Chapter 60: Party’s Cancelled

(Previously)

“Sorry, but I’m a little lost here.” The blonde spoke up, her Japanese accented, but much better than Tsunotori's, with even her pronunciation on point.

Midoriya blinked before a look of horror formed on his face as he hurriedly bowed to her. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I don’t just forget to introduce myself, I swear!”

The unnamed girl tried to laugh it off. "It's fine. It seemed like a conversation between friends, and I didn't want to intrude."

Midoriya shoots his hand out. “Midoriya Izuku, and if you like, you can be our friend, too!”

“Just like that?” She asked, still shaking his hand and introducing herself as Mellissa Shield.

"Monoma Neito, and yes, becoming his friend is not hard. He's quite sociable when his social battery isn't depleted." Monoma joked, to which Midoriya shoved him with his hips.

Line Break

Uraraka's retort to how friendly the two class B boys were with each other was cut when they felt the arena shaking ahead, along with a squeal from the announcer. Looking down, they saw that another familiar face was present and that he had just buried the entire stage in so much ice you'd think he was gearing up to sink a cruise liner. “This is insane, just 14 seconds! This gentleman has jumped to the lead of the pack!”

“Todoroki’s here too?” Monoma asked, to which Mellissa turned to him.

“Is he a classmate of yours?” At this point, she wasn’t even surprised about it.

“Oh, he’s their classmate. We’re in class 1-B.” Monoma corrected, gesturing towards the class A group. Mellissa was a little confused by this, as Uraraka mentioned class B but didn't elaborate. Was it a different grouping than the academy here?

Yaoyorozu noted her confusion and cleared up the air. "It's U.A.'s other hero class. There's two per grade." Mellissa nodded, chuckling, as she had forgotten that not all schools just put their students into the same class for homeroom and then split them off for different subjects.

Midoriya had already left. Jumping off the stands and onto the field, he charged Todoroki with a happy smile on his face, stopping just short of running into the taller boy. “Todoroki, why didn’t you tell me you’ll be coming, too?!”

“Oh, Midoriya. I wasn’t expecting to see you,” Todoroki hardly reacted to Midoriya’s attitude, as in their admittedly brief time on good terms during their internship, he had come to learn that when Izuku was crippled by anxiety that he would be quite outgoing. In fact, looking up to where he saw him come from, he saw some other familiar faces. “And others as well.”

Midoriya got in front of him again. "Don't ignore my question; I sent you a text saying I would be going to I-island with Monoma, and you just went," He pulled his phone out to confirm before showing Todoroki their chat window. “‘Okay.’”

"Apologies, it was a last-minute change. The invitation was for my father, but work pulled him away, so I'm in his stead." Todoroki explained that he had little interest in this despite I-island's reputation, as he would have rather focused on training with his fire to make up for the years of neglect. Still, his sister had talked him into it, calling it a well-earned vacation and a chance to dine and have fun at their father's expense, much like she used to when she was in high school.

And people thought it was just his big brother who was spiteful of his father. His sister was just more subtle about it.

Midoriya frowned but didn't refute it; Todoroki wasn't the type to lie. “You should have still texted.”

“Is that mandatory?” Todoroki asked, looking confused about it.

“It is according to Tokage!” Midoriya shot back, as he had to rely on his friends for advice on how to be….well, friendly with others their age.

Todoroki scratched his chin in thought. “Interesting…I had no idea.” Neither noticing that they were still being broadcast to a confused and mildly amused audience

"Should we stop them? I have a feeling Tokage's a bit like Ashido," Jiro asked as they watched them continue to discuss the finer points of communication between friends, such as what sort of emojis to use and how many.

“We could…but this is too funny to watch.” Monoma shrugged, as when Midoriya figured this out, that’ll be funny to see.

"Well, it seems you have a lot of fun at your school with such characters like them." Mellissa laughed at the display.

"Well…it's never boring, I'll say that much." Yaoyorozu awkwardly replied as this wasn't the worst thing that could happen. Heavens knew what Bakugo would have done if he had been here. However, she still hoped to give a more respectable impression of their school than socially out-of-touch teenagers with far too much power.

Line Break

As the day came to an end with the last rays of the afternoon sun, an island-wide announcement was made announcing that all attractions and rides were to close in 5 minutes and that while many stores would remain open, people were to return to their lodgings, especially those who were waiting for the opening of I-Expo.

Such an announcement was a blessing for Mineta and Kaminari, who lay slumped against the closed door to the café where they had volunteered to work. The customers were also gone, but both shivered from fear and exhaustion as they recalled just how many people had come through. Kaminari's legs hurt so bad from just needing to go from the counter to the tables, which felt like hundreds of times.

Mineta, for his part, would never think ill of customer service workers ever again as he had been put through the wringer, and while he hated when people thought little of him for his small size, a lot of people, if they didn't draw attention to that, expected him to be as fast and capable as the rest of the staff. That and whiny kids…so many whiny kids who screamed, ran around, and spilled what seemed to be half the menu on the floor.

His parents seemed too tired or apathetic about the demons they created, so he just had to bear it with a smile and clean up each and every time. "The Expo isn't even open to the public yet. How is it this busy?" he bemoaned as Kaminari cried into his hands.

"I don't want to think about it! Maybe things will be better tomorrow…right?” Kaminari hoped, asking for mercy from on high as they only took these stupid jobs to enjoy the Expo. Still, they'll be forced to stick to hearing customers talk about it at this rate.

“Hey, Mineta, Kaminari!” They looked up when they heard their names being called.

“Wha…wah!” Kaminari spotted the group from before, including Todoroki, who they hadn't known was here, but then he saw him.

“Don’t hurt us!” Mineta jumped into Kaminari's arms. He, too, saw Midoriya, who lowered his arm, cocking his head in confusion.

“…Why would I do that?” He asked.

“They might be recalling the Sports Festival a bit too vividly.” Monoma shrugged, but that confused Midoriya even more.

“But I didn’t hurt them there either.” Midoriya countered. Yes, he was a little scary at the festival, but no one else seemed to care, and he hardly interacted with both class-A boys.

'Maybe not physically, but without you, they'll little scheme would have gone off without a hitch.' Yaoyorozu suspected it, but she wouldn't say it, as Kaminari hadn't made any other attempts since then despite her annoyance and disappointment with the two. She didn't want Mellissa to hear about that, at least not now.

“Here.” Iida handed the two scared boys something, to which they hesitantly accepted.

“What’s this?” Mineta asked, looking it over and spotting that there were tickets. With everything closing, what could this be for? A movie or something?

"Invitations to the big Expo reception later tonight," Monoma replied, which caused them to do a double take.

"Mellissa felt bad for you for some reason," Jiro added, though she had no clue why.

"She figured you could use a break," Uraraka added, to which Mellisa beamed when they looked her way.

"I had some extra tickets, and it felt wrong to just let them go to waste. Besides, it couldn't have been easy keeping up with how busy things were." Mellissa replied, which caused the tears to tear up as they looked between the American and the tickets, the latter as if they were printed on gold and written with diamonds while the former as if she was a person to be worshipped.

“Mineta…”

“Kaminari…”

“A beautiful angel has descended from heaven to reward us for all our hard work!” Both bawled, which caught some of the students off guard. They expected gratitude, but not this much of it.

“Why are you smiling?” Todoroki asked Midoriya, who seemed to be happy about their tears.

Midoriya rolled on his heels for a bit before he replied. “It’s always nice to see other people happy, and now we get to have more people join us at the reception.”

"That's Good for you in case you need to hide behind someone," Monoma joked. Midoriya's head turned too fast; he half expected to hear Izuku's spine snap.

“I said no such thing!”

Monoma’s smirk didn’t vanish as an eyebrow rose. “So you deny it?”

“….” Midoriya moved to retort but thought better about it as he turned to look the other way. “No comment.”

Yaoyorozu chuckled at the exchange, as she had forgotten how Midoriya had handled the athlete's pledge at the Sports Festival. "Don't worry too much about these things. Your first can be a little intimidating, but those who attend aren't the sort who will pressure you. Besides, I heard there's a strict no press allowed."

“Any tips then?” Monoma asked, as while he was confident, even the greatest still sought to refine themselves and their craft to remain at their dominant position.

Fortunately for him, Yaoyorozu was more than happy to assist. "Of course, I already gave Jiro and Uraraka some. I would be happy to share them with you."

“That might have to happen over text,” Iida pointed towards his watch, which was reading 5:15. "Quite a few pro heroes and other important people will attend tonight's event. So, it would be prudent to put our best foot forward; to that end, we should return to our lodging and get dressed! We'll meet at the Central Tower's lobby at 7 at 6:30 PM sharp, and then we can enter as a group."

The group thought that was a reasonable enough time window; besides, they could use their quirks to get there faster if something happened. So, with their agreement, Iida nodded. "Thank you; you're dismissed.” Iida didn't waste a second; he was already racing off, taking full advantage of the island's lack of rules against such.

“Just like Hosu, he’s always rushing somewhere.” Midoriya smiled as the group turned to break up.

"Well, should we go? If we were late to this gathering, it would reflect poorly on class B." Monoma gestured away from them as he turned to leave, and Midoriya quickly followed him.

"Monoma, we're all U.A. students. Stop trying to make this into a competition!" Midoriya yelled as he waved goodbye to the rest. While they each went towards the hotels, they hadn't been booked in the same one and thus went down separate paths.

“You look particularly happy. Did something good happen?" Monoma asked as they walked in relative silence for a moment.

"I got a new set of clothes from Hado-sempai. She said it was an early birthday present," Midoriya replied, recalling the interaction before he left. She also said she had something else planned but wouldn't tell me. Whatever it was, he knew it would be good, which only excited him to get her something great for her birthday.

"Well, knowing the two of you, she must have got you something that'll fit like a glove," Monoma replied, though he would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to seeing it. Midoriya had such an unexpected dress style; trying to predict it often just left you stumped.

“Hmm!” Midoriya smiled before he recalled something. "Wait, we should also contact Vlad-sensei and inform him of our plans." He was already going for his phone, as while they expected to find Vlad back in their room, it wouldn't hurt to call him now and give him the heads-up.

Monoma tapped his chin. “You know, that slipped my mind. Did we ever inform the others that he was with us?” He asked as they had talked a lot since they finished their villain course and went around the place. Mellissa took up the role of tour guide for the most part.

"I don't think we did…it'll be a fan surprise," Midoriya replied as he typed in Vlad’s number and pressed call.

Line Break

When the meeting time came, Iida, who had naturally arrived early, kept his eye on his watch. He had learned that not everyone was as punctual as he could be, but he had hoped that today would have been the exception. It was already 6:39PM, and there was no sign of the rest, as Todoroki was thus far the only one to arrive, having gotten there a few minutes ago.

He was about to call them to ask when the elevator went off. The name showed that it was their class-B brethren; however, along with them, he saw the name Sekijiro Kan, which he didn't recognise. Assuming that it was just another guest, he prepared to greet both when the door opened. "Ah, I was getting worried," Iida started as he turned to greet them, only to pause when he saw the three. “Good to see that…Midoriya, is that you?”

Even Todoroki was surprised by what they saw. Monoma had gone with a regular black suit, blue shirt, and golden tie, a pocket watch chain sticking out of his pocket, and a folded handkerchief. It was simple but refined and suited the copy-quirk user well enough. Vlad, real name Sekijiro Kan, had gone with his typical hero costume. He had spoken with other heroes who would be in attendance, and all said they would arrive in costume.

But Midoriya was a different thing entirely as he came dressed in a deep burgundy kimono, fading to ivory at the hem wraps around pleated shirt panels with its long wide sleeves edged in coral flames and wave patterns with a matching obi sporting floral sprays amid swirling ivory accents.

“Well, what do you think?” Midoriya asked as he did a little turn around to show off the full thing, the two class-B boys spotting how the back of Midoriya’s outfit mirrors the front, only here sinuous dragon motif-its pinkish-red scales waving through the blossoms, forming from shoulder to skirt beneath the structured obi.

Even his hair had been done up, styled into a bun, while to the side of his head was a green and red pin shaped like a snake. All while Koharu happily rested around his shoulders like a living scarf, her bright green scales somehow a perfect match for Izuku's outfit.

"Where'd you get that?" Todoroki asked the first thing that came to mind. Midoriya, a little flushed from the silence that befell the lobby, was happy to respond.

"It was a present from a friend. She picked it out and made sure it was made for me," Midoriya replied, as Todoroki hummed.

“She had good taste, though I almost mistook you for a woman.” Todoroki complimented.

"Todoroki! That's quite the rude thing to say to his face!" Iida finally knocked himself out of his stupor, but both seemed confused as Monoma only chuckled at the sight.

“Why would that be insulting?” Todoroki asked.

"This is styled after women's clothing, much like my hero costume. Besides, I'm not the most masculine boy in our grade, so being mistaken for a girl isn't new for me." Midoriya clarified, to which Iida fell back into a stupor. This broke so many things he thought he knew.

"Don't think too hard about it. I helped him get dressed to get here on time. He had never even worn that before tonight." Monoma remarked.

"The boy looks his best, so what's the issue with that?" Vlad asked, finally bringing attention to the man. Still, right before Iida could question his presence, the elevators went off again.

"Sorry, we're late. We wanted to be sure these spare uniforms were…ironed…" Kaminari started, only to pause when he took in the assembled group. His eyes jumped to their teacher, who looked as gruff as he remembered. Vlad-King, what are you doing here?"

“Holy crap, whose the cutie?” Mineta asked, his eyes on Midoriya, his mind only catching up when he noted the presence of a familiar snake snuggly wrapped around his shoulders as he paled at the realization that the cutie wasn't a she.

“What a compliment to give, wouldn't you say, Mineta?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow as the boy started flailing and trying to dig himself out of the hole he had dug himself into. Vlad decided to give him a break and turned to Kaminari.

"To answer your question, I'm here as Midoriya's chaperon.” He replied.

“But why would he need one?” Iida asked if anything; Midoriya came off as one of the more responsible students in the hero course, with no misbehaving or villainous bone in his body.

"Long story short, he had some issues and run-ins with the law before U.A., but most of it wasn't as serious as it sounded, and, with context, it was decided it was minor enough that he could enroll. I'm here more for the formality than any suspicion from U.A. or his case manager that he'll act out." Vlad kept it short, to which Midoriya nodded.

"Is that why we didn't see you today, Vlad-sensei?" Todoroki asked, and when the pro nodded, the fire and ice user backed off. "Well, then, I won't pry any deeper into what seems personal."

"Yes, well, it would be smart if we entered as a group, especially as I can handle some of the representation for our school, so all can take more time to relax," Vlad noted but frowned as he looked around and didn’t see the rest, though he had scanned the room when he entered. At least that was the plan, but where are the others?"

Iida looked particularly ashamed now, as before; it would have just been the group that knew they were late, but now one of their teachers did as well. “They’re not here yet, sir…”

Vlad grunted. "Hmm, I would have expected something more punctual from Eraser's students. The man's unforgiving when it comes to schedules and timing." Lucky for them, he wasn't Eraser, nor would he toll the man about this.

They had to wait another 20 minutes for the rest to arrive, the first being Uraraka, who was surprised to see him and even more shocked when she spotted what Midoriya had chosen for the night, but she had gotten over Vlad's presence quickly, and went to complimenting Midoriya on his outfit while patting Koharu. Not long after, as Uraraka had said, Yaoyorozu arrived with Jiro, both in evening wear, with the shorter student being more shy when she spotted one of their teachers. Still, the rest managed to get her to focus on them.

"Wait, how did you get your nails done so fast?" Jiro asked, gesturing to Midoriya's hands, where his fingernails had been painted a bright green that matched his eyes.

"Oh, these?" Midoriya raised one hand, and when she nodded, he smiled as he gestured for her to look closer, which she did along with Yaoyorozu. It's not paint; I just stuck some of Koharu's scales to my fingers. Yes, I am thankful for your help." That last part Midoriya directed towards Koharu, who wiggled her head in smug joy.

"They suit you," Uraraka commented.

"I'm not sure how I feel about you being fancier than me," Jiro noted, as she hadn’t planned for this and just borrowed something from Yaomomo, the heiress having predictably, over-packed.

"What are you talking about? Your outfit's amazing! It totally suits you and shows off that spunky personality," Midoriya replied, even though she had a similar hair accessory on the opposite side of her head.

“Spunky?” Jiro asked him, to which Midoriya turned a little red at her skeptical look.

"That's what Tokage would have said," Midoriya mumbled. Still, the punk-rocket just playfully punched his arm, conveying no hard feelings.

“Figured.” As she said that, there was another ding as Mellissa arrived.

"Oh, good, you're here! I was worried that you would have gone without me. Let's get downstairs now, " she advised.

“Holy-I mean,” Mineta and Kaminari were about to act out, but then both saw Vlad eyeing them and coughed to try and play it off. “I mean, good evening, Mellisa.”

"Why were they acting weird?" Mellisa asked, but Jiro just smiled as the blonde turned to Vlad. And who might you be? Another of their classmates?"

As Uraraka and Midoriya tried and failed to hold back their laughter and Monoma openly laughed at her question, Vlad shot them all a look that got them to control themselves before he addressed Mellissa's question. “I’m flattered that I look that young, but no. I’m a teacher from U.A.’s hero course, miss.” When he said so, Mellissa immediately went red.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She apologized, as he did look older, but with a world of quirks, that didn't mean much. She had a junior classmate whose mutation made them look like they were 5 when she was full, so she just assumed.

“No harm done. So is this everyone?” Vlad brushed it aside as he asked the students, and when they all nodded, he pointed toward the way deeper into the building. "Then let's get going. There is no pointing or standing around."

Line Break

Below them, the reception was in full swing as people from across the world, giants in their fields, discussed business and potential deals, passed along news, or just caught up with old friends. The band hadn't started playing yet, but the mood was quite calm in the room, with polite laughter cutting it now and again.

Among the many heroes was All Might, who hadn't planned to attend because of how busy he had been, especially after he had passed along One for All to young Togata, but when he got the email from Mellissa, he couldn't refuse. Sadly, as the email came in a bit late, he couldn't bring young Togata with him as he already had things planned for his work studies. While he could have asked Nighteye to give the boy a couple days off, young Togata had too much of a hard-working drive to accept.

So now, he stood along with David at his side. The people in the room hadn't noticed him, as with so many heroes. Even he could blend, and he hadn't brought attention to himself. His plan was to let that remain so he could relax with his old friend, catch up, and hear about developments outside his neck of the woods.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to I-expo's opening night's reception. We at I-island hope you enjoy yourselves, but I believe that we could make the night much more lively if we got All Might up here to say a few words." His plans were stopped when one of the hosts of their evening revealed his presence for all to hear. Now, the entire room was looking his way.

“Of I didn't misspeak; the number one hero is visiting us tonight, so let's give him a hand of applause.” The man continued as All Might turned to David to ask if he had a hand on this, only for the researcher to laugh it off and remind him that the press had spotted him earlier; it was bound to spread. “Please, join us on the stage.”

All Might laughed, but it wouldn't do if he refused, would it? He wasn't Endeavour, so he walked up to the stage and accepted the microphone. He didn't have a speech in mind, but he didn't have as much media.

“Thank you for inviting me; being here is truly a pleasure." All Might's speech was interrupted when the security system went off, followed by an automated voice clearing the board.

“This is an announcement from the I-island security system. We have received reports that an unknown explosive agent has been detected on the island. For security reasons, I-island will enter high alert mode as the island is thoroughly inspected to track down and dispose of any unknown chemical agent sources.”

Kodai and Yanagi, who had been on their way to a store, stopped when they heard the announcement. Looking at each other, they could see the worry on the other hand.

“Residents and tourists are asked to return to their lounging and remain there until further instructions are given.” In other parts of the island, Kaibara, who had been by the waterfront along with Fukidashi, paused in their night-time photography when they heard the announcement.

"Let's get back to our room," Fukidashi advised. Kaibara sighed but followed along, disassembling his camera as he did.

"Yeah, smart plan, but man, is that some bad luck. Right when I was about to line up the best shot." Kaibara replied, though he wondered how a bomb could get onto I-island, to begin with.

Either way, the island wasn't taking chances. He and everyone else saw the number of security drones sent out only increase as those stores that were open late were given strict instructions to clear them before they were automatically sealed. Meanwhile, businesses and buildings closed for the event went into lockdown mode, and steel shutters started falling all over the place. People were quick to obey the instructions.

Line Break

“Repeat, Residents and tourists are asked to return to their lounging and remain there till further instructions are given. Anyone remaining on the street after 10 minutes without proper authorization will violate the law. As a precautionary measure, most I-island buildings will be sealed off.” For those in lobby 7, the announcement had gone off right as Vlad had spoken, so they were still present and able to see the steel shutters come down, sealing them in as the elevators all shut down.

“What the?” Mineta asked.

"An explosive agent? You mean like a bomb?" Kaminari added that, though Vlad looked around, his gut telling him that there was something more to this as, like Kaibara, he wondered how a bomb could have made its way onto the island. Even no, why not seal off the area it was found in instead of the whole island? Were they multiple that they didn't want to reveal?

"Something's wrong." Mellissa thought the same thing, but she had greater insider knowledge of how the island worked. "This isn't the protocol for a bomb.”

Line Break

Meanwhile, within the reception hall, many of the island's scientists and higher-ranking workers had similar thoughts, but before any could voice them and perhaps contact their security office to demand an explanation for this gross interruption of the night, the doors leading into the hall opened up, and masked men with guns poured in.

At the lead of the masked man was another, taller than the rest with a unique mask that must have meant he was the leader. "In case you haven't caught on, the security system is under our control now. I know we've got a whole lot of heroes in here, but if one of you decides to try and step up," the red alert screens switched to show several live camera feeds of dozens of civilians surrounded by security bots.

 "Well, it won't take much for the security sentries to recognize the innocent people under their care as dangerous villains to be taken down, hard." Wolfram smiled as she saw people start sweating.

“So, let’s play nice for their sakes, all right?. Of course, when the lives of everyone on the island are in the balance, do you heroes really have any choice?” He asked, digging his heel into their backs at how he had managed to put them into a corner without firing a shot

It was an effective strategy to keep the heroes in line, but he couldn't take chances. While he didn't care about the collateral, it would be much easier to make it out of here with the goods if the entire world was merely after the greatest robber in history rather than a mass killer.

To achieve that, he made the call on the com. “Do it.”

From the floor, disk-like holes appeared, and glowing blue tape shot out before them, targeting the pros in the room and restraining them. "The emergency restraining devices? But how did they know about them?" one of the people asked as All Might tried to break free, and considering his strength, he very well could have.

This was why the villains reminded him of what would be a foolish idea by shooting his pistol into the air, causing several people to scream in shock. Walking up the stage, he trained his gun on All Might. "I wouldn't move if I were you. Everyone in this room will be slaughtered one step out of line."

"Villain-!" He didn't let the Symbol of Peace finish talking; rather, he kicked him down onto his side.

“There, was that so hard?” The redhead man mocked him before turning to the room. "Go on, follow All Might's lead, and follow whatever I say. Do that, and you'll get to walk out of here no worse for wear. A pretty good bargain, I would say."

Line Break

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that little present I wrote last week. That 2-shot was all I could plan for it when I had several other stories to write and/or plan; one such WIP's first chapter is nearly done, but I won't spoil it until I actually have something posted for it. I can only say that it will take the Monday slot for a few weeks before it'll be dropped to allow A World of Quirks back in.

When it came to this chapter, I already had around 500 words of dialogue written for it, stuff that was cut from the previous chapter to keep it within word length, so I had something of a starting point with it. As you can imagine, some things remained the same, and regardless of Izuku's involvement, they would happen, so I focused on the other elements where I could.