Well, this is a start to a new story. I'm mostly going to update this once a month and I hope you all enjoy, because I'm going to make sure this all goes slowly.

Dagobah Beach was a surprisingly beautiful place once you got the trash out of the way. Shimmering water, soft sand, and slowly falling sun on the horizon only made him all the more determined to keep cleaning it.

It was part of his training after all.

Izuku Midoriya hauled the last of today's junk into the back of the pick-up truck, slapping the back of it to signal it to depart. He already had today's payment for it in his pocket, which he knew wouldn't last long when he went for a supply run later. Summer had been good for him, allowing him to work more, but that didn't mean notebooks and drawing materials were cheap.

Not to mention this month's gym payment was coming up and he couldn't afford to waste his training now.

"Alright, if I keep going at the current pace I've put myself at, this shouldn't take too much longer." Izuku started mumbling to himself, pulling at his lip lightly. "I'll probably finish right before UA's entrance exam. Should I speed things up so I have time to cram for the written portion, though?"

The idea was immediately shot down as he remembered how his mom worried last time he passed out after a day of hauling garbage. They both cried a lot that day, and Izuku didn't want her to ban him from continuing his strength training.

"You had me worried sick, Izuku! I wasn't sure where you were." Izuku had felt particularly guilty at that, especially as she cried all over his shirt. "I know you're a second year now, but that doesn't mean you can just disappear like that."

He'd apologized so much that day, but he did have to force himself not to do it again. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to get into UA. Especially if he wanted to keep pace with his classmates. If he couldn't, how could he dare call himself a-

(I'm so sorry, Izuku!)

(There's no chance for him.)

(I'd suggest looking for work elsewhere. Especially without a Quirk.)

…Maybe he should take a break after all. He felt like he needed it.

Izuku sighed, pushing the negative thoughts away for now. He gathered his supplies from a hidden alcove in the trash, consisting of a simple backpack filled with notebooks and other simple things.

He checked his schedule quickly, marveling at how far he was able to go in only eight months. It almost felt like yesterday since he started this regiment. He only had two months to the exam, yet it still felt like it was forever away.

The sounds of explosions and wreckage happening not too far away made his feet move without permission. He grabbed the latest notebook in a string of sixteen, Hero Analysis for the Future, and decided this would be a nice way to take a break. Hero fights were a little scarce this month, though that was understandable.

He needed to analyze as much as he could, anyway. He wanted to be the first Quirkless hero, and that meant doing everything he can to become one.

The world they lived in was a strange one if viewed through a certain perspective. The concept of superpowers was a pipe dream until two hundred years ago, when a child in China was found to be glowing. After a turbulent beginning and severe legislation was put into place, it resulted in superheroes being a common sight all over the world.

Shiho Suzui shook her head at the wandering thoughts. Maybe she shouldn't think those types of things when a villain attack was happening right in front of her.

"I swear, Mustutafu is a magnet for all sorts of trouble." Shiho laughed to herself. She adjusted her bag, looking into the opening to check on her friend's cat. "Hey Mona, you got any say about all of this? Villain attacks really eat up a lot of time. This better not disrupt the train schedule again."

"I know! This is the third one this week and it isn't even Wednesday." 'Mona' complained, meowing softly. He glared at the sight of a tree guy trying to take a man flying around with bug wings. "This bag gets hot in the summer! Why do villains have to pop up so much."

'Mona' fought the urge to roll his eyes as Shiho nodded. It wasn't like she actually understood him anyway.

As far as Shiho was concerned, Mona was a normal cat that her friend needed her help watching over while another one was in the middle of a moving situation. She didn't mind, quite honestly. The place she was living at right now was good with pets, and Mona had been nice company while her parents were working. Especially during the times when she…

…Well, that wasn't important. Stuff she could focus on later.

Mona, better known as Morgana, had a different story for being here. Lady Ann, the two's mutual friend, wanted him around to keep an eye on the girl. It had been a while since the original incident in Tokyo, but Ann didn't want to risk anything when she heard Shiho's parents were going to be out of town for work.

The caution was probably not needed, but Morgana did like spending time with Shiho, even if she couldn't understand him. She could be pretty funny when she thought no one was around to listen.

His ear twitched causing him to pause. He didn't know why, but something felt off to him.

The cat looked to their left, noticing that someone had joined them last minute. He could see green mop of curly hair watching the fight intensely, eyes catching every movement. The kid was writing down furiously into a notebook, a page filled with scribbles being filled in.

"Kamui Woods again this week. He seems to avoid going after people with Emitter Quirks rather than Transformation Quirks. Maybe it's because he doesn't want to deal with a bad mashup?" The kid muttered, pen flying across the page. "Though he usually avoids people with Mutation Quirks too. Or he doesn't deal with the extreme ones. Is this because Mount Lady takes those or…"

"Heh, nerd alert." Morgana settled down, the sight of a hero fanboy making him calm down. He didn't know why, but he'd felt a chill when the kid arrived. "Glad to see someone is enjoying this. Hey, Shiho, any idea how fast we'll get home?"

Shiho blinked at the meowing, seeing the cat look up at her. "I'm sorry, Mona. I know you're probably hungry, but it'll be a few minutes before we can pass the bridge. I don't know much about Kamui Woods, but I'm sure he'll get this over with."

Morgana sighed, ears drooping at the news. At least he actually got an answer, he supposed. That was honestly all he could hope for on a good day. He kept watching the hero fight, which he could recognize was reaching its conclusion soon.

His eyes wandered back to the mumbling kid, eavesdropping on the stream of words coming out of his mouth. Looking closer, he could read the title of the notebook.

"Hero Analysis for the Future, huh? And number sixteen?" Morgana fought back from laughing again. He didn't know too much about the world of heroics, but he had a feeling what kind of job this guy was hoping for. "Good luck, curly hair. We're going to need all the ones we can get since the Phantom Thieves retired."

And now he made himself sad. Good job, Morgana. Just what you needed to feel after a long day.

The cat huffed again, debating on just taking a nap while the fight continued. They might've been interesting at first but being outside of one made you a critic. He closed his eyes, deciding that it was probably better if-

(it's happening again)

Morgana's ears snapped up, the familiar voice kicking him into high gear. He shifted in the bag, looking around everywhere. A familiar hum shook him to the core, causing his eyes to widen. A blue butterfly danced at the edge of his vision, not able to see it directly.

"A Palace?" Morgana felt his heartbeat quicken. Whether it was out of excitement or dread was tough to discern. "That can't be right. I'm just imagining this, Palaces can't form anymore, especially after everything with-"

(find the source, the others will follow)

Morgana didn't need to be told twice, the pull becoming too strong. He jumped out of the bag, caution thrown to the wind as he instantly began searching for the pulse of a Palace. The thrum of human desire was too strong.

Distantly, he could hear Shiho's shout behind him.

He didn't hear Curly Hairs shout that followed shortly after.

Shinsou Hitoshi was finding every reason not to go back home right now, and he was starting to fail at it. He made sure to finish all of his chores early, hung out at the local cat café as long as he could, and he even debated trying to see if he could into that new club people were talking about. However, it was becoming clear he would have to just admit defeat.

Despite hating school with a fiery passion, Shinsou had to admit not having schoolwork made him have too much time on his hands. Which would be less of a bad thing if he had friends, but that wasn't exactly an easy fix.

Nobody wanted to be friends with someone who had a brainwashing Quirk. That tended to be a dealbreaker for most people.

Shinsou sighed again, messing up his hair a bit before continuing his walk. Maybe he could try and tire himself out so when he got back, he'd just collapse out of exhaustion. It wasn't the best plan, but it worked.

"Maybe I should join a club or something. Not like they test out Quirks or anything." Shinsou hummed. He could try to get a job a job too, but he doubted he'd be able to keep the money. "Really wish something would happen right now."

Shinsou didn't realize it now, but he would come to regret those words.

It started with a cat.

Shinsou stopped as a black and white cat suddenly rounded the corner, making a mad dash past him. He turned around to watch it go, despite his better instincts telling him to probably keep an eye out for what it was running from.

Since he turned around, he didn't see that black haired girl turn just as fast around the corner, running into him at full speed. They both fell onto the sidewalk, her cursing under her breath and Shinsou just accepting his fate. He grunted but was otherwise unharmed.

"Ah, what did I- oh, god, I'm so sorry!" Shinsou was surprised to be back on his feet already, feeling dazed. If it wasn't for the slight pain in his side, he wouldn't have known he was knocked over. "My cat sort of just ran off on me and I don't know where's he going. Did you see a black and white cat-"

"Uh, miss?!"

Shinsou blinked once again as another boy, green hair and obviously nervous as all hell, slid to a stop a few feet away. His shirt had the words 'track suit' on it, which made this situation either more or less absurd than it originally was.

"Are you alright? You almost ran right in front of a car!" Shinsou was going to call the guy Broccoli Man for now. He looked like one. "And also t-that guy too. At least, I-I think you did."

"I'm fine. Wait, have you been following me since that villain attack a block over?" The black haired- you know what, she was Steamroller for all he cared- looked surprised at that. "No offense, I appreciate the help, but Mona is still a cat."

"…Did you not hear me about you nearly getting hit by a car?"

"Alright, can you two quiet down for a second?" Shinsou pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get his thoughts in order. He pointed at Steamroller. "You. What's your name?"

"Uh, Shiho Suzui. Sorry about running into you." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, almost a complete one-eighty to the personality she showed before. "I was just trying to find my cat-"

"I already know that. You've mentioned it several times already." Shinsou turned a little, pointing at the only other guy here. Did his shirt really say 'dress shirt' or did he have a concussion? "Broccoli Guy, what's your name?"

"I-Izuku Midoriya." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, letting the nickname slide for whatever reason. "I think you already know why I-I'm here."

"Yeah, I do. Maybe do it a little less creepily next time." Shinsou didn't necessarily mean it and he wasn't one to talk about being a little creepy. He was just really annoyed right now. "Yes, Suzui, I saw your cat before you decided to almost steamroll me."

"Thank god. Do you know where he might try to run to? I don't think there any sushi restaurants around here." Shiho wasn't wrong. They were in a more residential district, one a little farther away from the shops. Not to mention Tanaka Goto's…

Yeah, they needed to find that cat. Not only for her sake, but for its own.

"Okay. I think I might know where it's going, but we need to find it as fast as possible." Shinsou turned around, moving quickly. "If you want to help, Midoriya, come with. Or not. I'm sure you have something important to get too."

"N-no, I'll help! If only to make sure somebody doesn't run into traffic again."

He may have mumbled that last part, but judging from Shiho's scandalized gasp, it wasn't quiet enough. Shinsou was almost ashamed that he chuckled at it.

"Names Shinsou Hitoshi, if you're wondering." Might as well throw it out there. Didn't matter anyway. It wasn't like they were going to stick around long enough to remember it. "And he's right, Steamroller. You really need to watch where you're going."

Shiho huffed, but didn't really wasn't in a position to retort. Probably already trying to forget about today, which was fair. He honestly couldn't wait to forget about it either as long as they found that cat.

The three failed to notice as a pulse of energy seemed to shoot around them, subtle and quiet. While a headache formed in their heads briefly, they all wrote it off as stress, Shinsou taking the lead. Their phones buzzed in their pockets, but not enough for them to notice.

And in a room far, far away, and close at the same time, a man grinned in anticipation.

Morgana wasn't sure where he was running to, but he didn't actually care. The pulse of a Palace was becoming stronger, and his instincts took over long ago.

The cat couldn't believe any of this was happening again. The Metaverse had been taken care of already and, if Big Nose was to be trusted, shouldn't form until years later. Something like it, but different. That was how the cycle went.

So why was it coming back again, and in such a familiar way? Did all of those desires not get fixed? Did something bring it back? Nothing that powerful should exist, shouldn't have time to form. Or did Yaldabaoth somehow recover from-

Another pulse, and he could feel his four legs turn into two. While he could never explain what exactly let him dive between the real world and Metaverse, an instinct flared up in him. He stumbled briefly. The excitement of it burned once again, flaring much more than the first time, before being extinguished by the guilt.

This wasn't a time to celebrate. This wasn't worth celebrating at all.

Morgana took in a deep breath before running again. He could see a building in the distance, and his vision blurred as he saw something else in its place.

There was the Palace.

With narrowed eyes, a growl in his gut, Morgana pushed.

Izuku was starting to wonder if running after Suzui was actually a good idea, but he'd committed to this already. He wasn't going to give up so soon, even if it was over a cat.

Besides, he meant it when he said he'd stop Suzui from nearly getting hit by a car again. And Shinsou looked worried about where it could've gone, so maybe this wasn't a safe area either.

"H-Hey," Izuku hated how he stuttered that. Keep it together, Deku, these people weren't villains or anything. "I-I think I'm going to google something really quick. Maybe there's something around here that would attract the cat."

"Go for it." Shinsou had been pretty chill about all of this, despite the fact that Suzui had run him over in a panic. Then again, something told Izuku that was due to heavy practice. "Unless I've been slacking, though, I don't think you'll find anything. I live near here and I don't know anything that would attract flies, much less anything else."

Izuku frowned but decided to open up his phone anyway. Maybe it was a useless idea, but he couldn't just sit there, useless-

(get out of my way, Deku)

(He should just give up)

(You need to be realistic)

…Izuku really hoped they found that cat. He just wanted to go to bed now and not wake up until he could get back to working himself out.

Those hopes were dashed as soon as he opened his phone up to see a black and red eye symbol looking right at him from an unfamiliar app. He could only blink at it before he debated on pressing on it.

"Uh, did anybody else gain a virus on their phone in the last few minutes?" Izuku stared down at the intruding app. He was always careful with his phone since he didn't want his mom struggling to buy another one. "I don't remember getting this app. Looks weird too."

"It's probably some idiot with a tech Quirk. I'm pretty sure we have a few kids with something like that around here." Shinsou waved his hand, not taking it seriously. "It probably isn't anything malicious."

Izuku frowned but decided that he probably wouldn't lie about this. It probably was someone with a tech Quirk accidentally messing with his phone. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened on purpose or not.

He tried to delete it but pressed on it instead. Izuku almost panicked as it took itself full screen. That panic quickly died when he realized it only opened up something akin to Google Maps. At least, it attempted to do that.

An address bar was ready, but it only had one address bar instead of two. He couldn't help but find that strange, especially when he clicked on it and found he couldn't type anything in. There was a microphone option that seemed on already, though it wasn't picking up the conversation of any passersby.

"Uh, by the way, where do you think Mona is headed? You at least know where he hopefully isn't going." Suzui had been right about that, Izuku realized. Shinsou did get a little weird about something earlier, but he'd initially wrote it off. "Is there some kind of cat killer running around? We had one in Tokyo for a while, but he eventually confessed at some point."

"…Kind of. This one woman owns an orphanage nearby and while I don't think she actually kills them, I'd rather she didn't get near one." Shinsou sighed. Izuku guessed they knew each other well. "Her name is Tanaka Goto. That orphanage is almost like a fucked up circus sometimes."

"Goto…Circus…Located."

Izuku jumped at the sound of the voice, looking down at his phone. He could see it search something for a few moments before settling in on a real-world map, stating that the destination was only a few paces away.

"Something wrong back there?"

Izuku was starting to wonder if something today was trying to get him scared to death as he nearly jumped again. He looked at Suzui, realizing that he stopped moving while this was happening.

"I-It's nothing. That weird is apparently for navigation or something." Izuku shoved the phone back into his bag, deciding that it didn't matter now. "Let's just find your cat."

Izuku was mortified but figured if he could keep his mouth shut until they were done, then he wouldn't have to embarrass himself further. Nearly getting a virus on his phone, repeatedly getting their attention despite having done nothing to help, and he just keeps on stuttering. Maybe it's a good thing they'll ditch them when they find out he's Quirkless, because otherwise they'll- why did the sky look different?

Izuku bit back the urge to mutter, noticing that something seemed wrong. Not obviously catastrophic of course, but certainly wrong.

The sky looked almost red, though there should've been plenty of daylight out before sunset came. There wasn't any scheduled events where a Quirk could cause this, and there would've been a siren for a wide scale villain attack if it wasn't.

Somehow, looking away from the sky became a lot more concerning. While he didn't make it a habit to look inside people's windows, the fact that they all seemed to shine at once made him look. It looked like the glass was emitting the light, since he couldn't see any shadows. The buildings looked darker because of it. Or did the paint just turn darker?

The nerdy part of him started comparing it to those gritty stories from the pre-Quirk era. Gotham and the like. He always liked those.

The primal part of him had to remind himself that usually meant these places were dangerous.

"Shinsou? That orphanage wouldn't happen to be in the rougher parts of town, right?" He couldn't imagine that would be a good place to keep an entire group of kids. Then again, he didn't really deal with any. "I mean, I don't mean to question Goto's practices, but it really doesn't seem that nice."

Suzui looked ready to defend Shinsou before actually getting a look at their surroundings. She actually slowed, taking it all in at once.

"I was going to disagree, but wow, this place kinda needs to some work. Don't hero's patrol around here or something?" Suzi gripped her bag. She looked over the boys quickly, as if realizing that she was actually alone with them for the first time. "I know some places like this don't get a lot of traffic, but surely at least a couple are going through here."

"Wha- Yeah, of course hero's patrol here. And it usually looks a lot better than this." Shinsou looked lost. Considering that he should know this neighborhood, that was not a good thing to be confused about. "I think about five work around here, and that's not counting the underground ones. Look, the orphanage should be up ahead so- what the hell?"

Izuku stopped as the other two did the exclamation coming from the laid-back guy sending him into overdrive. He looked, expecting to find a horrific scene. Was Toxic Chainsaw back? Was this all actually an effect of a dangerous Quirk? Or maybe it- it…

…It was a circus?

That's honestly what they were looking at. There were large tents that would fit all types of acts into them, big and small. There seemed to be some pens behind one of the bigger tents, indicating there were animals in there. He was actually surprised it fit in the small space of buildings.

The weird part was how the ones that didn't were floating above the other tents, all connected by a cobblestone path. The main tent was actually above all of it, floating casually above everything else.

Izuku couldn't help but agree with Shinsou. What the hell was this?

I've been wanting to write this for a while, so I think this will be a fun thing for me to do. If you all happen to enjoy it, feel free to tell me what you'd like to see in the future in the comments/reviews and see what I can do.

Either way, I'll see you all next chapter!