizzing past as he ducked and stepped aside. His ears rang and his heart pounded, but the frustrated yelling and the footsteps on the rafters above gave him a large bright neon target.
He jumped, grabbing onto the railing with his one good hand and running along it, leaping and twisting as he avoided pistol fire and landed right before her. He caught her pistol in his hand and crushed it in his grip as he pulled her in, delivering a headbutt right to the mouth of the taller woman.
Ruby gargled, staggering as Peter heard something clatter to the ground. He tossed away her firearm that he had taken from her. He could see her now, reaching for her knife as she lunged with animalistic fury. Peter dodged the knife jab and countered with a sledgehammer-like punch right to the chest that sent her to the floor down below. Her chest was rising and falling, but in a pained fashion. Peter took a deep breath, finally opening his eyes he stared over the scene of destruction across the room. He panted, trying to catch his breath as he ran his only good hand through his hair, pulling out a fragmented tooth and flicking it aside.
He leapt down to the ground floor, the sudden fall making his world spin and Peter realized that he probably wasn't in as good a shape as he felt a minute ago... and a minute ago he felt like absolute shit to begin with.
He leaned against the wall, slumping there as he let himself trail down to sit quietly at the base of a server, still trying to breathe.
(X)
They had a perimeter set up around the front of the Tower.
Ten guys, all set up with weapons, all standing around. Watching for anyone that might come through from the outside.
Amateurs.
Rule One of guarding a place of importance: don't post sentries that stood around. You had them moving, constantly overlapping within one another's patterns so in the event that one man was taken out, another man would know within minutes, maybe even seconds of that man going down, so long as they were within eyesight.
The old codger Araki told him that rule years ago when he was rising through the ranks, and these greenhorns were standing around, practically asking to be picked off.
Enji decided to oblige them.
Now, stealth was never his strong point. A fire-based quirk didn't lend itself to trying to be sneaky, in almost any sense of the word.
But he was the Number Two Hero, and he didn't earn this position by simply being an idiot that rushed in guns blazing, unlike some of the other fools among the top ten.
He held in his Hellflame quirk completely, a running theme lately what with him flying commercial today, but that was only one part of himself that didn't lend itself to stealth. His frame was larger than most men, the result of years upon years of training even after his time at U.A. Most would be able to see him from a long way off, but mercifully I-Island had a pension for shrubbery and other pointless greenery. Thankfully, the trees that hid the main road were large enough for him to take cover behind as a bunch of security drones passed along the road.
What the hell were those things doing? Had the villains that had taken over the expo hack everything? That wasn't supposed to be possible, the system was supposed to move to backup drives the second an outside intrusion was detected.
Yet, somehow, the villains had managed to get through both layers of security while there were dozens of pro heroes on the island and no one on the staff so much as raised a fuss.
That meant professionals, or at least, a talented hacker. Or help from the inside...
The latter was the most likely option, given how stupidly the guards around the side door were standing. They were practically lounging, watching the surrounding area with cigarettes in their mouths.
They were looking towards the main road, barely looking at the sideline greenery.
Yet, getting closer to them was painfully slow.
Dashes between cover were quick and careful, but few and far between. Two sets of eyes somewhat close together would give him away.
So he played it slow, even if he hated to do it.
Yet, like with most things in life, persistence and determination paid off. He inched closer, just at the edge of the clearing towards the side entrance, then he sprang.
He ignored the noise that he was making, and the closer man turned just in time to see Endeavor barreling down on him. A quick right across the jaw staggered him, and Enji felt bone shatter under his fingers.
The second man reached down for a walkie, which was perfect. In the same motion as the right, his left hand reached out, a lance of fire arching across the distance from his fingers.
Red hot fire burned through the device, and onto the man himself. Shock made him freeze, pain made him take a breath, but Enji's fist buried itself into his solar plexus. His scream died in his throat as every inch of air was driven out of his lungs.
Physics and pain demanded that the mercenary fall to the ground, but Enji wrapped a massive hand around his neck. The merc's already hurt body nearly went into shutdown, a little bit of heat within his palms kept the man awake and alert.
Enji made a point to keep the man encased in one hand and drag his fallen friend with the other over to the nearby greenery. The unconscious man he left in a pile while the second merc struggled in his other arm. The Number Two Hero forced the mercenary to look him dead in the eye, his massive hand over his mouth and gripped tight around his jaw.
"Scream, and you'll be ashes on the ground before you can get anything out." Enji growled in English, perfect and crisp.
The man knew that he was serious.
"Now, you're going to answer every question that I have."
He gripped a little tighter, and burned a bit of the man's skin off before he continued his interrogation.
"How many? Use your fingers."
His eyes darted around.
Enji leaned in, his hand heating up as the merc's eyes bulged and he writhed under his grasp, letting out a pained squeal. "Answer. Me."
Silently, the merc lifted his hands.
(X)
The entry wouldn't be clean, Momo knew that.
Her mother had pointed out exactly what she needed to do.
They would breach the door, desperate to get in, hopefully using the sound and the explosives to distract and disorient.
Only to meet a cavalcade of artillery waiting for them.
The silence was deafening, and Momo was acutely aware of the weight of her weapon in her hands. She had to keep it up, keep it steady, and ready to fire. The earplugs she gave to everyone else in the room would prove handy.
One beep traveled through the doorway before Momo felt her mother gently squeeze her shoulder.
Then fire.
Echoes and shockwaves met them, making the entire room a cacophony of sound. Lead and fire went through the smoke, but it wouldn't dissipate.
That only happened when Momo's mother threw a flashbang into the center of the smoke. Someone screamed as another dove for cover. Light filled the hallway, and several of the mercenaries scrambled to get to cover, but a mind could only do so much when overloaded by a flashbang.
And in their confusion, the people behind Momo threw what she had made for them. Web grenades sailed overhead, exploding in a shower of substance that stuck several men to the floor. They struggled, but couldn't break through.
But even monkeys knew how to work through things if they could see it.
The next time someone threw a web grenade, a merc shot it out of the air, making it explode uselessly in front of them.
Then her mother fired several shots. Momo didn't get up in time to see the men fall, but she heard them well enough.
She rose up, aiming and firing herself with her web paintball gun, firing at their heads and legs as she caught a glimpse of the situation.
The men had some cover of their own, using tables and furniture ten to fifteen meters away from the door to use while other men stood around the edge. She saw some men bleeding out as her mother ducked behind cover, waiting and panting as gunfire soared over their heads.
She pulled out another flash, tossing it overhead. Several more joined it from the others in the room, and several men started screaming again.
As one, practically everyone with a weapon moved over the cover and started throwing out everything they had, Momo included. Globs of webbing, bullets, it was all unleashed as the exchange of fire flew out.
Then they went down behind cover, and repeated the process. A flurry of bullets slammed into their cover, and in the moments of respite, they returned fire. It was agonizing, grueling, a constant rush of adrenaline that nearly made Momo vomit. She heard screaming, cursing, yells of pain and fury.
She did her best to fight through it, firing back and flinging her gadgets as adrenaline and focus took hold.
(X)
The group stood by the walls of the rising elevator, seeing their number go past the 195 mark as each teen stood by the sides. Before them, the door had a layer of ice to act as a barricade in case any of the men were waiting for them at the top. Izuku went over the plan in his head.
Neutralize the villains. Defeat their boss, and try to save David in the meantime. He and Shoto were the fighters, they would handle him while Fuyumi and Melissa would hang back near David's office below the vault…
Maybe it would be enough, he hoped it would.
As the elevator reached the final floor, no one said a word, and everyone tensed when the elevator dinged at the last floor.
"Here we go," Shoto said, breath misting from a frost that was about to be unleashed.
The door opened. He leaned out, finger raised to flick while Shoto took the other side. Nothing but large empty hallways.
"That way," Melissa called, pointing down one of them.
Shoto and Izuku took point with Fuyumi and Melissa close behind.
Every step down the hallway echoed as they turned the corner. Izuku stopped the group, and he saw at the far end of the hall that the Vault door had been opened, complete with David standing at the console… with an armed gunman by his side, rifle barrel trained on him.
"Ok… I got it." David said weakly.
"Good. Bring'er down." The gunman said, and the man continued to click and tap away on the keyboard.
"Got him…" Izuku muttered as they slowly advanced up. He began to think… so far he could see only the merc and David. The inside of the vault might be bigger so could they be walking into a trap?
If he could use One for All to charge in and tackle the guy- Izuku's train of thought was stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, seeing Shoto.
"Leave this to me." He advanced ahead of the group quietly. "Stay back." He knelt down, placing his left hand down in front of him, and the entire floor began to get covered in frost as it surged out rapidly.
The ice sprang en masse when it entered the room, catching the merc and David off guard as they were covered in ice from neck to toe. Izuku charged in, and reared back a big right hand with One for All charged at ten percent power.
"Smash!" He clocked him, breaking the mercenary's ice prison and sending him into the console as he slumped to the icy floor, out cold.
"M-M-Midoriya?" David shivered, looking back as Shoto ran in and placed his right hand on the ice, forcing it to thaw.
"Daddy! We came!" Melissa spoke out happily as Izuku saw David's face, who's eyes widened as he looked at his daughter.
"No… You-" There was a sudden loud creaking of metal, and Izuku saw metal snake out from the railings above and lunge at him, catching Izuku and sending him into a wall with a hard crash. The metal tightened like vices, Izuku grunting under the strain. Another series of metal tendrils lashed out, shattering through a rising stream of ice to pin Shoto against the wall next to him by his arm and leg.
"Well, it seems using Martinez was the right move after all. And thank you again, Mr. Shield." Drawled a voice as Izuku looked up. The voice came from a larger man with red hair, a beige trench coat over kevlar gear, and a metal mask with sharp yellow eyes, another merc standing beside him gun drawn. He stood on the balcony overlooking the room, right next to some portly man who was holding a briefcase of sorts.
"Sam… you can't be doing this!" David called out, still trapped in his icy prison. "Please! It can't go to him!"
"But it must, David!" Sam yelled, he seemed to have plenty of bruises himself as he looked terrified. "You and I have given up too much to stop no-Melissa… what are you doing here?!" He finally saw her, as Melissa stood wide-eyed up at him.
"Daddy… what's going on?" She asked, looking back at her father. Izuku took a head count… He and Shoto were trapped against the walls with metal bindings… So the big bad could use some sort of metal manipulation quirk as he strained against the steel. A rifleman was by his side, along with this Sam guy.
Fuyumi… she was able to stop herself from entering the room at the last moment! She was in the rear. Izuku's eyes went to the door, seeing Fuyumi just peeking her head out.
"Go on Mr. Shield. Tell them how the most impenetrable and most advanced landmark in the globe was able to be taken over by some random villains."
"Look, we have what we need." Sam spoke. "Let's just go Wolfram."
"Did you design the thing, or did you just bounce around ideas?" The redhead now known as Wolfram drawled.
"I… well, the Professor designed the entirety of the device. I-"
"Parks."
Izuku's eyes widened, seeing the other man raise his rifle and open fire. Melissa screamed, seeing the portly man shudder before he fell over the balcony onto the icy floor, blood oozing from his suit, eyes wide and dead. Parks leaned down and picked up the briefcase.
"Sam... nooo!" Melissa wailed.
"One less seat on the chopper." Wolfram oiled, leering down at David.
"You bastard!" David shouted out, finding a way to speak over the ice around his body.
"Oh please. We all know that that fat waste of space would still be alive if you hadn't contacted me in the first place." He leered, and David's face turned into a rictus of despair and pain.
"Daddy…" Melissa gawked, eyes wide and tears in her eyes. Izuku felt his heart break as he strained and struggled against his bindings. He saw Wolfram's eyes on him as he raised his hands, his gloves glowing blue.
In response, the metal around his arms tightened, and Izuku bit back a scream. "Leave them alone!" He yelled in English.
"Save it kid. You'll be joining that fatass over there if you don't keep your mouth shut."
"Daddy… you allowed all of this to happen?!" Melissa asked.
"It… it was only for progress! For the betterment of the world! If we could get the Quirk Amplifier out into the world I… We would be able to help better superhuman society! Heroes would be able to accomplish so many things! The board of directors and the shareholders… they couldn't see that! They were too afraid and… and… '' David confessed, tears in his eyes. "I had my doubts… I could have called it off but… I saw All Might the other day and… and…!"
He saw All Might? Quirk Amplifier? Izuku's eyes went wide. What could be he talking-
Wait, David was All Might's first sidekick. Could… could All Might have revealed his secret to him?
A pit was growing in his stomach more and more as he felt eyes on him. He looked across the vault room, seeing Shoto bound to the opposing wall as he was, looking at him… and he was flicking his finger over and over.
Wolfram clapped his hands. "This is like something out of Shakespeare! Ha!" He laughed as his hands glowed, and the metal underneath the icy floor surged and broke free. It resulted in David being freed from his icy prison, but right into Wolfram's grasp as the metal wrapped around him.
Izuku saw Fuyumi step closer and closer… still out of sight from Wolfram and Parks…
Not yet… Melissa was still in his line of fire. He couldn't fire his hundred percent flick with her in it!
Fuyumi moved, sprinting as her hands burned with fire before she tackled Wolfram from behind and her hands went to his face before fire erupted from her fingertips.
Combined with the metal mask, with the sudden heat from her blowtorch fingers?
Wolfram howled in agony, Fuyumi on his back as he fired his pistol wildly and reached for her before slamming her to the side with a throw. He staggered, screaming in pain as his hands went to his face and he dropped his pistol. Fuyumi cried out as she skipped across the icy floor, writhing in pain.
"KILL HER!" He roared, and Izuku saw Parks raise his rifle at Fuyumi.
"Smaaaaash!" Izuku gritted out, aiming his right ring finger at them.
Gale force winds lashed out, catching the two as they slammed against the vast array of deposit box-things that surrounded the walls of the vault with a crash. The briefcase was also separated from them as well as Fuyumi and Melissa yelped and moved across the icy floor. David joined them, the metal being warped and freeing him as he rolled across the ground.
Izuku surged One for All in his body, ten percent of its power coursing through him. Lighting arced from his skin, and the entire room exploded into a frenzy.
Izuku went straight for the leader, punching through lines of metal while a wall of ice slammed into the villain's side. Shoto barely had a moment to thaw before a hail of bullets smashed into the ice barrier before him, Parks firing on him from his prone position.
"Stay down." Shoto hissed and ice surged, a miniature glacier roaring forth as it caught the sniper and the other villain, submerging them in ice before slamming them into the wall.
"Melissa! Get Fuyumi out of there!" The girl turned upon her name being called by Izuku before going over to the fallen girl and helping her up. David was up on his feet, limping but running as he joined them.
"Fucking brats!" Yelled Wolfram from the ice, and the ice just… exploded as Wolfram seemed to free himself!?
"How did-?!" Shoto spoke aloud.
Wolfram growled, his face burnt with a portion of his metal mask seared on as he ripped it off. His skin was burning with a pink-orangish hue, and steam seemed to emit from his body, enough that it burnt off what remained of his black skin-mask around his mouth. His arms seemed to bulk heavily with muscle, straining his coat immensely. He let out a snarl and the hue was gone, his skin returning back to its plain color and the muscles shrinking to what they were before.
Wolfram raised his fist and Izuku saw his gloved hand glow not blue but red as he ripped himself free, sending the mini glacier that had him pinned against him back at them.
Izuku and Shoto dove to the side, avoiding the crashing meteor.
"You kids are really making this job a lot harder than it needs to be," Wolfram snarled.
He raised the pistol as Izuku's legs tensed, only for his eyes to go wide when the pistol turned away from the two heroes.
The gun spat fire, and something pinged against the metal wall, combined with a feminine scream.
Izuku gasped, eyes wide as he watched Fuyumi stumble forwards for a moment, a growing spot of blood growing from her side. She slumped against Melissa who barely managed to keep her upright.
Shoto didn't move an inch, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Damn, I need to get better with this thing," Wolfram grumbled, pulling himself free from the last of the ice.
Izuku saw Shoto's left hand twitch.
"You…."
Then the room exploded into heat.
Izuku's skin screamed, the hairs on his arms torching in a second to the inferno. Melissa and David slumped forwards, trying to protect themselves as they made it to the doorway leading out of the vault, carrying a bleeding Fuyumi. Ice flash-melted straight into steam behind them.
The heat and steam made Wolfram instinctively shield himself, but his eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight of Shoto raising his left hand registered in his mind.
"YOU'LL BURN FOR THAT!!!" Shoto roared.
And hellfire exploded out of his left side.
A tidal wave of pure heat raced towards Wolfram, turning metal into slag as it passed. Wolfram slammed his hand against the wall, willing the metal to take him away from the wave of fire. It angled towards the wall, which was the only thing that saved him as the fire turned his transportation into nothingness.
Shoto didn't let up for a second, tracing a trail of fire in the wake of the villain. The walls of the vault glowed red-hot before Shoto stopped his onslaught long enough to get a better read on the villain, his teeth bared.
"Shoto, be careful!" Melissa screamed, "You're weakening the walls! You'll make this place explode!"
"I'll be careful when he's ashes!" Shoto growled, his right side steaming in an attempt to compensate for the outburst.
"Oh, I seem to have hit a nerve there," Wolfram oiled from the wall above them.
The villain was standing on the edge of the wall. One touch sent arcs of electricity through the steel next to him.
Shoto screamed, a small wire of metal wrapping around his ankle and throwing him to the side. He skipped against the ground, hitting his left side hard. Izuku didn't call out as he flared One for All, jumping straight towards the villain while ignoring the pain in his broken right ring finger.
A pillar of metal shot out, aiming to meet him in the air. The green-haired boy twisted, managing to land feet-first on the side of the pillar. He ran, two thunderous steps denting the metal below him and getting him closer to the villain.
Close enough that he saw the villain smirk.
Another arc of lightning, and another pillar shot straight at Izuku from the side. Izuku turned, raising his arms-
A metal pipe slammed straight into his gut, and three others impacted his limbs.
Izuku tasted bile, right before his world went white as he smashed into the wall of the laboratory. He couldn't keep his eyes straight as the world spun, but he could feel the shift in the air as another blast of ice was thrown out.
Steel beams appeared from every direction, shattering the ice like a million chandeliers. Below, Shoto's side lit up with fire as he threw another torrent, but a line of metal smashed into his wrist. Izuku heard something crack as Shoto roared in pain, his fire careening off the edge as its aim was diverted.
Izuku gritted his teeth, but the steel tendril had him pinned. He could barely move his hands with the metal around him.
But he could still move his fingers.
That was all that All Might would need, and so it was all that he needed!
"SMASH!" he roared, One for All filling his right pinky finger to the brim.
With the miniscule space that he could move, the finger flicked out. Shockwaves of power rippled out, ripping the metal that held him to shreds. It was so fast that Wolfram was blown to the other end of the wall, smashing against it hard enough for the metal to echo in the wind and form a crater.
One hand touching the wall was all that saved him, a platform to hold him up coming into existence under him. Izuku shot off the wall, ten percent of One for All filling him as he closed the distance.
Then Izuku felt another rod smash against his side.
He managed to twist away from the initial impact, holding onto the edge, his fingers on his left digging into the steel to support himself.
"You little fuckers are ruining everything," Wolfram said, generating a larger, slower moving mass of metal as the two boys reoriented themselves.
"I've got a job to finish, and it sure as hell isn't going to be stopped by you two meddling kids!"
(X)
Mei ducked into the room and slammed the door behind her, her heart thumping like a drum under her ribs.
There was a crash outside, the sound of fighting and she felt herself flinch, choking off a scream as she pulled away from the door, phone clutched in her hand as she listened to the fight outside.
Her eyes zoomed in on the door, the steel barrier rattling in place as the fight outside shook the main control room. She saw flashes of light coming from the other end of the room via the glass window. Gunfire…
"-atsume- Hatsume, you need to listen to me sweetie."
She blinked, her mind returning to the present.
She looked down at the phone, staring at the screen as Karen's symbol blinked up at her.
"Breathe honey. It's ok. Peter can handle himself but you need to do your job, ok? If you do it I can help him."
She nodded. "Y-yeah, ok. A cord. You needed a cord." Her eyes glanced around, searching frantically.
"If you can find one that'd be alright but if not-"
She wasn't listening anymore, moving about the room while opening drawers and scouring desks and workstations.
She found one, a USB link cable that didn't fit the phone.
Rushing over to a work desk that looked at least semi-usable, Mei swept aside the crap that cluttered its surface, everything crashing to the floor in a heap as she bit off one end of the cable, nearly choking on plastic and wires before spitting it out.
Her fingers brushed over the fibres, identifying the 'important' sections she could still use before pulling a pin from her hair.
She bent and twisted the small metal pin, mentally bemoaning the lack of tools before she jury-rigged a fitting and jabbed it into the phone's socket.
Karen seemed to examine it.
"It should be enough of a connection. Plug me but don't move me at all, this isn't exactly a hard landline."
Mei nodded, picking up the phone and moving towards the server station.
Plugging her in, the young inventor gingerly set the phone down, gently negotiating it into place while keeping the cable she'd fashioned in place before backing off.
Karen blinked and dimmed, and Mei noted the server humming to life. Its systems came online before more and more of them followed suit as Karen took over and devoted more and more of her processes to brute-forcing past the servers' internal defense networks.
That's when she noticed how quiet it got.
She turned, looking to the door with nervous anxiety as she wrung her hands together,
"P-Peter?" She called.
No answer.
"Peter!?"
It was Karen's voice that answered.
"He won." Karen's disembodied voice made her jump. She looked up, seeing an audio box on the wall. "You can step out hun, but he's hurt Hatsume."
She nodded.
Stepping forward she pushed the door open, peeking out of the door to a scene of complete devastation. Broken servers, shattered glass, shards of metal and plexiglass, spilled coolant, and the stink of burnt circuitry. She could see it clearly now as the overhead lights came online.
She stepped out of the room. "Peter!"
There was no answer for a moment. She was about to call again when, finally-
"Mei..."
She nearly jumped out of her skin, turning to look down the side of the server lanes where Peter's voice had come from.
She took one step, and another and then before she knew it she was running down the length of the room, halting once when she stumbled on the sight of one of the villains, the black guy, now beat up and half-embedded in a server tower before shoving it out of her mind and forcing herself to keep moving.
Then she found Peter.
He was sitting, collapsed really, against a wall, his clothes torn and caked in blood. His eyes opened, finding hers as he smiled. "Hey..."
She didn't say anything, her target eyes darting to the various injuries, zooming in and focusing on them. "You're hurt..." She finally said, voice shaking.
Peter jerked his head. "You should see the other guys." He laughed.
Mei felt tears prickling under her eyelids, her throat clogging up as she stepped forward.
She knelt beside him, her trembling hands rising to press against the shoulder wound, the worst one that still oozed blood.
Peter grimaced, sucking down a deep breath through clenched teeth but not complaining as she tried to staunch the bleeding.
"Mei." He finally breathed. "Need you to do somethin' for me alright?"
She answered almost on automatic, her head bobbing up and down. "Y-yeah. Ok."
Peter gestured with his still functioning arm. "Side room, down that way. There's someone else here. Not a villain. Looked like a little girl. Can you go make sure she's alright?"
Mei blinked, staring at him as Peter shifted where he sat, sucking down a sharp, hissing breath as he adjusted his weight.
She didn't want to leave him alone... not like this. But she didn't want him to move either.
"I'll-I'll check." She sniffed, but didn't move.
"Help's on the way Peter. Medical drones en route. And security to round up these villains too." Karen spoke from the speakers. "Hatsume, you did good. Go."
She pulled her hands away and stared.
She looked at him, at his injuries and pain. She had to fix this. Fix him. She was supposed to be good at that. It was supposed to be what she could do...
But there was no baby, no easy answer, and she felt her frustration mount before she pulled away and forced herself to walk towards the side room that he'd gestured to.
When she noticed that her hands were covered in caked blood she felt nauseous, wiping them on her dress and almost crying outright when the red still stained her hands.
But she kept her head somehow and kept moving, planting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the few bodies of villains she saw in the distance as she walked.
(X)
Over the gunfire and yelling and smoke, Momo felt like the last ten minutes had taken an eternity as she kept using her various tools and gadgets. Web grenades. Smoke bombs. Anything. She looked, seeing her mother panting against her cover as she grabbed a piece of steak and gnashed on it, bullets flying overhead. The onslaught of gear she had given to the guests behind their own cover had stopped, leaving just them…
Mother was breathing heavily… Her quirk needed iron to function, and she has used up a lot of it…
There was a rumble, a crash, and for a moment, everyone didn't move.
"I AM-"
A muffled sound before someone screamed.
"-FREE!"
Like a mortar shot, a blue and red form burst through the floor of the doorway. A dozen guns turned to the great dust cloud. There was a surge of wind, and faster than Momo could even blink, All Might was standing in the middle of their room, the remaining mercenaries unmoving at his feet. The men groaned, slumped to the ground thanks to the well-placed kidney shots.
Momo couldn't help it, she laughed, and she wasn't the only one. Several of the guests whooped and hollered as the Number One hero took stock of the situation from a better perspective.
"I'm more sorry than words can describe, leaving you to fight this battle without me, but worry not! THESE VILLAINS WILL NOT REMAIN FOR MUCH LONGER!"
Most of the crowd behind her cheered in relief and joy at the sound of the promise.
"All Might-sensei!" Momo called.
The blonde hero's eyes widened slightly.
"What is it?"
"Parker, Midoryia, Hatsume, Todoroki and his sister may be here in this facility, and they may have caused some of the mercs outside to leave. It's the only hunch I can assume as to why some of the mercs who attacked us weren't as large in number. They may be somewhere in the building, if you can-"
"I can confirm that Young Midoriya and the Todorokis are here. I will find them, all of them, and put them out of harm's way as fast as I can," All Might promised, putting an assuring giant hand on her shoulder.
Momo felt her shoulders relax, but only for a moment as All Might straightened.
"Now everyone out and get to the first floor, as fast as you can! I handled the villains on my way here!"
Not a single person complained, and not a single person stopped to ask what was going to happen.
"All Might! Please stop!" Said a female voice, making them pause and look up at the speakers outside of the ballroom. Momo trotted out, as did All Might.
"Who is speaking?" All Might demanded. "Are you the security system of the island?" It had the same tone and accent that the public announcement had when the villains took over… but the manner of speaking was desperate… not like a controlled AI.
"All Might, Midoriya and Todoroki are at the top floor of the tower fighting against the boss of the villains who attacked this place. They are with David Shield, his daughter, and Todoroki's sister too. Leave Parker and Hatsume to me. I'm sending medical drones to their position in the server room."
"Medical? Are they hurt?" Momo asked, concern gripping her chest.
"Parker is a little beat up, but don't worry. All Might, go to the vault at the top floor. From what I can see from the cameras, Midoriya and Todoroki won't last!"
All Might winced. Momo perked up. The server room… was that how All Might was freed? It had to be with Peter and Hatsume coming through in the clutch!
"What about the other mercs? I'm surprised we got so few attacking us." Maiya spoke for the first time. She didn't seem too fazed by the luster of the Number One Hero.
"Oh, that?"
(X)
"Gaaaah! What the hell!" Yelled the giant rock monster-man as he fell to the ground, countless drones converging and hosing him down with hardening foam as they seemed to swarm around Endeavor in the burnt hellscape that was the outside of I-Tower.
The other villains he couldn't defeat right off the bat were also being chased down, and the red glow the security drones had were gone, replaced by a blue light. He looked at the tower and saw the metal walls beginning to recede, revealing the inside of the building!
What was all that about?
(X)
"It's handled. I am impressed with Endeavor, he took care of quite a few of those mercs. I count… over thirty and not a scratch on him."
Momo had to cock an eyebrow. It sounded like the PA voice… but it sure sounded a little casual. Too much so.
"Endeavor is here! Alright, time for our counterattack!" All Might declared. "Young Yaoyorozu, I will be right back!"
"Sensei?"
"It will be alright!" All Might turned. "Because I am here!" And he charged, disappearing in a burst of speed heading towards the stairwell. Momo felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, seeing Maiya look at her with a determined look on her face.
"Come, let's see your father, he should be alright."
Momo nodded, fighting back a smile as she and her mother began running towards the area of the first floor, moving past multiple unconscious mercenaries. As the metal doors vanished underground numerous drones navigated past many of the people down there who looked on in confusion as they searched the building.
(X)
Izuku could barely see through the sweat and the pain.
Every muscle burned, every inch of him ached, but somehow, One For All kept his body moving. Around him, the vault was a shell of its former self. Pillars of steel, glaciers of ice, blasts of wind and shots of fire had reduced most of the material around them into nothingness.
Yet Wolfram still stood above them, a monolith of steel under him to let him see both Izuku and Shoto.
The son of Endeavor was breathing hard as he tried to summon another blast of power. It probably wouldn't work, there was tons of steel for the mad villain to use whenever he wished.
The only true solace was the simple fact that Melissa, David and Fuyumi were outside the room and making distance.
Izuku saw another surging steel tendril, avoiding it as he noticed another being sent at Shoto. The dual-haired boy had conjured another thick ice wall, only for the steel pillar to burst through it and impact close by. Shoto was only able to avoid getting crushed by dodging to the side.
"You damn brats ruined it!" Yelled Wolfram as Izuku weaved through the jungle of iron columns, ignoring the pain in his hand from two broken fingers. He saw that Wolfram was still holding the briefcase that was now in tatters. And with it, some kind of destroyed headgear. He turned, snarling and roaring as he slammed his hands down which caused steel pillars to erupt like Shiozaki's vines.
Izuku's body glowed with One for All as he weaved through them, narrowly dodging each one as he leapt up above the forest of metal.
He could see Wolfram looking at him, his coat in shreds and wearing only his Kevlar armor as his hands glowed blue, yellow eyes alight with rage. Izuku lifted his hand, ring finger primed.
"Sma-" He attempted but his aim was off, Izuku having been slammed by a pillar and sent crashing into the wall, the giant mass shifting to trap him. Izuku saw stars and felt pain surge throughout his body.
A wall of ice crashed into the side of the metal tendril, bending it just enough for Izuku to get free. He got to his feet, standing next to Shoto, the other boy's body shivering for a moment before steam emitted from his right side. He breathed hard, looking and seeing the dual-haired boy looking back and nodding.
Izuku took off, and Shoto followed suit on the other side, surfing along the wall as Izuku jumped and weaved over the various steel beams. The two began to arc in towards the villain in a pincer.
Wolfram snarled and slammed his hands against the wall behind him, steel pillars roaring out at both of them at high speed.
Izuku raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together as they flowed against his thumb.
He would still have his left hand to take care of him!
"Smaaaash!" Izuku roared, and a double flick sent hurricane force winds at Wolfram, throwing him into the wall as the man seemed to roar in pain. Izuku slid back down along the beam but recovered and charged his quirk through his body to force on through. Had to take him out now!
Shoto had conjured another miniature glacier to stall the pillar onslaught. He rose above it and fired a gout of flame down at the metal user.
Wolfram got out of the man-shaped steel hole, letting out a roar as he slammed the ground, steel rods racing out at the boy after he dodged the massive fire blast.
Right into Izuku's path, his left arm reared back. He fought through the pain in his right hand and came in with a haymaker, teeth grit and letting out a closed mouth battlecry.
Wolfram's skin turned orange again, and Izuku's fist met his jaw as the man staggered back… Only for him to touch the superheated wall thanks to Shoto's flame.
Iron lashed out, slamming into Izuku as he yelled in pain, feeling his arms being burnt by the hot steel as he was sent into a steel wall, slumping to the ground. Izuku saw nothing but stars as he raised his left hand to fire another flick.
Only for his whole body to be encased in an iron cocoon, Izuku yelping as he was lifted up. He turned, seeing Shoto had suffered a similar fate with his body being pinned against the wall.
Wolfram was a disheveled mess, his skin glowing as his normal sharp yellow eyes seemed to almost glow as he had his hands on the floor, the blue lightning arcing along the steel towards them. And then Izuku felt the squeeze like a vice.
He arched his back and yelled, his broken fingers caught in some steel as he heard Shoto follow suit, what with him being trapped against a press. His arms were tightening against his ribs, and it hurt to even breathe.
Shoto and Izuku couldn't retort, their screaming intensifying as the pressure mounted. Shoto roared, ice surging around him and towards the villain. With a battlecry, Wolfram rounded on the glacier, punching it as his body glowed orange. In the distance something exploded, a flash of heat that Izuku couldn't place.
"Your little ice tricks won't do you any good! And I doubt you'll want to use that fire lest you burn yourself alive!" Wolfram sneered, smirking down at Shoto who was submerged in a glacier save for his arms and upper body, the ice cracking as the pillar began to move again.
"I'm gonna enjoy killing you little shits," Wolfram hissed. "Then, I'll be sure to put another bullet in that white-haired whore for burning my face! This time in her head!"
In one instant, a massive hand clamped down on Wolfram's shoulder.
"Huh?"
The villain turned, just so he could see five knuckles fill his vision. Something cracked as the villain flew down, barely managing to catch himself before he crashed against the ground below. He looked up, hand on a bloody nose with widened eyes.
Endeavor floated there, jets of red hot flame jetting out of his feet, steel melted into slag behind him.
"D-Dad?" Shoto breathed in disbelief.
The Number Two Hero didn't look down at his son, his fiery gaze solely on Wolfram.
Shoto couldn't remember the last time that his father looked so angry.
"I must have misheard you." Endeavour snarled in English, his teeth bared. His pupils were pinpricks in his eyes, a rictus of pure rage as he planted his boots on the ground and stalked forward. "Maybe you'd like to repeat that so I can make sure."
Wolfram backed away, visibly afraid now. One touch, and the wall behind Endeavor started rushing towards him. Only, he wasn't there. The burning hero shot forward, fire sending him straight towards Wolfram. The villain tried to put a line of metal between him and his enemy but Hellflame cut through the metal like a hot knife through butter.
Molten slag hit Endeavor's shoulder as he pushed through, ignoring it so he could grab hold of Wolfram's glowing orange face. He threw his hand forward, and Wolfram's head met metal, and even then Endevor didn't let him rest. He spun, faster than his bulk reasonably should allow him to, dragging the villain's face along the side of the wall before throwing him like a fastball. Wolfram landed hard on the metal floor, barely ten feet from Shoto and Izuku.
He rose to his feet, but before he could do much more than suck down a wheezing breath Endeavor's fist crashed into his cheek and Izuku heard something break.
The man flopped like a dead fish on the floor only for both of Endeavor's hands to grab hold of his skull and pull him up, to stare straight into his wide eyes.
Wolfram's skin turned red, his muscles suddenly bulking up as Izuku shouted out a belated warning.
The villain punched Endeavor square in the jaw. It was a blow that should have put anyone down considering the unnatural strength Wolfram had displayed before but Endeavor did little more than stumble, losing his grip as his head whipped to the side before returning with a roar and a devastating counter punch that crunched into the villain's already broken nose, sending him flipping end over end before he hit the wall with a crash.
Endeavor moved forward as Wolfram swayed on unsteady, shaky legs.
"CALI-!"
Wolfram's head darted about while Izuku and Shoto perked up, looking up at the glass ceiling above them.
"FORNIAAAAAAA...!"
"No!" Wolfram's voice was laced with fear as he slammed the ground with his hands, steel pillars erupting from all sources. The floor, the walls, even the former steel walls and pillars he'd made before were contributing. His skin glowed orange, near red as power flowed through him. "NOOOO!"
And they roared upward, like serpents reaching to the sky as the glass was shattered from on high.
"SMAAAASH!" The steel pillars were obliterated, and a big blue meteor crashed through, diving into Wolfram fist outstretched as the vault floor cratered into the previous floor, denting as steel walls and pillars warped. Izuku and Shoto remained locked in place, wind gusting around them.
The adrenaline and jubilee of it all made Izuku ignore the pain as he saw the sight before him. At the center of the crater, Wolfram was present, mouth agog, eyes white as he lay still in unconsciousness.
And rising above, the Symbol of Peace, who-
Was gone, and Izuku felt himself be freed as he was lifted in All Might's embrace. On the other arm, Shoto was present too.
"You two crazy kids…" All Might said softly, his strong arms holding them softly. "You did well… Better than what I could ever do at your age… But rest assured." Izuku felt grateful despite his difficulty in drawing a full breath, and he had a feeling Shoto was the same way as he saw All Might's determined blue eyes looking down at them with that big grin. "It will be alright now…."
Izuku knew what was coming, but he couldn't contain his joy and relief. Even as he heard the sounds of Medical Drones and security drones surging past along the floor into the ruined and carnage-laden vault.
"Because I am here!"
"You're late you idiot!" Endeavor shouted.
(X)
Normally, All Might's late arrival would be infuriating, especially when he appeared after Enji had done the work to steal the glory like the showboating oaf he was.
But frankly, right now he couldn't care less.
What held his attention was the sight of his children.
Fuyumi's shoulder was leaking a steady stream of crimson, her clothes ruined, and her arm hung limply at her side. Beside her Shoto's left arm had seen better days. He lessened the intensity of his flame, slowing it to a stop. Several of the Medical Drones gave him some supplies, he took them as quickly as he could, wiping his chin from the blow he took.
"Endeavor," the green-haired boy breathed, but Enji paid him no mind.
He gave Shield one good look, and even as the scientist cowered, it didn't cover up most of the injuries. The man was sporting a bad wound on his side, and Enji wouldn't doubt there were a good dozen or so bruises under his suit.
Still, the way that he was sitting there, leaning against the wall, chances were that he would live. He wasn't losing any blood, not that Enji could see, which meant that he could wait.
His heavy footfalls practically sounded like pistons on the metal surface. Neither of his children looked at him with disdain or fear.
They just looked tired.
Enji leaned down, taking note of the remains of a suit jacket around Shoto's arm, and the brace that the rest of said jacket formed around Fuyumi's shoulder. Medical drones were by their side, small robotic arms applying whatever help they could as they worked in sync for their patients.
"The medical drones will take care of us," Shoto said, his voice strained but firm. He winced before looking back at the older man.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Fuyumi said, trying to smile through the pain. "It's okay Dad… I'm fine, really…"
What the hell was she doing? She wasn't the one that needed to be strong for him, that was supposed to be his job.
Shoto scrowled and looked away. "I'm banged up, but I'll manage."
"I'm sorry."
"Why?" Shoto asked, "None of this was your fault."
"I still managed to get you where you didn't need to be."
Shoto gave him a confused look. The boy looked strange, practically suspicious. His sister wasn't that far behind, though she hid it better. It wasn't the face that he wanted to see, but that hardly mattered.
(X)
Peter felt at ease as he set himself on the stretcher the medical drones sent for him. He lied down, seeing the other drones at work around him, cutting into his suit and cleaning his wounds with alcohol and patching him up.
"Thanks Karen… didn't know you were a doctor now." Peter joked. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted other security drones foaming up the unconscious villains and placing them in stretchers too as they wheeled off. Fat Albert needed two, and he had to hold himself back from laughing since his chest hurt.
"Well, I'm only following the protocol listed in these medical robots. I am impressed to say the least in what each of these drones has. Each one is like an advanced first aid kit. Makes me fear for doctors in the future."
"Easy, as much as we love robots, we still need a human hand." Peter replied, breathing before he winced. "Ack! Easy!" He turned, seeing the medical drone applying more of that cream to his shoulder wound.
"At the least it seems that the worst will pass, but you'll need a hospital. Thankfully, I count about… fifty ambulances en route from the hospitals across the island."
"Seems like you found yourself a new home. Is it cozy?" Peter asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh yes, much more spacious than U.A.'s servers… Just another vacation home for me. And I'll be sure to keep you up to date on any goings-on here in the future."
"Karen… let's not get to stealing anything vital."
"Oh I understand that. Mainly just… ideas. Hatsume is coming around." Peter turned, and saw Mei walking with the black-haired girl hand in hand.
"Heeeey! It's the MVPs!" Peter waved with his good hand. He saw the little girl perk up and run towards him. At that height, she looked no older than seven or eight, her features a bit biracial with some white and asian.
"Mister are you okay?" She asked, eyes wide as Mei stood beside him.
"Just gotta see a doctor. Took out those bad guys for ya." Peter gave her a thumbs-up. "I couldn't have done it without your help though."
"I… I didn't do anything…" The girl looked away. "I just hid when… when those villains came and then when I saw one of them come in when you were hurt and all those loud noi-"
Peter put his good hand on her shoulder. The girl perked up. "Are you hurt at all?" She shook her head. "Okay, so where's your parents at?"
"Ummm, my dad should be upstairs…" She muttered, fiddling with her fingers. "So… Are you, like, a hero or something?" She asked, looking back up. "I mean, those villains seemed dangerous but you don't, well... look like one."
"What? Oh, the ruined rental?" Peter asked, patting his chest on the stretcher. "Well… a wise man once said that if you can't be a hero without a costume, then you don't deserve one. Well, paraphrased of course." He said, smiling nostalgically as he felt the drones lift up his stretcher.
"We'll head over to the drone service elevator. There's enough room for the ladies present." Karen in the drone said as Peter began to be wheeled towards said elevator, the girls walking by his side.
"But… to answer your question," Peter sighed, looking back at the girl. "I am… technically. I'm gonna be Spider-Man. Also I am going to school as well, U.A. in fact."
"U.A… isn't that in Japan?" The girl asked. "And your accent is a little New Yorker?" Peter's eyebrows perked up.
"Queens born and raised. Where are you-oh, man, I never got your name MVP." Peter smiled as he felt a drone dab his forehead with a wet cloth as they made their way through the server room. "I'm Peter by the way. Peter Parker, and the girl there is Mei." Up ahead, he could see the drone service elevator.
"Hello, mai name isu Mei Hatsume." Mei attempted in English, smiling awkwardly.
The girl bit her lip, looking to the side before setting back on the brown-haired boy and smiled in turn. "M-My name is Penelope O'Neil… although friends call me Peni."
(X)
Izuku was wheeled out on a stretcher, finally back on the first floor as the drones were busy organizing the people in coordination with the heroes who were present at the Gala. As he lay there, he could see the villains being escorted into armored trucks and some helicopters flying overhead.
He winced, looking down at his right hand as doctors were checked in on him, removing the stabilizing foam and examining his broken fingers.
He looked around, seeing All Might with Melissa. The sight made Izuku's heart ache as she saw her father talking with some of the police before offering them his wrists. Melissa let out a wail before All Might had his hands on her shoulders.
He saw Shoto being transferred into an ambulance with his sister, Endeavor standing with them. The Number Two Hero walked into Shoto's ambulance to be with them.
"We're gonna take care of you. Are there any guardians we should inform about your condition?" The EMT asked in English as they got processed into an ambulance. It was bigger than a normal one, more like a hospital bus of some kind.
"Oh ummm, my guardian is… All Might." Izuku replied in English. The paramedic cracked an eyebrow.
"Let's get one more on board, I'll go inform him that we're taking ya to this hospital."
"Hey look, there's another. Bring him on!" Said another EMT, waving as Izuku craned his head down. He saw Peter being wheeled up with Mei by her side and a little girl with black hair.
"Parker-san?"
"Hmm?" Parker was wheeled up the ramp by the drones and settled in beside Izuku. "Heeey Midori!" He laughed, wincing. "Oww… so… rough night?"
"That's…" Izuku paused, unsure of how to respond.
"I'mu… anno…" Mei paused, parsing her English before a drone wheeled up beside her and the confused paramedics.
"She is with Peter Parker there. No guardian present." The drone stated.
"Ooookay then. Hop on miss." The EMT stepped aside, and Mei got on board.
"Hey Peter!" The girl called out, and Peter sat up in his stretcher. "C-Can I ask ya something?"
"Go ahead!"
"Can I be a hero, even though I… I don't have a quirk?" She asked, and Izuku blinked, feeling a nostalgic rush inside him as he turned towards Peter who only smiled.
"You sure can… Just gotta be smarter than the average bear, and you can be." Peter gave her a thumbs-up with his good arm, the girl beaming in joy. "I can't wait to hear of the great Peni!"
"My daddy should be inside and…" She paused, and Izuku noticed a man staggering through the crowd. "Daddy!" The two rushed towards one another, the man getting on his knees and bringing her into a tight embrace.
Peter let out a soft sigh, looking up at the ceiling as Izuku blinked.
"Ummm, what was that all about?" Izuku asked, and Peter turned.
"Oh, just a girl who helped me out. Nothin' major."
Peter groaned before resting on the stretcher.
"Hey can we get a move on?" Said a cranky old voice as Izuku craned his neck, seeing an old man with a moustache in the driver's seat. He could briefly see his name tag as S. Leigh. "I'm gettin' too old for this and I'm missin' my show!"
"Keep your diaper on Stanford!"
Peter sighed. "I'm gonna need some shuteye… I think we all deserve it…" He groaned, and Izuku turned in his stretcher. "Fighting enemies with lots of different powers can take the energy out of anyone lemme tell yah."
Enemies with different powers.
Izuku leaned back, looking at the ceiling.
Different powers…
Wolfram glowed pink-orange that one time… and his muscles bulked up immensely.
And he had his metal manipulation.
"Multiple quirks…" Izuku mouthed, his heart sinking. It couldn't be… could it?