First off, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for the overwhelming response that came after I published this story. Unfortunately, I must admit, that does give me a fair bit of anxiety. I had this chapter written up for a bit, but I've been a little nervous to publish it. Overall, I don't want to give people high expectations for this story. I'm not entirely sure how much I like it myself, but I at least have a few more chapters worth of ideas. Still, don't get me wrong, I appreciate everyone who decided to read my little story. Thank you!
And then another thanks to Soulofnone911 for the idea. If anyone else wants to check out their profile, they are welcoming other people to use their idea(s).
The cleanliness of the room made Midoriya uncomfortable. The sterile atmosphere made everything seem wrong. His bullets had been removed and he'd been wrapped up tightly, much against his own will. After talking with a few of the heroes, they'd stripped him of his gear and forced him into a hospital. They even wrestled his Pip-Boy off his wrist, which he felt naked without. Had he not been in shock from the words that escaped Present Mic's mouth, he probably would have been able to resist it. However, everything after that felt like a blur to him. His body and mind numbed as he thought of the two years that suddenly didn't mean anything.
He stared into the popcorn ceiling of the hospital room. A few feet to his right, there was another man. His name was All Might, that much was clear to him. He wasn't in the greatest condition himself, but he seemed more worried about Midoriya than anything else.
"Midoriya…so what happened?" the skeletal man asked him. It was better than him asking if he were alright, which was what everyone else seemed to be doing.
"I was in the Mojave," he answered carefully. After living there for two years, he found it difficult to slip back into his native tongue.
"What is that? The desert in America?" Of course, All Might spent some of his time as a hero in the United States. Midoriya didn't doubt that he would know some places there.
"Almost," he answered, trying to think of the best way to explain it. How could he explain it in terms that wouldn't cause an uproar? He was sure to keep his story to a minimum in order to reduce the panic surrounding it. Only a few people knew that he'd been gone for two years, although he suspected that many of them knew it had been longer that the half hour he'd been missing here. On top of that, he didn't care to explain the weapons or drugs that he had on him. Slowly, he would explain it to them. As for now, he was trying to keep information to a minimum.
"And they tell me that you have amnesia…" All Might trailed off.
Yes, Midoriya supposed that it was like amnesia. Still, he remembered some things. Just not others. What kind of amnesia was that? He couldn't remember. "Yeah, I do," he answered for simplicity sake.
"Were you in an accident?"
"No, it was probably because I was shot in the head," he answered.
All Might shot up in bed. "You were what?"
Izuku knew that he probably should have kept that one to himself. However, it just proved his point. If just knowing that he was shot in the head caused this much stress on the man, then there was no way he could just explain everything right then and there. He needed time and the right moment to explain things.
Overall, however, he didn't want to lie to anyone. No matter how the wasteland affected him, it would not tear down his honesty. "I was shot in the head. Nothing before that is very clear to me. I don't recognize a lot of my classmates, however, I do remember you."
"Why were you shot?" he asked him. Izuku nearly scoffed at the idea. Why had he only been shot once was the real question, but he couldn't expect All Might to understand that.
"I had something that someone else wanted, so they tried to kill me to get it."
"What did you have?" All Might asked.
Izuku nearly pulled the chip off of the table to his left. He stopped himself, though, just before the glinting chip could be seen. If he showed that to All Might, he would start asking questions about it. He wasn't stupid, so he would know it was more than just a poker chip. And then he would try to pry the answer out of him after that, and then what was he supposed to say? His options were limited.
"Nothing important here," he said, which wasn't wrong. The platinum chip had no value in this world. That, and All Might understood that Midoriya was done answering questions for the day.
The room was small and cramped. A single metal table sat in the middle with opposing metal chairs. A one-way mirror looked into the room. This room surely wasn't meant for him, but it made him feel like a criminal.
He sat in one of the metal chairs, which was beyond uncomfortable. In front of him, spread across the table, were some of his most valued possessions. He noticed that they emptied the clip on his 10mm, but left the plasma rifle alone. It was either because they didn't know it was a gun, or because they didn't want to accidentally fire the thing. Besides the two weapons, various drugs lined the tables. Stimpaks, med-x, rad-x, and rad away took up the vast majority of the space. A few mentats and buffouts were there, but Izuku wasn't too fond of using them. The side effects were worse than the temporary boost, he reasoned. Still, it was easy pickings for making caps on the side. Which, speaking of, his large sack of bottle caps sat on the corner of the table. Finally, his stealth suit was neatly folded with his respirator and Pip-Boy on top. He would have to figure out a way to get the suit back, at the very least. He worked hard on calibrating that damn thing.
Across the table, there was a man. He looked to be a police officer. Midoriya would have to be on his best behavior. "Izuku Midoriya," he addressed him as he sat down in the opposing chair. "I'm sorry for the cold entrance, but we didn't want any of this stuff leaving the room. We don't want to think of you as a criminal. However, you were in possession of a gun, which is an offense in the court of law. We have the right to arrest you, but we are choosing to overlook it because of the circumstances. In return, we are confiscating most of this, and we expect you to explain to us what many of these things are."
This would be hard for Midoriya, but if he were with this stranger, then that would make things easier. A police officer would have the most clear-headed response to his claims, and it would be unlikely that he would speak about this outside of the case. In contrast, if Midoriya told anyone close to him, they'd immediately try to coddle and comfort him, which he did not want.
"That seems fair," he answered after nodding his head.
"First of all, I need you to explain where you were."
Of course, they started with the hard one. "I was in the Mojave wasteland. As far as I am aware, it was not on this world."
The police officer leaned forward. There were traces of doubt behind his eyes, but he was a professional. Besides, in this world of Quirks, it would be hard to doubt something like that. "Explain what you mean by that."
"In that world, there was a war that took place two hundred years prior. As a result, the world was turned into a wasteland. Mutated creatures and cold-blooded humans were left to roam. That, and there seemed to be a lack of Quirk's in that world."
"And so what did you need a gun for?"
"Defense. Like I told All Might, I was already shot in the head once. And I'm sure you noticed that I have quite a few scars now."
"About that. In our time, according to numerous eye witness reports, your disappearance lasted half an hour. However, according to your own report, you have been gone for about two years?"
"That's right," Midoriya nodded, confirming his story with the police officer.
"What triggered your return to this world?"
That, Izuku thought, was not something that he had ever considered. Obviously he got to the Mojave after falling into that villain's portal. However, no such thing would have existed in the Mojave. "The NCR had just won the second Battle of Hoover Dam. When I stood up, everything went dark, and then I was back here."
"It might be possible that the same villain that sent you there was able to retrieve you."
Midoriya placed his hand on his chin. "Perhaps. However, the timing doesn't seem right. The finality of such a battle seems far too coincidental for it to be that villain. I think that something I did triggered my return. It seems far more likely that the reason for my return was because I had completed my mission."
"You think this had some kind of divine intervention?"
"I'm uncertain. I just would like to think of possible reasons."
"If you do not know, then let's move on. I would like you to explain what these items are."
First, Midoriya picked up the rifle. He might as well get the big one out of the way. "This is a plasma rifle," he said while playing with the mechanics. He had this gun for a while, so each lever and button he pushed on it felt natural. Almost like riding a bike. The cartridge popped out of its slot and into his hand. He placed them down separately. "It's an immensely powerful weapon. Sometimes, it won't even leave a body behind."
The police officer had a pretty good poker face. Still, Midoriya saw his muscles twitch. He was scared of it, and scared that Izuku knew exactly how to use it. Plus, he never said that he killed anyone with it, but it was implied. "Besides those two guns, the other thing that kept me alive were these drugs." He picked up the long, metal needle. "This is a stimpak. They increase healing in the body and have a slight anesthetic to them. These pills, Med-X and Rad-X, help prevent damage to the body either through physical durability or the ability to deter radiation."
"And this one…?" the police officer pointed to the bag of Rad-Away. It looked like a blood bag with a rusty needle on the end of it.
"This clears radiation from the body. You have to feed it into the bloodstream for it to take effect. These other drugs are intelligence and strength boosters. They're highly addictive, so I never used them."
"And then what is this," the police office pointed at the Pip-Boy.
"It's a personal computer system. I used it as a GPS, inventory keeper, health monitor, radio, and Geiger counter."
"We tried to access it, but it didn't seem to be in working condition."
"That's because it has a bio-lock on it. It won't work unless it recognized my DNA. Watch," Izuku said as he strapped the Pip-Boy back onto his arm. Immediately, the screen lit up. The dull brown avatar of the machine smiled back at him. It read his health as in good condition and his radiation levels were at 0. That was a relief.
"Is it a weapon in any way?"
"No, sir. Just a computer."
"If that's the case, then we are allowing you to keep the bottle caps, the suit and respirator, and the…Pip-Boy?"
Midoriya nodded once more. "Thank you, sir."
"You are to return to your classes at UA. However, we will have more questioning for you in the future. Thank you for your cooperation."
