Chapter 61: Big Trouble Little I-Island
Izumi gasped as the warning announcement sounded throughout the building, followed by the total lockdown of the entire island. The doors were all locked, protective barriers moved over them and the windows, and the emergency lights turned on.
"What the? What's going on?" Izumi asked as she looked around.
"I don't know," Melissa replied, looking at a tablet she definitely didn't bring with her. "This isn't standard security protocol for a bomb threat. They're supposed to lock down the area the bomb's in, not the entire island!".
"Wi-Fi and internet are down as well," Durandal added. "We have no means to contact anyone!".
"What happened?" Ochaco asked her eye occasionally twitching.
"Someone's locked down the entire island," Melissa replied as she checked the tablet. "Fuck! I'm locked out of the system!".
"So, now what do we do?" Izumi asked.
"First things first, find out what's going on," Durandal said. "I highly doubt we're dealing with a bomb".
"Right," Melissa said before she ran over to a nearby door. "We can use the emergency stairs to get there".
"We shouldn't head straight to the party!" Izumi said. "We should scout it out first".
Melissa nodded. "Right. Follow me!" she said before they rushed to the emergency stairs and went up, Melissa taking the lead.
"Ochaco," Izumi said quietly. "Can you sense anything?".
Ochaco shook her head. "No, nothing. I'm still not very good with those powers yet. Plus, there's this rhythmic thumping sound that keeps distracting me. It's making using my powers impossible".
Izumi frowned. "Crap. That must mean I-Island must have some form of device to disable or inhibit those powers. Melissa did say she had a chip in her head that prevented people from reading her mind".
"You think someone here knows about people like me?" Ochaco asked. "People with non-quirk psionic powers?".
"Most likely," Izumi replied. "If they have defences against them, then someone must know about them. Or they don't, and the telepath blockers working on you are just blind luck".
"Either way we can't rely on them," Ochaco said.
"A pity," Izumi said with a sigh. "That wing thing looked so cool".
Ochaco nodded. Figures Izumi would find out that she and Rolls' powers were the same. She was smart like that. It's one of the reasons why she liked her.
Meanwhile, back at the party venue. Wolfram and his mercenaries were making sure all the heroes and hero course students were secured. Not that they needed to, I-Island was very thorough with their security. Those heroes aren't going anywhere.
Once he was sure they were all secured, he made his way over to David Shield. "So, you must be David Shield. All Might's supplier of support equipment," he said before he kicked All Might in the chest, unknowingly hitting the area where All for One had wounded him. "Not so impressive right now, is he?".
David scowled. "What do you want?".
Wolfram smirked. "Something only you can provide us," he said before he pointed his sidearm at All Might. "So, either you're going to come with us quietly, or I'm going to kill either All Might, or a cute little blond girl. Your choise".
As much as he would like to kill All Might right here and now, he did not need the heat such a thing would bring him.
No way RAFT would accept him back with the symbol of peace's blood on his hands.
And, whilst they hadn't captured David's daughter, he didn't need to know that she was still free.
David meanwhile frowned. He knew he would have to comply with their demands. He hated to do it, but he had no other choice. So many innocents and heroes would die if he refused. So, he had to go with them.
Also, he was calling bullshit on them having his daughter. There would have been a lot more screaming if they had gone after her.
A lot more screaming. And maybe a few fatalities.
"Fine," David said with a frown.
Wolfram smiled. "Good," he said before he gestured towards four of his grunts. "You four with me. And take him with us," he said pointing towards Samuel.
"What," Samuel gasped. "Why me?".
"Because, if David here doesn't work fast enough, I'll shoot you," Wolfram replied with a smirk.
Ok, even more proof that they don't have his daughter. But, Samuel was his assistant and friend. He wasn't going to let him or anyone else die.
Meanwhile, two floors above them Izumi, Ochaco, Melissa and Durandal watched on from above. Grateful that there was an indoor skylight above the party venue.
No idea why there was one inside the building, but hey, they weren't complaining.
"Shit," Melissa cursed as they watched David and Samuel get escorted away by several villains.
"They've taken over the party," Ochaco observed. "How? Isn't the island's security supposed to stop stuff like this? And why aren't the heroes doing anything? All Might's down there, surely he can break free of those restraints?".
"I think these guys may have control over the I-Island security systems," Durandal said. "Only way you could lock down the entire island".
"But that's impossible," Melissa said, looking distressed. "There are five security terminals all over the island. To lock down the entire island you will need to control all five of them. And no one knows where all of them are. I only know the location of one of them, and my dad only knows two".
"This was planned," Izumi said, using the goggles she was wearing to see just how many people were down there. "Whoever's behind this spent a long time planning this. I suspect they hit all five terminals at the same time".
"Still doesn't explain why they're not doing anything," Ochaco said.
"If these guys have control of the entire island's security systems, then they have control over the security robots," Melissa said. "And those things have lethal weapons on them, only to be used in case the island gets invaded".
Izumi and Ochaco went pale. If these guys wanted to, they could kill everyone on this island without much issue. Hell, they could blow up the entire island if the rumoured self-destruct was real.
But, what could they want? It had to be something valuable, otherwise, they wouldn't risk something like this. If they were taking David Shield, then they must be looking for something that either only he can find, or can easily find.
"So, now what?" Durandal asked. "We can't leave it to the pros, since they're all tied up and can't do anything. Three girls and one robot aren't going to be enough to beat them all. And we can't risk just sitting around waiting for things to blow over. It'll only be a matter of time before the security systems find us".
"We can't stay here. But we can't fight them either," Izumi said. "If we want to do something about this, we'll have to be stealthy about this. We don't know if they'll shoot the hostages".
"Our best bet would be to get to the top floor and take over the security terminal then," Melissa said. "It may take all five to trigger a full island lockdown, but it'll only take one to bring everything back to normal".
"But how do we get up there?" Ochaco asked, looking up. "You said it's at the top of the building".
"[M-m-mayb-b-be I c-can h-h-help,]".
The four turned quickly and, to their surprise, saw Kleiner standing a few feet away from them. Still wearing her wolf onesie and covering her face with a wolf plush.
"[Kleiner?]" Izumi said, looking surprised. "[What are you doing here? How did you escape?]".
"[I-I w-went t-t-to g-g-get s-s-some a-a-air. B-b-but w-w-when I c-c-came b-back t-t-there were v-v-v-villains e-e-everyw-w-where]" Kleiner replied.
So she wasn't at the party when the villains took over. That was good. Maybe there were others, but finding them was going to be a challenge.
"[Well, I'm glad you're alright]" Izumi said with a smile.
"Japanese please?" Ochaco asked. "Or English. I don't really understand German".
"[W-w-what d-did s-she s-say?]" Kleiner asked.
"[She asked if you could speak either Japanese or English,]" Izumi replied.
"[S-s-s-sorry,]" Kleiner replied. "[O-o-only s-s-speak German. E-e-english too h-h-hard]".
"Should have brought those translator earpieces with us," Melissa said with a sigh.
"Ok, so we now have four girls and one robot. Still not enough to take these guys down," Durandal said.
"Maybe it can be," Izumi said before she turned towards Kleiner. "[Kleiner, what exactly is your quirk?]".
Kleiner's eyes seemed to sparkle. "[I call it Phantom Wolf! It allows me to summon phantom wolves that I can use to attack and smother people. It's how I won the first-year sports festival]" she explained without stuttering.
"So, what was that she just said?" Ochaco asked, really wishing she understood German.
Not like she could just take the information she needed from Izumi, or maybe she could? She had no idea what she could do with her powers. Rolls was more focused on helping her control them first, and catch up on the ten or so years of training she had missed out on.
"She said that she can use her quirk to summon phantom wolves that she can use to smother people with," Izumi replied.
"Ok, that helps solve the numbers problem," Ochaco said. "Now, how do we get up there?"
"We could use the central elevator," Melissa said. "It leads all the way to the top. But only authorised personnel are allowed to use it".
"I see a problem with that plan. None of us are-" Izumi said before Melissa pulled out a keycard from somewhere. "What is that?".
"My dad's security card. Should let us use the central elevator," Melissa said with a smile before she whispered, "Don't tell him I have it".
"I have several questions," Durandal said. "But, considering the circumstances, I think it's best that I ask none of them and we instead focus on beating these guys, rescuing David Shield, and removing these villains' control over the island".
The four girls nodded after Izumi translated what Durandal said to Kleiner. They then proceed to follow Melissa towards the central elevator.
Unfortunately, the villains had reached it first, so they had to wait for it to go all the way to the top, and then come back down. Overall, they had to wait twenty-five minutes before they could use it.
During this time Izumi was getting worried. All Might could only maintain his muscled form for so long, and he had already used a lot of his time limit. They had to fix things quickly, otherwise, a lot of people were about to find out that the symbol of peace wasn't as invincible as they previously thought.
When the lift finally arrived the group quickly got inside. Melissa used her dad's security card to activate the lift, and soon, they started to ascend.
"So, how long till we reach the top?" Izumi asked.
"It'll take about twelve minutes," Melissa replied. "This is a tall building, and this lift, unlike the other lifts, was designed with the priority focused on transport capacity. This lift can carry a lot of equipment, but they had to slow it down for safety reasons. So, it's not as fast as the other lifts. But, it is the only one that goes straight to the top".
"No wonder it took so long to get to the top," Ochaco remarked.
"We'll have to be quick once we get there," Izumi said. "They would have had a good twenty-four minutes to do whatever it is they want David to do".
"Hopefully we can get to them before they have to-" Durandal said before he suddenly slumped.
"Durandal!" Izumi shouted as she rushed over. "What's wrong?".
"Something's draining my power," Durandal replied. "It's not bad, but it is getting worse the higher we go".
"Shit!" Melissa cursed. "The energy syphon! They must have activated it as well! It may be impossible for Durandal to come with us to the top floor".
"Well, that's just great," Durandal muttered.
"[I-i-is D-d-d-durandal ok?]" Kleiner asked.
"[No. An energy syphon is draining his power]" Izumi replied
"[C-c-can it b-b-be t-t-t-turned on t-t-the s-s-security r-r-r-robots?]" Kleiner asked.
"[No,]" Melissa replied. "[They're immune to it]".
"Well, that's even more annoying!" Durandal said whilst Izumi translated for Ochaco.
Izumi frowned, a worried look on her face, the higher they got the worse the drain will get. And she doubted Armoured Wolf mode would be a good idea to engage now. She might end up stuck inside of it and trapped.
"Should we stop and let him off?" Ochaco asked. "He might get damaged if we go up too high?"
Izumi opened her mouth to speak before the lift suddenly stopped, and Danger Sense suddenly started blaring like a foghorn. "Get away from the door!" she shouted before she pulled Melissa towards the side of the door. Durandal pushing Ochaco and Kleiner towards the other side.
Seconds later, the door opened and a hail of bullets shot through it.
"Shit! They must have known we were coming and set an ambush for us!" Melissa cursed.
"Well, there goes the being quiet," Durandal grunted.
"Now what?" Ochaco asked, keeping as close to the wall as possible.
"I can close the door," Melissa said as the bullets continued to fire into the lift. (seriously, how much ammo did these guys have?). "But the controls are on your side".
"So we need a distraction then," Ochaco said before she turned to Kleiner.
Durandal realised what Ochaco was thinking and nodded. "[Kleiner, you said you can make phantom wolves. Can you use them to distract the villains?]"
Kleiner nodded. "[Y-y-yes, b-but I will n-n-need to s-s-stay on this f-f-f-floor to maintain my w-w-wolves]".
"[So we'll have to leave you behind,]" Izumi said with a frown. She did not like the idea of leaving one of their own behind. But they could not risk these guys hacking into the elevator again and halting their progress.
"[I should go with her,]" Durandal said. "[The higher we go the worse the energy drain on me will get. I will be useless on the upper floors]".
Izumi nodded, even though she really didn't want to be separated from him. She couldn't risk bringing him to the higher floors with her. "[Alright, go. But stay safe you two]".
Kleiner nodded before she closed her eyes. An odd purple thing started to cover the floor around them. Shapes then started to rise up out of it, taking the forms of wolves of all kinds of shape and size. Some were large, some were small, some looked like Durandal, some looked like the Durandal plush, and some looked like wolves from several video games or shows.
"[Wolf Tsunami!]" Kleiner shouted before the large number of phantom wolves charged forward and attacked the villains.
The effect was immediate. The phantom wolves descended upon the villains and drew their fire. It was, as Kleiner had said, a Wolf Tsunami.
"Wow, this must be so cool to look at," Durandal remarked. "Shame I can't see any of these phantom wolves!"
Ah, yes, she forgot. When she watched the Millennium Academy sports festival, none of the wolves Kleiner summoned were visible, since Kleiner's quirk was a mental illusion quirk, which was something cameras couldn't pick up. Which made some things look odd when she was riding on top of an invisible wolf, or attacking someone with an invisible army of wolves.
She was sure it looked cool to those who were there, but to those watching it on TV, it just looked like someone defying the laws of physics. So, your typical Tuesday then.
Kleiner quickly stepped out of the elevator so that she could maintain her phantom wolves, quickly followed by Durandal who started attacking people.
Very fun.
"Melissa, you're clear!" Izumi said.
Melissa nodded before she rushed over to the other side of the lift and started working.
Kleiner and Durandal were making good progress in dealing with the villains, but there were not only a lot of them, they were also backed up by a lot of I-Islands security robots. But they weren't much of a problem.
Fun fact, despite not being able to see Kleiner's phantom wolves, they were still able to be attacked and damaged by them.
Those things are nightmares for robots. Can't be seen but can still do damage. Fun.
Of course, one of the villains noticed this face quite quickly. A man who could turn into a large, gorilla-like beast. And promptly charged the German girl.
"Damnit!" Ochaco shouted before she charged out of the lift and decked the villain before they could hit Kleiner.
"Ochaco!" Izumi shouted as she followed her to the elevator threshold.
"You two go on without us!" Ochaco shouted as she punched the villain in the face, again, hard. Very hard. "Don't worry about us! We'll catch up with you later! Just stop the villains and save David Shield!" she said as she dropped the now unconscious villain. "Man, this exoskeleton is strong!".
"Izumi, listen to her!" Melissa said as she rushed over to the controls and went to work. "I can't save my father alone!".
Izumi gulped but nodded. She couldn't go out there, not whilst Melissa still needed her. "Stay safe!" she said as she stepped back into the elevator.
"We will," Ochaco said before she turned to face the rest of the villains. "Alright, arseholes! Square the fuck up!" was the last thing Izumi heard from her girlfriend before the lift door closed and started moving again.
"That was really hot," Izumi muttered, blushing slightly
"We see why you like her," Melissa remarked as she worked at the elevator controls. "Have faith in your friends, Izumi. They'll pull through".
"Yeah, yeah they will," Izumi said. She was sure they'd be fine. They had a shy wolf girl who could summon an army of wolves, a pissed-off Durandal, and a feral Ochaco.
Izumi was sure that she was supposed to be the feral one, but hey, she didn't have a monopoly on being feral.
Plus feral Ochaco was hot and she wanted to snuggle with her.
Don't judge her.
"What floor did we leave them on?" Izumi asked.
"The eightieth floor," Melissa replied. "I-Island botanical garden. It's a place where we can experiment on the effects of quirks on plants. It's a very large floor with a lot of empty space. Just how many people did these guys bring with them? It's like they have an army".
I counted at least twenty villains in the botanical garden, not counting the robots," Izumi said, at least fifteen more in the party reception, plus the five guys who left with your father and that other scientist. We could be looking at at least another ten-to-fifteen guys on the top floor. Can't say about the guys at the other security stations".
Melissa frowned. "They had help. Someone inside the island helped them. There's no way they could have gotten so many people past the island's security so easily. Someone helped them. Someone who knew the locations of all of the island's security terminals. But who? Who would do this, and why?".
"We'll find out when we get to the top," Izumi said.
The guy in charge was bound to be up there, and whilst their inside man might not be, she knew of a few ways to get that information out of them. None of which involved Rolls.
She just had to hope that Ochaco, Kleiner and Durandal could hold out long enough for them to restore the island's security systems.
As they got higher and higher, the energy syphon made itself more and more known. The goggles Izumi was wearing were losing power fast. When they reached the top floor nine minutes later, the goggles were completely out of power.
"Goggles are dead," Izumi said, still unable to take them off. "Damn, and they were so useful too!".
"It was a prototype after all," Melissa said. "I didn't expect it to last long once we got up here".
"Why are the lights still on?" Izumi asked. "Shouldn't the syphon have drained their energy?".
"No. All I-Island robots and equipment are immune to the syphon," Melissa replied as the elevator door opened. "The only reason the goggles aren't is because I don't have access to the equipment necessary to make them immune. Anyway, we should get going. I think I might know where they've taken my father, come on!" she said as she rushed out of the lift. But was caught off guard by someone who charged in and swiped at Melissa with a sword.
Check that, someone swiped at Melissa with a sword on his forearm.
"Melissa!" Izumi shouted as she rushed to intercept the man who had attacked Melissa.
"God damn it!" the man shouted as he blocked Izumi's punch. "Just stay down you twat!".
Izumi growled before she kicked the man in the nuts, followed by a hard punch to the face, knocking him out. She then rushed over to Melissa. "Melissa! Are you ok?".
"I'm fine," Melissa replied as she slowly got up. "Didn't even scratch me".
"You're sure?" Izumi asked, a worried look on her face. "That blade was very close".
"Don't worry, it didn't hit me," Melissa said. "See, not a scratch".
Izumi nodded, Melissa looked fine, but she was still worried, and confused. That blade clearly cut her, yet there wasn't a single scar on her. How did she get out of there unscathed?
She'd have to worry about that later. She had Melissa's father to rescue. Melissa somehow being unscathed from a sword slash can be inquired about later. When the lives of millions of people aren't on the line.
"Alright, let's go," Izumi said before they left the elevator.
"I'll lead the way. I know where we're going," Melissa said. "You deal with any threats we come across!".
Izumi nodded as they rushed towards their destination. Thanks to Danger Sense she was able to notice any threat to them before they encountered it, allowing her to quickly and easily deal with them before they become a problem.
It also helped to locate where David had been taken too. Just head towards the most dangerous sense she could feel.
There was plenty of resistance along the way. Armed villains and security robots, but Izumi was able to deal with them quickly. And soon the I-Islands security vault was in sight.
"You bloody idiot!" an annoyed voice screamed.
"Sam?" Melissa said, sounding confused.
"Come on, let's get a bit closer," Izumi said quietly. "But keep quiet. We may be able to ambush them".
Melissa nodded before the two moved towards the vault quietly. There was no one outside it, allowing them to approach undetected and see what was going on inside.
Inside were the leader of the villains, several armed villains, David Shield and his assistant, Samuel, who was currently trying to strangle David.
"How could you do something so foolish!" Samuel shouted, an angry snarl on his face as he tried to strangle the life out of David. Two of Wolfram's men trying to hold him back. "How could you do it!? How could you destroy the device we spent years working on! After all the time we spent working on it, you had it destroyed!".
David sputtered out a response, unable to speak due to the hands wrapped around his neck.
Melissa had to actively hold herself back from rushing in there because she was horrified by what she was seeing. She knew Samuel. He was a calm if sometimes quiet man who got on well with her father. So why was he trying to kill him?
"Ok Samuel, you've had your fun. Now please STOP trying to murder David Shield!" Wolfram said as he forcefully dragged Samuel away from David, letting the man finally breathe. "We need him alive if we want you to make another quirk amplifier".
"Why, Samuel?" David asked between breaths. "Why did you do this?".
"You know!" Samuel spat. "We worked hard on the quirk amplifier, and you threw it all away! Not only did you allow them to step all over you and cancel the project, but they took it away as well! And now I find out that you went behind my back and had the device destroyed!"
"I did, what I did because the device was dangerous," David said. "Yes, we spent years working on it. Yes, I made it in the hope of helping people. Yes, it hurt when it was taken away, but, if a villain got their hands on it, then they could cause untold damage! Just like what happened during the Avalon war!" he said. "So why, why turn your back on everyone and help these people?".
"We worked hard on that device, yes," Samuel said with a scowl. "But after all that hard work, don't you think we should have gotten something out of it? But no, they took it away from us, and you had it destroyed!".
"That's it. That's why you did it, to be rewarded!" David said, an angry look on his face. "Did you learn nothing from the war? Do you know how many I-Island scientists defected to Avalon during the war, how many of our inventions were used in that war? Millions are dead because of our creations! When I was appointed to the I-Islands science counsel I made a promise to ensure that none of our technology can be used for villainy or for war!" he said. "I may have initially designed the quirk amplifier to help people, but the damage it can do in the wrong hands is just too much. That's why it had to be destroyed. We can't keep something that dangerous around".
"Well then, you'll just have to make us more of them," Wolfram said with a smirk. "Unless you want your pretty little daughter's brains splattered all over the wall".
"Yeah, about that," Melissa said, a deep scowl on her face. Izumi meanwhile was rather shocked by Melissa suddenly revealing them to the villains. "You might want to talk to your men. Because they are not good at capturing people".
Wolfram and his men quickly turned towards them. Samuel did as well but with a shocked look on his face. "What! How did you avoid capture?".
"We were kind of late to the party," Izumi replied nervously.
David sighed. "Like I said, there would have been a lot more screaming if you had tried to capture her. And maybe a few fatalities".
Wolfram smirked. "Well, I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance. Now be a good girl and hold still!" he said before he placed his hand on the ground, moments later the metal rods that made up the surrounding handrails moved and shot towards them.
'He can control metal!' Izumi thought as she picked up Melissa in a bridal carry and ran around the room with her, avoiding the metal rods trying to grab them. 'Good thing Durandal's not here. This guy could easily rip him apart'.
Whilst Izumi was busy avoiding the metal railing Wolfram was trying to capture her with, the two grunts he was with were also firing at them. Even with Danger sense helping her, there was just too much to avoid, not helped by her having to carry Melissa at the same time. It was only a matter of time before something grabbed her. And sadly, that time came sooner than she had hoped.
A metal rod grabbed her leg, causing her to trip and let go of Melissa, sending the other girl flying as Izumi was pinned to the wall by metal fragments.
One of the villains stopped firing when they realised that she was now restrained, but the other guy, however, wasn't as disciplined as his coworker, and, as Melissa rolled across the floor, fired several rounds into her.
"You idiot! We need her alive!" Wolfram shouted as he punched the gun out of the man's hands. They needed both Samuel and David to build them another quirk amplifier, and there was no way David would help them if his daughter was dead.
Melissa groaned as she slowly got up. "Ow. That's probably going to leave a tear".
She wasn't bleeding.
A shocked look slowly formed on Wolfram's face. Those rounds went straight through Melissa, yet, there was no blood.
Melissa looked down at the multiple bullet holes that now covered her dress, and poked one. "Damn, we actually liked this one".
Wolfram and Samuel stood there with shocked looks on their faces. Melissa had just been shot, a lot, and yet she was completely fine. If it weren't for the bullet holes in her clothing one could be mistaken that she had not been hit at all.
"W-w-what the hell!" Samuel gasped. "W-what trickery is this? How could she survive that? She's a quirkless freak!" he demanded, getting an odd look from Wolfram.
Melissa shot Samuel a sinister death glare, causing the man to gulp and shiver with fear. "Is that all we are to you, a quirkless freak of nature? And here we thought you actually liked us. Guess you were lying the entire time".
"She is quirkless, you dumbass," David said with a smirk. "She has the toe-joint and everything. But, quirks aren't the only powers out there," he said before he turned towards his daughter. "Melissa. Fuck them up".
Melissa grinned, almost predatorial. "Yes father," she said before she rushed towards Izumi at great speed. Far faster than a normal human should be able to run.
Wolfram, quickly realising what the girl was doing, sent a large block of metal flying towards Izumi, the block hitting her just as Melissa reached her. The resulting impact sent dust and debris everywhere.
Wolfram smirked, hoping that he had dealt with that annoying hero course student before Melissa could free them. But, what the hell was Melissa? He read the reports, that girl was quirkless, so how did she survive several direct bullet hits without suffering a scratch?
The dust soon settled, and the villains were treated to a shocking sight. Izumi stood there, unharmed, wearing an odd-looking suit of armour, with Melissa's clothing lying on the floor, as well as a few random objects as well.
The armour Izumi was now wearing looked insectoid in design, like the exoskeleton of an insect. But it seemed to shift, move.
Breath.
Then there was her body. Fire-like trails emanated from her hair, making it look like it was glowing, and two green lights shone through the suit's visor, precisely where her eyes were.
Izumi shook her head, looked around, and quickly checked herself out. "What the?" she wondered, surprised by the suit she found herself wearing.
"Izumi," the disembodied voice of Melissa said.
"Melissa?" Izumi gasped as she looked around confusingly. "Where are you?".
"You're wearing us," Melissa replied. "Look, I'll explain everything later. Right now, we have a villain's arse to kick! So, if you would be so kind as to fuck him up for us please. And don't worry about holding back. Go all out on them!".
Izumi nodded. "Right!" she said before she shot forwards, using one hundred percent of One for All.
David could only smile as Izumi/Melissa punched Wolfram in the face.
Chapter 62: Big Trouble Little I-Island Part 2
Ochaco grunted as she punched another villain in the chest, sending the man flying.
She really loved this exoskeleton Melissa had made. Not as much as she loved Izumi or the other members of the Snuggle Squad™. But it was up there.
She was taking out villains and security robots in like one or two punches. It was awesome! Okay so the big gorilla-like villain from earlier had gotten up. Apparently, he was only stunned and was now causing her issues, but with the only other things to deal with being some guy who could displace shit and a few security robots, dealing with him wasn't so difficult.
Kleiner doing what she did best and smothering everything beneath a lot of wolves and Durandal running around cutting up robots with a chainsaw on his tail.
Fun.
She ducked underneath another punch from the gorilla villain and jabbed him in the chest, sending him flying into a pillar.
He finally, didn't get up.
Ochaco let out a sigh of relief. That bastard took a lot of effort to take down. So much so that she doubted she would have been able to do it without the exoskeleton.
Kleiner suddenly shouted something, but due to not understanding German, she didn't know what was said. She couldn't even check the girl's mind due to that bloody thumping sound she had been hearing ever since this shit started. Seriously, what the fuck was that shit?
Luckily for her, she had a gut feeling that the German girl was warning her about something, so she ducked, just in time too, as she felt something brush against her back. Which was not a good feeling as that meant something had gotten through the exoskeleton she was wearing.
"Fuck you!" Durandal shouted, followed by the sound of him hitting someone hard.
Ochaco looked over and saw that he had knocked the guy who could displace things. Who was also holding the back of the exoskeleton she was wearing.
Ah, that was going to be difficult to explain to Melissa.
"You ok, Ochaco?" Durandal asked as he rushed over to her.
"I'm fine," Ochaco replied. "The exoskeleton. Not so much".
"Well, at least you're able to take it off now," Durandal remarked.
"[I t-t-t-think t-t-t-that's e-e-e-ever-r-r-ryone,]" Kleiner said, looking around. All the robots had been destroyed, and the villains were either knocked out or had a large number of wolves pinning them to the ground.
"[Good,]" Durandal said "Now what?".
"We should catch up with Izumi and Melissa," Ochaco said before turning towards the elevator. "The problem is how? We can't use the elevator, and climbing the tower will take too long".
"Well, we have to get up there somehow," Durandal said, looking up.
Suddenly, the entire building shook.
"[W-w-w-what w-w-was t-t-that!]" Kleiner asked, shuddering badly.
"Me thinks someone is mad up there," Durandal remarked, still looking up.
Suddenly, a green bolt smashed through the cycling, shot straight down, and smashed through the floor.
"Correction, me knows that Izumi is pissed off," Durandal said as he walked over to the hole and looked down it. "Oh boy, she is indeed pissed. That goes down all the way to the second floor!" he said before looking up. "Straight from the top floor too. She must be pissed".
"How did you know it was Izumi?" Ochaco asked.
"I saw her green hair," Durandal replied. "Which was also glowing, by the way. I'm going to ask her about that later. As well as where she got that suit of armour she was wearing".
"What?" Ochaco said looking confused. "How could you see that? Even if it was Izumi she was going too fast for me to even see".
"And I am an Alpha-level AI who can perceive time at a slower pace than you can," Durandal replied.
"Ah, right, forgot about that," Ochaco said, rubbing the back of her head. Maybe she wouldn't have forgotten that if there wasn't this constant THUMPING!!!
And then, something happened. The thumping in her head stopped and an announcement came over the intercom saying that the island's security was now returning to safe mode.
She could think clearly again.
That wasn't all that happened. "Hey, the power drains stopped. Someone must have restored the security systems," Durandal said.
"Looks like it," Ochaco said.
Suddenly, a blue bolt suddenly shot up from the hole in the floor, flew up, and shot through the hole in the cycling.
"And that was All Might heading up to the top floor," Durandal said. "Probably to check up on David and Melissa. They're probably still up there".
Ochaco nodded before she looked down the hole, amazed by Izumi's power.
'Is that what she'll be like when she fully masters One for All? Neet'.
Meanwhile, down at the party venue.
Everyone felt the building shudder, with more than a few people making worried cries.
"What the hell was that?" one of the villains asked.
"Don't know," another villain replied before he quickly got out his radio. "Ur, boss. What's going up there?" the villain asked into the radio, waiting a good few seconds before speaking again. "Boss, please respond… Boss?".
A green bolt suddenly shot through the skylight and smashed into the floor. Sending anyone nearby who wasn't already on the floor flailing onto it. Thankfully the impact zone itself was unoccupied, as most of the people had been moved away from the centre of the room.
The villains quickly turned towards where the bolt hit and aimed their guns at it. But what they ended up seeing shocked them.
And they weren't the only ones.
Wolfram lay on the floor, unconscious. All of his teeth had been punched out of his face and his uniform had been utterly destroyed, leaving him with nothing but rags.
Standing over him was Izumi, green lightning arching over her insectoid-looking armour, her green hair glowing.
"Don't move!" one of the villains said as he and the other pointed their rifles at her. But it was clear that some of them were shaking. "Move a-a-and we'll-. We'll shoot a hostage!" he said as he pointed his rifle at the nearest hostage.
Which just so happened to be Himiko.
Izumi glared towards the villain in question, the fool who decided to threaten one of her friends! Her green eyes flashed a sinister green.
The villain shivered violently before collapsing onto the floor, a wet patch forming around his waist. Himiko quickly shuffled away from him to get away from the stain.
She didn't want the man's piss on her dress. she may not like parties like this, but the dress was cute.
"Anyone else?" Izumi asked, looking over the rest of the villains as their leader lay on the floor below her.
The remaining villains promptly dropped their weapons and held their hands in the air.
"Huh. looks like there are some villains out there who have brain cells," the second vestige remarked. "You don't often see that".
Izumi nodded before there was an announcement over the intercom, stating that the security systems were now in safe mode, and the wrappings that held the heroes loosened.
'Good, David was able to take back control of the system' Izumi thought with a smile.
"Young Izu-. I-I mean, Usako!" Toshinori said as he rushed over to her, having just freed himself from his bindings. The other heroes quickly doing the same. Some went to detain the villains whilst others spread out throughout the building to apprehend the rest of the villains. "What are you doing here?!".
"Oh, All Might," Izumi jumped. "Well, Ochaco, Melissa, Durandal and I were late and didn't get here until just as the villains took the place over. So we decided to try and help out," she said nervously.
"Usako. I know you and your friends wanted to help out, and, whilst I am amazed that you were able to defeat their leader, you are still students," Toshinori said. "You shouldn't have gotten involved".
"I know," Izumi said with a frown. "B-but I couldn't just sit back and not do anything".
'You wouldn't be my successor if you didn't. I am so proud of you,' Toshinori thought with a smile. Unfortunately, he couldn't vocalise this due to there being so many pro-heroes around. He'll tell her how proud he is of her later. "I know. And in time, you will become a great hero! But, whilst you did do well, right now you are still a student. There is still much for you to learn. Just don't let this get to your head! Not everyone can punch a villain like that from all the way up from the top floor!".
"Yes I… did," Izumi said before she went pale and looked straight up, towards the long line of holes in the ceiling. "Oh bugger," she muttered before she promptly fainted.
Toshinori looked down at Izumi and sighed. He probably should have expected that from her the moment she realised she had just fallen two-hundred-plus floors.
"Izumi!" Momo, Nejire, Himiko, Tsu, Mei and Chiharu gasped as they rushed over to her, worried looks on their faces.
"Is she ok?" Momo asked.
"I don't know," Mei replied as she examined the armour Izumi was wearing. "This armour feels organic. This isn't like any kind of armour I've seen before. What on Earth is this?".
Melissa meanwhile was sweating bullets. You would too if you were in her situation. 'Please go away, please go away. You are not supposed to see this! Why did Izumi just faint like that?! Mother is SOOOOO going to take away my AR room privileges!'Melissa panicked as Izumi's friends tried to check on the girl. Not easy when you are currently being worn by the girl.
Toshinori coughed. "Now now you lot, you might want to give her some space! I'm sure the island's medical services can look after her! Just keep an eye on her until they arrive".
"Of course," Momo said.
"All Might," Blitz said as he rushed over. "We've secured the floor and made sure everyone's safe".
"Great! Thank you, my friend!" Toshinori said. "You and the other heroes keep securing the building! I'll check the top floor!" he said before he jumped up through the hole in the ceiling and kept flying up passing by Ochaco and Durandal on the way up to the top floor.
Upon reaching the top floor he quickly looked around. There were two more villains lying on the floor unconscious, as well as David's assistant, Samuel. There was the sound of keyboard pressing from deeper in.
Quickly he rushed towards the sound, rushing down a passage towards the security room, and found David typing at the security terminal.
Instantly Toshinori released his quirk and rushed over. "You alright?".
"I'm fine, Toshinori. Just bruised in places," David replied, rubbing his neck. "What about you?".
"Had to hold my hero form for longer than I expected to," Toshinori replied. "Thankfully I didn't have to move much, so I could maintain it for longer. But, it's a good thing you were able to restore the island's security when you did. I don't think I could have maintained it for much longer".
"Thank your successor, she's the one who made this possible," David said. "I see why you chose her. She's just like you. You can thank Melissa too. I'm slightly annoyed that she stole my security card, but they probably wouldn't have been able to get up here without it".
"So that's how they got up here," Toshinori said before looking around. "So, where is Melissa?".
David smirked. "Who do you think Izumi was wearing?".
A surprised look formed on Toshinori's face. "That armour was Melissa! How? When did she learn to do that?".
"Don't know. Must have been something she's been working on in private," David said. "I was rather surprised by that. Didn't think she could do that".
"Learn something new every day," Toshinori said before he looked at the screen before them. "How's the situation?".
"These guys are everywhere. They have men at the other four security terminals," David replied. "No idea how they found out about them all. The locations for the security terminals aren't publicly known, and Samuel only knew of one".
"Samuel was working with them?" Toshinori gasped.
David nodded somberly. "Yes he was, and I fear he wasn't the only one. He brought them in because he was annoyed that something we were working on, a device that could safely enhance a person's quirk, was taken away from us. He wanted to be rewarded for all the work he put into it and brought in a bunch of villains to do it. Quite the large group by the looks of it. There's heavy fighting at the other terminals. Security forces are en route, but it'll be a while before they can suppress them. It's going to be a long night," he said with a frown. "The security cameras are down in some places. My doing really. Can't let anyone find out about you, or Melissa. Should we tell her, your successor that is?".
"I'm not sure she's ready to know that David," Toshinori replied. "It's a big secret, very big, bigger than One for All big. She's already got enough on her plate as it is. Let's not give her more to worry about".
"You sure about that, Toshinori?" David asked. "She's going to find out about it sooner or later".
"I know that, David," Toshinori replied. "But she's not ready for it. Not yet".
"Well, I hope she is," David said, turning towards a security feed showing the medical ward, which had Izumi, who was still wearing Melissa, with Durandal and Ochaco nearby. "I fear we won't have a choice in the matter".
Meanwhile, in one of the island's residential districts, Twice and Tesla were bored. The island being in complete lockdown meant that they couldn't do much. With the Wi-Fi and internet down they couldn't do anything, so they were just sitting around, doing nothing whilst Hilala was currently having a shower.
"Bored!" Twice said, laying back on the sofa whilst kicking his feet in the air. "Bored!".
"At least you agree on something," Tesla remarked.
He had no idea what was going on or why the entire island was on lockdown, but it sucked. They were stuck in their room, unable to leave or contact anyone from Avalon.
They were fucking stuck.
There was suddenly a loud scream, followed by the sound of someone getting smashed through a door.
The two men quickly got up and rushed over towards the noise, and found a man crumpled against the wall, the door to the bathroom in bits around him.
"Ow," the man groaned. He had long white hair and wore what looked like a military uniform, with odd-looking goggles over his eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" Tesla asked.
"The Hacker, an ex-Avalon programmer," Hilala replied with a scowl as she stomped out of the bathroom, a white towel covering her. "What the hell are you doing here?!".
The Hacker groaned before raising an arm. "My apologies. Didn't realise the closest member of Avalon was in the shower".
"You worked for Avalon," Tesla said, sounding surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?".
"Knocking off 'hacking into the I-Island security systems' off my bucket list," the man said as he got back up.
"You hacked I-Island," Hilala said, looking slightly annoyed. "Please tell us that you are not responsible for the island being in lockdown?".
"Sadly yes," The Hacker said. "Wait, we're still on I-Island?".
"Yes," Hilala said with a nod.
"Fuck," The Hacker cursed. "I was hoping that I would be transported away from this island. Now how the fuck am I going to get off?".
"How did you even get here in the first place?" Tesla asked. "This island's security is top-notch. They should have recognised you the moment you stepped on the island".
"Joined up with a bunch of ex-RAFT guys who apparently wanted to drop the ex part," the Hacker replied. "They were trying to rob the island of some quirk amplifier and had insider help too. Not really worth my time, but it allowed me to kick something off my bucket list. And maybe download everything on their servers because why not?".
"Wait, you hacked the I-Island servers," Twice said. "Cheat! We were going to do that!".
"Oh thank fuck, we don't need to attend that boring party later," Hilala said with a relieved sigh. "We can fucking enjoy ourselves now! When this lockdown ends we're going to the nearest strip club and enjoying ourselves!".
"There aren't any strip clubs on the island," Tesla interjected. "There isn't even a red light district".
A grumpy look formed on Hilala's face. "We fucking hate this place! No red light district! Why even live here? Who in their right mind doesn't put a red light district inside a major city like this?".
"I-Island apparently," The Hacker said. "It's a place dedicated to quirk science and support equipment, I think they didn't include a red light district so that the scientists weren't distracted".
"Well fuck them. Not everyone here is a scientist, some people just want to have a little fun," Hilala remarked. "No wonder so many people defected. Unless you're a scientist, this place is boring!".
"I don't think that's the reason," Tesla said. "Well, it's not the reason why my dad defected".
"Well, now that we're all here, how do we get off?" The Hacker asked. "Because I doubt I will be able to get off unnoticed".
"Don't worry, we can get you off," Hilala said with a smirk. "It's the least we can do for saving us from the most boring party in the universe".
"Thanks, much appreciated," The Hacker said.
It was then that the island went out of lockdown.
"Finally!" Twice said happily "The TV is back! Now we can watch porn!".
"Ur, I already checked. There are sadly no porn channels available," Tesla said.
"Fuck this fucking island and everyone who fucking lives on it!" Hilala growled. "We swear this island is run by boring old men who never got laid!".
The other nodded. It really felt like it at times. The sooner they got off this island the better.
Meanwhile, back at the I-Island tower, Izumi was just starting to wake back up after fainting.
"Urg. what happened?" Izumi asked as she sat up on the bed.
"You fainted," Ochaco replied.
Izumi looked to the side and saw Ochaco sitting on the bed next to her, with Durandal sitting on the floor. "Oh, hey guys. Guess I frightened myself back there".
"You almost gave me a heart attack," Ochaco said with a frown. "What even happened?"
"Well, I, beat the villains up," Izumi replied nervously. "Kind of disappointing really. The guy in charge went down in two hits. Admittedly one of those hits was me punching him through the entire building".
"That's One for All for you," The whispery voice said. "It's gotten so powerful that very few people can withstand a hit at full power. I'm just surprised you didn't break yourself this time. That armour you were wearing is something else".
"I think the shock from finding out that I fell from the top floor got the better of me," Izumi continued, ignoring the voice of the vestige. "I think David Shield restored the security systems".
"Well, at least we won," Ochaco said with a sigh. "And I'm glad you're alright. Just don't do that again, okay?".
"Don't worry, I won't," Izumi said with a smile. "I'm glad you're ok as well, Ochaco. Say, what happened to the exoskeleton you were wearing?".
"It was destroyed," Ochaco reapplied. "One of the villains ripped it from my back, destroying it," Ochaco said. "At least I was able to finally take it off. At the cost of destroying it".
Izumi smiled, glad that her girlfriend was alright.
"Izumi, one small question," Durandal said. "What the fuck are you wearing? I mean what in the hell is that armour? It's not like any armour I've ever seen before, the material it's made from is not only organic but it's breathing! Armour should not breathe!".
"It is also thinking, thinking!" Ochaco added. "Ok, all I get is what sounds like static from it, but it's definitely thinking".
"That's because said armour is us," Melissa said, surprising the three of them.
Yes, Izumi had forgotten that she was somehow wearing Melissa.
"M-m-m-Melissa!" Ochaco gasped.
"Yep, that's us," Melissa spoke, her voice somehow coming from the armour Izumi was wearing. "Apologies about the spook, but, well, shit happened and someone decided to shoot us. Things spiralled out of control, and, well. Here we are".
"Ur, right," Izumi said nervously. "Melissa, why are you a suit of armour? I've never worn a girl before".
And that was a sentence she never thought she'd say.
"Aren't you supposed to be quirkless?" Ochaco asked.
"And we are," Melissa replied. "This ability, well-".
"Isn't a quirk," Izumi finished.
Looks like Ochaco and Eri's telepathic abilities aren't the only non-quirk abilities out there.
"Yes," Melissa replied. "It's not an easy thing to explain. Hold one, let us just take on a more comfortable form".
The door to the medical room opened, and a robot marched in carrying some clothing. The robot looked a bit like one of those Cylon Centurions from Battlestar Galactica but with a more feminine body. There was also a slight insectoid feel to it.
The robot walked over to a nearby bed and deposited the clothing onto it.
"Izumi, word of warning. This may feel, creepy," Melissa said before the 'armour' Izumi was wearing crawled off of her body.
Izumi shivered as she felt billions of tiny things crawl over her body as 'Melissa' crawled off of her, moved over to the other bed and engulfed the clothing that had been put onto it. The mass of something soon took on the shape of a person, moving the clothing so that it was covering it. Then, Melissa's form quickly formed in place of the mass, hair undone.
"Well, that's not something we do often," Melissa remarked as she checked herself out. "At least we didn't put anything on backwards this time".
"That was so cool!" Izumi said with stars in her eyes. Ignoring the itchy feeling she got from the feeling of billions of tiny things crawling all over her.
"Well, you're not a robot, that's for sure," Durandal said, tilting his head. "Those were clearly bugs of some sort".
"You could tell what those are?" Ochaco gasped.
Durandal nodded. "Yep. Had to zoom in a lot, but yes, I could see them. And that is a shit ton of bugs that you are made out of".
"Yes, we are composed of insects," Melissa cursed, lowering her head. "It's a very long story".
"But, why say you were quirkless?" Ochaco asked. "You could easily have passed that off as a quirk?".
"Because how the hell are we supposed to explain this?" Melissa asked, pointing to herself. "I'd have to classify this as a mutation quirk due to my body being composed of billions upon billions of microscopic bugs. It's going to bring up so many questions as we were clearly born not like this. Any explanation we could come up with would be called bullshit. So, quirkless it was. It was safer this way. My dad didn't want any more attention on us. Just coming back from being brain-dead was stretching the miracle part. Coming back as a massive swarm of insects would have been full-on bullshit".
Izumi nodded, unlike emitter and transformation quirks, those with mutation quirks have their quirk factors show up at birth, they just don't fully express themselves till much later. If she had revealed this ability as a quirk then a lot of people would have called bullshit on that because someone could easily tell that she was not born as a massive swarm of bugs.
Still, how did she become this?
"So, you weren't born like that," Izumi stated. "That much I can tell. Can't really kill the brain of a massive swarm of insects. Which means that the miracle revival that brought you back is this, right?".
Melissa nodded. "Yes, this is how we were brought back. It's a long story, and we're going to need our dad around to help explain it. Maybe Uncle Might as well. He was there when I was, revived and helped colaborat my dad's story. We might need them here as well to fill in some gaps".
"You can explain it in the morning. If you want to, that is," Izumi said. "I won't force you to explain anything. If you want to keep this a secret you can, I won't force you. But, if you want to tell us, please, do it in the morning".
"Are you sure about this Izumi?" Durandal asked. "This might be important".
"Positive," Izumi replied. "This secret, whatever it is. David and All Might went to great lengths to keep it. And I won't force them to divulge this. By the sounds of things, this is bigger than One for All. so, I won't force anyone to divulge this to any of us. Plus, I'm tired, I'm exhausted, and just want to snuggle up to my girlfriend. I just don't want to deal with this tonight".
"Don't worry, we'll wait till morning then," Melissa said. "But, one small question. What's One for All?".
Izumi and Ochaco gulped. "Fuck!".
Durandal shook his head. "Well, tomorrow looks like it's going to be interesting".
Toshinori walked into the hospital room, a small frown on his face. He didn't like doing this, but this was his friend he was talking about here. He was worried about him.
Inside the room, working at one of many consoles, was his old sidekick and old friend, David Shield.
David was a tall man with aqua eyes and light brown hair that was short and messy, as well as a short goatee on his chin.
There was one other in the room. A young, three-year-old girl, lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to almost every machine in the room.
This child was Melissa Shield. David's daughter. And sadly, she was brain-dead.
The day Melissa was born was the happiest day of David's life. But, sadly. The very next day. It was all taken away from him.
There was a violent villain attack on the hospital David's wife was staying at. The attack took not only her life, but Melissa was caught up in it as well, resulting in her suffering from brain death.
No more than a day old, and her entire future was taken from her, before she even had a chance to live it.
David broke that day. The loss of his wife, and the condition his daughter was in, he just, shut down. For a few weeks, he just didn't respond to anything. He still moved around, ate and slapped, but he didn't do anything. It took weeks before he started talking to others, but the overall recovery was still ongoing.
Ever since that day, David had been working hard to try and find a way to revive Melissa. To little to no success.
It hurt him to see his friend like this, so broken and focused on an impossible task. He just wanted to help him.
"David," Toshinori said as he walked up behind his friend.
"Huh?" David murmured as he looked up and turned towards him. "Oh, hi Toshinori. Thought you'd be asleep by now?".
"David, it's six in the morning," Toshinori said with a frown.
"It is?" David said with a frown before he looked at his watch. He sighed. "Another accidental all-nighter".
"You need to stop doing this. It's not good for you," Toshinori said, a worried look on his face.
"I know, I know," David said before he turned towards the young girl that was-. That should be his daughter. "I'm close, I'm sure of it this time".
"You've been saying that for the past two years," Toshinori said.
"But this time I mean it," David said. "I know I'm close this time".
"You've said that before too," Toshinori said with a frown. "Look, I know you want to revive your daughter, allow her to witness all the wonders of the world. I want her to as well. But, as much as I do not wish to say this, it might be time to let her go. The brain is the most complicated part of the human body. And even now we don't fully understand it. We haven't even been able to find someone with a quirk that can help-".
"NO!" David shouted, slamming a fist onto the table. "I will not give up! Melissa is all I have left! There has to be a way to bring her back! To revive her! I just have to find it!".
Toshinori took a step back from David, a surprised look on his face. He'd never seen his friend react like this before.
David frowned. "I'm sorry, Toshinori. I didn't mean to shout".
"It's alright," Toshinori said. "You're probably just tired".
David rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right. I've been working too much as of late. I should get some sleep".
Toshinori put an arm around his friend and helped escort him out of the room. It pained him to say that, but, he sadly knew a lost cause when he saw one. There had never been a case of someone who's gone through brain death being successfully revived.
Brain death was sadly permanent.
"Toshinori," David said as they walked. "Just a few more weeks. Please. I'm close to finding a way to revive her, I'm sure of it".
"Don't worry, David," Toshinori said. "I won't force you to take her off life support. Just promise me that you'll take better care of your health from now on".
David nodded. "Thanks, Toshinori-" he said before they were suddenly engulfed by some kind of green light. "What the?" he gasped before there was a flash, and their surroundings changed. One minute they were in a medical room housing David's daughter, the next, they were in an odd-looking room that reminded him of the transporter bays from Star Trek, but the room was, different.
The walls were clearly made from metal, but they had a green tint as well as an insectoid feel to them.
It felt, Alien.
"Toshinori, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," David remarked as he looked around.
Yes, he did just reference The Wizard of Oz there. Who wouldn't in this situation?
Toshinori flexed his muscles. "Stand back David. I'll get us out of here!".
"Toshinori wait!" David said. "Let's figure out where we are first before we start punching things, ok?".
"Are you sure that's a wise thing to do?" Toshinori asked as he noticed his friend go into analysis mode. "We could have been kidnapped?".
"I know," David said, looking around. "But, let's figure out where we are and why we're here first before we try to escape. We've been brought here for some reasons. Let's find out why that is first, ok? If they point guns at us, then punch them. But until then, let's try and be civil about this".
Toshinori reluctantly nodded. He didn't like the idea of just sitting around after getting kidnapped like this, but David was right, they had no idea why they had been brought here. So, the smart thing would be to hold back and wait and see what will happen. If they were hostile, then he could deal with them. But, if they were peaceful, then he and David could deal with it peacefully.
Being a hero didn't mean punching all of your problems in the face. Diplomacy was an important part of the job as well.
Suddenly a hexagonal door opened on the opposite side of the room, and an insectoid-like robot crawled in. It looked something like a mix between a praying mantis and a spider.
"The Mistress apologies for bringing you here without prior contact or warning," the robot said with a bow. Its voice, whilst mechanical, had a clear feminine tone to it. "If you would kindly follow us, the Mistress wishes to speak to you".
David nodded. "Of course. Lead the way".
"David, are you sure about this?" Toshinori asked, a slightly worried look on his face.
"As I said, Toshinori, we might as well figure out why we were brought here first before we try to fight our way out," David said before he followed the robot out. Toshinori reluctantly followed.
They exited the room into a hexagonal corridor. They followed the robot down the corridor, which they only just noticed was curved upwards.
"Ok, I'm starting to see what you meant by we're not in Kansas anymore," Toshinori remarked looking around. "Where do you think we are?".
"I'm not completely sure yet, but I think we're no longer on Earth," David said, sounding excited. "I think we're on a starship. The floor is curving upwards, so we're probably inside a massive centrifuge. The people who built this ship probably don't have the means to generate artificial gravity. If they could, the corridor would be straight or flat, not curved upwards".
"So, aliens then. We're been kidnapped by aliens," Toshinori said, sounding oddly calm about the situation. But then again, his quirk was a two-hundred-year-old quirk that could be passed from person to person and came with its own nemesis. "Guess that throws punching our way out of this. Neither of us can breathe in space. So, any idea what kind of aliens we're dealing with?" he asked as he discreetly marked 'get kidnapped by aliens' off on his One for All Shenanigans Bingo Card.
"Well, we're definitely dealing with some sort of insectoid species," David replied, still looking around. "The hexagonal corridor and doors, a very common shape in stuff like beehives or wasp nests. There are no straight edges either, they're all curved. Just like hexagons found in nature. Clearly the thinking of an insect. Plus our host said that their 'Mistress' wishes to speak to us. Clearly, we're dealing with a matriarchal society, as insects tend to be. A single queen commanding hundreds of drones. Alien bugs. This'll be interesting".
"If you say so," Toshinori said. "Let's hope these 'aliens' come in peace. But, why contact us and not someone else, like a world leader".
"Don't know," David said before the robot stopped and turned towards them. "But I think we're about to find out.
"In here, please," the robot said, gesturing to a now-open door. "The Mistress will see you now".
David and Toshinori shared a quick glance before they entered the room. And were shocked by who they saw.
"Greetings, humans," a woman who could be best described as She-Hulk mixed in with an Orion from Star Trek, said as she, and three others like her bowed completely in sync. It was almost creepy how the four of them were able to bow in exact sync.
"Well. That's not the kind of insect I was expecting," David remarked.