บท 92: Chapter 91
After tying up the two villains and stealing their earpieces, Izuku tried to see if he could listen in on the enemies' communications, but none of the pre-saved frequencies connected to any active lines.
"Looks like they're keeping an eye on us from somewhere," said Izuku, removing the earpiece as he added, "Or they have a way of pairing and removing earpieces from their private network. Either way, this is pretty much useless."
Tossing the earpiece to Melissa, just in case she had any ideas, Izuku wasn't too surprised when she said, "It's most likely the latter. The AI in charge of security is what blocks or, more accurately, actively intercepts radio and other communications frequencies. I can only use my phone to contact my father because I'm a tower resident, and he's a member of the Board of Directors."
"Oh, wow, your father sounds like a big shot, Athena," remarked Kirishima, unaware of Melissa's true identity.
"You're not wrong," replied Melissa, adopting a wry smile as she added, "My father is David Shield, one of I-Island's founders."
"Holy crab baskets...!" exclaimed Kirishima, striking a surprised pose and inadvertently hardening due to how shocked he was.
"Cool your jets, man," said Izuku. Then, as Toshinori had yet to escape his restrained status, he turned to Melissa, surprising her by asking, "What do you want to do, Athena? I doubt we can get there before All Might leaps into the fray and resolves things, but we can continue advancing if you're worried about your father."
Adopting a gratified smile, Melissa replied, "I'd like that. We don't know when Momo and the others will free Uncle Might and the other Heroes, so I'd like to keep going until the High Alert Mode deactivates. If my father is injured or knocked unconscious, I could be needed to operate the central security terminal."
Nodding in affirmation, Izuku stated, "Then we'll continue our ascent at your direction. Anyone here got a problem with that?"
"Of course not~!" replied Mina, flexing her right arm and cupping her bicep with a massive grin. Ochaco also pumped her fists, moving them up and down like a hyperactive skier as she appended, "Athena is our friend! If her father is in danger, we have to help him...!"
"Right on...!" shouted Kirishima.
"Nn..." responded Todoroki, nodding his head with his customary 'apathy,' eliciting a similar response from Tokoyami. With their agreement, the only person with apprehensions was Kyouka. However, it wasn't because she didn't want to help but because she doubted they could climb 130 flights of stairs before the others could free All Might. Her thighs were already in pain after climbing eighty flights, so the thought of climbing an additional 130 wasn't exactly pleasant...
Fortunately for Kyouka, Ochaco shared this sentiment, using her power on everyone who accepted it so they could float/glide up the stairs as if they were in zero gravity. With Melissa directing them to pass through several open-concept research facilities, allowing them to skip multiple floors at a time, their progress was extremely quick...
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Around the time when the attack group had reached the 100th floor, the rescue team, led by Momo, reached the landing above the stage where Toshinori was bound. The fact there were no villains providing overwatch showed they had limited personnel and a very shallow understanding of the building's layout, but Momo had no objections. Instead, she turned to Tsuyu and Toru, asking, "Can the two of you sneak into the reception hall and position yourselves near two of the villains? All Might may be unable to incapacitate all seven of them before they can target the hostages, so we should try to reduce their numbers as much as possible."
With Tsuyu able to climb walls and possessing the ability to match her color and temperature against a surface, an Ultimate Move she had aptly named 'Camouflage,' she and Toru could sneak up on the enemy without being noticed. Ida and Ojiro could also blitz two of them, and if he called out to them before they shouted and started firing, Shinso could disable the rest in a single go. The only person who didn't have a convenient way to take out one of the villains was Shoji, but he could help by protecting the hostages and ensuring Shinso didn't eat a stray bullet. His body wasn't completely bulletproof, but the 5.56mm ammunition used by the gunmen wouldn't be able to penetrate deep enough to injure his vitals, especially with the bulletproof vest and riot helmet Momo had made for him...
Once everyone was in their positions, taking around ten minutes to set up, Momo used a weak laser pointer to draw Toshinori's attention. Seeing her confused the middle-aged Hero quite a bit, as he believed they had gone against his wishes to ascend the tower, but his bewilderment was quickly replaced by excitement when Momo signed to him what Melissa had told them, along with the fact they were in position to incapacitate five of the seven villains present.
Seeing the smile on Toshinori's face, Momo felt a sensation similar to relief wash over her. Whenever the former smiled, it was a sure sign that everything was going to be okay, so after signing that they would move on his signal, she pulled out a pair of electric batons and readied herself to enter the fray alongside Shoji and Shinso.
Wasting no time, All Might burst free from his bindings, shouting, "Your time has come, villains...!" before disappearing like a flickering image. A moment later, four of the seven villains were seen flying through the air, their bodies crashing heavily into the reception hall's walls and support columns as Ida, Ojiro, and Tsuyu took out the remaining three...
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Receiving the frenzied status report from his subordinate, the man with the metal mask exclaimed, "What!? Are you kidding me...!?" with a hint of panic in his yellow eyes. They weren't even halfway finished cracking the security of the storage room, and there was no way they would be able to do so with All Might breathing down their necks.
With his subordinate confirming that All Might has broken free and taken control of the situation in the reception hall, the masked man pulled out his pistol, aiming it at David and Sam as he said, "There's been a change of plans. The two of you will be coming with me. You already created the Quirk Amplification Device once, so I'm sure you can do it again."
Furrowing his brows, David resolutely replied, "If that's your plan, then you might as well kill me. I would sooner die than manufacture such a powerful tool for villains."
Stepping in front of David, Sam raised his hands, beads of sweat dripping from his wrinkled forehead and chubby cheeks as he exclaimed, "W-Wait! This isn't what we agreed to! Leave the Professor out of this...!"
Blinking in surprise and confusion, David muttered, "Sam...?" as everything began to click within his mind.
Pulling out his handkerchief, Sam dabbed the sweat from his brow as he explained, "I'm sorry, Professor, but I couldn't just sit back and watch as my–as our research was taken away from us by those fools on the Board of Directors! How can they shamelessly assert themselves as the leaders of the scientific community when they fear progress...!?"
Staring at his old friend and colleague in disbelief, David asked, "Then all of this is your doing? I knew you were upset that our research had been taken away from us, but this isn't-"
Interrupting the duo's exchange, the masked man said, "We don't have time for this." before promptly shooting Sam in his right shoulder blade.
Slumping forward and falling to the ground, Sam clutched his bleeding shoulder as he cried, "What do you think you're doing!? I wasn't resisting, so why-"
*bang*
Silencing Sam's protests with a bullet to the back of the head, the masked man leveled his pistol at David, a no-nonsense look on his face as he said, "You are coming with us, Professor. Refuse, and our association will spare no effort hunting that daughter of yours down. And trust me, she won't be as fortunate as your friend here..."
"You bastard..." growled David. However, instead of giving in, he adopted a smile and added, "Go ahead and shoot. I already asked All Might to take Melissa to Japan, so you gun-toting cowards won't be able to lay so much as a single finger on her..."
Understanding the implication of David's words, the look on the masked man's face became especially ugly. Japan had nearly as many Heroes as the United States despite the latter being twenty-six times larger. Trying to infiltrate it from the outside was next to impossible, and if Melissa were moved to UA, they would need a literal army to breach its defenses...
Aiming his pistol at David's kneecaps, the masked man fired a bullet into each, his expression a hate-filled glower as he said, "Wipe that smug grin off of your face, you despicable piece of trash. Your actions today may as well have doomed all of humanity, so let's see-"
Before the masked man could finish his hateful diatribe, the doors to the central elevator abruptly burst open, followed by a bone-chillingly familiar voice shouting, "It's going to be okay, Dave! Why, you ask...!?"
Waving his hand, Toshinori cleared away the debris from the destroyed elevator in an instant, his expression dark despite the smile on his face as he added, "Because I. AM. HERE!"
"Oh, fu-"
Interrupting both the masked man's words and his attempts to pull the trigger of his pistol, Toshinori flashed over to him in an instant, shouting, "DETROIT...SMASH!"
Punching the masked man's face hard enough to leave an imprint in his metal mask, Toshinori sent him crashing into the barrier-protected walls of the room, the whites of his eyes showing as he slumped down to the floor.
Snorting in contempt, Toshinori elected to ignore the man in favor of helping his friend, bending down and rolling David onto his back before whispering, "Forgive me, Dave...if I had trusted my instincts and taken action sooner, all of this could have been prevented..."
Shaking his head, David forced a smile and said, "It's better this way...if Sam had lived, his reputation would have been ruined, and he would have spent the rest of his life in a prison cell..."
Though he had no clue what David was talking about, Toshinori offered a curt nod before picking him up in a princess carry, making sure to keep his legs above his heart. The masked man had been knocked senseless, but they needed to regain control of the central security terminal to conclude the event...
Just as Toshinori turned around to carry David to the control room, his Crisis Awareness kicked into overdrive as a familiar voice remarked, "So, it's true. Not only are you not weakened, but you managed to recover the power you had at your peak. Perhaps you'd like to share your methods...?"
Shaking with such fury that the ground beneath him started to tremble, tiny flakes of metal and dust rising around him, Toshinori turned around to find a tall, well-built man wearing a suit and a black, skull-like mask with various pipes and tubes running from it, standing in the air with his hands behind his back.
"ALL-FOR-ONE...!" growled Toshinori, his voice incomparably deep as his vibrant blue eyes came to life like azure blue flames.
Exhaling a light-hearted chuckle, the masked man, the greatest enemy of all One-for-All users, All-for-One, calmly mused, "Such ferocity. It's been a while since I felt genuine shivers like this."
Spreading his hands, revealing two tiny 'voids' in his palms, All-for-One added, "It's a shame your friend is injured, and I didn't come here to fight. Rather, I came to issue you a warning..."
"Warning?" parroted Toshinori, his expression hardening even further as he asserted, "As if I would ever trust a thing you had to say..."
"This is bigger than us," replied All-for-One. "What I have to say concerns the fate of this world and humanity as a species. If this weren't a matter of utmost importance, I would destroy you and capture that little protege of yours right here and now..."
Without waiting for Toshinori's response, All-for-One returned his hands behind his back, revealing, "The existence of Quirks and the Meta World Transversal phenomenon are just the precursors to an even greater event. They are the planet's way of preparing us for what's to come. Thus, while I desire little more than killing you and reclaiming One-for-All, our little tiff can wait..."
Though Toshinori couldn't see his face, he could imagine All-for-One grinning from ear to ear as he said, "To ensure humanity's triumph in the conflicts to come, I'm here to propose both a truce...and an alliance..."
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(A/N: O_O...)
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