"A toast!" Itsuka, the large Amazon, shouted, standing up, "To the League and our inevitable victory!" She raised her pitcher of beer, the large glass mug glistening in the light of the pub. A moment later she looked down, noticing none of the others had followed her in her toast.
"What is it? We are in a tavern, preparing for a brawl, and you five are acting like we have no reason to be drinking and enjoying the night." The Amazon shouted, her glass hitting the table.
"We are not preparing for a brawl…" Battle Fist hissed, throwing a sheepish look at the waiter, "Please don't shout out loud something like that or we will get kicked out."
"Fine, geez." She took another drink, and gestured for more to the waiter, "Still, you all are sullen and grumpy. The enemy is coming, and you are letting them dictate how you feel. Is that enjoyable?"
"What should we do, get drunk and play games?" Shoto asked, annoyed.
"That's an excellent idea. We could play that fun game I've played a few times at the League, 'Who's that'. It's a good bonding experience."
Jiro snorted, unable to control herself, "You actually want to play 'Who's that'? That's your idea?"
"What even is 'Who's that'? Speak clearly damn it!" Bakugo groaned, and Shoto felt like joining him.
"Oh, right, you never played." Power Suit nodded, "You basically sit around a table with enough people from around the Multiverse and go counterclockwise. The first person names someone they know, and anyone that doesn't know them in their home universe says 'Who's that' and has to drink, while the ones that don't drink have to answer who that is." He chuckled, "Then you usually press the ones that sounds more interesting for details."
"That sounds dumb."
"It's really fun actually." Jiro replied with a shrug, "So long as you remember the rule of 'No Hisashi, no Tomura, no All for One'."
"Why?"
"Too much baggage. Hisashi as a father is very… varied, across the Multiverse, going from present, to absentee, to outright abusive. Tomura Shigaraki and All for One have killed too many people and sullen the mood too much."
"Oh yeah, because if I say Dabi I'm sure that will sound better." Shoto remarked.
"Who's that?" The Amazon asked, a mischievous grin on her face, and Shoto realized too late what he had just done.
"We are not playing!"
"I second Amazon." Bakugo added, throwing down some of his drink, "Who the fuck is that?"
"Bakugo…" Shoto sighed, looking at the others. Power Suit and Jiro seemed to both be alright with playing a round or two, and he had to wonder why. Were they really so sure of themselves? Did they have a plan? Or did they agree with the Amazon?
"We might as well pass the time since we have to wait either way." Battle Fist finally decided, and Shoto groaned.
"Two rounds, and if anyone start feeling tipsy, no matter how unlikely it is since most of us aren't done with the first glass, they stop. Alright?"
"I completely agree with that." Power Suit nodded, "So, to answer, Dabi is Todoroki Touya. Shoto's older brother."
"Never heard of him." The Amazon declared, finally drinking.
"Same here." Bakugo shrugged, "I never met Half-and-Half, actually."
"So you just see me and sprout that nickname?" Shoto asked, before sighing, "Anyway, yes, he is my brother. Went Villain years ago, and now works for All for Deku."
"He did in my world too." Power Suit nodded, "Go Villain, I mean. In the end he betrayed Shigaraki and All for One, gave himself up and requested to be executed for warcrimes."
"Christ, your world was fucked up Power Suit." Jiro replied, before sighing, "I have no story there. Todoroki Touya is a ballistic engineer for JAXA. That is, the Japanese Space Agency."
"He is a Villain in my world too, but he is in jail, got caught with the rest of the League." Battle Fist replied, finishing the round.
Shoto grimaced. Villain, villain, engineer, villain. What was with his brother? "Who's next?"
"Counterclockwise means me." Bakugo replied, "Ochaco Uraraka."
"JAXA Astronaut." Jiro replied.
"A sister at arms." Itsuka said proudly.
"Fellow Pro-Hero."
"Same."
"Same, and the mother of your child." Power Suit concluded.
"Fuck, seriously, everyone?" Bakugo said, pretending to have not heard the last part. No such luck, as Jiro grinned.
"Really? Tell us more."
Power Suit smiled back, "Eh, nothing much. It was in high school, around the same time I started dating with Mei. When Bakugo started mellowing up – as much as he could, at least – him and Uraraka started dating. It was a very rocky relationship for a while, but eventually they worked it out." He looked down at the drink, and a shadow of sadness ran on his face, "He didn't make it through the war, but she did, and before dying he had left her a child." He took in a deep breath, "She died too eventually, but that's normal in our line of work, and Kazumi is a good boy."
For a long moment no one spoke, before Itsuka coughed in her fist, "Are you sure this is even a viable game? We are two on two on depressing answers." The Amazon pointed out.
"It's a lot funnier usually." Jiro replied, "A lot more stories of marriages and happy endings. I guess we never accounted for two war survivors sitting at the same table." She took a deep breath, "Alright, my turn, I'm sure this one will work. Hatsume Mei."
Power Suit looked at her for a moment, then chuckled. "Trying to get me back in a good mood with my wife, uh? Thank you."
"Who's that?" Bakugo and the Amazon both asked, taking a drink after noticing the clearly far better mood of their companions.
"Well, you heard it, she is my wife. Built this for me, and a lot more stuff." He made a fist with his metal arm, "Really, the light of my life."
"She builds Support Gear for the Heroes that are fighting All for Deku. She is probably one of the bravest out of all of us." Shoto remarked, his thoughts going back to his friend. The last time him and Hagakure had met Mei was in her hideout in Fukuoka. She repaired both costumes, and did it all for free when she figured out they didn't have money. He really needed to go visit her.
"Engineer on my spaceship, the Proserpina. Then we entered the Multiverse. Currently lost, but I'm sure she is fine. I just hope I can say the same about whatever universe she landed in."
"She was a schoolmate, and now is Support Gear engineer, probably the best in Japan." Battle Fist concluded. "I don't know her too well, but she builds support gear for us."
Jiro sighed in relief. "Alright, better. Still, maybe this wasn't that good of an idea."
"Awww, that's a pity, I was going to bring up a funny one. Izuku Midoriya."
They radar on the table started beeping, and they all turned at once toward the previously empty chairs. "Hi!" Kinoko Komori said, in a get-up extraordinarily similar to her Hero suit, waving her hand.
"Greetings." Said the second woman, the one that had stayed quiet to that moment.
Shoto's eyes went wide as he stared at Yui Kodai.
"So, no one is going to ask who's that?" Komori asked, "I must have picked the one person you all know."
"You are-"
"Kinoko Komori, Witch of the Inner Circle, the Mushroom Witch. This is Yui Kodai, Witch of the Inner Circle, the Miniature Witch." Yui bowed again as Komori introduced her.
"The murderers?"
"An acquaintance of the murderer. I have never killed anyone in this world, thank you very much. And you are Kyoka Jiro, one of the Founders of the League, Itsuka and Itsuka, two of the League's guests, and…" She frowned, her mouth almost turning into a thin slit as she said the name coldly, "Izuku Midoriya." The smile returned a moment later as she glanced back at Shoto and Bakugo, "Oh, and you two. Sorry, I'm not sure which you are. So many Shoto and Bakugo, it's hard to keep track."
Before anyone could speak, Itsuka the Amazon stood up and made to move toward the two, but Yui was faster. She pulled out an honest to God magic wand and pointed it at the woman. "I doubt you want to make this worse. Sit."
"You think a stick can stop me?"
"I think so, yes, otherwise I wouldn't have used it. Do you have so many muscles your brain is underdeveloped?"
Before the Amazon could speak, Power Suit was the one that stood up. "Alright, alright, let's try to all calm down and be civil. We are in a public place and both sides don't want to involve civilians in this." It sounded more like a question, and Yui and Komori both nodded.
"Absolutely." Komori smiled again, "I assure you, we hate nothing more than needless violence. Instead, what we came here for is cooperation."
"Coop- You killed one of ours! Maybe more!" Jiro hissed, "And now you want to cooperate?!"
"Miss Takeyama, the one you are referring to, was not handled by us, but by another of our allies, and while they were the founder of our merry band, we don't fully agree on each other's modus operandi. The True League for All-"
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing to apologize for, you can give back the name so we can drop the 'True' as soon as you see fit. Either way, the True League was organized to deal more… appropriately with the true dangers of the Multiverse."
"Which are…"
"Why, but All for One and Izuku Midoriya of course. Or Hizuku, or Isaac, or Jack or whatever else you might call them. We, the True League for All, plan to do exactly what your group should have: pulling together our power and resources and destroy both scourges of the Multiverse."
"And what does killing and kidnapping people accomplish, in your oh-so-glorious plan?"
Komori took a sip from the beer she had brought to the table, grinning, "The killing is but an unfortunate consequence. We requested to miss Takeyama to join the True League and fight on our side against All for One, which is her duty. She bears One for All, she cannot just refuse her power. Miss Takeyama did anyway, and then…"
"She was killed." Jiro replied coldly, "And you stole One for All from her."
Komori jumped up, standing on her chair to be at an equal size to the others, "Stole? Stole?! She was the one that was holding it back! You don't get to choose what you do with One for All, and yet she hang it to a wall! You know how many All for One she could have killed, how many life she could have saved-"
"Kinoko." Yui simply said, and Komori stopped, sitting back down.
"One for All is a weapon, in her case not just figuratively. If she wasn't going to use it or giving it up, it had to be taken. Killing her was not the best solution, but-"
"Not the best solution!" The Amazon slammed a fist on the table, "You can't just kill someone and go 'oops, my bad'."
Shoto frowned. So far, the True League had yet to make a real point, and that seemed… off. They had admitted to the murder, though they were being cagey on the other crimes, and had hardly given a solid reasoning. There had to be more to this. "Why Izuku Midoriya?" He finally asked, "I have met a lot of them, by now, and most are good people. Canary, Izu, Izo of Greenvalley, Power Suit…"
"Well, let's start with Power Suit then. Should I ask him, to play your little game from before, if the name of Kai Chisaki rings any bells?" Komori asked.
Power Suit didn't answer. He looked down at the table for a long moment. "These were harsh times…" He finally murmured.
"Really? That is your excuse? Because if I remember what we found out, you found an armless – and thus Quirkless – Chisaki among a group of prisoners of war of the Paranormal Liberation Front, and you had him executed. Correct me if I'm wrong, will you?" Shoto looked at the man, expecting him to say something, anything, but Power Suit kept looking down. Komori smiled and hit her glass on the table to roughly mimic a gavel. "Guilty of all charges your honor."
"Chisaki wanted a child to experiment on! He offered me to build Quirk-destroying bullets with Eri! Me! He had gone completely insane, and we couldn't afford to take prisoners-!"
"Is that how you justify it at night? 'Oh, it was the mercy kill of an insane monster, and there was nothing to do'?" She sipped again from her glass of beer, "Or is it that you refuse to admit you were tempted by the offer and decided to kill him before-"
Power Suit stood up, and for the first time he looked angry. Not disappointed, not sad, just angry. "Never insinuate again I would have thrown Eri to that monster." He said, and his voice was cold.
"How convenient that you decided to remove the man before he could tempt you then." Komori replied again, seeming absolutely nonplussed by his reaction, before turning to Jiro, "And you, Jiro. Stabbed in the back by Izuku Midoriya. What did he do to you? Oh right, he tried to get you and all of your companions killed to take the spaceship." She shook her head, "Truly, the loss of Izuku Midoriya would be such a blow to the Multiverse…"
"And what about all those that have never hurt anyone? Journalists, writers, police detectives? What about the Heroes and the scientists? You are very conveniently picking and choosing."
"We aren't against guaranteeing some of them the option to live on, but do you know what their descendants end up doing?"
"Their… Descendants?"
"Their children, or grand-children. Midoriyas very, very often end up involved with All for One. You know Mariah."
"Mariah is a good person."
"Is she? Could have fooled me. I would have thought stealing parts of someone's identity is a bad thing." Komori looked at them all, "The League for All is meant to protect the Multiverse, and it did, sometimes. But you don't try to cure the root of the problem. You will refuse to go after those that will cause problems, and in their wake more problems will arise. Tell me, how often was something bad in the Multiverse caused by the interaction with a Midoriya? Or should I ask Isaac and Mariah how a slaver dragon found out about the Multiverse? Oh right, they were the ones that told him."
"It wasn't so simple!"
"It never is! But the True League will cure the cancer of All for One, and that comes with trimming in the bud the single person that attracts it." Komori slammed both hands on the table, "We are offering you all a ticket out of the League, a chance to do something you actually think is right. No more rules about not intervening. We will police the Multiverse, destroy All for One for good, and begin an age where only One for All exists." She looked at them all, "Think about what All for One has done to all of you. Join us, and we will purge your universe next. We will even offer…" She looked at Power Suit, "An exemption for those Midoriyas that fought All for One. All of them."
"Are you threatening my children?"
"It's not a threat. It's a promise. We want Mariah Midoriya, any other All for One user you have on your side, and all the information you have on the Multiverse. Fold into us, and we can work together. Try to fight us, and you all will die. In three days, we will come by the League and hear your answer. Take your time to consider if you want to change things for real." They both bowed, and as they did Komori put on a ring while Yui put her hand on the short woman's shoulders. The Amazon had jumped at them, but they vanished in a flash of light and she only grasped air.
"Ring of Teleportation." Jiro growled, "I hate magic so much."
"What even was that?! They come at us, give us a time limit, and promise they will murder us all."
"Have you noticed something else?" Power Suit asked. They all turned to him. "No one else in the pub has reacted. Even when we were shouting at each other, they kept going normally."
They all looked around, and noticed it was true: both the waiters and the crowd were behaving normally, with no signs of having noticed the commotion, the shouting and the threats. "More magic?" Shoto guessed.
"Most likely." Power Suit sat down, sighing, "This is bad. We are at a disadvantage here. They know where we are based, have a good idea of our skills, and clearly think they still have the upper hand."
"But why? What can they have that the League lacks?" Jiro slammed a fist down, a couple of the nearby tables turning to look at her. She sheepishly looked back, "Shit, guess they perceive us now. Anyway, the point remains."
"I think what they have is a goal." Shoto replied, "The League is large, but you aren't compact. I have been here for weeks and have seen maybe ten patrollers. I still haven't met all the Founders, and I hear two of them have even died since. So yes, you are a large organization, but you are all doing your own thing."
"Isaac is going to collect the Patrollers-"
"Isaac is going to inform the Patrollers, but will he tell them to fight or will he just tell them to stay away?" He asked, and the question stayed up in the air, no one knowing what the answer was. Shoto shrugged his shoulder, "My point exactly. We don't know. The League isn't a group intended to fight people."
"It isn't." Jiro nodded, "We have only ever fought people when they were threatening either us or the Multiverse. I see your point." She stood up, sighing, "Nothing else we can do. Mariah and Mel need to know. We can start thinking of a strategy after we are done."
Shoto nodded, but he had his own thoughts in mind. 'All for One and Midoriya…' He thought.
That was a terribly tempting offer.
-x-
"Epsi!" A man in his early twenties, with black air, shouted, walking up to Izuku and Zuzu-9-Epsilon. Captain Kamino had been half-taken, half-dragged away twenty minutes before by some JTO executive, who wanted to introduce him to some people. As it turned out, even if they were all A-Lister, not all of them were as interesting, and 'Captain America Izuku' was a lot more interesting than he was. "Oh, and Izuku Midoriya, of course. You go by… Revenant?"
The actual Revenant, who was leaning against a wall nearby, apparently doing nothing but taking slow sips of a glass of white wine – was he old enough for that? – snorted. "Uhm, it's Deku actually." Izuku corrected, "You know Epsi?"
"Why yes, my father helped construct her hardware." He smiled, "Kota Izumi Midorikawa, although I just go by Kota Midorikawa those days, the board of directors is very clear about that."
"Mister Midorikawa…"
"It's Kota, Epsi. I already told-" He paused, coughing in his fist, before continuing, "I already told Isaac, guess he never passed word on."
"I suppose he didn't." She replied with a smile, "I would ask why you are here, but I'm aware that you decided to participate. Can I ask why instead?"
"Ah, you see, since I inherited Midorikawa Enterprises, the board of directors has been raising complains about my tenure. In particular, some of them wonder if I shouldn't delegate 1-4-A/ to a bodyguard, so I could 'concentrate properly on your role'." He scoffed, "Those ingrates forget that every CEO before me has held the 1-4-A/ and that Izuku was the best at both. Therefore, I decided to prove I can handle 1-4-A/ to them when we got this invite. The JTO couldn't believe it when a billionaire told them he wouldn't just watch the show but participate, but they certainly didn't complain."
"Won't that make some think you care more about the Armor than the company." Epsi asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
"Some might, which is why I'm taking the chance to conclude some good trade deals. If I can get some good shipments of raw materials for a reasonable price from universes where they are abundant, I'm sure the board will have to shut up." He groaned, "I'll always be thankful to Izuku, but if I could go back in time I would seriously ask him to unadopt me."
"You wouldn't." Epsi said, chuckling.
"I wouldn't." He said back, before taking a deep breath, "Well, this was amazing, but I'm afraid duty calls. There is a Dwarf Emperor from the Empire of Something-or-Other that has a ton of gold I can buy to make circuitry, and I need to find him before he gets too drunk to make a deal. Something I really think he does on purpose, since you'd have to try hard to get drunk here. See you Epsi." He winked, before turning to Izuku and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Good night Deku. When we have more time, I would love to talk a bit about that shield trick of yours. Unless it was magic or a Quirk…"
"I-It's not."
"Nice. Then I will gladly hear all about it." Kota patted him on the shoulder, gently but firmly, "Let's try to not fight soon." And with that, he disappeared in the crowd of well over two hundred people that had filled the room since their arrival. At this point, they had very little chance of spotting more champions.
Izuku watched him go, trying to figure out why he was so interested. "Nice friend you made." A voice said from behind, and he jumped in surprise, turning to see Revenant chuckle.
"Did you have to do that?!"
"No, but I noticed you had your guard down, and figured I'd point out for you that woman over there has been staring at you for twenty minutes now. Either you go talk to her or I go for you."
Deku followed his gaze to spot Arsenal, the woman with purple hair Epsi had pointed out when her, Captain Kamino and Deku had arrived, before they were interrupted. Of course, he recognized her. "Lady Nagant?"
"Oh, so it's the same Hero name. I suppose you should greet her as Kaina Tsutsumi though, we don't know how she might take that otherwise." He nodded, "As for me, I think I've seen someone in wizard robes, and I'd love to find out if they are cosplaying or if they can actually tell me about magic."
"You are interested in magic?" Izuku asked, surprised. He had taken Revenant for a very… direct fighter, if throwing a flashbang and breaking legs was any indication.
"Not normally, but those days I'm finding technology and magic get along annoyingly well, and I think I should try to broaden my horizons. Good luck Deku."
"B-But what do I talk about?" Izuku asked.
"Well, she either wants to murder you or fuck you, judging by the look." Revenant casually replied, "Frankly, I'm a bit jealous."
"Of which one?" Epsi asked.
"Yes." And with that he left Izuku a stuttering red mess before disappearing into the crowd.
Izuku sighed and looked at Arsenal. When he did, she raised the glass she was holding in her hand. Her purple, sleveless dress had the same tone as her hair, with an elegant choker of the same color around her neck, decorated with a small white pearl, completing the look quite well. Gulping, Izuku walked towards her.
"H-Hi." He said, unsure of how to continue. He felt the familiar call of One for All.
"Hi." She said back, "Izuku Midoriya, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"You have One for All, right? Inherited it by Toshinori Yagi, and you are currently fighting Tomura Shigaraki and All for One, is that correct?" She continued.
"I… Yes?"
"Am I alive in your world?"
"You are. Imprisoned in Tartarus, though."
She took a deep breath. "When you go back, you have to immediately tell everyone to protect Tartarus." She finally said.
"Wh-What, why?!"
"Because, if you don't, All for One breaks out, and then she hires me to…" She gritted her teeth, "She hires me to capture you. You dodge most of my shots, fuck up the last one trying to deflect it with that Air Force kick thing, get hit in your femoral artery, start to bleed out, try to still fight by tying up your leg with Blackwhip, and die of blood loss in my fucking arms." She spat the detailed tale of his death out in detail, living Izuku speechless. "And then you prove to be a stupid selfless idiot, realize I'm dying because of the multiple Quirks All for One gave me, and pass One for All to me because you found out the Quirk is like a void that can contain multiple Quirks, saving my life."
Izuku caught his breath, staring at her, and she grunted, "So yeah, don't do that. And don't even think about fighting me in this Tournament, alright?"
"I…"
"Good. Glad you understood." And with that she walked away, leaving Izuku alone.
Izuku was left standing there, alone. He had heard about multiple universes, and seen a lot for himself. But that talk… that talk was different. She seemed sure he would die in her arms, if she didn't do anything, and Izuku didn't know how to take that. How to take a reminder that once he went back he would have to fight impossible odds. That he might very well die before the fight was over.
It was a sobering thought. A far too real one. He didn't want to die, that was the truth. But he also didn't want to see anyone else die. Now that he knew Nagant could kill him, what would he do if Lady Nagant came after him? Would he manage to win, or would he die like the other Izuku?
"Mister Izuku, are you alright?" Epsi asked.
He took a deep breath, calming himself. That was for the future. Now he was training. "I'm fine Epsi. Thank you."
He turned around to walk back into the crowd.
-x-
"It's a cool party, isn't it?!" Izumi shouted to make herself heard over the music.
"What?!" Argali shouted back.
"I said, it's a cool party, isn't it?!" Izumi shouted again.
"WHAT?!"
"Ah forget it…" She huffed, looking around. The B-Listers Pool Party was definitely very wild. Epsi had sent her a picture of what the A-Listers Party looked like. Fancy people, fancy clothes, fancy food – probably delicious too – and fancy music too she would bet.
On contrast, the pool party was a lot more…
"Cannon ball!" The God of Thunder shouted, jumping into the pull. People around laughed as Denki Kaminari re-emerged, muscles in full show when he was wearing only his pants.
… A lot wilder.
The music was blaring as an alternate version of Yamada Hizashi, a guy with blonde hair kept like the crest of a cockatoo, made sure to play it loud from his impressive DJ set, and then from it sent out to tens of speakers that sounded so pristine she theorized they were magical.
The food was extremely varied, from chips and grilled meat to chips and grilled vegetables to chips and grilled fish. Really, all the options someone could ask for, she thought as she bit into her newly cooked hamburger, giving a thumb up to the man handling the grills, a guy that for some reason went by Lunch Rush.
Izumi looked around. Fuyumi was talking with a few people that seemed interested in her. Apparently, having been in the same match as the Battlemaster was enough to get you some fans. All Izumi got instead were a few people asking if Captain Kamino was as cool as he looked, which was rather funny considering white hair boy looked almost as shy as the first Izuku she had met and anyway why would she know that, just because they were in the same round? 'Guess they might know about me training with him, but it's hard to say for sure.'
She decided to walk off and see what else was going on, after giving a heads up to Argali. There was a dance floor, but she didn't like dancing much. She could do it – Different Talent allowed to copy someone else's behavior and skills, after all, so she could just copy a dancer and so long as she didn't try to pull off any move that went beyond her physical limits she would do fine – but that was hardly her dancing.
She kept going, reaching the edge of the pool and passing by a few more people jumping in, then reached the opposite side, where a number of people seemed to be hanging out in small groups or resting from the music. On this side, the music was reasonably weaker, probably exactly to let people enjoy the party without being overwhelmed.
"Ah!" Someone shouted, "Hey!" The person that came out was a tall, lean man with black hair, that she recognized after a moment as the guy Izuku had fought in his own Qualifier. "You are a friend of Izuku- Deku, I mean." He said.
"Yes. Why?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm Koichi Himawari, nice to meet you. I just wanted to ask if you could tell him it was a great match. He seemed very out of it when he won, so I didn't, and it's bugging me."
"Oh." She finally relaxed, "Of course. No problem."
"Thank you. And good luck for your match! Hope you get a good terrain!" And with that he waved at her, leaving.
Izumi blinked. Uh, what did that mean?
-x-
After two hours of party, the lights in the rich hall turned off, and the large stage at the back lighted up. Izuku, Captain Kamino and Revenant all found themselves discreetly corralled toward the stage, thankfully not on it, and then they watched as the other Izuku Midoriya, the announcer of the tournament, sunglasses up on his head and mic on, dressed in an elegant black suit over white buttoned up shirt, bowed to the crowd, walking on stage.
"Good evening everyone! I'm sure you have been waiting for this, so here we go! It's time for the opponents selection. Our brave A-Listers will be allowed to pick their position on the tournament bracket. I hope you are ready to see some amazing challenges. But first, a reminder of the Top 64 rules." He smiled sympathetically as the crowd murmured, "Please everyone, remember that we have a lot of guests that have never seen this Tournament before. It will be quick. So. Each match is a one v one with no time limit, though we will call for interruptions and referee evaluation if we feel the match is dragging on beyond a reasonable time, or if someone is purposefully extending the match beyond what's needed. No pulling punches on camera."
He then waited a moment, "Now, in a basic match, the Arena has no features. However, here comes the other advantage of the A-Listers: they are allowed to require a change in terrain. Nothing to extreme, but if it can be reasonably done within the confines of the Arena, you will be allowed to ask for any form of terrain: walls in the field, high terrain advantage, trees and grass… ask and you shall receive. Please note though that we won't offer weapons. If you request a house, be present on the terrain, you will find it empty of any item that can be used without effort as a weapon, like knives in the kitchen. Similarly, you can't require for a Terrain that gives an overwhelming advantage, like someone with the ability of controlling plants asking for a field of trees or a water fighter asking for the arena to be flooded."
Izuku looked at him with wide eyes. That was still incredibly useful!
"Those advantages will carry to the Top 32, with half of the arena being of your choice and half of your opponent's but will then be removed in the Top 16 and onward. At those levels, you will be facing a pure test of skills." He smiled, waiting a moment, "And now, without further ado, here are the B-Lister."
The image of a tournament bracket appeared on the screen behind the announcer. Izuku quickly scanned it. It was divided ideally in four groups of sixteen fighters, two on the left and two on the right, so it was fairly easy to read. They had even added nicknames for fighters that had a double in the matches, for example Argali was listed with his hero name under his actual name.
Speaking of which, Denki Kaminari, the God of Thunder, was in the same group as Argali, though Kaminari in the fourth match and Argali in the seventh. They wouldn't face each other until the Top 8.
He started looking for other names. Izumi and Shinomori were both in the second group, in the second and seventh match respectively. Fuyumi was in the fifth match of the third group. Usagi in the second match of the fourth. Chojuro Kon, the one that had lost the A-Lister position to Huanli – because he had his universe number added to his name, meaning there was another one around – and then trained with them was also in the second group, which was rather unfortunate.
Izuku sighed. That meant that, if they went to plan and challenged the God of Thunder, only one of him, Argali, Captain Kamino and Izumi would have a chance of getting to the finals. Disappointing in a way, but considering he was here to train it wasn't that bad.
"And first, of course, is the Battlemaster. Which fighter will he pick?"
Chatter started flaring in the crowd as the Battlemaster stared at the screen for a long moment. Izuku remembered suddenly that Rappa would have definitely picked in the side opposite to Fuyumi and realized at once that no, none of them were getting in the Finals. "Hikage Shinomori." He finally said, "He sounds like a fun early match."
Izuku stared at him, but the man just laughed. "Well, with that taken care of, I'm off to the B-Listers party. See ya!" And with that he basically stormed out of the room, just as his name appeared as Hikage's opponent. Izuku couldn't help but feel sorry for Shinomori.
"Next, Captain Kamino!"
Cap took only a second to study the screen, then selected the match that would have fought the God of Thunder if Izuku lost. If he won, they were just going to have a serious spar, but if Izuku lost Cap's help would be crucial. He didn't know who Maguma Iwata, the man Captain Kamino had ended up selecting as his opponent for the Top 64, was, but Epsi could surely give them more info on him later.
The names went on, and a lot were people Izuku recognized. Yo Shindo, Koita Izumi Midorikawa… and then Revenant.
Revenant seemed to study the screen, but Izuku didn't miss he wasn't actually looking at the various names, just trying to play off the fact he knew from the start who he would choose.
"Well, this is a bit awkward, since it means I have a weird match in Top 32, but…" He smiled, "Denki Kaminari."
Revenant's name appeared facing the God of Thunder, and Deku didn't know what to think. Revenant shouldn't have known about their agreement with Fuyumi, since no one had brought it up while he was around. Even if he did, there was no reason for him to try and fight the God of Thunder, he was only helping with training.
Izuku didn't know, and he doubted Revenant would tell him. And then a second later he realized what his words meant. If Revenant and Captain Kamino both won, they would fight in Top 64.
The rest of the night went on. Izuku, unable to pick the God of Thunder, picked as an opponent a man that used the show name of Eleph, in the fourth group. That way, he would only ran into Fuyumi if they both made it to the semifinals, a less than likely chance. He would have to fight Usagi in Top 32, but she had already found the person she was looking for at the League, so that wasn't a real issue. They could both fight seriously without much of a loss for whoever was left out.
More names were called, including the second Katsuki Bakugo of the night, and then a Toshinori Yagi. Seeing All Might in his muscle form raised a ton of questions in Izuku's mind – mostly how he had missed the man – but then he realized it was because he had just arrived. He picked a fight in the same group as Izuku, though only the fifth match, and then left again. Izuku wondered if it was because of the wound his All Might shared and risking of running out of time, or if he had some other reason to avoid the crowd.
Huanli emerged from behind the sweets table when she was called, only to look at the list, pick a spot in the third group, and then go back to eat. One of the two Tomura Shigaraki that were apparently in the tournament picked Fuyumi, much to Izuku's chagrin, and Zombie, left with only three spots, picked the opponent next to Fuyumi, meaning he would fight her in Top 32 if they both passed.
As he watched the various match-ups, he couldn't help but wonder who would win.
-x-
Bakugo looked at All Might as he entered the meeting room, alone. The ex-Symbol of Peace, now retired, was sitting, sipping some tea as the teen entered with a scowl on his face.
"Ah, Young Bakugo, you are here. Something kept you?"
"I had to drag this idiot." He replied, pulling in Todoroki, and All Might raised an eyebrow. Bakugo knew what it meant. He was wondering why Bakugo had brought Todoroki, who wasn't in the know, to a meeting about One for All, and asked him to not bring Izuku.
"We have a problem." Katsuki started, the moment he closed the door behind them. "I think Deku is fucking lying to us."
"What do you mean?"
"That I think something is fishy. He vanished, and then told me that stupid story about the Multiverse. Since he came back, he has stopped using his Quirk properly. Blackwhip 'doesn't work', and he even barely uses One for All."
"I'm afraid he might be rejecting it, yes. He might still be scared about-"
"No, All Might, listen to me. That's not Deku."
Both All Might and Shoto looked at him, before Shoto shook his head, "I agree Midoriya has been acting strangely. He seems to be trying to keep a distance with everyone. But it might just be the time spent away."
Bakugo scoffed, "Like the nerd ever cared about being in the way before…" He grimaced, "What I'm saying is that there are only two options here. Either Deku's two weeks of fucking off in another world are fake, and he imagined them all, which is already concerning, or that's not fucking Deku."
"Come now, young Bakugo, you can't be serious-"
"Look, All Might, the nerd vanished, and no one could find him. If he was captured, the kidnapper would have told us, and if he was just lost he could have called. This wasn't like Otheon, no one was physically blocking him from doing that. You almost declared him dead, for fuck's sake."
"So you are saying that he might not be Izuku? I won't lie, that seems a reach, young Bakugo. His strange behavior can be explained in many ways that aren't 'someone impersonating him'. He might still be shocked by what he has seen, or he might still be under the influence of some Quirk. He was cleared of drugs, but some memory Quirks don't work based on them."
"I know! I know this isn't fucking easy to figure out. That's why I called in Half-and-Half, and that's why I wanted to talk with you. Because we need help to find out what's wrong with Deku, and if it turns out he is not Deku, then we have to ask one question." He looked at both of them, "Who is that?"
(xx)
Power Suit from Rejected Stones by FullParagon
Itsuka Kendo and Argali from Sheep go to heaven by Dramatic_Spoon
Captain Kamino from Kamino's Ward by tunafishprincess
Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Full bracket for anyone curious: ( attachments/556941000296366093/937513971546746910/Arenaverse_ ) or you find a complete link on Ao3 and SpaceBattles.
Aaah, and here we go, a night goes by... more or less. Something still has to happen, but most of it is gone. First contacts were made, interactions were had, and a few fights were set up all over the board.
'Who's that' is actually a game I created originally for interactions training, writing small scenes of groups of characters playing it. I might post those eventually, some are rather fun. Still, I'll admit, 'Who's that' tends to be sad when two War survivors are sitting together (and yes, it's those two being together to bring down the mood. Most of the time, it works quite well. Imagine not having only good things to tell, smh).
But boy oh boy, here comes the True League and their rather straightforward goal: All for One and Midoriya have to go. Yes, that includes all Midoriyas, Izukus are just the main targets. Izumi, Power Suit's children, Hizuku and Isaac Green are targets all the same. Of course, though, one of those is more important than the other.
What a meeting for Shoto to make...
Meanwhile, Izuku interacts a bit with high society, and sees a possible future for himself, and certainly not a happy one. I love the Nagant fight in the manga, so writing a 'what if' where that battle goes badly was something I loved to do. That said, you certainly notice the difference between Arsenal's world and Nagant's.
Izumi's part is small, but I wanted to show what she was up to. As I said, there is still something to do, and that's where her part will come in.
The Tournament is set. You find the full bracket above, and I'm sure you can spot a few Top 64 and Top 32 matches that will be worth watching. If you want, try to predict the results, I'm sure it can be fun to do. Just color the line of the results you expect ;)
And finally, a sneak peek back into canon universe! Seems like Bakugo is finally acting on his hunch, and that All for Deku's decision to tell him about the Multiverse might be backfiring...