"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

XXX

Toshinori Yagi looked about the banquet hall. Pros and businessmen mingled and conversed with one another. He could spot a few of his students moving about the hall as well. His mind wandered, "Ah… Keeping this form shouldn't be too difficult for most of the party…" He picked up a napkin from the nearby table, coughing into it, "I'll probably have to leave early, though…" As his gaze washed over the crowd once more, he spotted Melissa making her way over to him with someone else in tow.

He maintained his 'ever-present' smile, "Ah, Melissa."

She smiled warmly at him, "Hi, Uncle All-Might."

Toshinori's eyes shifted from her to the other her, "Who is this?"

Melissa stepped aside to gesture to the green-haired mother behind her, "This is Midoriya's mom—Ms. Midoriya Inko."

He took in that information quickly before nodding, "Ah, I see." He extended his hand, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Inko hesitated in shaking it, "H-Hi." Her mind was on fire after all, "He's much taller than I thought…! Ah, I'm meeting a celebrity…! My son's Hero as well…!"

Toshinori straightened, putting his hands on her hips, "Your son's quite a gifted student."

She smiled, nodding, "Yes." She brought a hand to her cheek, "I wish he could be less reckless, though." Her hall of memories recalled the condition of her son: from the scars on his arms, to the small ones all over his body, and to his burnt hand.

All-Might laughed, "We'll work the issues out of him soon." He nodded, "He'll be a great Hero one day."

Inko blinked, "T-To hear that from you, well… That's a very large compliment." Her mind reeled, "Ah, I didn't mean to say large…!"

Melissa clapped her hands together, blinking, "Oh, Uncle All-Might, are you going to help with the announcement?"

Toshinori nodded, "Yes, David and Masami did ask." He rubbed his chin, "I did agree to say a few words after the announcement. Some encouragement and endorsement."

"All-Might?"

Inko and Melissa jumped before quickly relaxing, "Ah!"

The Pro's reaction was tempered and primarily hidden underneath the surface. He coughed into his fist, looking off to the side, "Ah, that surprised me…!"

The secretary explained, "They're preparing the stage for everyone."

All-Might nodded, "I see." He turned to Melissa and Inko, "If you'll excuse me, it was a pleasure to meet you Ms. Midoriya. We can talk after the announcement, Melissa."

Inko waved, "Y-You too."

Melissa smiled brightly as she waved as well, "Yeah!"

-XXX-

"Ladies and gentlemen, if we may have your attention…"

David and Masami stood center-stage, pulling everyone's attention upon them. Press representatives moved towards the hem of the stage, snapping their cameras and scribbling on their notepads. Back-stage: All-Might and Edith were being prepared by Asuka for their simple presentation. A few of the Yuuei students moved towards the stage as well. The students were in their small groups amongst the tables, distancing themselves from the crowd of cameras and paper. Most of the Pros in the hall were moving similarly while a few were upset that their time in the limelight was stolen away.

David and Masami shared a look before the CEO grinned, "We have a special announcement to make-"

A sudden explosion ripped any attention from the stage as the entire hall rocked. The lights flickered as the drywall cracked and dust rained upon the guests. There was a distant but loud whine and creak of failing machinery; followed by smaller, secondary explosions. Civilians screamed and shouted as Heroes quickly began to try and reassure them.

All-Might threw the curtain to the side as he leapt from the backstage, making his way towards the crowd. He turned to his old friend, "David, what happened?"

David blinked, "I-I…" His phone buzzed before he pulled it out, looking at the schematic image displayed on his screen, "One of the turbines…? And the thrusters have been switched off?!"

Masami blinked, "What the hell?"

David swiped at his screen, "I'm trying to access the security cameras to see what happened…" He shook his head, "I… I can't… I can't access the security system."

The CEO pulled out his own phone, looking upon his own screen, "What? No way."

All-Might's eyes widened as the doors to the banquet hall were blown off their hinges with a small explosion. The shrapnel from wood and metal alike sent several guests to the floor. The Pro flexed his limbs—about to lunge at the entering foe, but something below him beeped and a hard-light rope wrapped around, restraining his body. He fell to the ground before a surge of electricity began to shock him into submission.

Looking about the hall, he could spot every Hero suffer the same fate. He heard a shout in the crowd—feminine in nature. He could tell it was a command of some kind, but the electric charge was shocking his nervous system into numbness at this point. Several individuals in armored gear as well as formal wear entered the hall. The one leading the pack stood out as he illuminated the area around him. He aimed his pistol skyward before firing a few shots. The civilian guests quickly fell into submission.

He spun the pistol on his finger, "Ladies and gentlemen, remain where you are, and you won't be harmed." He smirked, "Heroes, that explosion you just experienced was our doing. One of the turbines that stabilize this flying deathtrap has been… deactivated alongside this thing's thrusters. So, if you act or attempt anything rescue of any sort, another turbine will be turned off and this city will plummet into the ocean."

Ingenium fought against his bindings, feeling the electric surge into his nervous system, "I-If you do that, you'll f-fall too."

The illuminated criminal rolled his eyes, "Obviously." He grinned, "If you believe we won't drop this bucket, then I urge you to test us." He brought a hand to his ear, "Of course, we can't make such a thing easy." He spoke once more, "Open up the portal." A rift of violet wisps appeared in the center of the room before Helios' security bots poured out. "Same rules apply on the barges. If you don't behave, Helios falls. Lose contact with a barge, Helios falls." They moved about the hall, shooting wires at the fallen Pros before pulling them towards the rift.

Mt. Lady blew her hair from her face as she was pulled through the rift, "This won't be as easy as you think."

"Yeah, yeah…" He waved his gun, gesturing towards the other end of the hall, "Oh, uh, someone nab Mr. Shield from the stage."

Masami stepped in front of David, placing himself between the armed man and his friend. The criminal lifted his pistol and fired it without hesitation, causing screams to erupt from several guests. The CEO fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. David rushed to his aid before quickly standing and raising his arms, "I'll go! J-Just stop."

The illuminated man nodded with a smirk, "Good dog." He waved his hand towards his teammates, "Check if someone's backstage."

-X-

Jirou's jack lifted from the marble floor before she whispered, "Two are heading backstage. Including the big talker, we have six here." The couple had quickly ducked underneath one of the halls dining tables per the direction of Mount-Lady. "Masami's breathing…" The gunshot was still ringing in their ears, "I don't know how bad it is…"

Midoriya quickly moved away from the hanging tablecloth, shifting onto his hands and knees, "Dammit… And they're dragging all the Heroes out of here…" He shook his head, "Fuck…"

The rocker recalled, "I think I could make out Bakugo and Kirishima in the elevator. Those are stuck in their place. No idea if it's because of that explosion or these guys."

"The others?"

"They hid too." She shifted her head towards her left, "Iida's not that far away from us. Tsu's on the far right of the hall with Shinso." Midoriya blinked. "My right." He then nodded. "Kaminari and Mineta are somewhere towards the center of the room. Hatsume's on the far left." She nodded forward and towards him, "Ashido, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki are near the entrance. Judging by the way their breathing, I think they're okay." She then added, "Hatsume's the only one that isn't under a table right now."

"My mom?"

She nodded, "She's to my right; closer to the corner of the room—she's with Melissa."

He lowered himself to the ground, barely lifting the tablecloth to get a peek, "Okay…"

Her jack stabbed into the ground once more, "Asuka and Edith are backstage. I don't think those idiots noticed them."

He shrugged, "Might've been Asuka's Quirk. It could have an effective range to it." He reverted his position, letting the cloth fall once more, "Rift's closed. We're on our own."

Jirou whispered loudly, "Dammit, how did things turn out like this!"

"I don't know." He shook his head, "I just wanted this to be a fun trip… I'm sorry."

She reassured him, "Hey, you're not the one ruining the party." Her brow furrowed as her smile faded, "What should we do?"

Midoriya nodded, "If we do anything, we need control of the room." He rubbed his chin, "If they have control of the security bots, then they might have the cameras…" He frowned, "If their threats are in any form truthful, they'll drop Helios as soon as we try something."

"Well, it's not like we can take the security system from here."

He thought for a moment, "But we might be able to isolate the hall's security from the rest of Helios' closed system." He teetered his head, "Loop the camera feed maybe, but…" He shook his head, "That would take time we don't have…" He scowled, "Shit…" He then blinked and spoke with a raised voice, "Oh, sh-"

Her hand latched over his mouth, "Keep it down, Einstein." She gave a smile before turning serious once more, "What?"

He fished out his phone, "I should be able to remotely control certain functions of Zeta."

Jirou blinked as she spoke incredulously, "Why didn't that come up first?"

Midoriya spoke with his voice oozing with sarcasm, "It's not like there's been anything else on my mind."

She nodded, "Fair enough."

He fiddled with his phone before the screen lit up with green, "Are those two out of the backstage area?"

Her jack stabbed into the ground once more, "Yeah, Asuka and Edith are safe."

His finger hesitated over the activation key, "If I turn it on, the noise…" He took a breath, "If Asuka moves within range of it, she'll be able to hide the Suit's activation…" His eyes met Jirou's, "Right?"

She blinked, "W-Well…" She took a deep breath, "What would we do if we do activate it?"

Midoriya nodded, "I have earpieces that can crawl towards the others so we can start up a plan with everyone."

The rocker blinked once more, "Earpieces that can crawl?"

He teetered his head, "Think of them as like robotic bugs." She ignored the chill that shot down her spine by that description. "We use the earpieces, communicate, and decide, together, what we do next."

Her eyes narrowed, "What about the cell block? I didn't think we had cell signal."

"We don't. This is more like a TV remote control—it doesn't have to bounce off any towers."

"What about the earpieces?"

Midoriya explained, "Ditzy can fly towards the ceiling and act as a small satellite uplink for us."

Jirou took a deep breath, "Okay… Okay…"

The pair shared a look. Before them was a functional plan to simply set up a way to communicate to the closest thing this room had to Heroes. The risk of doing so was very real and while it was something they had faced before. There were many other lives at risk this time—many innocent lives. Midoriya's finger hovered over the activation key. The thumb of his left-hand shook, and his mind was lit abuzz. His breathing slowly grew faster as his mind and gut battled with one another. His stomach flipped as his bones seemed to freeze within himself. Jirou's hand landed on his before her thumb laid atop of his. They shared a look once more before they both nodded. Their thumbs pressed the activation key together and the screen flashed.

"SUIT ZETA - ONLINE"

XXX

AN: Helios has been taken hostage. The Heroes have been removed from the equation and all we have left are the students of Yuuei. This'll be a greater test than their Final Exams, no doubt. I'm not going to get into much else. My blabbermouth might get out some spoilers that I don't intend to release. This is going to be an intensive Arc, so I hope I you're ready for the long-haul, readers.

And so, to finish, thank you for reading and criticize away!