"An alternate universe?"

Bakugo cried out when Lloyd's fists crashed down onto his midsection in excitement. His student shot to his feet standing next to the hospital cot Bakugo lay.

In front of them, Isabel twirled a lock of her short blonde hair. Aslovee slurped on a can of soda.

"Universes," she said. "So like…many."

"That's…that's absurd." Lloyd said. "There can't be different universes."

"Why not?" Aslovee asked with his tongue skating along the bendy straw he sucked on.

"Because…because it just can't," Lloyd said. "You're telling me we are all in some sort of reality that is different from your own? How could this be an orderly universe if there are multiple ones?"

"These universes were orderly," Isabel said. "Until we were sent here."

Lloyd turned back to Bakugo, nodding his head at him to goad him into verbalizing his thoughts. The spiky blonde grabbed his stomach and wrestled himself into a seated position. With the pain throbbing in his middle, he grit his teeth and dug his back into the plastic headboard.

"I promised to not call the cops on you brats," Bakugo said. "If you gave me a good reason for you shooting me. Your shitty sci-if fanfic isn't helping your case."

Isabel pulled out her phone and scrolled through the screen. "Look, I told you all we know. We have like…thirty something hours to stop this world from ending."

Isabel flashed the screen at Lloyd and Bakugo. A clock counted down on the screen.

"What does any of this mean," Lloyd asked. "The world ending? Why would that happen?"

"There is a specific event that has been put in motion," Aslovee said. He stood up and walked towards the window overlooking the San Francisco downtown area. Businesspeople lugged suitcases with a few hoboes smoking between them and the cramped buses unloading throngs of people. "We were sent here by The Creator to stop this from happening. Because if it happens to this universe, it happens to ours as well."

"The Creator? God?"

"Well, not the upper-case god." Isabel said. "But he does matter in this story."

"Why the fuck should we believe any of this," Bakugo growled.

"Language," Lloyd said.

Bakugo threw off the thin covers of the bed and held out his palms. Snaps of fire spurted out of his hands and caused whips of heat to illuminate his angry face with a scarlet tint.

"That's enough," Bakugo said. "Different universes? Salton Sea Scrolls? The Creator? You're just playing some prank on us, huh?"

Aslovee glared at Bakugo. "You don't have to believe us, stupid. But it's the truth and we have to save your world. Or all of this is for nothing."

"Who are you calling stupid, shorty?"

Aslovee's black eyes twitched. "What did you just call me?"

"Nothing!" Isabel ran over and patted Aslovee on the shoulder. "He called you tall. Very tall."

"No, I called him short. Because he's short," Bakugo taunted.

Aslovee charged for Bakugo. He pounced onto the bed and grabbed Bakugo's neck. He squeezed his hands around his neck with thin fingernails latched into Bakugo's skin like a suction cup.

"Wait, stop it!" Isabel shouted.

Isabel ran over and wrapped her arms around Aslovee's middle and pulled him backwards. He struggled in her grasp to attack Bakugo to no avail.

"I'm sorry," Isabel said. "He's not good with humans yet.

Bakugo rubbed his bruised throat and captured a few extra breathes of precious oxygen. He stared at the two before him and swallowed. In Isabel's arms, Aslovee calmed down and relaxed his arms.

"Sorry," he said. "It's a sore spot."

"Do you normally choke people for pointing out your height?" Lloyd asked.

"Usually I just kill them," he said.

"What?"

"Look, we're getting nowhere," Isabel said. "We have a very tight schedule, so if you all want to help, you have to do what we say. And the important thing right now is getting to Bakugo's old costume."

Isabel let go of the short teenage boy and placed herself right in front of Lloyd. She stared deep into his yellow eyes.

"You don't have to believe us. But you have to trust us. Otherwise, we're all dead."

Lloyd had a major debate raging in his head. Not only were these two challenging all he thought he knew about this world, but they were going to stop a world-ending event? Of course, shooting Bakugo should illicit more suspicion from him. However, the sincere look in this strange girl's eyes made him want to help. As weird as these two were, there was an honesty that he felt needed to be rewarded with his help.

"What do we have to do?"

Knock. Knock.

Drake tapped his foot on the wooden floorboards of the patio. A decent-sized, but worn home with chipped paint on the siding and a mold-green roof, it sat in the very edge of Mulholland Drive feet away from the snazzy swimming pools of various movie stars. This home was one of the remaining suburban homes from the mid-century complete with a tire swing hanging in the overgrown weeds of the yard and a dormant chimney jutting out of the roof.

With another tour bus rumbling past, Drake crossed his arms and glanced at Blake. The shorter boy had a wide grin and bounced on his tiptoes in anticipation.

Since flying out to northern Hollywood, Drake had formulated a few new theories about the strange events surrounding his class. For starters, he could not recall in detail anything before yesterday within the last few months. Not how Finals went, not how the Sports Festival turned out. Nothing.

Then, Moxie had been found passed out in the boy's common area. After making sure she was seated on the couch, he listened as she detailed the strange woman that had appeared in the area. A brunette with a weird stick of some kind that shot out light. And then, the strange memories that she said had appeared in her head. Some British guy named Alistair. A loudmouth student that she couldn't name. Did any of these things have to do with each other?

The oak door opened. Before the two was a girl roughly Drake's height. Pale blue eyes shined behind straight eyelashes with a head of short, brown hair. She had a tired, annoyed expression and rolled her eyes at the sight of the two on the porch.

"Lazuli!" Blake leapt into her arms and embraced her in a deep hug. The girl known as Lazuli stood still, her face unimpressed with the hyper boy trying to wrap his arms around her neck.

"Oh my God, Blake," the girl said in a low tone. "Can I go a week without having to deal with you?"

"But we have some super secret mystery we have to solve! And it involves Fyodor! I think it could also involve aliens, but I'm not sure about that yet."

She pushed Blake off of her and held the boy at arm's length.

"Get off me. And why did you bring-."

Lazuli faced Drake. His deep amber eyes glared at the girl. He remained as serious as an angry hornet. However, Lazuli's eyebrows rose, and her gaze raked over Drake's frame.

"This…man with you." Lazuli said with a tight grin.

"Oh, this is Drake," Blake said. "He's kinda smart. Well, at least at chess. I don't know if he's good at much else yet."

Lazuli reached out her hand. "Lazuli Sarfling. Future Number One thief in the country."

Drake grabbed a hold of her hand. Clammy and tough pale skin, she held on just a tad longer than normal for someone just sharing a professional greeting.

"Does Fyodor Ivanovitch live here?"

Blake broke through the handshake and pointed at Drake. "Drake! You have to be nice and introduce yourself first! At least give her your title or future hero name or something."

"That's okay, Blake." Lazuli looked over Drake again. "I think I see all I need to. For now."

Drake had no idea what was wrong with this girl. Perhaps she was analyzing his body to detect any weak points she could utilize to kill him. He knew he had to watch his back, since this girl could pounce and kill him at any minute.

"So, is he here," Drake said to keep on his objective.

Lazuli wagged a finger towards her, gesturing the two to enter the house. Blake ran in with his arms outstretched as if he was flying. Drake crossed the doorway into the thin hallway.

The foyer, narrow and humble, split apart down the middle. One side was a wood walkway towards a refrigerator that marked a kitchen. The other side was a dust-coated staircase that led up to the second floor. Lazuli led the two up the staircase, each creak shaking off dust with the chipped paint of the white railing skating under Drake's clasped hand. Above them, a shaking fan rumbled on its hinges threatening to fall atop them at any second.

As Blake babbled non-stop to Lazuli, Drake grabbed his ear. With a sharp intake of breath, his head was thumped by a jab of pain before a scarlet, enlarged ear with dragon scaled flesh popped into place of his human ear. With the increase in hearing awareness, he heard the vibration of running water gushing through old lead pipes in the walls. The rustling of leaves fluttering outside. Muffled voices echoed out as if he were submerged in water. Words over a phone. A specific word being repeated. At first garble. But then, as the trio got to the top of the foyer staircase.

"…sure that they won't find out. If they do, they won't believe us anyway. Montserrat. Protocol Thirty Four."

Drake was so focused on the voice, he bumped into Blake as they lurched to a halt in front of a dark mahogany door at the end of the hall.

Lazuli knocked on the door. Drake grunted out with his ear returning to its normal stature.

Then, the door opened. A tall and striking young man with a dark stubble scratching his chin leaned on the doorway with a large tiger-print coat hugging his angular shoulders.

"Fyodor!" Blake shouted. He ran and pounced on the wannabe villain. However, unlike Lazuli, Fyodor smiled and returned the hug Blake embraced him with.

"Blake, so good to see you," Fyodor said in a cheerful manner. He ruffled the head of black hair and grabbed Blake by the waist. He threw him up in the air like a pillow and caught him. Blake laughed as they continued to play like an owner cheering up a newborn baby.

Drake stared dumbfounded. This was not the person he had met at Void Industries.

Fyodor stopped and held Blake to his side. He examined Drake and flashed a light smile.

"May I help you?"

Izuku slammed down his cell phone. He sighed and held his head on his hands. Then, he thunked his forehead on his teacher's desk. He dropped his cell phone next to his head and closed his eyes.

In the sun-drenched classroom, he ruffled his own green hair and raised his head. He stared at the scars running over his right and and clenched his fingers into a fist.

Bakugo had yet to answer any of his calls or texts. Not only that, but he had disappeared along with the charter bus the school had rented for the class Christmas trip. He had wanted a smooth trip, since this would be the first since the events at Void Industries.

However, there was another feeling in his heart. A small, tingling sensation of dread that drowned his thoughts and made him groggy in the early afternoon sun beaming through the windows. He turned to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room and saw the ticking hand notch it's way around the face. For some reason, every tick made him twitch for a split second. It was as if every second brought him closer to an infinite doom.

"Mister Deku."

Izuku shot to his feet and knocked the chair back. It slammed onto the he ground as he looked over at the student by the doorway holding a laptop and crossed over the room towards him.

"Oh, hello, Martel," Izuku said. "Sorry, I've just been so stressed trying to find a new bus for all of us. I know we've been planning this, so it's unfair if we can't-."

Martel set down the laptop in front of Izuku. Without another word, he scrolled down to the bottom of the page and pointed at the screen.

"Mister Deku," Martel said. "Please examine the screen."

Izuku gave Martel and odd stare. Then, he decided to humor the boy and looked at the screen. A wall of green code that fizzled in and out of focus like an old television screen.

"Martel, what is this?" Izuku asked. "Some strange experiment of your-."

Izuku gasped when the picture came further into focus. The data on screen remained green. However, lines formed a strange wave that pulsed like a heartbeat over the central horizon of the page. Other vital signs flowed across the screen, and at the top of the screen was a name.

Midoriya, Izuku.

"What?" He said. "What…why is my heartbeat on here? Did you invent something that monitors that and you put it on me?"

Martel scrolled down the screen. Not just him, but every single student in the class. All of them had electronic charts that outlined their heart rates and pressure. Even Bakugo had a segment dedicated for himself.

"I have been monitoring the strange occurrences happening to our class over the last few days. The strange lapses in memory. The odd characters some have said they have come across. The fact that nobody remembers the last few months."

"I don't understand. What do you mean the last few months. We were…our class was…we were a class the past few months, weren't we? Why-who is tracking us like that? Is this even real." Izuku asked. Come to think of it, he could not rack his brain and decipher the last few months in his memory.

Martel reached the bottom of the screen. "Do you recognize this name?"

Izuku peered at the name. This time, the chart was in all red text with a blinking word next to the name.

Abel Chevelle: Offline.

In an elevator, Katsu flashed a toothy grin at Calista. The brunette, serious as ever, gripped her wand in hand and glared swords into the elevator door. Katsu, meanwhile, had grown quite an affection towards the girl already if anything was to be gleaned by the awestruck look on his face.

Finally making it to a tall skyscraper in San Francisco, Katsu and Calista stood with Shoto behind the two. The elevator slid up the building towards the penthouse where Bakugo's costume would be located.

"So…," Katsu started. "You haven't really told me much of anything yet."

Calista sighed and stared at the floor monitor on the wall. It counted upward as they traversed towards the top.

"What is more moral, Katsu. A real world full of pain and suffering, or a fake one filled with your wildest dreams?"

Katsu blinked. "What?"

"Answer the question. Would you rather be in a simulated setting that wasn't real, or would you want to be in reality, no matter how painful or unspecial it appeared to be?"

"Project Daedalus. That's what it was called."

Back in the house on Mulholland Drive, Fyodor sipped on a cup of tea and looked out the window. Drake sat in a chair while Blake bounced on Fyodor's bed.

"It was what erased my quirk. Originally, I came to Edith Void for assistance in revenge. The machine used was supposed to effuse my quirk over the Los Angeles area. However, I soon learned that Edith had other plans."

"She took your quirk," Drake said. "And she planned to sell it."

"That and many other quirks," Fyodor said. "For the quirkless. They could take a pill and have any quirk imaginable. One For All was supposed to be the white whale for her. Fortunately, your friends saved Deku and stopped that from happening. But it didn't stop the crafters of the program. With me, they proved the technology could work. So they moved to the next big phase."

Further up the elevator…Katsu thought over Calista's words. Seeing the strange mixture if magic and apparition over the past day had made Katsu much more inclined to want the truth over anything.

"I…I guess I would want something real."

"There's very important information in Bakugo's old costume," Calista said. "Something that that will save all of you."

Katsu let out a brave chuckle. "But I don't need saving."

"You do, Mister Muteki." Katsu turned to face Shoto. For some reason, a small twinge of pity hid within his eyes.

"Shoto, since when are we on a last-name basis?"

"Since we first met. Yesterday."

"Edith had big plans for the technology. However, Project Daedalus got in the way."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "Daedalus?"

"Originally, it was a grant from the state government to advance the technology of quirk transplant. That was the phrase used by the government. I guess they thought stealing was too on the nose. But Daedalus grew into something much bigger. Two things in fact. She told me this right before she shot me."

"And what would those things be?"

"But Shoto…what are you talking about?"

"I had never met you until yesterday in the shower."

Calista frowned and turned back to Shoto. "Wait, you met him in the shower? Why didn't you pick a better place?"

"You told me to find him as soon as possible. I found him, didn't I?"

Katsu pointed at the two. "Wait, when did you tell him that? Did you two meet before?"

Shoto sighed. He grabbed Katsu's shoulder and gripped it in a supportive way. "We did. Before we came here to try and rescue you."

"The end of the world?"

Fyodor turned and nodded with another sip of his tea. The steam rolled over his face. "Project Daedalus had two goals. Take all quirks from all people on earth. And then…escape."

Drake stood up. He approached Fyodor and panned his gaze slightly upward. "Escape where? And who?"

"No, wait a second. That…that can't be true."

"It is, and you need to know before what happens next." Shoto said to Katsu.

The boy shook his head and stepped back from Shoto. "Stop it. You're…you're scaring me, Shoto. What do you mean you don't know me? I'm Katsu! I'm that kid you found in that jail cell. That kid that you basically adopted. The one that got me when my family left me."

Shoto gave off a sad smile and bit his lip. "I really wish that were true. But…none of that ever happened."

"So…Project Daedalus was an escape plan."

"Correct," Fyodor said. "The members of the special list would escape with all of the world's quirks. And as this world ends, they would go to another universe. The first humans to experience inter-dimensional travel. And with quirks aplenty. They would be practically gods in this new quirkless world they would end up in.

"And that's supposed to happen sometime soon?"

"Very soon, I imagine."

"Stop lying to me!"

"Katsu, everything you've been told is a lie. You need to accept that to help us."

"No, I don't believe you. Stop saying things to just upset me!"

Shoto grabbed both of Katsu's shoulders and stilled him. "Stop it! I already told you the truth. Why would I lie to you?"

Katsu sniffled and stared deep into Shoto's sincere eyes. "But Shoto…how can you be from another universe?"

"Let's just show him," Calista said. "I think he's ready."

Shoto sighed. "Fine. You do it."

"I don't wanna do it. I already did it last time!"

"But your way is much more efficient."

"Fine." Calista pointed her wand at Katsu's face.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill you."

"What?"

"Don't worry. I'm only mostly killing you. Avada Kedavra."

FLASH!

Drake sat down on the bed next to Blake. Both of the boys stared up at Fyodor taken aback by the news.

"So, what is supposed to end the world exactly? And what does this have to do with the Salton Sea Scrolls" Drake asked.

"And what are we supposed to do to stop it?" Blake responded.

"I wish I knew more, but I don't and quite frankly, I'm not concerned about any of this," Fyodor swiveled in his chair. "I already lost my quirk, and the world ending is just long overdue as far as I'm concerned. Far too much plastic in the ocean and whatnot."

Drake snorted and stood up. "You have to know something. A location. The method behind the world's end. Who is on the list?"

Fyodor chuckled. "Please. Edith wouldn't give me that much," he said as he took another sip. "It wasn't even her plan. It was arranged by the more powerful in society."

"A name. Anything?" Drake demanded.

"Why are you so concerned? You should embrace what is about to happen. Makes things much less complicated. No more house arrest for me. And I guess no more shivering in ninety degree weather for you."

Drake's eye twitched at the slight. "How do you know about that?"

Fyodor set down his tea cup and spun around in his chair again. "I know all kinds of things about you and your class by now. Including you. About how you grew up in Whittier, Alaska. You ate nothing but salmon for a whole year."

"Hey, Alaska has good salmon. I don't blame him," Blake said.

"I also know about your parents never being home."

Drake balled up his fists. "Alright. Enough."

"How you you'd play chess because nobody would do anything with you."

"Enough."

"How no one would talk to you because you killed someone at scho-."

The dragon tail snapped around Fyodor's neck. Wrapping itself like a tentacle, the tail suffocated Fyodor in an instant. Veins popped out of his cheeks with a gargle dying in his pinched throat. The tail raised Fyodor up and slammed him onto the wall.

Crash! A mirror fell off its nail and shattered onto the ground. Shards of glass strewn about Drake's feet to reveal a eared reflection of his fuming face contorted with rage. He pushed his body up to Fyodor's and squeezed the tail harder around his throat.

"Hey, Drake," Blake said in a calm demeanor. "It's okay. Just calm down."

Drake tightened the dragon-skin noose around Fyodor's throat. Extending his quirk farther than usual, he felt his mind slip away. In place, a more primal, animalistic urge to lash out his rage into the world made him sneer in a menacing way. A low, even maniacal chuckle spat out of Drake's mouth.

"I bet you like this. Being choked. Don't you," Drake said.

He tightened his tail again. The scales dug into Fyodor's pale skin, droplets of blood already beginning to pepper his skin. A creak of bone his neck, and his grasp on Drake's tail began to loosen. Weaker. Weaker.

Slash!

Drake gasped in pain and released Fyodor. He fell into a heap on the floor and gasped for precious air. He rolled onto his back and panted with his arms outstretched, his throat as red as flames.

Drake grasped his wrist. The strange pain shit over it like he had been cut with a knife. However, as fast as the pain zapped him, it was gone. He looked down at his wrist, and then back over to Blake behind him.

Blake stood with a serious, stern look. His hand covered in blood, he set down his knife from his wrist into his pocket. He pivoted towards the door and walked out of the room, drops of blood raining down on the wooden floor.

Drake sulked on the patio steps with his head resting on his hands. Not only did he lose his temper, but he caused Blake to injure himself. He hated that he had lost some control mostly because he thought he was better by now. He thought the past was behind him.

"Hey, Alaskan Dragon."

Lazuli sat next to him with a cup of tea in her hands. She handed him the piping hot drink with steam wafting up a mint aroma into his nose.

"Blake calls you that all the time, so I thought I'd keep it up."

Drake nodded at her and took a sip from the cup.

"He'll be alright if that's what's bothering you," she said. "Slitting his wrists that deep is like a paper cut to most people. That kid could get his head chopped off, and he'd probably just grow a new one."

"Thanks." Drake said.

Lazuli flashed a small smirk. "So, it could help a bit to get it off your chest. You did sorta cause a mess in there, and I'm curious."

Drake shook his head and scooted away from the inquisitive girl.

"You know, it's best to tell a complete stranger your secrets," she said. "It's not like I have any agenda against you. I won't share."

Drake set down the tea cup beside him. He leaned back on the porch step and stared out at the lowering sun with a faraway look in his golden eyes.

"I was pretty quite growing up. My parents were gone a lot, and most of the people in Whittier annoyed me. We all lived in one big building. The entire town. So I got to know everyone pretty quickly, and I found I liked nobody."

Lazuli chuckled. "I can relate."

Drake blew out a hot breath. "Right before I left for school here, people started noticing my quirk and thought it was cool. It was the first time I felt like people actually wanted me around. So I decided to show off my flying skills one day. And I flew way too fast past the rooftop of that big apartment building. And it shook some icicles from the gutters and fell down on the town's pet caribou."

Lazuli took in the information. Then, she furrowed her brow.

"Huh?"

"Our town caribou," Drake said with impatience. "His name was Steve. He had been around for ten years. And everyone loved him. But then I caused a giant icicle to hit him in the eye. Died instantly. The town never forgave me, and I vowed from then on to use my quirk only for good. And…I broke that vow today. Again. I might as well be a villain."

Lazuli and Drake sat in silence. Drake wallowed in pity while Lazuli ran the story through her head.

Then….

"Bwahahahaha!" Lazuli broke into a fever of laughter.

Drake, taken aback, leapt up in his seat and scooted further away. "What? What is wrong with you?"

"Drake, I've only known you for like ten minutes, but you are no way in hell a villain," Lazuli said. "Yeah, you try to be brooding and mysterious, but you're kind of a dork, aren't you?"

Drake sighed and looked down at the slat in the porch. "I guess."

Lazuli moved closer to Drake. "Keep ya head up, okay. If you're sad, that makes Blake sad. And I don't like seeing him sad. He kinda gets attached to people that tolerate him in that way, y'know?"

Drake had to admit he did feel a bit better from getting his feelings out in the air. He forced on a tight smile and looked into Lazuli's eyes. "Right. Thanks."

"No problem," Lazuli stood up and stretched her arms. "Blake should be out in a few, and you two can continue your goose chase from there. Oh, by the way…."Lazuli took out a slip of paper and handed it to Drake.

He grabbed it and looked down on it. The paper held Lazuli's phone number.

"When you turn eighteen, gimme a call."

"Why?" Drake asked.

"Blake told me you flew him here. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Well…someday," Lazuli gave Drake another once-over with her eyes. "I'd like to get on you and…take a ride."

"Huh?" Drake said as clueless and dense as ever.

Just then, the front door burst open. Blake, good as new with a bandage around his wrist, ran out with a small strip of paper in hand. Drake stood up and turned towards him.

"Hey, Blake. I didn't mean to do what I did."

"Are you kidding me?" Blake asked. "That was genius! It gave me enough time to go to his dresser and find out next clue!"

Blake held up a receipt in front of Drake's face. He snatched it and read the body of the piece of paper.

"He bought Eighty dollars worth of hot dog formula in August?" Drake asked. "What even is that?"

"But look at the top. That's what's important."

Drake read the name of the store at the top, and immediately thought back tot the strange message over the radio. Now, things were starting to make more sense.

Mohammad's Pawn Shop.

Katsu yawned and stretched his arms. Well-rested, he smacked his lips before sitting up in the plush mattress.

Then, a light tap on his face. Then another. And another.

Katsu opened his eyes and flicked away the cashew that pecked at his cheek. He was in a large room surrounded by golden floors and walls.

"Stop that," Katsu said. "I just woke up."

"Oh, sorry, Cat-su! I was aiming for your mouth."

Katsu turned to his right. Next to him on a couch with a bottle of bubbly and a bowl of mixed nuts and caviar, a young man in a purple bathrobe and matching headphone draped around his neck was surrounded by two butlers waving giant leafs at him. He smirked with both arms outstretched over the top of the couch.

"Sup, Katsu," Abel Chevelle said. "Ready to save our universe?"