A Sad Boy in a Tree house
Chapter 57
Life Beyond
The heroines stood outside the school, watching parents pick up their children as some of the teachers gave their stories to the police. At least, members of UNIT dressed as your typical officer to ease their minds.
It was always heartbreaking to see children targeted in crime.
"So it was him then." Mina nudged her unburnt shoulder against Ochaco's. "No doubts about it?"
"None." Ochaco reaffirmed. "He may look different, but The Dreamer was with him. She didn't look like she aged since we saw her."
"You think her aging is slowed down?" The pinkette pondered aloud. "Izuk-I mean, The Stranger did speculate it could be possible."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Oh but we must hear everything." A smaller, chippier voice said from behind.
Turning around, they saw Nezu approaching the scene with Bakugo beside him.
"Mr. Principal, Commander, Nezu sir?" Mina saluted, trying to find the right way to address their leader.
"Principal is fine, I do quite like that position." Walking a little bit in front of them, he held his paws behind his back as he examined the scene first hand. "It does pain me to see how often children are forced to be on the front lines."
Bakugo snorted to himself. "Shouldn't have been in charge of a hero school then."
"Bakugo!" Ochaco threw her helmet at him, the young man easily avoiding it with a tilt of his head.
"He's right." The Principal of the world's most prestigious hero school agreed. "Though, I'm sure something along those lines could be said for all of you. None of you desire for the worst to happen, but you decided to take up a position that sprints at them."
Stirring in the silence between one another, every one of them acknowledged their involvement in the battle between good and evil.
"Hello everyone." A grumbled tired voice called out, Eraserhead stepping towards them. "I heard we have a code three?"
All the others turned to Ochaco, the girl taking in a short breath to steady herself. "Yeah, we do."
Her previous teacher rose a brow, noting her demeanor lowering. "I thought you would be excited for his return."
"He isn't Izuku. He's a stranger."
Bakugo huffed, shaking his head over the stupidity he was hearing. "Well no shit, he never was Izuku, and of course he's a stranger. He's gotten another dumb mug for a face, and he literally calls himself The Stranger. Stupid ass name for a stupid ass alien."
"Hey!" Mina shouted at the fiery blond. "He's smart enough to know not to trash talk someone in front of their friends!'
"You saying you're his friends?" Bakugo argued back, easily matching her energy. "Then how come you didn't go with him to help?"
"That's enough." Eraserhead demanded. "What we need to do is make sure there aren't any stragglers, and prepare for whatever might come back. Since Uravity was conscious throughout the whole event she'll be debriefed first."
Nezu nodded in agreement with that plan. "Very well. Uravity, is there anything you think we should be immediately concerned about that we should be cautious of?"
"The guy who attacked, he had a quirk." She reported, rubbing her temple as she focused on recalling as much as possible. "Blue flames, and there was a woman. White hair, glasses, she was with The Stranger. She had an ice quirk, and was one of the teachers I think. Then, in the middle of the fight the villain and her recognized each other. He vanished, and then The Stranger, The Dreamer, and the woman ran off together."
Nezu put a paw to his chin, using his vast intellect to connect some dots in an instant. "Eraserhead, please have Endeavor and Shoto report immediately."
The teacher gave the rodent an inquisitive eye. "You think they're involved."
"They don't know it yet." Nezu looked towards the school, wishing back for his life before the discovery of humans. "Hopefully all of this will be resolved soon."
"Are you implying it's out of our control?" The taller, exhausted underground hero said in a more quiet voice, hoping not to worry the others.
Nezu, regrettably could only nod. "I wonder how much different this new Stranger is."
Why were they at the park?
"Did you forget where you parked?" Dreamer asked The Stranger, who was looking around the many trees.
"It's a treehouse, it kind of stands out from the rest." He responded, still trying to find something amidst the grass and the playground.
The treehouse….Fuyumi refused to believe it. After all those stories, they were searching for something that could only exist in someone's imagination.
"You lost it." Dreamer stopped following him, finding more amusement in teasing him rather than helping.
"No, it's right over there." The Stranger pointed towards one of the trees with a lazy finger, too distracted in his task to care too much. "There's something here, I just can't see it yet."
Yet to Fuyumi, it felt like everything. She felt like her feet were pulling themselves towards it, the humming of a song that was always present. They were leading her towards the tree, the one with a faintly glowing window against the trunk and a small house in its branches, just large enough for two children to fit inside.
Her hand floated forward, eager to brush against the bark that felt warmer the closer she got. Resting her fingers on the indent, they found themselves perfectly fit where a handle would be. This was it, just one pull and everything would be answered without question, without doubt.
Any fear she had was being lulled to sleep by the song, it was always singing, always present, now more than ever pulling her soul into its melody.
It was a song of life, and it sounded so sad.
"Fuyumi!"
A familiar voice managed to anchor her mind to reality, Fuyumi now realizing she had been standing in front of a tree for who knows how long zoning out.
Mirko jogged up to her, full hero gear and rarely panicked. "Fuyumi, are you ok? What's wrong?"
"I'm, ok?" She looked over herself, despite the distress that had been looming over her everything was ok. As long as she ignored the fact that her dead brother was alive and teaming up with supposed aliens to kidnap children and burn down schools then everything was fine.
Yep, there was no way that this specific tree was actually some time traveling ship that belonged to an alien that had been stalking her.
Honestly, she should probably
The heroine seemed to be more concerned though, pulling Fuyumi into a hug before she could protest. "I heard what happened at the school. I won't punch you if you cry, promise."
Crying? Fuyumi rubbed her fingers under her eye, finding a tear that had escaped unwarranted.
Distracting herself from bizarre after bizarre, Fuyumi leaned into the hug as she tried to only focus on what was important. The issue was deciphering what needed to be focused on now and what could be put off to later.
Mirko then shoved out of the hug, holding Fuyumi and shaking her. "Why did you run off?! When I managed to choke out the answers from the cops that you weren't there I-"
"Is this a bad time?" The Stranger cut in, sticking his nose right in between the two. "Not to rush any friendly bonding moments, but we probably should track down that arsonist working with the Vigil."
With the patience only an elementary school teacher could have, Fuyumi allowed this interruption. "Weren't you just looking for something else?"
"Couldn't find it."
Mirko, was not as forgiving. "What the hell do you mean?!"
*Whomp*
Plowing her foot into his gut, she sent him to the ground with her heel digging into his stomach. Now looming over the man, she was the embodiment of intimidation. "You telling me you know who attacked that school and kept that information to yourself?!"
"Rumi!" Fuyumi grabbed at the woman's shoulders in a travel attempt to pull her away. "He's trying to help!"
"What can a beanstalk do against villains?!" The heroine pointed down at the mank, pausing when she saw a freckled redheaded girl glaring at her. "What are you lookin at?"
"You're being a bully right now."
That remark hit her a little too close, Mirko easing up on her abuse to allow The Stranger to brush himself off. "Sorry, but right now we're a little busy trying to track down a lost child."
Mirko's ears twitched as she stood up to the man, despite her smaller stature she didn't hold any animosity back. "That's my job, not yours."
"Stop!" Fuyumi put her foot down in front of her closest friend. "I know it's confusing, I know it's a lot, but right now he can help find one of my kids and maybe save the others!"
"The school was attacked by a villain!" Mirko argued right back. "Are you telling me you trust him, the guy who has been driving you insane, who doesn't have any solid background, and is connected to the event that took Natsuo?!"
Rumi's heart dropped, immediate guilt cutting her tongue as she saw how hurt Fuyumi was. "Fum, I'm sorry but-"
"We've got to go." The Stranger said, following The Dreamer as she opened up the door of the tree trunk. "Are you coming with us?"
That spark of anger reignited in Mirko as she shoved a finger towards his face. "You're not going anywhere. You've got the shadiest things around you and you just expect me to let you off after you confessed to being connected with an attack against kids?"
He ignored her, dismissing her argument in favor of giving his attention to Fuyumi.
She wasn't sure anymore, her family, her friends, they were all capable and right here with her. If she went on her own with someone who was unknown to her, a stranger surrounded in mystery and danger, she would be leaving them all behind.
In the struggle of digging for her answer, The Stranger closed the door behind himself, sealing away the answers, the risk-
The adventure.
"Hey! Mirko slammed her fist against the bark of the door. "Get back out here!"
Fuyumi felt the urgency rise, knowing where he was going at this very moment. To find one of the kids in her class, to face off against monsters, to confront someone she thought was long dead.
*VWOOOORP*
"Ah shit!" Mirko hastened her attempt to break in, slamming her shin against the trunk. "He's pulling off his disappearing act!"
*VWOOOORP*
Stay in the safety of those she knew, or risk the danger of chasing after the impossible.
*VWOOoorp*
The melody was strong, calling out to her from the unknown.
*Vwoooorp*
Always there, always begging.
*vwoorp*
She needed to know how the song ended.
Throwing herself at the fading door of the TARDIS, Fuyumi latched onto the handle and leapt into the abyss.
Landing on the metal grates floor, her eyes followed the pulsating cables under her. They carried the blood of life in their lime green essence, all converging into a central unit with a towering mechanism in the center of the cast iron room. The Stranger was twirling around the console that housed the tower of light, hands snapping over to controls resting on the panels. The Dreamer was rummaging through a box near the main unit, right next to one of the four metal archways with round lights facing the core of the room.
It was beautiful.
"Welcome to the TARDIS." The Stranger paused, using a single hand to lean against the console. "Best ship in the universe, can travel anywhere to anytime."
"It's true." Her lips uttered out as her mind swam over the stories she heard earlier. "It's bigger on the inside."
"Would be a bit harder to fit three of us if it wasn't."
Fuyumi gazed over the machine, the chorus sounding more clear than ever. "You are time travelers, alien time travelers."
The Dreamer coughed from her spot, taking time to peek out of the mess she was making. "I'm technically human."
"A human doused with unimaginable amounts of the time vortex." The Stranger added on while checking on the screen. "You may have a decent amount of human biology but just barely enough to pass a basic medical inspection. Anything better than a stethoscope and they'd pick up on how different you are."
"So." Fuyumi, still catching up on everything that had been dumped on her moved closer to the console. "Where you're from, that war against the Daleks-"
"All true." The Stranger affirmed with a nod. "Watered down but the basics are there."
"You saved us from them, you stopped an alien invasion."
"There was a lot going on at the time." He glanced over to Dreamer, giving her a thumbs up. "Thanks for taking care of All for One though, can't imagine having to handle him on top of everything else."
She gave one back, picking out a large super soaker from the box.
"Then-" Fuyumi gazed back down to him, mesmerized by how fluidly he could operate unmarked controls. "- Uravity, you knew each other."
His piloting lost its flare, The Stranger just using full movements to keep her steady. "Yeah."
"You were friends."
"The best." He moved to the other side of the console, the opposite side of Fuyumi.
But that placed her in a position she could look right at his cold face. "Ever since you were kids, and then you were in school together, you played together, fought together."
"I suppose."
"So why did you leave her?"
Putting a final switch into place, The Stranger's stone face barely sparing a glance to her. Even Dreamer stopped rummaging through her items, only the continuous noise of the TARDIS in flight filling the emptiness that seemed to pull in any thought or emotion.
*Thud*
"Here we are!" The Stranger bounded from the console over to the front door, The Dreamer jumping to her feet to join him while stuffing some of the items she found in her pockets.
Fuyumi felt recoil from the sudden mood change, but did her best to catch up with them as they went outside. "Okabe is here then?"
"It's where the pyro maniac's coordinates are set for." The Stranger held onto the handle of the door, building up the anticipation as he rasped his knuckles against the wood. "The relay was far, definitely in a different galaxy, maybe even further."
"We're, outside of the milky way?"
"Maybe even halfway across the universe." The Stranger teased, fingers edging against the handle. "Do you want to see?"
As intriguing as the idea was, she was not here for sightseeing.
"Stranger." Dreamer jabbed at the tall man's leg. "Let's go find Okabe."
"Right, sorry." With his attention brought back to the mission, The Stranger led the other two outside.
They were greeted with the sight of a night sky filled with rocks, all of them orbiting a dull red planet that glowed with fire. A larger rock stood out from the rest, buildings and streets carved into the surface of it.
"The Rings of Akhaten." The Stranger announced as he stepped forward onto the stone walkway. "We're a long way from Earth. You see that asteroid, that big one with the lights?"
He pointed right towards it, showing it off to the others. "Over there is where they hold the Festival of Offerings."
"Is this relevant to finding Okabe?" Fuyumi asked, but was still captivated by the sight.
"It could be." The Stranger walked around his time vessel, seeing where exactly he was parked.
"This is a religious location, many in the universe believing this place to be where all life originated. So why would a place associated with appeasing a sleeping god want children?"
Fuyumi followed outside, walking across the ground and seeing that they were on their own asteroid. It wasn't as well kept as the other, it was dark and dirty with a crude metal building placed in the center of it. It felt out of place, cold and unfriendly.
"Subdivision?" The Stranger guessed as he started walking straight towards it. "Maintenance crew? Barracks? Whatever it is, it's been here for a while and no way the locals wouldn't know about it."
The Dreamer skipped right alongside him, Fuyumi being the more reasonable one didn't go charging in. "Hold on! They attacked the school, attacked us, and you just plan on going straight in?"
"Front door is no fun." The Stranger pulled out his radio screwdriver, eagerly shaking it in his grasp. "Don't worry, I have a plan."
His skin burnt, it never settled, never calmed, always burning. Today though, it was as if he was on fire. Toya remained sitting on his bench, cot, the thing he slept on. He turned over the brand new helmet in his hands, staring back at his reflection in the lenses.
Inside he could see them, those piercing blue eyes that held nothing but hatred. It reminded him too much of his father.
Stop it, he wasn't that little boy trying to please daddy anymore. Now he was working for something so much bigger than himself, than Earth.
As a child, the fire burned around him threatening to consume him. Then he heard it, something ancient and powerful demanding his attention. It began to burn inside him, hotter and brighter than the flames around himself.
Then he found himself here, on a speck of dust viewing the source of it all.
They found him, taught him, and he dedicated his life to it so that one day he could hear the voice more clearly.
No matter what stood in his way, no matter who.
Even his own family.
*Sksss*
The door to his personal room slid open, one of the guardians standing in the doorway.
"They're coming." The Vigil spoke in warning.
"How?" He stood up, placing his helmet back on to feel the cool air filling his lungs to counteract his quirks drawbacks.
"They followed."
"In what? Earth gave up on space travel centuries ago."
"He is not of Earth."
What?
His suit flashed with lights, the teleporter acting on its own.
What?!
In a quick flash, he was outside of the facility. Him and every other Vigil that was inside.
WHAT?!
"Gotcha!" The Stranger shouted in front of the computer display, taking out his radio screwdriver from the panel. Before all the controls and panels, The Stranger then flicked a couple more switches as red lights filled the building.
"What did you do?!" Fuyumi panicked, seeing alarms going off in front of them after all the effort they did to sneak into this place.
"Two things, activated an emergency teleport evacuation through all personal relays then put everything into siege mode. They won't be able to get back in the same way, or without finding a way to break into a place that could serve on the front lines."
"Siege mode?"
"This whole place, it's basically a portable trailer for the Vigil. See, the Vigil seek to keep order in the universe and end up serving organizations that they align with. With compensation of course."
"A private security force?"
"More like private enforcement. They even use the money to fund their own self appointed tasks, almost like a crusade."
"So what are they doing with children?"
"Right to the point of it, good." Glancing to his smaller companion, The Stranger leaned down to Dreamer.
"Dreamy, do you hear any kids here?"
She nodded, pointing towards something beyond the wall. "There's a couple voices, but they're quiet, slow whispers."
"Some kind of anesthetic or sleeping agent maybe. Go find them."
"On her own?!" Fuyumi protested, bringing Dreamer closer to herself. "What if any of them weren't wearing teleporters?!"
"Don't worry." Dreamy assured, pulling out her super soaker with a confident smirk. "I'm armed."
Fuyumi could only watch the child march her way out the adjacent door, like she was playing soldier. She looked over to The Stranger, bewildered by how he was allowing this.
"It's filled with a rapidly expanding binding agent. Basically, liquid cement."
She wasn't sure if that made it better. "So why aren't you going with her, the kids are that way yes?"
"Yep, but we still don't know why." He leaned closer to the computer, typing on a foreign keyboard. "There's got to be some kind of logs, messages, anything to tell us why they need kids from Earth."
*clickclickclick*
The Stranger navigated through the pages of information, finding his way through by locating the most protected code. "Hmmm, I kind of wonder what passwords they would have used."
"Don't you need those?"
"Not if you're me."
Now in a moment of calm, Fuyumi took her time to step back and try to see everything that was going on. She was here, chasing after kids who were kidnapped by aliens, by running along with an alien and a half in a time machine. Her older brother, one she thought was gone was alive and willing to hurt people. Then, there was her, gawking at everything even though it was danger at every corner.
What was she even doing here? She didn't belong here, she wasn't some special space hero, she was just some useless woman who couldn't manage her own life. For crying out loud she just left a kid to go rescue one of her students and she was standing here watching a guy do all the work!
Where are you?
A voice, a whisper of a song echoed through the structure around her, drowning out the white noise of reality. Fuyumi turned her head towards it, trying to find the source. It wasn't as loud as before, but it was clear, it was here.
She followed it, her feet stepping in beat with the song that followed her life.
It was trying to say something.
Heading straight to the the voices, Dreamy tried not to think about the smell. The isopropyl alcohol, the overly clean hallway, resurfacing memories she had been trying to hide from for years.
Her mind was on edge, forehead throbbing as if something was shouting at her but she just couldn't hear it. It was loud, threatening, but it wasn't talking to her.
She hugged her 'weapon' closer to herself, eyes flicking to anything that could threaten her safety. The voice she had been following was quiet, but in clear distress.
Pressing her hand against the panel next to the door, she frowned as it flashed blue and didn't open. It's supposed to flash red when you aren't allowed access, not blue, these aliens were weird.
Shoving one of her arms deep into a pocket on her skirt, she reached deep until she pulled out an arcade like token coin. Placing it against the control, it melted into the machine, removing every trace of itself. The light flashed green, Dreamer stepping into the unlocked room and flinching at the scene.
Needles, knives, bright lights, and children in rags and bandages kept in padded cages.
Most were asleep, but those who were awake had hazy eyes with no focus. The Dreamer shakily moved through, looking for a face she could recognize.
"Okabe?" She called out, getting only a whimper in response. Moving towards the noise and thoughts of home, she found the small boy with greasy black hair and a paralyzed gaze towards the floor.
"Okabe." She leaned closer to the bars, trying to get closer to him. "Are you ok?"
His dull face wavered as it tried to find her, the boy barely making out a figure his size. "Who are you?"
"I'm The Dreamer, and I'm going to help get you home."
New thoughts, ANGRY thoughts were coming here FAST. The Dreamer snapped up, aiming her super soaker at the door and releasing an orange foam at the door. It solidified instantly, cracking and creaking as it became harder than steel.
The door was sealed, the only door to the room.
She was trapped in a room full of surgical equipment and fear boiling up her gut. That wasn't new though, she had always been afraid.
"Let's see." Squinting at the display, The Stranger wished he had something to sit down in but I guess there wasn't room in the budget for chairs. "You've been taking people for quite a while haven't you?"
First there were records of not taking, but buying children from Adipose 3. Each child seemed to be bred for high intellect, good lungs, and unique voices. But apparently none of them satisfied their needs, so they moved to other planets. Bellaphores, Harkol, Umbeka, Telos, Splendurosa, children from each one but none of them appeasing these folks.
So what was it they were looking for in children?
Oh, hold on.
He noticed the next planet, Earth, which apparently after discovery they've focused their efforts on. No wonder why, this planet was filled with anomalies. Whatever rare trait they were after it was bound to be held by someone here.
Why kids though? What connected the Vigil's goals and children?
Breeding army, reeducation camps, there were tons of options but there were ways to do that with adults. Something that wasn't logical but personal?
Scrolling through the list of Earthly children, the first one he saw was a boy named Toya Todo-
"Todoroki?"
He wasn't aware Shoto or Fuyumi had any other siblings, then again, he hasn't really known Fuyumi for long and Shoto wasn't the most expressive person.
Wow, those are some serious burns but there was something else. 'Shows signs of higher telepathic response, too impure to fulfill role, will be cleansed and repurposed to serve as one of Sun-singer's enforcers.'
"That's it!" The Stranger leapt up from the computers. "That's why this group is so close to Tiaanamat! They're working for the Sun-singers of Akhet to find someone that can fit in their ranks! The children they were taking before that could learn and sing the songs but they needed more, they needed someone who could listen better than others. Children, I guess the odds of finding an uninhibited telepathic talent would be more prevalent in children but couldn't they find a species that was already telepathic? What do you think Fuyumi?"
Finally stepping back from the computer to seek out his companion's thoughts, only she wasn't there.
The ghostly breathing of three Vigil stood in the doorway. They broke back pretty fast, hopefully they had a warranty on this place's siege mode integrity.
"They must be chosen by Akhaten himself." One of them rasped.
"What do you mean chosen?"
"Akhaten blesses the meek and lowly to hear his voice, to tell his stories, and he is looking for a Lord of Years."
"Not a Queen of Years? Last time I heard there already was one."
"The Queen of Years has led his people astray, and you are hindering his work."
The three took a step forward in synch, the air hissing as it entered their modified lungs.
"You mean your work." The Stranger corrected, holding out a hand towards them as he took a cautious step behind himself. "Because you haven't received any special calling have you? You're just taking the belief and running off on your own will! Isn't the whole belief revolving around your god is that you give songs and stories to keep him asleep?"
"We are called, we listen, but we cannot discern his dreaming voice. You will not stop us."
The Stranger brought his hand down, seemingly giving into their threats. "I won't stop you for believing in something different."
The Vigil took his surrender, relaxing themselves in a false sense of security.
Slamming his foot down, The Stranger stood taller than ever in his new body. "No, but because of what you're doing. You took children from their families, you hid them away from the universe, you pried into their minds and you tried to force them to be something they're not. I'm The Stranger! And I'm going to stop you from ripping families apart and hurting their kids!"
The vocals of the Vigil began to grumble, rising in volume as they grew furious. "Your voice will be silenced!"
"Only if you catch me!" His serious demeanor dropped, The Stranger grabbing his radio screwdriver from the computer and pointing it straight ahead with his eyes closed. A brilliant flash of light came from it, blinding the onlookers as the speakers lit up with random noises.
With their vision compromised, and their sound based senses bombarded with interference they were blinded, allowing The Stranger to escape.
Fuyumi continued to follow it, caught in the trance while seeking the source of the music. The voice sang, it called out, and she wanted to hear it. Eventually she found herself in a large room, coils and cables spilled along the floor as they ran to different pillars all stretching up into the air with no ceiling to hold them back, connected to flashing antennas. A massive window with intricate metal framing running along the glass made up the far wall, allowing her to see the strange planet with the astroids circling around it.
"You shouldn't be here."
The daydream came to an end, the nightmare starting. Fuyumi spun around, Toya closing the door behind himself. Despite the man being clothed in a dark tactical outfit, all she could see was her lost brother. She wasn't sure what to say, what to ask, all she knew is what she wanted.
Without thinking she approached, holding out her hand to see if he truly was here. Losing him, losing Natsuo, she wanted them back so desperately to finally make her family whole.
"We missed you so much." She uttered, but he ignored her and stepped towards the machines.
"You were the weakest of us, so why did it have to be you?" He asked aloud, but Fuyumi wasn't able to provide an answer.
"What do you mean?"
"You!" His aggression spiked, his arm igniting in the dangerous blue flame that made Fuyumi flinch. Clenching his fist he snuffed it out, becoming more casual the longer he examined her. "You're no threat, you're not courageous, self righteous, you're just a coward, so how did you end up here?"
Fuyumi held her hand to her chest, a mix of longing, pain, guilt, hope, all swelling as she tried to reach Toya but he continued to cut her down. "I know someone, he managed to help me get here."
"I bet he's the one who was calling the shots wasn't he, pulling you along?"
As much as she hated to admit, The Stranger did do a lot to take matters into his own hands to find these kids. Her delayed response earned an empty chuckle from Toya, the man striding towards her to make his superior stature known.
"I was the one who worked the hardest, suffered the most, but that apparently doesn't matter, not now not ever. Yet for some reason you never had to face any real trouble, no training, no expectations, you just got to coast along on your inheritance without lifting a finger. Even your quirk is a weaker version of mother's."
"What are you upset about?" Fuyumi almost begged, trying to understand.
That set him off, Toya in a burst of rage hurling a stream of blue fire towards her feet to watch her collapse. He got on his knee, restraining his voice to not directly scream at her. "You have no ambition, no obstacles, yes for some reason you're handed everything. When that little brat was born my chance at being something vanished, then when I got a second chance at being important you come along."
"I don't understand!"
"AND THAT'S NOT FAIR!" He roared into the air, blue flames searing around himself as he jabbed a finger close to her fearful face. "You treated better than me and you don't even see it! I heard the voice, it spoke to me first not you! I listened for years to understand it, but I wasn't good enough, not compared to a girl who ignored it her whole life and never bothered to listen."
As terrified as she was, as much as her hands shook, she still kept her eyes on him, looking for someone behind the mask. "I'm listening now." She said in the most caring voice she could.
It seemed to reach him, enough to let the flames die out on their own and for Toya to get up and face the center of the room. "Ever since that day, the day I 'died' on Earth, I've been trying to understand the voice that's been trying to speak to me."
The voice, the song, the echo.
"You hear it too." He stated as fact, Fuyumi shaking her head as she regained her awareness. "They realized it after your first encounter with them, how you tampered with their teleporters, you don't just hear for him, you can speak his voice. That's when they sent me."
Then, they didn't come to take Okabe. "You were after me." Fuyumi realized too late.
"And you followed, just as they planned."
It was a trap! Fuyumi sprinted for the door, hoping to alert The Stranger and Dreamer about it. As soon as she got it opened she yelped as four of the Vigil were right behind it. They grew closer to her, Fuyumi back pedaling until she tripped on one of the cables.
The Vigil let out a low hum as they surrounded her, the cables shivering with the noise. They began to wrap themselves around her, restraining her until she was suspended in the air. Toya pulled a lever, increasing the noise as the cables began to emit a noise so powerful she could feel it in her bones.
Captured, surrounded by monsters, she did the only thing she could think of and screamed.
"STRANGER!"
*CRASH*
The large window against the wall broke inward, The Stranger leaping through the opening and landing on his feet. Brushing himself off of bits of broken glass, he eyed Toya and all of the Vigil bracing against him.
"I don't think you want to do that." The Stranger warned threateningly.
"Why is that?" Toya only saw a defenseless man, and he was in their territory now.
"Because this harmonic relay equipment is very sensitive." He pointed at the Vigil directly, Toya looking back to see how his commanders would respond. "Any acoustic resonance you try will break up any signal you're trying to achieve. As for the fire."
Toya whipped back, bracing himself against-
*Splash*
A water balloon, that popped against his helmet. Wiping his lenses clear, he could only laugh. "You think even if she freezes this it will do anything?"
"No, it's not to be frozen." The Time Lord said in a grave tone. "That's a thermic reaction sealant used for fission reactors. If you make even a spark, it will set off a chain reaction in your naturally flammable body while superheating the sealant, turning your fire resistant suit into a crematory."
Toya paused, looking over the seemingly harmless liquid that covered himself. It wasn't running off him like water, but it looked close enough. "You're bluffing."
"Let me know once you decide which, but I promise you if you do anything with your quirk it will hurt." The Stranger came closer, Toya questioning if he could physically overpower the man if it came down to it.
"Stranger!" Fuyumi called out again with her voice reverberating, struggling to break herself free. "Where is Okabe and Dreamer?!"
"Don't worry!" The Stranger gave her all of his attention, bringing out his screwdriver and scanning the cables. "I managed to find them and get them out of their makeshift fortress. Took a while to cut through the wall, this thing wasn't made to use that much power you know."
"What about this?" She gestured to the cords that seemed to squeeze tighter around her. "Please get me out!"
"I'm trying." He narrowed his brow, but the cables weren't responding very well. "It's mechanically fixed to try and find the highest resonating points and attune itself. I can distract some of the systems but not all of them."
"You think we'll let you?!" Toya came forward, throwing a punch towards the boy.
Instinct took over The Stranger, grabbing the man's right arm and flipping him over his shoulder. "Wow! Looks like I still got it! Thank you Eraserhead for the quirkless combat training!"
Toya got up, snarling as he pushed himself back up. The three Vigil came behind The Stranger, the man realizing that despite knowing some moves it wasn't good odds four against one.
*PSHHH*
The Dreamer came in from the window, using her 'weapon' to spray the cement like foam onto the Vigil. The solution expanded, hardening, trapping them in a makeshift prison. Seeing their predicament they vanished.
Toya didn't use his teleport though, he refused to back down after coming so far! He swiped towards the child, wanting to hurt something, someone.
"Oh no you don't!" The Stranger grabbed the man, spinning with their body weight until he slammed Toya to the ground and pinned him down. "Now Dreamy!"
She sprayed the foam over his legs, pinning him to the floor. The Stranger was pummeled in the face by an elbow, knocking him away enough to have Toya get up onto his knees and push the Time Lord off. That's as far as he could get though, his shins were stuck to the ground so all he could do was stand on his knees and growl.
"YOU THINK THIS IS ENOUGH?!"
"Stop." The Stranger pleaded with him. "You don't have to do this, I saw those burn scars you have. Your body doesn't have a resistance to heat, and if you use your quirk it will kill you."
"That doesn't matter!"
"Of course it matters!" Fuyumi screamed from her position, looking down on who was supposed to be the older sibling. "Our family isn't like how it was, Dad doesn't care about trying to beat All Might anymore! He's home more often, Mom is back and forgave him, Shoto is pacing himself with his quirk and takes time talking villains out of doing something bad! Our family is healing!"
"And what about Natsuo, he couldn't have possibly forgiven that bastard for-"
"He's gone!" Fuyumi interrupted, her voice shaking the room as her tears began to freeze over. "Earth was invaded, he got killed, it hurt as much as losing you but we can make it better! We can be a whole family, just like we always wanted! Please, stop this and come home."
"You think it's that easy?!" His voice was heated, The Stranger glancing back between the two as he saw the events rising, the emotions becoming more powerful, their voices louder.
Oh no.
"You two stop." The Stranger attempted to warn, running over to one of the control panels and trying to shut down the system. "You both are sensitive to different patterns of telepathic communication. If you two keep opening yourselves up while the system is self calibrating it will-"
"No!" Toya shouted, the room quivering with his voice as cables began to snake around his body. "He has Shoto, his prodigy! He never cared and never will!"
"That's wrong!" Fuyumi ignored the pain of the cords constricting her limbs, making them numb as her voice began to resonate with everything around her. "He was hurt the most when you died! It took years of family therapy to get him to stop punishing himself for-"
"YOU'RE WRONG! THAT'S WRONG!"
"PLEASE TOYA!"
"Stop it!" The Stranger tried to warn, but his voice was drowned out in the mechanisms around him. Everything was humming, quivering as it tuned itself to the two voices shouting at each other. Frost began building up over the machines around Fuyumi, turning to steam as they got closer to Toya.
"Stranger!" Dreamer began to panic, the whole room becoming unstable as lights around them blared in warning. "It's breaking apart!"
"I know that!" The Stranger kept trying to stop it, to cut power, to cancel the commands, but there was something more powerful overriding everything here.
Shouting became screaming, the antennas above all shifting until they were all facing each other. A beam of shimmering light pouring out of the unknown and into Fuyumi.
*GONG*
The Stranger heard the noise from the TARDIS that was parked just outside, alerting him that this danger was larger than he could have anticipated. "The Cloister Bell, Dreamer get to the TARDIS now and press the red button beside the golden slider!"
The child complied instantly, fearing what could happen if she didn't.
The room froze over, Fuyumi body snapping upright as she became possessed by the force, compelling her to listen, to hear, and to speak the words that have always been whispered in a song to her.
Where are you
The Stranger heard it, not just with his ears but his very being. It silenced everything else, trying to speak to whoever would listen.
Where are you
He fought the biting cold, pushing past cables that were in the way, the frozen air snapping them as golden energy began to spill out.
WHERE ARE YOU
"I'm here Fuyumi!" He struggled to pull her down, barely getting her head close enough for him to look in her eyes. The Stranger gasped, seeing the golden particles that were filling her eyes.
WHERE ARE YOU
They were fragments, the tiniest leftovers of something he couldn't believe.
WHERE ARE YOU
Regeneration energy, there was a Time Lord reaching out with their very soul through Fuyumi.
WHERE ARE YOU
Not holding back, The Stranger placed his hands against the sides of Fuyumi's head, placing his own against her frosted forehead.
Contact.
It all came apart, the machines began to burst into flames as everything ruptured. Fuyumi could see again, feel again, and she saw a face that gave her more relief than she could imagine.
"Stranger!" She called out, happy for the first time to see he was right here with her.
Her restraints snapped apart, the building shaking to make the ground unstable.
"No time." He grabbed her hand, helping to keep her balance as they saw the chaos around themselves. "We have to go!"
"NO!" The unstable mechanisms had managed to help Toya break free, the man holding his head as he was recovering from the mental toll. "I could hear it, I could hear the voice, you can open my mind, you're not going anywhere!"
"Don't!" The Stranger called out, trying to get closer to stop him.
It was too late, Toya ignited his quirk, a flash of blue coming under his suit.
The vents didn't flush the flames out though, there was something blocking them, making them hotter, making them BURN.
"GAH!" Toya clutched his arms around himself, the dark suit glowing brightly with the heat generating underneath it.
"TOYA!" Fuyumi tried to go to him, to help him, she had a second chance to save him and she desperately wanted to.
The Stranger was holding her back though. "We have to get out of here now!"
"We can't leave Toya!"
"Fuyumi I wish I could help but he's turned himself into a bomb! If we stay here we die with him! You still have family on Earth to get back to!"
"RAAAH!" Toya lurched forward, fighting through the pain and trying to latch onto them. He couldn't see, the flames filling his vision until it burned his eyes out.
Fuyumi kept away from him out of instinct, fear, of the monster that he had become.
"Come on!" The Stranger commanded, grabbing her hand and lifting her out of the destruction. They ran out into the open, past the shattered glass, feet pounding against the dirt towards the TARDIS until-
*BOOM*
The force of the blast shoved them through the air, landing on their stomachs as heat washed over them. They both steadied their harsh breathing, looking over one another to make sure they were alive, they were ok.
Flickering light filled the air, both rolling onto their backs to see the stars in the sky with a trail of smoke going to join them. The building burned a brilliant blue, the flames going over every inch of the structure to convert it to ash.
It was over.
"Mom!" Okabe ran forward from the TARDIS, right into his mother's arms at his house, his home on Earth. The Stranger, Dreamy, and Fuyumi all watched as the last child was delivered back to their family.
Without a word, without waiting to be thanked The Stranger held the door of the TARDIS back open for them, leaving the home to have their private moment.
"Well then." The Stranger adjusted his tie, stepping back up to the controls with The Dreamer right beside him. "Glad they didn't make a mess of the place."
"It wasn't that hard." Dreamy shrugged as she looked over towards the silent Fuyumi. "I just let them stay in the zero room for a bit. Fuyumi got them clothes from the wardrobe."
"Glad the zero room cleared their systems." The Stranger laughed to himself. "Would have hated to deal with handing over a drugged up kid in hospital garments to their parents."
"Stranger?" Fuyumi nearly whispered, her fragile demeanor earning their attention. "Could we go to my home next?"
"Sure." He complied easily, adjusting the coordinates slightly. After a few seconds of silence he took another peak at her.
She was exhausted in more ways than one, that was to be expected given everything that had happened.
"Do you remember anything?" He asked, hoping to ground her mind from going towards dangerous places.
"Remember what?" Fuyumi asked for clarification, taking a seat on the cushioned chair near the console.
"What that voice was trying to say."
The woman tried to think back, only pieces left behind. "It was, sad, scared, desperate, but I don't think I really know what it wanted. Stranger, what was it?"
He took a deep breath, clicking the button Dreamer had pressed earlier for him to pull up the information on his screen. "A distress call, but it didn't have a proper housing unit. They're supposed to be kept in psychic containers but they must not have had one. That's why the message was hard to decipher, why it took so much energy to manifest it. The Vigil must have picked up on it and tried to find a proper conduit that could harmonize enough with the original frequency of the message. Trouble was that's hard to find, and they couldn't recreate it because it takes a living mind with subtle telepathy that just happens to be attuned to the same psychic wavelength of the message."
Only getting a fraction of it, Fuyumi still didn't feel her question was answered. The Stranger moved the monitor over for her to see, strange symbols of circles and lines she couldn't read.
"You're quirk let's you harmonize with all sorts of frequencies, and you just happened to be tuning yourself close enough to the TARDIS's own telepathic circuits. The same kind of technology that was used to send the distress call out. I had Dreamer record the data as it was being pushed through you, and from you to me, and with me to piece it together and send to the TARDIS we got something."
Fuyumi, now intrigued by what it could be decided to push further. "What did you get?"
"Space time coordinates, most of it makes sense but there's another factor added on that doesn't fit very well." The Stranger grasped the large lever, tugging it as the TARDIS came to a halt.
"We're here."
Exiting the TARDIS into the cold winter air, Fuyumi saw they were in her backyard, home. She glanced back to them, The Stranger and The Dreamer in the TARDIS. Finally after chasing after them for so long she had learned more about them than she could ever had imagined.
But it came at a terrible cost.
"So that's it?" She asked, making sure there wasn't some other crisis happening around her.
The Stranger nodded. "Yep, we saved the kids, stopped a rogue branch of religious radicals, got everyone home, including yourself."
It felt sudden, the chase, the rush, everything that had happened and now it was over. Fuyumi didn't feel satisfied with that.
"Of course." The Stranger glanced down to Dreamy, getting a nod of approval. "You could come with us."
"What?"
"We could find where that message came from, where it leads, who sent it, another mystery to unravel across space and time. Of course, we could also make some stops along the way."
Was he really offering, her of all people? She wasn't like Uravity, a heroine who learned to face danger head on, she was just some scared school teacher. "What about home? My life here."
"It's a time machine." The Stranger patted the frame of the door. "We can come back anytime."
"I…I don't think I can." Fuyumi admitted.
"Why not?" The Stranger gently asked. "You've been out there, all those stars, a whole universe of beauty and variety to explore."
"You, you live this wonderful life traveling and facing danger all over, but it's terrifying." Fuyumi felt her chest ache, the pain of reliving it all in her mind. "Children were in danger, people had to get hurt and my brother, for All Might's sake he was burning and you just accepted that and left, like a stranger."
"I didn't want that to happen."
"And I don't blame you." She confessed, knowing that she shouldn't be upset at him but it didn't stop her from feeling it. "But do you even know what it's like? To lose your family, to think they were dead never being able to move on, then finding them and then they die right when you think you can bring them back into your life?"
With snow beginning to fall, the water in her eyes, Fuyumi couldn't clearly make out his face. He just stood there, quiet, his thoughts and feelings a mystery to her. The Dreamer reached up, grabbing his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze for comfort.
Finally he spoke, there was a question he had for her. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"
The idea crossed her mind, so with a pinch of hope she dared. "Can you bring them back?"
"No." He immediately answered as fact.
It wasn't surprising, but it somehow helped make it real that even a time traveler couldn't change what had happened. "Then, I guess I'll have to make do with what I've got here."
"I suppose you're right." The Stranger gave a short squeeze to Dreamy's hand, giving a small smirk towards the child who understood him.
That was it then, there was no reason for him to stay anymore.
Fuyumi couldn't leave though, she couldn't walk away from them even as she heard some shuffling footsteps in her home. Just as the two time travelers stepped inside their tree-house, she felt compelled to reach out.
"Stranger?"
He peeped his head out the doorway, seeing someone behind the glass door just behind Fuyumi. "Yes?"
"Will I, see you again?" Fuyumi asked, unable to let him go.
He gave the smirk, that damn smirk that felt so infuriating at first but now only assured her.
"If I'm lucky."
No, for once she was not going to leave it up to luck, she was going to make it happen. "One second, stay right there!"
She ran inside, pushing past the sliding door and running by Rumi.
"Fum! You're back and-"
Ignoring her, running past her mother, father, brother, everyone she knew because right now there was someone else she wanted in her life. Slamming open the door to her bedroom she rushed over to her desk, throwing letters and papers out of the way until she found the one she was looking for. Running back past her family, getting everyone's attention, she got into the backyard where she wanted to leap for joy seeing that he didn't run away this time.
He waited for her, and she would make it worth it.
"Here!" She held out the letter to him, The Stranger taking it to eye it curiously. Even as he opened it Fuyumi couldn't wait.
"It's an invitation to a dance, for all sorts of high profile people at I-island. Usually heroes so since my Dad is high in the ranks he is invited along with his family, I've never gone but I would if you were there."
"I-island." He chuckled to himself, seeing the location. "Of course, it's that kind of day after all."
"So, you'll be there?" Fuyumi asked, yearning for his answer.
He put the letter in his jacket pocket, honestly smiling this time. "Yes, I'll be there."
"Great! It's um, oh gosh how do I get you on the list? Do I need to call someone or-"
He placed a hand on her shoulder, the touch taking her away from the events as The Stranger grounded her. "I'll be there, I promise."
Fuyumi nodded, looking forward to it.
Then he went inside his tree-house, closing the door behind himself. Fuyumi stayed rooted in place as the backyard was filled with that beautiful song, watching the time machine fade from reality and The Stranger and The Dreamer went off, but not lost.
She would see them again.
"Oi."
Fuyumi glanced behind herself, seeing Rumi standing there in front of her family with her arms on her hips.
"Want to tell me what the hell just happened?"
Oh, where could she even start?
Two Months later
Dressed in a simple blue top with a white skirt, Fuyumi looked around trying to find where they could be. Nervously, she pulled out her phone to check her reflection, seeing the slight waves done to her hair do nothing to actually make her red specks look better.
"So." Rumi was beside her, somehow having been convinced to actually wear something nice. Even if it was just a basic black dress. "You think he lost track of time?"
"He's a Time Lord, there's no way he could."
"You don't even know what that means do you?"
"Well neither does UNIT."
"Fuyumi." Her father approached with her mother at his side, the two dressed incredibly sharp. "You're not supposed to speak about that in public."
"Public?" Rumi laughed. "This is a private event full of people who are high up in the food chain, I bet you a third are a part of UNIT."
"While there are plenty here who are aware of the truth behind UNIT-"
"Hah!" The Rabbit heroine pointed in his face.
"-There are still many here who are unaware of our knowledge."
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Mrs. Todoroki offered, trying to lay down peace. "I'm happy you finally let me in on the secret of your other agency, but this is supposed to be a party. Let's not focus on work."
"Yes." Rumi quickly agreed. "Let's talk about how Fuyumi asked out an alien to a ball."
"Rumi! I told you it's not that simple!"
"Yeah, who knows how human like he is in his pants."
"RUMI!"
The turn of the conversation managed to turn her father and mother away, Rumi laughing over Fuyumi's distress. The woman decided to look over the guests again to try to find them.
She found her brother, who was being tugged along by his invisible girlfriend.
She saw The Principal of UA, talking with Power Loader in a suit.
Then there was a tired looking man with long black hair and a big scarf around his neck, talking with a newer hero who made an explosive debut.
Another hero with an electric theme talking with two girls, one wearing a punk rock outfit with long earlobes and the other in an elegant red dress that looked incredibly expensive.
A tall man dressed like a butler with blue hair chopping his arm in the air while talking to the space heroine Thirteen.
One of the new top heroes, Lemillion laughing away with All Might and David Shield and a very nervous one with his dark bangs aiding to hide his face.
That's when she thought she heard it, a song in the distance. One so unique but one she had heard many times before.
"Drink?"
Hm?
Fuyumi glanced down, seeing a young albino girl with a horn sticking out of her forehead wearing a little tuxedo. She was carrying a tray full of sparkling apple cider, something that seemed appetizing at the moment.
"Thank you." Fuyumi gladly took a glass, staring a little longer at the child that seemed familiar to her.
"Eri!" A woman with pink dreadlocks with oil stains along the edges of her skirt came forward to the girl. "What are you doing passing out drinks?"
"I wanted to be a part of the party?"
"We have a demonstration for the new nano hero system to get ready for! Let's go!"
"Ok Mei!"
Fuyumi watched them run off, questioning the nature of their relationship.
That's when they passed right by them, two more guests coming through the entrance. The woman bumped past the man, not even bothering to apologize.
The two girls though, stopped and stared at each other for a few seconds before Mei called for Eri to catch up.
That man, a stranger, The Stranger with his companion The Dreamer had arrived.
He was wearing a black tailcoat suit with white stitching around the trims, and the same tie loosely hanging around his neck. The Dreamer was in a yellow dress, looking like it came straight out of a disney movie.
"Damn, he looks so awkward." Rumi nudged her arm against Fuyumi once she realized who her friend was staring at. "Not like a nervous awkward, but as if he's unaware how much he sticks out. You would think for a guy who's been all over our history would learn how to blend in."
"Be nice, he-"
"Saved you." With a pat on the back, Rumi went her own way to leave the girl to her own. "Tell him I said thanks for that."
"Um, sure."
Ok, she had months to prepare for this. Flash cards of conversation memorized, research about parts of history he visited, questions about his journey to discover the origin of the message. By the time she had the courage to go up to him, someone else had acted.
The heroine Pinky, dressed in a slightly revealing and multicolored dress similar to her hero outfit had dragged along Uravity towards him. The brunette was wearing a black dressed covered in sparkling white dots, like the night sky.
Around the bottom of it, was a small tree-house embroidered into the design.
Fuyumi held herself back, watching as the energy and determination of the pink girl managed to break the ice in the group, getting everyone to smile.
They looked like they belonged together, The Stranger and Uravity, old friends who could carry on wherever they left off.
She didn't have that, she never had that, and Fuyumi wouldn't take them away from that.
The Dreamer though, came marching right towards her.
"Oh hey." Fuyumi greeted her warmly. "I'm glad you two could make it, have you-"
The Dreamer grabbed her hand, pulling her right for The Stranger. "You aren't allowed to be alone and sad."
"I-I wasn't-" Fuyumi stopped, knowing it was useless to lie to someone who could hear her thoughts.
"Exactly." Dreamer responded, the two now coming close enough to hear the conversation.
"You're so different than your last self." Mina reached up to the top of his head, having to get on the tips of her heels to do so. "And tall."
"Regeneration is hardly predictable." The Stranger shrugged, letting Mina play with his hair. "Looks like I've lost the curls."
"It's still a mess."
"It's always been a mess."
"Maybe you just haven't learned how to do your hair!"
All of them laughed at that, Ochaco warming up to the scene. "Iz-I mean Stranger, I'm sorry."
"For what?" He earnestly asked.
"I wasn't supportive, you were changing and I was more scared about losing my friend."
The Stranger placed an understanding hand on her shoulder, giving her his new favorite smirk. "Change is scary, and I'll admit I was scared too about who I might be, but everything we shared, every fight, every adventure, they're still a part of me, and they always will."
"Oh!" Mina noticed the approaching Dreamer and Fuyumi, glancing around until she saw another victim to bother. "Got to go, but it was great seeing you again, or for the first time, whichever. Byyyeee!"
The Dreamer finally let go of Fuyumi, the woman now standing right between the two childhood friends. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt since she was here first."
Ochaco, decided to accept it. She gave a sweetly sad smile towards Fuyumi as she glanced at The Stranger one last time. "It's ok, I may have been here first but…I didn't invite him, I didn't reach out like I should have."
"Don't take all the blame on yourself." The Stranger quickly retorted. "I could have reached out too."
"You did." Ochaco gave him a quick hug. "But I've already turned it down, I've said my goodbyes. But there's someone here now who wants to say hello."
The young heroine Uravity turned it over to Fuyumi, giving a small wave to them before going back to her life. Fuyumi was left, slightly puzzled by her leaving but she felt a sliver of understanding.
Fuyumi couldn't have brought herself to say goodbye, but she did turn down his invitation.
"So." The Stranger looked around, seeing plenty of familiar faces. "Did you invite just about everyone I know on Earth here?"
"What? No." Fuyumi then remembered the briefing she had with her father, and about UNIT, and how he came to join it. "But, It seems like you managed to make an impact on a lot of people."
"Speaking of which, I should probably stop that."
Even The Dreamer seemed perplexed by that statement. "What do you mean?"
"I've been making waves here." The Stranger admitted. "The timeline is so far from its original course that I can't even see it anymore."
"And you think, you did that?" Fuyumi pondered, the time traveler nodding in response. It got a chuckle out of her.
The Dreamer rolled her eyes at him, looking around for some snacks. "You give yourself too much credit."
"I think it's enough." Fuyumi let out, becoming embarrassed for saying such a thing.
For Once In My Life
By Frank Sinatra
Music sparked to life in the grand ballroom, many individuals finding someone to pair up with.
"For once in my life, I have someone who needs me."
Nostalgia flooded through The Stranger, familiar faces, familiar music, it felt good for once thinking about the past.
"Someone I needed so long."
He held his hands up, inviting Fuyumi to join him.
"For once I'm afraid I can go where life leads me."
Nervously, she accepted. Joining one hand with his and resting her other along his arm, she felt his embrace. Certain, relaxed, warm.
"And somehow I know I'll be strong."
They didn't force it, they didn't try to jump into it, they just let themselves be carried away with the tune.
"For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of."
Fuyumi saw all the faces in her life right behind his, her parents, her brother, Rumi. She had them here, and she was grateful The Stranger showed her to accept and love what she had.
"Long before I knew, someone warm like you."
The Stranger glanced around the place, seeing attention was being drawn to them. He could see them there, classmates, coworkers, so many people he had met on this world that made it feel like home.
"Would make my dreams come true."
So here the two of them were, dancing while reminiscing about what was here, what they had, and the joy that came with it.
"For once in my life I won't let sorrow hurt me."
They lost family, they lost people close to them, but they were ready to move on.
"Not like it's hurt me before."
Because if they only looked towards the past, what could have been, it would blind them from what was here.
"For once I have something I know won't desert me."
The Stranger and Fuyumi danced for the present. Their futures were different, their paths might not meet again, and they would accept that.
"Not like it's hurt me before."
For a moment out of The Stranger's eye, he thought he saw a hair of blue and a head of blonde in the crowd, smiling with pride. The Dreamer was near them, standing right beside the mirage.
"For once in my life I've got someone, who needs me."
They ended their dance, The Stranger releasing his grip of Fuyumi and smiling towards the crowd of friends. He would miss them, but it wasn't bad.
Now with Dreamer coming up to his side, he kept his gaze on the present, wanting to enjoy every second of it before setting off on the next adventure.
Even as the voice called out from beyond.
Where are you?
THE END
That's right, this is the final chapter I will post for this story. While The Stranger's adventures will continue it will not be in this fic. Next world that I've decided, is Avatar Last Airbender. When I eventually get to it, I'll post a new story that is a continuation of this one. I'll make it so you won't have to read this story to understand it, but if you read this story before that one it could make character decisions make more sense knowing their origins.
Also, I'm thinking about doing a rewrite. I'll keep this story as is, but I'll crosspost the rewritten version on AO3. Things that looking back I could have changed is to completely remove The Doctor from the beginning, no having The Stranger's TARDIS become a police phone box, clearing up Mina's mom's story, and having some more time when The Stranger was human with Ochaco, Mina, and Dreamer.
Until then, I'll do my best to finish some of my other stories too. Be warned though, I am a massive Doctor Who fan so I probably will end up giving The Stranger's story more love than the others.
Who is calling out from the unknown? Follow The Stranger and The Dreamer as they follow the coordinates to the source.
Joeyginise: Hope you've caught up! If not, you can always start fresh on the next crossover.
Harleking31: It's a reference to his previous incarnations, his first being a code one and his second a code 2. They did a similar thing for The Doctor in Doctor Who.
UnlawfulGentleman: I always love reading your reviews, makes my effort feel worth it when readers like you pick each detail apart.
This arc is certainly different from the others, being way more Doctor Who like instead of mixing with MHA fight scenes.
I did struggle finding out how I would have this Stranger deal with Toya, his death was always going to happen but would he try to save them? I took the approach of him being a character that knows how dangerous the enemy can be, but gives them choices through consequences. If Toya never attacks, he would be fine, but knowing how deadly he can be The Stranger made a trap in case he did try. The biggest thing it, he made Toya aware of it, that way he could choose for himself.
Also, I decided for the ATLA universe, it was going to take place in this one just in a different time. While multiverse travel will eventually happen, I have another idea on how to set that up.
redmen6blight: Glad you've been enjoying the story so far! Hope you make it to my response here.
I don't own anything except for a new life.