Chapter 89

(A/N: This might be a little shameless, but if we can reach and maintain the top spot in the rankings this week, I'll do my best to pump out at least four chapters a day o3o...)

While Melissa was changing into clothes that would be easier to move around in, Izuku was trying on the prototype bracers she had provided him. According to Melissa, they could absorb and deflect kinetic energy, effectively allowing him to use his 'full power' without fear of injury. She mentioned she had a completed version stored within her Workshop at the Academy, taking the form of a gauntlet, but as they couldn't exactly venture outside to go and grab it, Izuku was stuck with an older version that wrapped around his arms like a crimson compression bandages.

("These things are basically vibranium...") thought Izuku, flexing his hands open and closed to get accustomed to the tension in his arms and fingers. The brace was originally designed for All Might, so it was difficult to move freely, even with 88 Strength and 962 Dexterity. Still, if they functioned as advertised, he could potentially boost his stats tens of thousands of times without fear of injury.

Though Izuku's Vitality drained rapidly when he boosted his attributes, the reason for this was the strain his attacks and movements placed on his body. With Blackwhip, he could reinforce his bones and weave the tendrils together to function as both armor and supplementary muscles. These two factors greatly reduced the strain on his body, allowing him to access higher multipliers, so with Melissa's bracer offsetting the damage he would sustain from his attacks, he could potentially exceed the 3000x 'hard limit' he currently treated as his maximum output...

Interrupting Izuku's thoughts, Melissa emerged from her bathroom in an outfit similar to the one she had worn earlier, consisting of a white, short-sleeved dress shirt with red and orange plaid cuffs, a large bow with the same design around her neck, a dark, raspberry-pink waistcoat, pale-grey Capri pants, plaid socks, and brown boots. It wasn't the most appropriate outfit for responding to a crisis, but it was infinitely better than a cocktail dress.

Preempting whatever Melissa was about to say, Izuku asked, "Were you able to get in contact with your father?"

Shaking her head, Melissa could not conceal her concern as she replied, "No, and I even tried his emergency line. The signal is getting through; he just isn't responding..."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Izuku, adopting a smile as he added, "Your Uncle Might wouldn't permit anything to happen to him. Since he has yet to take action, we can surmise things have yet to reach the stage where he needs to brute force things. To that end, our top priorities are figuring out what's going on and, if possible, reversing the situation."

Pulling up the Party Window and flipping it so that Melissa could read it easier, Izuku added, "Fortunately, it seems we won't have to figure things out by ourselves. The proximity of several of our Party members has been decreasing for a while now. I imagine they're searching for us."

Blinking in surprise, Melissa regained a smile as she said, "Then I should hurry and gear up so we can meet them halfway. If it turns out an enemy has taken over the main security terminal, we'll need to deal with several types of drones and sentries as we ascend the tower. I have just the thing for dealing with groups of robots."

Pulling out one of the many drawers containing her inventions, Melissa set it on the table next to Izuku, revealing an oversized, red metallic gauntlet and two dozen golfball-sized crimson spheres.

"I take it that you like the color red?" asked Izuku, noting it was the most prominent color in Melissa's outfit and the bracers he was wearing.

Smiling wryly, Melissa admitted, "Yeah, it's my favorite..." while donning the glove on her right hand. A holographic display appeared as she did, allowing her to key in a series of commands that prompted the crimson spheres to abruptly transform into quadrupedal robots.

Before Izuku could ask, Melissa explained, "Most of the security sentries on I-Island are impervious to electrical interference and electromagnetic pulses. These little guys can latch onto their bodies and hack into them directly, allowing me to hijack or outright disable them. Pretty neat, huh?"

Without waiting for Izuku to respond, Melissa pulled out several other drawers, donning a second gauntlet that could generate hex-grid energy shields, boots that allowed her to walk and slide along metal surfaces, a harness with hydraulic cables that looked like something out of Shingeki no Kyojin, goggles that allowed her to view the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and a large backpack to hold several other support items. Her dream was to be a Hero, despite being born Quirkless, so she had dozens of Support Items to suit nearly every occasion.

"Okay, I'm ready to go!" exclaimed Melissa, her smile reminding Izuku a lot of Mei's when she either tested or forced him to help test her babies.

"Then let's go," replied Izuku, taking the initiative to be the first to depart Melissa's room. The latter followed soon after, gliding soundlessly across the floor thanks to her greave-like boots producing a magnetic field that automatically adjusted its polarity to counteract the metallic floor. Such a device wouldn't be very useful elsewhere, but with I-Island's streets and buildings made almost entirely of metal, Melissa could zip around at high speeds using the same invisible tracks that allowed the security sentries to 'levitate' upwards of 120km/h...

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Using their Party's proximity function, Izuku and Melissa eventually found themselves in the same Emergency stairwell as the students of Class 1-A. A few minutes later, a familiar, bubbly voice shouted, "Found you!" before an invisible force slammed into the former, courtesy of Toru.

Though he couldn't actually see her, Izuku replied, "I'm relieved to see you safe, Toru..." while habitually moving his hand to the invisible girl's butt. Now wasn't the time or place for such things, but a bit of levity was useful for helping people relax in otherwise tense situations.

"Mmnnn..."

Spurred by Izuku's actions, Toru linked her arms around his neck and shoulders, disregarding the existence of Melissa to give him a deep and passionate kiss. Her body was trembling slightly as their lips overlapped, so Izuku wrapped her arms around Toru's body, holding her tenderly and lovingly until her nervousness began to settle...

Taking the initiative to separate from Izuku's lips, nearly a full minute later, Toru whispered, "The others will be here soon..." before giving him one final peck and pulling away from him. Then, as she felt it would be a little awkward if she didn't say anything, she waved her invisible hand at Melissa, adding, "Hey, Melissa! Looking snazzy~!" in a bubbly tone.

Removing her fingers from the dial on her goggles, which she had been utilizing to try and get a glimpse of Toru's true form, Melissa returned a smile and replied, "Thanks. I'd offer you a similar compliment, but I can't actually see you. Your Invisibility appears to be more comprehensive than the version we've developed in a lab."

"Oh, right, you haven't seen my true form just yet, have you?" remarked Toru, using her Form Projection to reveal a version of herself in her school uniform. Her perversion had 'blossomed' quite a bit since she acquired the incredibly useful Perk, so, more often than not, the clothes she was seen wearing were simply a projection. In other words, she was almost always walking around naked.

Not expecting Toru to suddenly appear out of thin air, as most Invisibility Quirks were Mutation-based, Melissa's eyes widened quite a bit as she remarked, "Wow, Toru, you're really beautiful."

Exhibiting no shame, Toru exhaled a gratified laugh and replied, "I know, right~?" before giving a thumbs up and adding, "You're not bad yourself, Melissa. Izuku prefers girls with a bit of 'pillowiness,' so keep a close eye on your butt. He can be pretty handsy at times."

Feeling a little exasperated, Izuku muttered, "Toru..." with an expression of mock helplessness. Before he could point out that he and Melissa didn't have that kind of relationship, however, the pillowy blonde replied, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind." with a good-natured, narrow-eyed smile adorning her face...

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Shortly after Toru's arrival, Momo, Tsuyu, Ochaco, Mina, Kyouka, Shoji, Tokoyami, Ojiro, Todoroki, Ida, and Shinso arrived at the landing Izuku and Melissa had been waiting on. From them, Izuku learned that Toshi and the remaining Heroes attending the reception had been captured and bound by the building's energy-based bindings. More importantly, since the enemy was in control of the island's Security System, nearly everyone inhabiting it was currently a 'hostage' of the enemy.

Speaking out the moment Momo had finished her explanation, Melissa asserted, "That's impossible. Hacking individual sentries is possible if you can interfere with the command signal, but the system regulating them is one of the most powerful AIs in the world. If someone attempted to tamper with its protocols without going through the proper procedures, it would enter lockdown mode and temporarily begin making decisions for itself."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Momo. "That the people of I-Island aren't in any danger?"

Nodding her head, Melissa explained, "Even if the security sentries are made to recognize citizens and visitors as villains, their protocols are to detain, not injure, their targets. I can't say for certain that no one would get hurt, but so long as they don't actively resist, the sentries won't resort to extreme measures. The island 'does' have combat sentries, but they can only be deployed after a majority vote by three-quarters of the Board of Directors."

"Then that makes things fairly straightforward," said Izuku. "We return to the reception, free the Heroes, and explain the situation. Once All Might knows there's no real threat to the populace, he'll probably leap up to the top of the tower in a single go. After that, we just need to wait and ensure the people at the reception aren't in any additional danger."

Though he was tempted to charge up the tower and resolve things himself, Izuku knew the 'correct' choice was to entrust the matter to Toshinori. Except for himself and Kirishima, none of his other classmates were bulletproof. It would only take a single stray bullet for a tragedy to occur, so freeing Toshinori and allowing him to body the enemies in the blink of an eye was, indisputably, the best course of action.

Nodding in affirmation, Momo appended, "I am in agreement with Izu–I mean, Paragon. I know it wasn't easy ascending all of these stairs, but entrusting the matter to All Might is the best way to ensure things don't get further out of hand."

"Awwww, man..." groaned Kirishima. "But what about charging into the enemy and saving the day? Are we seriously going to turn back after we came all this way?"

Answering in Momo's stead, Izuku replied, "No. Those of us with more combat-oriented Quirks will continue our ascent. We might not be the ones to resolve this situation, but we can serve as a distraction while the reception team heads downstairs to free the Heroes."

Passing his gaze over everyone present, Izuku added, "The attack team will comprise myself, Tsukuyomi, Shoto, Red Riot, Uravity, Earphone Jack, Pink Majin, and..."

With Izuku's gaze settling on her, Melissa's eyes briefly widened before she adopted a luminous smile and replied, "If we're going by codenames, you can call me Athena. She's the goddess of wisdom and handicraft and is famous for using a shield. What do you think?"

While asking for everyone's opinion, Melissa generated a blue, buckler-sized energy shield with the gauntlet on her left hand. With the looks of a goddess, an intelligence stat that dwarfed nearly everyone else's, and the family name 'Shield,' Athena was a remarkably fitting name for the bubbly blonde.

Voicing his thoughts aloud, Izuku asserted, "It suits you well," followed by nearly everyone else expressing their agreement. This caused the smile on Melissa's face to become even brighter as, for the first time in her life, she felt like a future Hero rather than a forthcoming Sidekick...

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(A/N: The Goddess has descended...!)