I woke to an absence of pain. It was bizarre. The last month it seemed like I was always in some level of low grade pain. From my injuries fighting Bakuda, to the injuries fighting Armsmaster and the heroes, to the... I've been getting into too many fights, I decided, opening my eyes.
"Ā! Anata ga me o samashite imasu," a young man said. I blinked at him, and realized I didn't have my glasses. I thought about what he said, trying to remember the Japanese I picked up in school and from eavesdropping on ABB members. He said something about being awake?
"Hai. Eigo o hanasemasu ka?" I asked, awkwardly. My face itched. I wanted my mask, or at least some bugs, but I assumed we were in some sort of field hospital, and a swam of bugs would cause a panic.
"Ah, Noaught weally," the boy said, awkwardly. "Sugu modotte kuru," he said, getting up and leaving. I immediately raised my hand and rubbed my eyes, feeling the unfamiliar mask across my face. I reached out for my bugs, getting an idea of the space that surrounded me. Hundreds of cots, most of them filled with bodies. Some dead, most living. My stomach coiled with dread. I took a deep breath, and then another. I had just survived Leviathan, but now I was seconds away from a panic attack. I was filled with this urge to do something, and if I couldn't I-
"Hello again!" a cheerful voice said. I looked over, seeing the distinctive green hair and blue uniform that was one of the young Japanese heroes who had fought Leviathan with me. His arms were still wrapped in bandages, and he noticed me glancing at them. "They said since I wasn't in critical condition, I would have to wait."
"I see," I said. "And everyone else?" I asked, awkwardly. I was mentally kicking myself the moment I said anything. I knew they would've lost some people. It was inevitable with an Endbringer fight. There was no reason to blatantly poke at the wound.
"Well we found Ochako! And Ka-chan is up and kicking. Your Panacea is so amazing! She almost instantly healed him, it was incredible to watch. She looked a little confused though, or maybe distracted? It didn't stop her from doing her job, she patched you up as well, without even thinking about it." He visibly drooped and tears sprung to his eyes. "But, um Sensei didn't make it. Neither did Thirteen or Sero. And so many of my classmates are missing."
"With any luck they are still on the other side of the portal and are safe at home," I said. It might even be true. They'd have no way of knowing until and if they got back home to their dimension.
"Yeah," he nodded, brightening noticeably. "But where is here? I mentioned we were from Japan and were students at UA but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. They didn't even recognize All Might's name."
"No one explained it to you yet?" I asked, sighing. "It seems that portal pulled you from your home dimension into ours. In our dimension Leviathan destroyed Japan. A hero named All Might never existed here."
"That's...how is that possible? How do you know?" he asked.
"You're Japanese and you didn't recognize Leviathan. Either you were living under a rock your whole life, had amnesia, or came from another dimension," I said, flatly. "And believe it or not, this isn't the first time this has happened."
"What? Really?" he asked.
"A villain named Haywire opened a portal to an alternative Earth, and the Simurgh opened a portal to a different dimension another time. There are probably hundreds of thousands of alternative dimensions as far as we know," I shrugged.
"So it won't be too hard to go home?" the boy asked, hopefully. I shrugged again.
"I have no idea. There's no casual interdimensional travel at least. But maybe there is some travel done at the higher levels of government," I said. I wasn't even lying. Yeah, there were treaties forbidding travel between Earth Bet and Earth Alph, but that made sense. Else there would be a constant stream of refugees, and no planet would be able to handle that many people. But for the rich and powerful? Yeah, I could see the possibility of some people setting up secret boltholes in case Earth Bet finally collapsed.
Or maybe not. It was Tinker tech after all. Perhaps Haywire was the only one to figure it out, and it had never been duplicated. That was also very possible. In which case the boy and his classmates would be stuck here for the rest of their lives. In either case though there was really only one good option for them.
"Listen- um," I blanked, realizing he had never actually told me who he was.
"Izuku Midoryia," the boy said.
"Izuku. You should probably go to the Protectorate. If anyone can help you get home, and get you established here, it's them," I said.
"Is the Protectorate the local hero team?" Izuku guessed.
"They are the organization that runs most of the hero teams in the US," I replied. "They have the most parahumans in the world, and work pretty closely with other international groups like the Guild. Come on, lets go see if we can find any of them. We should make a deal with them before they decide you need to be quarantined or something like that." I got up, and pushed aside the curtain as Izuku followed me. Several of his classmates were waiting outside my cot, including the explosion kid. I paused for a second, using my bugs to locate the heroes. It was hard to tell who was who, but I recognized the Director of the PRT from our attack on their fundraiser.
"This way," I said, walking down the lane. I could almost hear them arguing. My bugs were getting better at hearing, but why? Did Pancea do something, or was it the fight with Leviathan? We got to their location, the Director and the two heroes separated from us by a thin curtain. I cleared my throat nosily. "Um, Director? Could I speak to you for a moment?" I asked, loudly.
"I am in the middle of a meeting, whatever you want can wait," the woman snarled, pulling across the curtain to glare at me. She paused. "You aren't one of my Wards or New Wave. Who are you and why should I care?"
"These kids all have powers and they want to help," I said, bluntly, too focused on who the Director had been arguing with. Miss Militia and Legend himself. The hero moved forward, grinning warmly.
"That's good to hear. We would of course welcome them into our Wards program," Legend said, hiding whatever tension he had from arguing with the Director.
"It isn't that simple," the Director said, frowning. "You just told me that Brockton Bay would likely be quarantined because of the presence of these...guests of ours."
"An overreaction from the government's part," Legend said, sighing. "Leviathan isn't the Simurgh, his devastation is upfront and clear. I'm confident they'll see reason in time."
"Perhaps," the Director said, her voice carefully bland. "But as is, they will be stuck in Brockton Bay. And with the local Protectorate is depleted with us not receiving any reinforcements," the Director said bitingly.
"The situation will be temporary. You just need to hold on until the quarantine is lifted," Legend said, reassuringly.
"It will still be months, maybe even years before that happens. And in the meantime I'm understaffed and in no place to be taking in dozens of kids," the Director snapped.
"On the contrary, you can't afford to turn them away," a familiar voice said cheerfully. I turned around, to see Tattletale and the other Undersiders walking up to me. She winked, and stood by my side while the others halted behind me.
"Tattletale," the Director growled. She turned her attention back to me. "And that must make you Skitter. Why should I listen to a gang of villains when I've got a city to take care of?" Izuku and his friends gasped. I clenched my jaw. I could hardly claim I was working with Armsmaster to betray the Undersiders now. Not only had I changed my mind about that, but the man died fighting Leviathan. As far as everyone was concerned, I was a villain and always had been.
"You make it sound so melodramatic, calling us villains. Like we committed any major crimes beyond stealing," Tattletale said, with a laugh. I glanced at her. What was she playing at?
"And the assault on our fundraiser?" the Director asked, glaring.
"Hey, you attacked us. We just showed up to claim our fair share of the credit. After all, we were the ones who beat Lung. Twice. Not to mention Oni-Lee and countless ABB grunts," Tattletale said, smirking. The Director's glare upgraded to a full on glower. "But the point is, we're here to help."
"That seems unlikely. A bunch of villains just spontaneously changing their ways?" Miss Militia said, stepping up.
"Leviathan attacking changes things," Tattletale said, shrugging. "We're thieves and thrill seekers. But there isn't really anything to steal, and we aren't exactly going to be having fun in a ruined city. And before you bring it up, we can't exactly leave with that upcoming quarantine. Plus you heroes are between a rock and a hard place, so you can't exactly afford to turn us away."
"What do you mean?" Legend said, his voice still pleasant. I glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. Was he just being polite, or did the man just not have a hostile bone in his body?
"The local Protectorate got slaughtered and you just had an influx of several hundred villains. You need whatever capes you can get your hands on. We'll help keep the peace, and teach these newbies the ropes," Tattletale said, confidently. I felt a jolt of hope. We're they turning on Coil? Could we actually be heroes together?
"So you would join our Wards?" Miss Militia asked.
"Oh hell no," Regent said as Bitch snorted dismissively.
"What they said. We are joining up to stand around and look pretty or to be bossed around by bureaucrats. We're joining up so Brockton Bay doesn't get condemned as another ruined city," Tattletale said.
"And you would just do this out of the goodness of your hearts?" Director asked, sarcastically.
"Of course not. We'd want amnesty for starters," Tattletale said.
"Money," Regent butted in.
"Authority," I added. The Undersiders would never last taking orders from the Director or even Miss Militia. Alec would constantly rebel in little ways, Rachel would walk away, and Tattletale would constantly undercut anyone she thought was stupid. Only Brian and I would actually listen to orders, and if I was ordered to let some villain escape, I would disobey in a heartbeat.
"Authority?" Miss Milita asked, frowning.
"Yes. Like Tattletale said, we aren't going to stand for being bossed around by bureaucrats. Give us the authority to go after villains. We will work directly with the Director, obey her orders, but we will do so how we want," I said, trying to inject confidence in my voice.
"And why should I bother with a bunch of teenage villains?" the Director asked, with a snort. She glared at Tattletale when she opened her mouth, which immediately shut with a snap.
"Because we're veterans. We took down Lung twice, took out Oni-Lee, survived being ambushed by Bakuda, beat your Wards and your Protectorate and went toe to toe with Purity and her allies," I said, staring directly at the Director. "There isn't a cape in this city we haven't fought against or with and I'm confident in our chances against any of them."
"Barring all the new capes of course," the Director said, her posture stiff, and her face like stone. I refused to look away, even as my mind raced. Did I push too far? Or not far enough? She didn't like Tattletale talking, which made sense. I wish Brian would step up and join the conversation. Wasn't he supposed to be our leader? At least in public anyways.
"True," I nodded, thinking fast. "Still, we specialize in scouting and escape. We've got the firepower to handle most things, and the agility to avoid everything else."
"Hn," the Director grunted, not letting even the slightest bit of emotion show on her face. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, what's your name child?"
"I-Izuku Midoryia, Ma'am," Izuku stammered, standing up straight.
"No hero name?" the Director asked, as Tattletale tugged on my sleeve. I let myself be led away, where the rest of the Undersiders were gathered. I heard the Director begin talking to other kids, Miss Milita translating her words into Japanese.
"Okay Tattletale, what the fuck was that?" Grue demanded, as soon as we were isolated enough. "When you asked us to trust you, I was expecting you to pull Skitter's butt out of the fire, not volunteer us to be heroes!"
A wave of disappointment filled me. I looked at the others. Grue was angry, that cold outrage he had, rather than any sort of screaming rage. Regent was lounging against a tent pole, looking both smug and curious. Bitch was watching us carefully as guarded as ever. She nodded to me when she saw me looking, so I nodded back. Tattletale had her normal vulpine grin as she met Grue's gaze.
"An opportunity, that's what," she said, smugly. At Grue's glare she held up her hands appeasingly. "Here me out, you'll understand what I'm getting at. The majority of casualties were on the local heroes and the city's government was slaughtered in the shelter. Before the day is over, Director Piggot is going to declare martial law."
"Get to the point Tats," Regrent said, bored.
"The point is; Coil isn't doing jack shit for us anymore," Tattletale hissed, leaning forward and lowering her voice slightly. "Grue, no one cares who is taking care of your sister right now. Social Services won't even be allowed in the city for who knows how long, and by the time they are, you'll either be an adult or a respected hero. Bitch only wants to be left alone. Getting the heroes off her back will do more for her than Coil has ever done. Plus now she'll be able to go after dog fighting rings officially. Regent, you only want petty stuff like good food and video games. A heroes budget will pay for that, and they'll provide back up if your family comes poking around. And Skitter won't have to choose between betraying us and rescuing Dinah."
I flinched. Had Tattletale known all along about me intending to turn them in? Or was this a recent discovery? In which case, shouldn't she know I changed my mind?
"Betraying us? Skitter were you going to betray us?" Grue asked. I met his gaze, seeing the accusation in his eyes, my mouth dry. I opened my mouth but Tattletale jumped in.
"She has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and blames herself for Dinah's kidnapping," Tattletale said, dryly. "I'm sure she was trying to think of some way to rescue Dinah without fighting us...but." I let out a mental sigh of relief, I was still safe. Maybe.
"I don't want to fight any of you," I added, my gut clenching. "But I can't leave her there, suffering abuse from that...bastard."
"Hn," Grue grunted, crossing his arms across his chest. I looked from him to Bitch and Regent, Regent just sorta shrugged and gave me a half smile, while Bitch was frowning and biting her lip. She met my eyes briefly and looked away, to my shock. If she was angry, she would've been glaring at me, I knew that. Her looking away was almost encouraging. I wonder what she was thinking, was she concerned about my potential betrayal? Or was she focused on what Tattletale had told her about working with the heroes?
"And what do you get out of this?" Regent asked, his half smile turning to a cruel smirk.
"A way out, maybe," Tattletale said, tapping a finger against her arm. "These kids came from another dimension. And they are going to try and get home. If we help them, hopefully we can catch a ride."
"Why would you want that?" I asked, without thinking.
"It's a world without Endbringers. A world that isn't trapped in a slow decline to oblivion," Tattletale said, seriously. I immediately felt like an idiot. Of course anyone would want that. I was tempted myself, but I couldn't leave my father behind. And he's spent his entire life trying to help Brockton Bay. I couldn't see him just giving up and moving someplace else, even if that someplace else wasn't a doomed world.
"Yeah, but it's a long shot that they'll ever get home. There's no way the Protectorate would ever just allow them to open a portal to some strange world. Especially after Haywire," Grue said. "So what else do you get out of this?"
"Fucking over Coil," Tattletale responded. "That bastard screwed us over royally with that whole 'lets reveal the secret identities of all the E88 members,' and he's not doing anything for us anymore. So I get revenge, we get to be free and clear of the authorities if we end up staying on this planet, we have hope to move to a better planet, and we get Skitter back."
"He knows our secret identities though," Grue pointed out, frowning.
"Big whoop," Regent rolled his eyes. "That sucks for you and Skitz, but Bitch, Tats, and I have got nothing to lose in that regard."
"Besides, we won't have to give him the chance. We've got nearly twenty heroes to crush Coil with, all with unknown powers and guaranteed to be free and clear of any sort of blackmail or dirt Coil might have," Tattletale said, smiling viciously. I smiled as well, feeling almost gleeful as I realized how effective these newcomers would be. Sure, most of them were likely just kids. But that explosion kid seemed skilled and vicious enough to tear through Coil's mercs and the the green haired kid, Izuku, was certainly idealistic enough to join in.
"Well I'm in," Regrent said, shrugging.
"Really?" Grue said, turning around and looking at Regrent, surprised.
"Yeah man. I know a sinking ship when I see one. Between Skits, Tats, and whatever support they manage to dredge up from the heroes, Coil is going down. And I've got no interest in being dragged down with him," Regrent said, lazily.
"That's...probably true," Grue said, hesitantly. "But I'm not comfortable betraying him. He's been good to us."
"The man's a scumbag," I said, flatly, feeling a little disappointed in Brian. "He abducted and drugged a little girl for his own benefit. He doesn't deserve any sort of credit for being 'good to us'," I air quoted his words, "that just means getting our help was easy enough, or we weren't important enough, that he didn't need to do anything bad to get it. I've got no doubt that if he really needed any of our help and we refused to give it he wouldn't hesitate to put a gun to our heads and force us to help him." Tattletale glanced at me and nodded.
"Besides, I got a look at what Coil was paying Faultline's Crew during the whole ABB mess. He was ripping us off big time," Tattletale added.
"How bad?" Regrent asked, curiously.
"They pulled six figures off of that 'job' easy. While we got pennies in comparison for our bank job and attacking the heroes," Tattletale replied. Grue sighed.
"Alright alright, I get it," he said. "You sure the Director will go for it?"
"Of course," Tattletale said, nodding. "Like I said, she doesn't have much choice."
"Bitch, are you okay with this?" I asked, glancing at her. She simply grunted and nodded once.
"Then I guess it's official. The Undersiders are going to be heroes," Tattletale said, smirking.
Author's Notes: So the timeline is obviously and immediately messed up massively. Most of the Protectorate is dead leaving only Miss Militia, Assault, and Battery left standing. Along with some of the Wards. And all the minor villains from the USJ attack along with Nomu, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri. So yeah, things are going to warp fast and in true Worm fashion I intend for there to be as little downtime as possible between crises.
Unlike Worm, I will be switching the character's point of view each chapter.