Chapter 6

On the coast island the Heroes, Rebels and Villains continued their combined training.

Tomorow they would make the final move to the mainland and start their quest to find the original Gateway. The thing that started all this.

They all felt the same fear inside themselves. About what they were going to face.

What they had seen first hand in Japan had already been bad enough. Like killed people hanging on pikes and crosses and a completely psychotic version of Uraraka.

But what was coming now...?

They had heard the stories and more importantly, they all had watched the film footage.

Scenes just like directly out of the worst horror movies. Some of the greatest Pro-Heroes getting killed like they were nothing and even Allmight dieing right on screen. Monsters reducing major cities to ruins.

They all admitted they were afraid.

But that fear didn´t really change anything after all.

They would have to face it anyway. They would have to or retreat - and retreat was no option to them.

Not if they did not want to be trapped here in this hellish world for the rest of their lives.

"So tomorow," Izuku murmured.

Tomorow they would see the same nightmare they had so far only watched on recording.

"Yeah - tomorow," Bakugou repeated more grimly.

"We will make it somehow - ribbit. I mean we have Aizawa-sensei and Endeavor with us and..." Tsuyu tried to say something encouraging.

"I just wished Endeavor were truly something you could count on," Dabi - who was standing in a close distance to them - remarked coldly.

"So says the Pro Villain," Shoto Todoroki commented.

"Better than a false hero," Dabi retorted. "Take a look at either of us little brother and tell me again that you actually think Endeavor is someone who can be trusted with someone else savety," Dabi replied.

"B-brother?" Tsuyu asked shocked.

"Shoto -what...?" Momo asked him confused.

"It is true," Todoroki admitted.

They started to explain the situation to them. How Dabi was in fact Todoroki´s eldest brother Toya, who had been thought dead for years, but had in fact survived the incident back then. What was also the reason for Dabi´s scarred body.

"Well - damn it," Bakugou remarked.

"Does Endeavor know?" Izuku asked.

"Yes - he does," Dabi stated. "I confronted him about it not long ago. His reaction was like you probably expect."

"Yes," Shoto just said.

"Really - you all should be seeing your faces," Toga said with a grin. "You all look sooo surprised." She laughed.

"Except you of course." She pointed at Shoto. "But you already knew, right?"

"I have to admit, they really do," even her more peaceful counterpart Himiko agreed. "But you are not helping with your behavior."

"I know," she replied. "But if Izuku gives me a hug, I might be willing to stop," she said with an even wider grin.

"Ah-" Izuku was looking a bit awkward.

"Or you could just leave it," Tsuyu suggested.

"Oh - can it be you want one too?" Toga asked. "Don´t worry - I am sure Izuku will give you one too if you ask.

Or better yet, he could give me some of his blood."

Izuku was now looking even more strange. And he visibly blushed.

He was not the only one. So was Tsuyu... and even of all people Himiko.

But she was also feeling uneasy. This reminded her all too much of the relationship she once had with Dekiru. Only if she were honest, as twisted this Toga´s affection to Izuku was, it actually seemed healthy in comparison to her own past relationship.

xxxx

A memory flashed through her mind of herself and Dekiru standing side by side in an abandoned football-stadium, with the playing field before them entirely filled with dead bodies.

He was holding her in his arms after she had drunk the blood of some of the corpses... and their versions of Ochako and Tsuyu standing right next to them.

`Monster,´ she thought about herself.

xxxx

"That might actually not be a bad idea," Todoroki suggested to everyone´s surprise.

"What?" Izuku said surprised.

"Given Toga´s abilities and that she can now even copy Quirks, this could be a real help. So we all should give both Toga´s a bit of our blood."

"Does that include me?" Bakugou said more than a bit irritated.

The thought of actually giving the two `vampire girls´ his blood willingly didn´t sit well with him. By far not. But even he saw that it could improve their chances.

"Oh - I think I actually start to like working with you." Toga however giggled.

"If you all give us a bit, we should be able to switch between your appearance and your Quirks at will," Himiko pointed out.

"Do you think that is a good idea?" Momo asked. "I mean - she seems quite reliable." She pointed at Himiko. "But our Toga...?"

"You know what we will be facing tomorow," Shoto said.

He looked around at all of them. They all remembered the video that showed the last fight of this world´s Allmight.

Yes - they realized they needed to use any chance they could take.

Then Shoto turned his gaze back to Dabi.

"You know - father has been better for some time now. It seems the things what happened lately had finally thought him a few things. I am not even sure if I even want to give him a chance sometimes," he admitted.

"But he is trying."

"Too late," Dabi said coldly like ice. "Far too late."

"I knew that you would react like that," Shoto answered.

"I expected you to say that," Shoto replied.

Just at that moment said Endeavor and Aizawa joined them. They had both been until just now been in a conversation with Kurugiri. But neither of them seemed to have heard the last part of the teenager´s discussion.

Or if they did, they didn´t let it show.

"We have just talked about what will happen tomorow," Aizawa stated matter of factly. "We should all go to bed now. It will be a very hard day."

That might be the understatement of the century, they all knew.

"What have you been talking about?" Endeavor asked, seeing the faces of everyone.

"I have told them about us," Dabi said.

"Why?"

"Why not?" Dabi responded. "Are you afraid of this children here knowing about your past? Not longer looking up to you?"

"Toga and Shoto has also brought up the idea of us giving some of our blood to her and Himiko," Momo mentioned.

"I see," Aizawa said. "Kurigiri had actually suggested this as well." He gave a light shrug with his shoulders. "I guess it is a good idea given their abilities in this situation. As much as it goes against my principles to give a Villain extra powers."

"You say it," Endeavor just commented. "But given that tomorow we will face an entire country full of monsters, we simply have no choice."

Toga had now an even wider grin on her face.

"You hear it Izuku-kun - even they think you should give me some of your blood. So..."

"Not now," Aizawa said sternly. "We should wait with it till tomorow. So that you can use it the longest possible time."

"Okay," Toga said with a tone of obvious fake innocense.

xxxxxxx

The next morning

They all had been standing up early. Izuku and the others got ready within minutes. Just like it was natural, since they were trained to be Heroes.

As one of the last things before the final jump to the mainland, they all were giving the two Toga´s a bit of their blood, as agreed. Even Bakugou did so reluctantly.

Then they all assembled around Kurugiri, who used his powers once again to transport them right on a empty beach at the coastline of what had once been California.

Not far away from them were the remains of a small coast-town.

So far all they could make out was by a look from the distance. But that was enough already to give them an impression.

Broken and crumbled houses, wrecked or simply abandoned cars standing all over the streets, dust and garbage lying in between.

On the first look it was a ghost town.

No single human life was left.

No human life.

But that did not mean that they town was empty. Figures were starting too fill the streets. They all knew instantly that it must be the former inhabitants of the town. But none of them was human, at least not anymore.

At first they only saw them as vaque figures in the distance. But as the beings stated to come closer, they could make out more details.

It was the same sight as they had seen in the video recording earlier.

A few of the former human beings had grown extra appendages, like tentacles or sharp claws.

But that was not it.

While strange appearances were nothing unusual, with Mutation Quirks being common, this here was something else.

No matter how bizarre someone looked at the outside thanks to his Quirk, underneath it they were still clearly people.

This... things however were not. Beside their Mutations, they all looked like moving corpses. Their skin was virtually rotting from their bodies. Some of them had open wounds that were however not bleeding...

... But in opposite to for example Shigaraki - whose Quirk was literally Decay - he still had the mannerism, charisma and personality that identified him as a living person.

These beings however had not. Their expressions seemed frozen and empty. Their movements were crude and broken, somehow uncoordinated. Nearly as it something else was moving their bodies.

Their long dead eyes were all glowing with the same bizarre sickly yellow light as the crowd of mutated zombies was moving towards them.

It was a bizarre, nearly surreal sight. There was something that felt just fundamentally wrong about this beings. Enough to send a cold shudder over their bodies.

But since they were all either trained Heroes or hardened Rebels and Villains, none of them let it show. They all kept their demeanor.

"Before you ask," the Kurogiri said calmly. "Yes - as far as we know this place is typical for the entire continent."

"Not that this makes one feel any better," Himiko commented.

The former citizens/creatures had now come even closer to them.

"Should we just blow them up?" Bakugou questioned.

"Or burn them down," Dabi added sardonically, with a grin on his disfigured face.

"They don´t really seem that dangerous," Izuku said as well. "We can probably take them."

"Spare your strength," Kurugiri stated. "These are just pawns. There is no use in fighting them. It will become far worse when we get closer to our target."

"Kurugiri is right," Aizawa stated, "getting into a fight here is a waste of time. We need to get to the Gateway and back home."

"I guess we have seen enough," Endeavor said flatly.

"Yes - lets move on Kurogiri," Himiko said as well.

They could now hear the distorted growls and shouts of the zombie horde.

But Kurogiri just teleported them away again. This time to the East Coast, where their ultimate destination was located.

They needed to find the Gateway. In that point Aizawa and Endeavor were right, Kurugiri and Himiko both knew.

Even if their objective was not exactly the same as the dimensionally marooned Heroes and Villain´s.

The Gateway was the way the Nameless Ones had reached their world in the first place. If they could destroy it - hopefully after they send the others back - they might be able to cut-off or at least weaken their influence. Hopefully. That would only leave the threat of the so called Dark Order as a menace to their world.

And even if this idea did not work, sending the others back would at least give them the chance to prevent the same disaster from happening in their timeline as well.

xxxxxxx

Former UA Academy - Japan (at the same time)

The creature calling himself Nergal - or the Overlord, as he was also called here - was just entering another part of his private area of the former UA Building.

Dekiru was currently, along with his special-team, on a mission regarding the `visitors´ they recently had in this world. And the Overlord was meanwhile taking care of business of his own.

The room he was just entering was in the deepest part of this personal sanctionary of him. It was a place where nobody beside him had access to.

Not even Dekiru could enter this room without personal permission from him.

And there were reasons for that. Because this here was the area where he followed his activities that were not directly related to this world.

It was also here where he went when he got into contact with the other greater parts of their organization, that spanned over many realities and worlds.

Like right now.

He stepped inside an large round empty room.

xxx

Appearing in the room before him were five transparent shadow-like figures.

They were however not truly physically there, but just spiritual apparations.

A couple of them were massive armored figures like Thanos and En Sabah Nur. While others were clad in similar black cloaks like Nergal himself.

They were the other Lords of the Dark Order - the other leaders of their organization beside himself.

Every one of them was a Cosmic Force of Darkness in their own right, capable of destroying entire worlds. Even before their official alliance. Together they were even more, a force that would some day change all of reality in their image.

Most of them had originally been mortal beings or in some cases more half-gods, who over the centuries of their lives extended their powers to the point where they reached a cosmic level.

A fraction of this power was even present in the room, even if their physical selves were not.

"You have called for us," one of the cloaked figures, who had just appeared, greeted him. "Is there something you want to inform us about?"

"Yes," he replied.

Then the apparation of Thanos addressed him.

"Tell us - are there any news about our special side-project?" he asked.

Special Side-Project - that meant everything they had been doing on this world. Their ongoing contest with the Nameless Ones, the destruction of the old Hero System, the take-over of the the Asien Continent, the `reeducation´ and the ongoing purges of the population. The selection of suitable natives as soldiers for their cause and sending them off to other dimensions.

Everything... All that just a side-project.

"There had been a dimensional breach. We have intruders in this dimension," Nergal stated.

"Enemies?" one of the robes figures asked.

"No - neutrals. By what one of my Adjutants executers reported it was a group of counterparts of these so called Heroes of this world. Most likely from the timeline that diverged from this one nine years ago. They have allied with the Resistance."

"I see. Are they a threat to your operations?" Thanos asked.

"Not at all," Nergal responded. "I would have just ignored them and let the troops deal with them, but according to our spies they are trying to get control of the so called Gateway Portal that gave the Nameless Ones access to this reality.

It seems they plan to send the intruders back into their own world and that the rebels hope that destroying the Gateway will negate or reduce the Nameless Ones influence on this world. My adjutant has taken his own warrior group and gone to intercept them."

"Interesting," Thanos replied.

"But still nothing that should be of any concern for us in the great scale of things," one of the other figures stated.

"Remind us - how many forces has your domain provided to our cause during the last year?" another one asked.

"Averagely around fifty persons per month who met our standards," Nergal responded.

"Only fifty - from half a planet. Against all the time invested and the afford it costs us to keep the Nameless Ones in check. It seems this world stays far behind our expectations. Maybe we should reconsider our project."

"Maybe," another Lord stated.

"Let us decide this another time," Thanos apparation said. "Let us first see how this turns out. We will be in contact again."

With this the presence of the other five beings disappeared and Nergal was left behind alone.

Yes - they would see. Soon the fate of this reality would be decided for good. Or maybe it already was.

xxxxxxx

North America

At the same time Dekiru and his team had just arrived at the West Coast, at a different location as the Heroes group. In opposite to them, they did not use a Transportation Quirk to reach the American Continent, but special teleportion devices given to them by their Masters.

After the loss of Tsuyu they consisted of Dekiru himself and this realities versions of Ochako, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Momo and Shinso.

"We are here," Native Uraraka commented.

"Yes," Dekiru said.

"Am I the only one who thinks that this is suicide?" Native Todoroki remarked.

"Now," Dekiru replied, "Don´t you think if our soft counterparts can do this, we can as well?"

"They are desperate. We are not," Todoroki just replied.

"We aren´t?" Dekiru replied sarcastically. "Have you forgotten that our Master´s are literally the only thing that keeps our world from being completely overrun? Do you think it is a good idea to stay completely dependant on them to survive?

How long do you think their mercy will hold up? You know how high they think about mercy. So if we have can get to the Gateway and cut the goddamn thing off for good..."

"I get your point," Todoroki said defensively.

He was not really trying to convince Dekiru to stop the mission. That was not his mission. Just to rile him up. Todoroki knew him well enough to know the small doubts he mentioned would only edge him on to continue.

And that was what the resistance wanted as well. He was a spy for them after all.

This absolute fearlessness in face of his goals was actually one trait Dekiru still had in common with his alternate Hero Self. Only that he used it for different purposes.

But in the end they all knew too well that there was no guaranty that destroying the Gateway would actually stop the Nameless Ones intrusion into their world, now that they were already here.

They were not simply an enemy army or civilization. Just like the Dark Order, they were a Cosmic Force that had invaded their reality. It was not likely that simply shutting down a machine, no matter how advanced, could stop them.

"Then let us continue," Dekiru said. "I am curious about meeting my other self."

He exchanged a short look with Uraraka. Who gave him a smile in return.

There was however also another possible reason to get their hands on the Gateway. To get control of it, instead to destroying it.

It was true that maybe one day their Masters would fail to stop hold the Nameless Ones back. Or that they would maybe judge this world unworthy and destroy it themselves. Like they did with many others.

In both cases it could mean the end of this planet, maybe even this universe.

But with the Gateway it would be possible to leave this doomed world for another.

xxxxxxx

The East Coast

Izuku and the others had meanwhile reached the outskirts of the place where their final destination laid.

They were standing in front of the decaying ruins of what had once been New York City. Here - somewhere in between the endless broken wasteland, was the place of the original Gateway.

And like with the smaller town they had seen, there were at a few places in the distance the figures of the corrupted and undead former citizens wandering through it.

This was also the place where this world´s Allmight had died.

"Shit." That was all Bakugou said as he saw the horror landscape.

"What now?" Endeavor questioned. "Are we supposed to fight ourselves through the entire town?"

"We should try to move quietly for now," Kurugiri stated. "If things come hard to hard, my Quirk can help us."

"You have already used it a few times today," Himiko pointed out.

"There don´t seem to be that many of them on the streets," Aizawa suggested. "We might be able to get some distance before we are discovered."

"By all respect Sensei," Tsuyu said, "you sound awfully optimistic."

"Do we have another choice?" Shoto asked.

"Yes - giving up and staying in this world," Dabi remarked.

"No," Momo said.

"I don´t want to stay here either," Toga stated.

They all were exchanging glances with each other.

"Then let us go," Endeavor said.

They were now entering the outskirts of the city.

xxx

For a short time, it was working.

They were moving quickly from building to building and street-corner to street-corner.

But after about one to two kilometers, their luck run out.

Standing between this building and the next was a large group of around a dozen grotesque deformed zobies.

"Lets blow them up," Bakugou stated.

"That will be heard for kilometers," Shoto replied.

"Burn them instead," Dabi instead. "We have three people with Fire Quirks here."

"And one with ice," Endeavor added. "We strike at the same time. First we burn them, then you will freeze everything and extinquish the flames."

Shoto nodded.

All three Todoroki´s took positions. Then they unleashed their powers at the same time and turned the street into a small sea of flames, before Shoto spread ice over the entire place.

As expected, nothing was left of their targets deside dust. Not even burned skeletons were to see.

"They - these people were already dead, I mean nothing was left inside of them anymore, right?" Momo asked unsure.

"Does it makes any difference?" Toga asked.

"Any difference?" Izuku asked unsettled.

"You have seen what these people became," Himiko pointed out. "My counterpart might have not the most sensitive way to say it, but - even if there were something left of their former selves - would you want to live like this?"

"I-... "

Izuku, Tsuyu, Momo and Shoto were all looking downcast at the spot where they had just burned the group of zombies.

Aizawa and Endeavor were also looking with a sober look on their face.

Even Dabi was.

It was in this moment when they heard the growling coming from everywhere around them.

It seemed their gamble had failed.

The fire had been noticed by the other creatures anyway.

Here is finally the next chapter of Mirror´s Edge.

A confrontation between the protagonists and Dekiru´s group will probably happen in the next one.