WHIPPED

The trap is set and now I wait

To catch the mouse in our small house.

When it came out with its cute snout

We romped and played. Friendship was made.

- "My Mouse Friend", a famous nursery rhyme

Izuku Midoriya

I never thought I was slow. Not after I trained so hard to finally handle One For All at its fullest. Sure, there were times that I was slower than other heroes whose specialty was speed, but I was never slow. I was one of the fastest, yet, for some reason, I just can't catch up to them.

And by 'them' I mean, Miu and Sora, the twins.

They were insanely fast! My flying is no match for them and so is Kacchan's. Other than their sheer speed though, what's making it so hard is that I barely even see them. It's like they disappear from time to time, blending in with the night sky, then emerging somewhere I don't expect.

Beneath us, the water is glittering, reflecting the stars and the moon. We passed the shoreline of the island a few seconds ago. If I look back, I'm sure I could still see the lone island surrounded by nothing but water. But I didn't. If I take my eyes off of them for even a second, I'm sure I would lose them.

Can they teleport too?, I thought because one moment I could see their red jackets, then suddenly it's gone. From that point on, it has become hard to keep track of them. It's irritating, I have to admit.

"Where the fuck are they?!" Kacchan shouts a few meters from behind me, his explosions resounding with him, obviously feeling the same frustrations I feel.

I squinted my eyes ahead of me because that's where I saw them last. Then I saw a subtle glint to my right. Did they change directions again? I glanced at it and saw them, just two black dots in the dark sky.

"There!" I shouted and changed my direction, following them, doing my best to catch up. The glint must have come from the moon's reflection on their visor or something else they're wearing.

"Ugh! These bats are really getting on my nerves!" Kacchan grunts as he also changes his direction.

I feel the same way, Kacchan. I really do. But we've got no choice. We must follow them.

A few minutes ago…

I punched the air, generating a massive gust of wind to extinguish the flames that Kacchan's explosions accidentally started. We wouldn't want a forest fire to eat up the island now, would we?

It feels so satisfying. I'm so happy I got my quirks back!

It's all thanks to Miu that the island's quirk erasure can't affect me anymore, so I turned to thank her and Sora for bringing Kacchan and I all the way up here.

"Miu, Sora. Great work taking us up here! We're sorry if- Uhm…" I stopped, noticing how Miu is slowly inching away from us. "Why are you backing away?"

"I think you scared them," Kacchan told me.

I what? Oh, wait- They must've never seen anyone use more than one quirk...

And I just used three! Stupid Deku!

I started to panic, looking for a way to explain this to them without scaring them further. I want her- them to trust me. What should I say? What should I do?

With a trembling voice, Miu said, "Who- What the hell are you guys?!"

"I'm Deku, a pro-hero from the future. That's all! Please, don't be scared of me. I- I can explain. I swear I won't hurt you or your sister!" I tried approaching, but she raised her hand, so I halted my advance.

Miu nods, but her eyes stay fixed on me, scared, cautious. "T-Then explain!" She winces at how she stuttered, so she clears her throat and tries again, her voice firmer this time. "We only know one other person who has multiple meta abilities like you! And the things we've heard about him are…" Lost for words, Miu glances at Sora, guilt quickly flashes in her eyes. I couldn't even be sure if I read that correctly because it was gone in a second.

"Let's just say I won't trust you if you're somehow connected," she snarls at us, her gaze hardening.

"We're not!" I replied immediately. I didn't even know who she was talking about, but I couldn't stop myself from answering back.

Then, it clicked. Multiple quirks… One For All...

"A war? I do not think there is a war, but it is chaos. What with all the protests and hate crimes. But, there is this guy. I heard he is uniting forces to take on the government. He has a weird name. Uhm… All For- What is it?"

"All For One."

Our earlier conversation replayed in my head.

Then, I realized. I just lied. Unintentionally, but it's still a lie. Because we were actually connected. It may not be in the way they thought, but we were very much connected.

Quietly, Sora speaks, "We would be foolish to trust anything you say. So, if you do not mind, we have to leave-"

"We do mind!" Kacchan retorts. "You saved us, remember? So you stay where you are, vamp!"

Sora's eyebrow rises and I can see her eyes flicker with annoyance, but she keeps her voice calm when she says, "Excuse me? I think you meant 'You saved my life now I owe you, so I will do whatever you want'?"

Miu nods and says, "That's right! So, let us go and-"

"No!" I shouted. I don't know why I said that, but it's too late to take it back. "I- I don't agree because…" I racked my brain for any good reason to back up my statement and found one, I just don't think it's good, but whatever. We need these two here. Now. "Because you saved our lives and now… Now, we're your problem. Right!"

"Are you serious? You must be crazy," Miu fired back.

"Yes! I mean, no. I'm not crazy. I'm serious. Kacchan and I, we're now your responsibility. We're two people from the future. Clueless and lost in this world and time." Kacchan almost interjects, but I continued talking to not give him a chance to ruin it.

"Besides, we can work together."

"What?!" Sora asks and Kacchan yells at the same time. Miu stays silent, but her silence is just as loud as their voices combined. Suddenly, I felt tiny under the scrutiny of three pairs of red eyes, making me think twice about my idea.

"I just, uhm, thought that we could work together since we have the same goal," I started cautiously. When I didn't receive any dispute, I continued, "Sora and Miu, you're investigating this quirk erasing island, right? While, Kacchan and I-"

"Dynamight!"

"Yes. We're looking for a way to return. And that Wormhole seems to be the key."

They all stay silent for a few moments, probably considering my proposition.

Sora is the first one to speak up. "I do not see how working together could be beneficial. Trusting each other, for starters, would be a problem. Your meta abilities-"

Kacchan abruptly cuts her off, surprising me. Who would have thought he'd actually side with me in some debate?

"Your goal, for whatever reason, is to get to the bottom of this island's strange power. Our goal, the little bugger, seems to be holed up with his shitty crew on your damn island. If we-" Kacchan chokes on the word, but somehow he pulls through, "-work together, we'll be hitting two birds with one stone. Sounds pretty 'beneficial' to me."

I stared at him. Is this really Kacchan? He has changed so much! It's actually quite hard to believe.

I felt so proud and was just about to express it. "Wow, Kaccha-" But he continued, making me stop.

"So just shut your faces and cooperate!"

Ah! Kacchan… You won't ever really change huh?

"Besides, you bats don't actually believe you can take on those five do you?! Because, believe me they won't let you just poke around their territory leisurely. You'd have to crush them!"

"You think we can't?!" Miu, her competitive spirit triggered, snaps at Kacchan. "You haven't seen what we could do, Kacchan." She spits out the nickname, obviously taunting him.

And it worked. Kacchan's veins are popping out and look ready to explode any time.

"We're leaving. You don't need to worry about us. We can take care of ourselves," Miu says as she pulls her sister along, pushing through between us.

"Wait!" I called out before they could get too far.

"What?"

"I'll- We'll just follow you wherever you go. Even if you leave right now. I'm telling you it'll be best if we team up for this. We, the four of us, will defeat the hooded people," I glance at Kacchan. "With Gigantomachia. Then, we capture Wormhole and you… Well, you get to investigate the island all you want as soon as the current occupants, uhm, well… move out."

"Did you say you'll follow us?" Miu's eyebrows rise in challenge. "Do you really think you can catch up to us?"

"Yes."

Miu and Sora look at each other and seem to have a telepathic conversation. Then, they face us and start stretching.

"Deku, Kacchan-"

"DYNAMIGHT!-"

"If you can keep following us until we reach our destination, then, sure, we'll work with you."

Obviously, Kacchan and I agreed. We were pretty confident in our speed. But who would've thought they could actually go faster than what they showed earlier?

If we continue like this, we'll lose them before we cross the ocean, much more, the destination, wherever that is.

And I was serious with my suggestion. We need them as guides in this era. I could only imagine so many things going wrong if Kacchan and I were left to our own devices.

Technically, we're Vigilantes right now and keeping out of the public's eye would be ideal. So, who else is there to follow and imitate in their Vigilante ways but the twins?

Besides, there's still the issue of All For One. He might be feeling my presence right now, or more precisely, feeling the presence of his brother in One For All. I must recover from these injuries first, in case he attacks. And staying in the quirk erasing island is out of the question.

So, onward we go to wherever Miu and Sora lead us.

There should be a way to keep following them even at this speed right? Maybe I could predict their direction? Or maybe there's a way to follow them without actually seeing them? Should I use Fa Jin? Could I in this situation? I really doubt it. The surface... nevermind. Think, Deku, think! How do I catch up when I'm slower? Wait… Catch up... Catch...

That's when an idea struck me.

"Kacchan, let's not catch up! Let's catch!"

"What the fuck are you saying?"

"Fishing! Or batting? No, no, no. That's not right-"

"Stop mumbling and tell me what you're thinking!"

I explained and we tried our best to formulate the plan while still keeping track of the twins. The distance between us is getting even bigger now. But, that's fine. My plan will work and we'll win this bet.

"Ready?"

"Of course I'm ready, dumbass! Are YOU?"

"Yes, Kacchan."

Then, we both stopped moving at the same time to execute the plan. I strained my eyes at the direction I saw them last, and there saw a little flutter of movement in the clouds.

"Kacchan, there-"

"I saw it, too!" Kacchan yells at me and brings both his hands forward while I keep him from diving into the sea with one tendril of my Blackwhip.

"Die!" He screams his favorite word as he sends a large blast in their direction. The recoil pushes us back a few meters, but I didn't let that distract me from my role in the plan. I sent Blackwhip forward, close behind the explosion.

Left or right? Which is it? Where will you dodge?

A glint of something on the right of the blast zone catches my eye and I instantly send the Blackwhip in that direction, latching onto something. Whoever it is I caught struggles against the trap I have set and surged forward pulling Kacchan and I along.

"Reel it in, Deku!" Kacchan struggles to speak while his mouth is blown open by the wind.

I did as he said and tugged with extreme force, pulling in (hopefully) one of the twins.

A girl's scream comes as the person I caught comes back while I absorb the Blackwhip back into my body.

"Oh my god! Deku, don't! Please! I'm serioumph-"

I caught the person in my arms, her screams muffled by the blanket given to me as a shirt. This person looks up at me and I see her dark red eyes.

"Miu! I'm sorry- It's just- We just- Uhm-"

My mind blanked. Everything I was planning on saying fades out as I realize what my hands could feel while I hold Miu.

Is she…

I dared to look down and saw her bare shoulders. My face heated up and I started panicking.

Where is her jacket? Wait, what am I holding on to? It's soft and curved and smooth…

Miu struggles and I unconsciously let go. She drops down a few meters then spreads her wings and flies back in front of me.

"I hate your plans! They're so dumb and dangerous! What if Sora and I weren't fast enough to dodge that fuc- freaking explosion?!" She kept on shouting at me, but I don't think I heard anything she said.

She's naked!

Wait, that's not right.

But, technically, she is!

I looked down, up, to the right, and to the left. Everywhere but her. Still, I see her in my periphery. That's when I noticed her feet, a thin membrane attached to her ankles stretched outwards. Then, her hands, or, well, her wings. Or both.

Her hands are her wings.

"Our meta abilities are cancelled. We may be able to fly, but that is only because our wings are parts of our body, just like our ears, throats, and eyes. So, we can still fly just as we could still hear, speak, and see. They are not meta abilities, just mutations."

"Oy, vamp. So, what you're saying is you have a quirk- meta ability- other than your wings?"

"Deku! I'm talking to you! Look at me!"

I obeyed and finally saw her completely.

Her ears have grown in size, reminding me of an elf. Her fingers have elongated and membranes the same color of her skin connected them together, forming the upgraded wings. It was larger and looked more powerful. From what I remember her wings were originally black, but now, they were lightened to a brownish color, matching her skin. From her pinky, the membrane connects to the length of her body, up to her ankles, making the wings stretch out to her whole body.

Now, I understand why she lost her clothes. It must have torn at the sides when the membranes came out.

She's not naked naked! I thought to myself and calmed a little.

The same membrane spreads throughout her body, covering everything like armor.

In short, she became a bat-human hybrid. Lithe. Strong. Haunting. Beautiful.

This means they aren't simply mutant types. Miu and Sora's real quirk is transformation!

**~A/N [05/31/2021]~** I'm sorry the update took so long! It was soooo hard to write. But! Miu and Sora's quirk is finally fleshed out!... or is it? *eyebrow wiggles* More revelations in the following chapters and if you'd like to know how this team-up pans out, follow or fave the story ;) XX

**~A/N [06/06/2021]~** Damn it, Deku's just getting so OP in the recent manga chapters! I don't want to change the story, but I still wanted it to be somehow accurate so I tried justifying Deku not being able to catch up to Miu and Sora even when he can now be literally faster than a bullet. I understood that to use Fa Jin, he needs to store kinetic energy first before he could release or use it. Since, he can't stand on solid ground, he can't do squats to generate enough kinetic energy to make him as fast as a bullet like in the manga. Far-fetched, I know, but just bear with it. Also, since this is technically years in the future for him, he's certainly able to use 100% of OFA, but I tried justifying that with the twins' unpredictability, he hasn't caught up with them even if he could because he can't see them in the night sky. That's all. XX