The white walls gleaned under hot fluorescent lights that buzzed in the ceiling. The lighting gleamed off the marble floors that at first blinded Drake and Blake. The room was immaculate, untouched by any human hands. At the very end of the room, a simple white desk with a computer and keyboard sat in the center. Next to it, a white door.

Blake picked himself up and staggered to his feet. Blood dripped from his face as he and Drake stared dumbfounded at the mysterious room. They walked with caution over the marble to the random desk.

Slam! Drake and Blake turned back to find the bookshelf had closed behind them. They were shut inside of the room. Drake sighed and looked down at Blake.

"What is this place?" Blake asked.

Drake said nothing and trudged towards the computer. Thoughts flew through his head like flying arrows, his eyes scanning for any threats that could pop out in the room. He was especially concerned about where that door led to. Would somebody try to ambush them?

At the computer, Drake reached out and pressed a random button on the keyboard. The screen blinked to life with a black background and green text. A box with the word "password" underneath it and a blinking cursor flashed upon the screen.

"You think the password would just be 'password,'" Blake asked with a hint of humor.

Drake shrugged. "What even is this computer's significance? How could we possibly know the password?"

"Maybe there's a sticky note around," Blake looked under the desk. "Most of these places have something like that."

"I seriously doubt that," Drake said.

"Found it," Blake rose back up and pulled a yellow sticky note off the bottom of the desk. He handed it over to Drake who had a deadpan look on his face. He read the sticky note, a single word written on the center in red ink.

"Plymouth," Drake read.

"That must be the hot dog mix from the receipt," Blake said. "I bet that's the password!"

Drake stroked his chin and hunched over the keyboard. He typed out the word "Plymouth" onto the screen. When finished, he slapped the enter key.

The word disappeared. In red text, a sign popped up. "Password Incorrect."

Suddenly, the lights flashed from white to red. A scarlet tint filled the whole room with the walls now shining a ruby glare around the area. On the screen, the cursor reappeared in the box with a warning underneath it.

"Attempts remaining: 2."

Drake stared at the sticky note. "How could it not be that?"

"I guess the word is just a hint," Blake said. "And why did the room turn all red."

"I'd rather not find out," Drake said. "Okay, so the password isn't Plymouth. But what could it represent?"

"A car? Maybe a building?" Blake asked.

"No, it has to make sense to this situation. It has to mean something," Drake said.

"Drake, nothing makes sense to this situation," Blake said. "It's like some random guy is just making things up as he goes along."

"No, there's a rhyme and reason to this," Drake said. "Plymouth is a hot dog mix. That was bought or returned by Fyodor. So what does that mean?"

"He likes hot dogs?"

Drake glared at the sticky note. There were some elements that floated in his head, but he could not connect them. There had to be a common thread. An object that linked all of these events together.

"Blake, think," Drake broke out of his reverie and turned to the shorter boy. "What has been the one thing following us around this entire school year?"

"Death?"

"No. Well, that too," Drake said. "But it's been hot dogs. Hot dogs, Blake!"

Blake blinked in disbelief. "Uh…are you okay, Drake?"

"That has to be it," Drake said. "Hot dogs have haunted us from day one. When Midnight fought that team on the pier, she pretended to be a hot dog vendor. All we get served at lunch are hot dogs. Anton threw a hot dog at that politician. Edith Void was going to take people's quirks and mass produce them by placing them in hot dogs. Selling people's quirks along with processed meat! All along, it's been hot dogs!"

"Drake, you know I'm the one losing blood right now, not you."

Drake rushed for the computer. He breathed heavy with exilaration coasting through his veins. He typed in the phrase "hot dog" and proudly tapped on the submissionkey.

An alarm buzzed from the speaker. Incorrect.

A sliding, hydraulic hiss emanated from the walls. Two tiles lowered to reveal long black pipes that jutted out from the holes. From the pipes, flumes of strange smoke blew out of the pipes into the room.

"What is that?" Blake asked.

"I'd rather not find out," Drake said in a hurried whisper. He turned back to the computer as the smoke started to fill out the back of the room and traverse towards them.

"Okay, what else could the password be?" Blake asked. "Some code or something we heard."

"If it's not hot dog, what else could it be," Drake growled. "A phrase? The title of Project Daedalus? No, they wouldn't make that the password."

Blake turned back. The smoke looked closer and rendered the room into a haze of red mist.

"Uh…Drake. Let's get the brain power working faster," Blake said.

"I can't think," Drake said. "An anagram. Some coded message. What?"

"What about the radio message," Blake shouted. "Maybe that has something to do with it."

The smoke neared them. Blake stepped back and put himself onto the wall. Drake hurried for the keyboard and placed his fingers on the letters.

"Okay, the radio message," Drake rushed into his pocket and pulled out the note with the message written on it.

"Mohammad. We got that. That was the Quran. Ivanovitch was Fyodor. Protocol 3? Is that it?"

"Drake," Blake shouted. The fog arrived and surrounded them.

Drake tried to take in a quick breath, but found he couldn't. Try as his lungs did to force oxygen in him, the atmosphere around them betrayed no air. It was as if they had been shuttled out into space. Drake clutched his throat. It throbbed under his grasp struggling for any sort of reprieve from the suffocation. The sound of the pumping smoke gave way, and only the ringing in Drake's ears processed into his head.

He flashed a glance at Blake. The boy fell to the ground, the lack of air already causing hims to suffocate. He rolled on the floor and grasped wildly at the door scratching at the dormant exit. His nails dug into the steel before he slid down on the door and onto the floor with his energy fading.

Drake looked down at the keyboard. Only one other word remained on the radio message. Montserrat. Montserrat. That had to be the final piece. But what about it? His lungs screamed for oxygen as his head grew drowsy from the lack of air. His arms grew weak and his body started to falter. His vision blurred with the crimson fog so thick it rendered the computer into a square blur.

Drake have one last look at the note. This would be his final moment to make this work. The hint was Plymouth. But it wasn't the hot dog company. It was…

Drake could slap himself. He was so stupid.

Plymouth. The Capitol of the island of Montserrat. The name in the radio code.

Drake typed in "Montserrat" with each type causing his fingers to grow weaker. His lungs popped with starvation as his whole body screamed for air. His body erased of energy, he finished the word and tapped on the enter key just as he collapsed on the ground.

His head slammed onto the ground. He stared out at the room just as the light switched back to white. The pipes on either side of the room sucked in the fog that disappeared as fast as the changed lighting. When the fog left, Drake snatched oxygen back into his lungs and gasped for air like a dying fish on a hot deck.

Drake gathered up air and turned himself around on the ground. Blake sat with his back on the door. He gasped for air and stared at Drake.

"You alright?" Drake asked.

"Yeah…just a little warm in here." Blake said.

Drake couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Wish I knew what that was like."

Drake picked himself up and lurched to full height. As he did, he looked at the computer monitor. On the unlocked screen were lines of computer code running over the screen.

"What's this?" Drake asked as he approached the computer.

Martel clicked on the button to run the line of coding on his screen. The code ran through with the lines reflecting off his eyes.

"Please let this work," Martel muttered under his breath.

Once the code hit the bottom of the screen, the cursor stopped and blinked at the bottom of the page.

Martel typed on the screen a message and pressed the enter key.

Drake's breath hitched when he saw the sentence that popped up at the bottom of the screen.

"Can anyone read this? Anyone at all?" Drake read out loud.

Blake regained his balance and stood next to Drake. He read the message on screen and narrowed his eyes.

Drake typed a quick message on the screen and then pressed the enter key.

"Who is this?"

After a few seconds….

"This is Martel Void. I am back at USAHS. Who is this?"

"Martel?" Blake asked. "What does he have to do with this?"

Drake typed out another message.

This is Drake. Martel, what is going on? Do you know where we are.

I do. Well, not exactly where you are, but I do know why you are.

Why we are?

Drake, that room you are in is a portal to the real world.

What? What real world? I thought this room had something to do with Daedalus. The program about taking quirks and escaping earth.

It does. But Daedalus has nothing to do with that. You've been lied to by the AI.

The what?

Drake…none of this world, this universe….

None of this is real.

Deku ran down the hallway. Martel kept up with the small hoverboard he pulled out of his pocket space. He held a laptop under his arms as they rushed towards the staircase at the end.

"Are you sure about this, Martel?" Deku asked.

"Confident to a hundred percent. Beep boop," Martel said.

Deku's brain was drying by the second. What Martel had just explained in the room to Deku had blown his mind. He told Deku that he had just gotten off the computer messaging Drake and Blake at a secret location that led to a very special place. When Martel explained what that place was, Deku never thought such a thing would be possible, but showing Deku the documents on the laptop made him further convinced. The strange occurrences and the fact that he had no recollection of the past few months was further proof.

But only one person could convince him that this was happening. And he needed to find him right away.

"Alright. I'll get to San Francisco and find Kacchan. You get the rest of the class and head over to the Pawn Shop. And I'll meet y-."

A bright light interrupted them. Deku slid to a halt and shielded his eyes. Martel slid on the side of the hoverboard and stalled it right in front of the strange orb. As fast as it appeared, the light gave way to a blonde man with a strange cloak.

"Izuku Midoriya," Alistair said. "I have arrived to claim what is rightfully mine!"

Izuku blinked and held out his arm defensively before his chest. "Uh…who are you?"

"I am your recompense!" Alistair shouted with a Shakespearean performance. "The retribution for your possession of a power that destroys and traverses universes! The just consequence of your very existence!"

"What?" Izuku said.

Alistair faced Izuku and shrugged. "I don't know. I was just told to say that."

Izuku sighed. "Listen. I don't know who you are, but we are all in danger right now. So, if you're a student, please step aside-.

Alistair gripped his wand and pointed it at Izuku. His green eyes glowed with a strange yellow power illuminating his frame.

Suddenly, a strange tugging pulled at Izuku's heart. Looking at the blonde teenager, he gasped when he felt the strange sensation. His arms grew weak with his vision starting to blur. This was the presence he felt all those months ago! The threat that made him realize he needed to give up One-For-All!

"Wait, you're what I felt in the classroom with Moxie," Izuku said.

"Yes, I needed her and the crystal to be in this universe," Alistair said. "But I finally have the power I need to take what's necessary to finally go home. And you, Izuku Midoriya, have just that power."

"You mean One-For-All?"

"Ugh, you weirdo heroes and your dumb quirk names," Alistair said. "I don't care what you call it. All you need to know is that my Creator has called on me to take it."

"You won't get it," Izuku said. "Do you not realize the danger we are all in! We're about to be erased from existence in a few hours if I don't reach the person that caused all this."

"I really don't care," Alistair said. I don't care what happens to this universe, wherever it is. All I care about is that I return home. And if I can't go home…."

Alistair's wand glowed at the tip. The windows in the hallway collapsed and rained down metal with a cacophony of shattered glass smashing around them. Martel pulled out glowing LED goggles and placed them on his face. Izuku shielded his head with his arm to only feel some glass prick at his sleeves. The lights exploded above them with sparks erupting from the bulbs. The building shook with a bush of air flowing from the now open windows.

"Then no one can!" Alistair shouted.

"Wait, stop!" Izuku shouted. "We can help you!"

Alistair paid no mind to Izuku's words. His time to take the quirk and return home had finally come. He raised up his wand and prepared to say the words that would end Izuku and take his quirk.

Right as he lifted up his wand, a maniacal grin plastered on Alistair's face. Excitement roared in his chest as he saw the surprised eyes of Izuku. He was finally about to head home. He had played the game perfectly, and now he would be able to see his home again.

BLAM!

Alistair screamed and fell on his face. A large, bloody hole banged into his chest with bits of his internal organs splattering on the floor. He collapsed with his wand clattering to the side of the hallway underneath a water fountain.

Behind were Alistair stood, Moxie cocked her shotgun and glared down at Alistair. Smoke billowed from the barrel and wafted up over her glowing red eyes to the ceiling.

"Moxie!" Izuku shouted. "Why are you glowing? And why do you have a gun in school! This is a gun-free zone. You'll be arrested."

"Mister Deku," Moxie said in an even tone. "You and Martel need to get out of here."

"But Moxie," Martel chimed in. "You don't know what's happening here. This world we are in-."

Alistair grunted and began to stir on the floor. He tried to pick himself up, but his hand slipped on the pool of blood and his face slammed into the ground again.

"We don't got much time," Moxie said. "Mister Deku, get Martel and get on out of here. Wherever you need to keep your quirk safe."

"But Moxi-."

"Go," Moxie said. "I'll handle this."

Seeing the resolve in her eyes, Izuku knew there was no point changing her mind. However this boy fit into the puzzle, Izuku knew there was only a few hours before they were all dead. Izuku nodded at Moxie. He grabbed Martel and leapt out the window with a trail of lightning rushing out of the hallway.

By her feet, Alistair stumbled back to his feet. He turned around and looked at the Cajun girl with a surprisingly intimidating look on her face.

The wound on Alistair's chest morphed from a gash and melded back into uninjured skin. The blood evaporated with Alistair stretching out his arms. Healing himself from the injury, Alistair yawned.

"Oh, Moxie. Predictable attack from you. Is a gun all you know how to use?"

"No," Moxie pointed the shotgun. "But I reckon you Brits don't know much about them anyway."

"Aww, you're adorable, Moxie," Alistair condescended as he walked towards his wand under the water fountain. "In another universe, I could easily see you as my girlfriend. Those stocking you always wear show off your legs so wel-."

BLAM! Alistair leapt back as the water fountain exploded from the shotgun blast. The pipes spit out water on Alistair's face as his wand skittered backwards along the linoleum tile of the hallway.

Alistair regained himself and straightened the green tie around his chest. "So this is your big plan? Just keep shooting me until I give up? I doubt you have that many bullets."

"Shotguns don't use bullets, you dumb Yankee."

"Then I guess we will see if your shotgun can beat…this!"

Alistair turned back and held out his hand. As fast as the wind whirled around them, the wand zipped into his hand. Moxie took an and fired, but not before Alistair lashed back around and waved the wand.

The projectiles from the shotgun hit a bright green translucent wall. He flicked them out of the window and lunges forward at Moxie. She cocked the shotgun again, but not before Alistair could rush out a deadly spell.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The emerald ray of light shot out at Moxie. It slammed her right in the chest. She screamed with the pain electrocuting her entire body, an invisible fire torching her skin at every inch.

After a second, Alistair's eyes widened. The ray continued to funnel into the girl, but she remained standing. Then, something inconceivable to him, as the girl forced her head to straighten and stare right at Alistair. Moxie glared at him, and the light streamed into a ruby ray that formulated around her body and travelled like a snake up the tunnel of light to his wand.

Alistair saw the crystal around Moxie's neck grow brighter as the light overtook the both of them. He screamed as a loud eruption turned everything around him into white.

Cue "Misery Business" by Paramore!

When the light gave way, Moxie and Alistair found themselves in a cavernous restroom. However, the room was destroyed with cobblestone strewn across the floor and broken toilets spewing out water.

"Crucio!" A female voice shouted.

Alistair turned to find Calista pointing her wand at a large, brooding boy who leapt out of the way. He dived behind a stall door with the spell blasting a hole into the wall.

"Calista!" Alistair shouted.

"The brunette girl looked over at the boy. "Leonhardt? What are you doing here? And who is this?"

"You're that girl that knocked me out!" Moxie said in a confused tone.

"Knocked you out? I've never seen you a day in my life."

"Calista, Alistair approached the girl. "It's me, babe. I haven't seen you in so long."

Calista held out a hand to halt the boy. "I just saw you a few hours ago. What are you going on about."

"Miss," Moxie said to Calista. "You mind moving to the side?"

Calista saw the shotgun and moved away from Alistair. The boy dropped his wand and held his hands up.

"Wait, Moxie, this is my home!" Alistair said. "This is where I've been trying t-."

BLAM! Moxie shot Alistair's head clean off. As his headless corpse fell to the ground, the white light surrounded them and blinded the scene to them yet again.

Cue "Englishman In New York" by Sting!

Alistair and Moxie groan when their bodies slide over the ice. In a heap and joined together by their entangled limbs, Moxie opens her eyes laying on top of Alistair. Her face reflected off the ice as she shivered from the chilled air enveloping her like a serpent.

"Ah!"

Moxie turned to her side. A lithe pale boy with flowing blonde hair shrieked as he rocketed towards the on ice skates.

Moxie and Alistair returned the scream and braced themselves. The boy crashed into them and tumbled forward. He skipped over the ice like a small pebble in a river and rolled over onto his back.

"Oh, Yuri? Are these new friends of yours?" A Russian-accented voice walked on the ice towards them. A man with silver hair and light eyes arrived in between the two crash scenes wearing a large beige overcoat.

"No, you stupid rat," Yuri shouted. "Did you not see them appear out of nowhere?"

"Wow, is that shotgun?" A blonde girl popped up next to the older man and peered at the two with an excited babble. "Did you buy that from Cletus at 8 Mile? He usually runs good deals on those."

Alistair scrambled backwards towards his wand. Moxie picked up her shotgun and pointed it back at him.

"Hey, can you two have your fight outside," Yuri said. "You're interrupting my training for the Grand Prix Final."

"Oh, don't be so rude, Yurio," Isabel said. "They could be fans."

To catch her off guard, Alistair dropped the wand and dashed for Yuri. Moxie shot at him and just missed the tip of his heel. He pushed Yuri down and ripped off one of his skates.

"What are you doing, jackass?" Yuri shouted.

"Great, another weirdo who wants picture of his feet." Isabel said.

Alistair rolled over and gave himself enough distance between him and Moxie. He flung the skate like a frisbee at her.

Slice! The skate cut right through Moxie's throat. She gagged with blood gushing out of her neck before she fell onto the ice and collapsed.

"Wow," Viktor said. "I guess that's why Yurio calls them knife shoes."

When Moxie died, the light surrounded them yet again.

In the desert by the large silver cove, Aslovee battered his swords into the smaller girls shield. Cyrenne continued to fend of his attacks despite the superiority in strength the short boy had on her.

"Just stop and listen," she said. "You can still join us. My plan will save everyone."

Aslovee said nothing, his only instinct to kill and be the Victor of these cruel games. He jabbed again only for Cyrenne to bat the sword away. This girl was tougher than she looked, but he was ready for anything.

Except for the two bodies that fell on top of him.

Alistair and Moxie groaned on top of the unconscious teenager. They rolled off him with both of their weapons far out of reach. Alistair doubled over in pain while Moxie staggered to her feet.

"Where are we?" Moxie asked.

"Who are you two?" Cyrenne asked with a push of her shield towards them. "Were you sent by the Capitol?"

"The Who?" Moxie asked. "Are we in a desert?"

"This is not logical," Cyrenne said. "Explain yourselves. Both of you."

Alistair ignored the girl and sat on top of Aslovee's body. He stretched his neck and smiled at Moxie. "Look, Moxie. Killing each other clearly doesn't work, so why do-."

"Don't mean I won't try." Moxie said. She grabbed the sword at her feet and kicked Alistair backwards. He fell and scrambled to his hands and knees to escape, but Moxie was too quick. She hilted the blade right into Alistair's ass as far as it would go.

Alistair immediately collapsed on top of Aslovee. Dead.

And then the light showed up again.

Martel burst through the door of the boy's dormitory. He ran through like a chicken without a head carrying a megaphone.

"Everybody in Class 1-A," Martel shouted. "Please follow me right now to the nearest school bus! Everybody out."

Hunter poked his head out of his room. "Martel, I was sleeping. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"This is Mister Deku's order's," Martel said. "We must all head for the school bus and depart."

Leo stepped out of the restrooms and saw a few of the others congregating around Martel. He stood behind Hunter and looked at the strange boy.

"Did we get a new bus for the field trip?"

"Yes, but the field trip is to another universe," Martel said.

"Huh?" Both Hunter and Leo said in unison.

"I will explain later. But we must get on the bus now!"

Hunter grabbed the megaphone and threw it behind his shoulder. Leo leapt out of the way as Hunter looked over Martel.

"Tell is now, Martel. What is happening? And where is Deku and Mister Bakugo."

Martel sighed. "Deku is going after Mister Bakugo. Because…he is the one that has caused this."

"Caused what?"

"Caused us to be in a fake universe."

Ding!

The elevator door opened. Lloyd pushed Bakugo out the door with Aslovee and Isabel behind him. They ran down the narrow corridor towards the very end of the hallway that looked like any generic law office. They reached a steel door that ran all the way up to the ceiling.

Isabel looked on her phone. She read a code and pressed it into the keypad. 032620.

A buzz. Then, the door slid open. The room, at first dark, illuminated with massive spotlights bearing down on a pathway towards a mahogany table at the center. All around the walls were television screens that had bright flashes occurring in various locations.

The door crunched shut behind them, only Lloyd taking a look as the large lights illuminated the walkway up to the conference table. Behind the large executive leather seat in the center, Bakugo's famous costume stood on a rack placed atop a podium.

"Welcome, Mister Bakugo. So happy you could bring guests along. I'd tell you to have a seat, but it looks like you already have one."

From the shadows, high heels clanked on the marble flooring. Stepping into the light by the desk, Edith avoid smiled at the group before her.

"Edith Void," Lloyd said. "I thought you had disappeared!"

"Well, thinking isn't something you hero students are known for," Edith said. "Why don't you have a seat. I'm sure the four of you are tired from your little road trip."

"Look, lady," Aslovee said. "All we want is the suit. So are you gonna give it to us, or are we gonna have to take it?"

"Oh, please," Edith rolled her eyes. "I will give Bakugo the suit. Just sit down and let me do my little evil monologue to explain everything, and I'll get out of your way."

"Or," Isabel pulled out her revolver. She pointed it at Edith. "You can just give us the suit."

Edith sat down at the table. She beckoned the others to come over and sit at the leather chairs. Isabel and Aslovee turned to each other. A quick nod.

When they sat at the table, Lloyd rolled Bakugo to the very end and scooted a chair to sit next to him. He looked around at the room and up at the television screens. He gasped at the familiar person on the screen who seemed to be fighting a teenaged boy in various places.

"Wait, is that Moxie?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, you all have placed quite a wrinkle in our plans," Edith said. She took a swig from her coffee mug and smacked her lips. "You beings from different universes. I really didn't expect our experiment to get that much attention."

"What experiment?" Bakugo asked. "I just want my freaking costume, Edith."

"Mister Bakugo," Lloyd turned to him. "Did you know Edith Void and her whereabouts? Why didn't you contact the authorities?"

"I didn't know," Bakugo said. "The seller was someone else. I didnt know it was her!"

"Oh, stop lying, Katsuki," Edith said. "The jig is up. He only has a few hours left, ya'know?"

Lloyd felt his body grow stiff as he stared at Bakugo. "What does she mean by that? Mister Bakugo, tell me the truth."

Bakugo blew out a deep sigh. He got up from his wheelchair as healthy as ever and walked over to Edith's end of the table. He stood next to her and looked at the three seated across from them.

"Lloyd, you and Class 1-A…you aren't real."

Lloyd blinked. He looked over at the others to see their reactions. Isabel had a sad look on her face, while Aslovee stared down at the table.

"Heh," Lloyd chuckled. "Okay, Mister Bakugo. You can be honest and tell me what's really happening. Please."

"Lloyd," Bakugo said. "Please listen. I…I know it's hard, but you have to take what I'm saying. The school year so far that you think has happened, hasn't. It's all been in your head. The first day. Moxie getting arrested. What happened at Void Industries. You and James fighting. None of it has really happened."

Lloyd chuckled again. "Mister Bakugo, I already heard this from Aslovee and Isabel. About other universes. We are in one of those universes, correct."

"No," Bakugo said. "This universe is fake. It doesn't exist. It's a digital universe your brain has been tricked into projecting."

"Project Daedalus has nothing to do with quirk stealing or escaping earth or anything like that," Edith said. "It was a secret project financed by Void Industries to experiment on artificial intelligence stimulation in the brain. If we could properly trick people into believing they were in some other world."

"What?" Lloyd stammered. "But…this desk! The air! What I'm seeing right now! This is all God's creation. It's Earth! An orderly universe. What God created!"

"If by God, you mean God allowed us to create it, then yes," Edith said. She clicked a button on a remote she took out from her pocket. The screens above him changed to reveal a hospital room. In it, Lloyd rested on a cot with a tangle of wires connected to a computer screen that showed the world from his point of view looking at the screens of himself.

"What? How can that be?" Lloyd asked in shock.

"A lot of science-y mumbo jumbo. You wouldn't get it," Edith said. "We monitored you all for quite a bit before all of this started. And then we kidnapped you all and put you in this world we created. Sadly, I thought the game would last longer than it did, but that glitch right at the Sports Festival really did a number on us. I figured some of you students would wisen up pretty soon. Though you are the first class to actually figure it out before we shut it down."

"But…Mister Bakugo!" Lloyd shouted. "Did you know about this."

"In fact, Katsuki here is the main reason this started," Edith said.

Bakugo kept his gaze down at the table. He balled up his fists and bit his lip. "I…my Ochako died. And I…I couldn't live in a world without her. I was so miserable in the outside world, and I couldn't take it any more."

"But isn't Uravity dead?" Lloyd asked.

"She is, but only by a couple of years. In previous simulations, she was dead for up to a decade before USAHS started. So, in the next trial, we may finally get her to not die, right Katsuki?" Edith laughed and gave Bakugo a light-hearted elbow to the side.

"Previous?" Lloyd slammed his hands on the table. "Mister Bakugo, what does she mean by that?"

"You weren't the first set of kids we did this experiment on," Bakugo said. "In the real world, we've run this experiment five times. We start time right before Ochako dies in the real world, simulating both yours and my existences over the next few years in the Daedalus computer."

"Don't worry, the simulation is set to double time as reality," Edith said. "So really, you've only been asleep for three months."

"But my memories?" Lloyd shouted. "I have a family! A sister! I lived in Canada! Is any of that real?"

"Everything up to when USAHS was first announced was real," Edith said. "After that, you've been in here. I'm just surprised no one figure it out sooner. Like, really? You thought Tommy Wiseau was your principal? I thought someone would get the hint with that."

Lloyd started to hyperventilate. He looked over at the other two teenagers. Both of them with mournful looks on their faces.

"Did you two know?"

"We do, but…Lloyd," Isabel said. "Our job has nothing to do with you or your class. We're only here to stop aberrations in universal travel. We have a person who has come from another universe to this one. Digital or not, this is considered another universe, so we have to stop him."

"Whether this is actually real is unimportant," Aslovee said. "Because the consequences can spread to a real universe."

"But this is real," Lloyd cried out. "I am real! I exist! I'm just as deserving of being free as any of you are! As deserving as any other person who has bee-."

Lloyd stopped. His blood turned cold as he stared at himself in the reflection of the table. A horrifying revelation came to him before he rose his head up to face Bakugo.

"How many other people have you kidnapped, Mister Bakugo? How many others have you sacrificed."

Bakugo looked away. Edith have a nod towards him, but Bakugo but his lip again and strained his head.

"How many?" Lloyd shouted.

"Sixty!" Bakugo yelled back.

"And what happened to them?" Lloyd screamed. "What happened when the simulation ended?"

"We…we killed them," Bakugo said.

"No," Lloyd breathed out. "No, Mister Bakugo. You're…you're supposed to be a hero."

"This experiment is too important to fail," Edith said. "And it's really a win-win for all of us. Fifteen kids get to feel all special being taught by Deku and Katsuki. We get valuable information about the depths of Artificial Simulation. And Katsuki here gets to see Uraraka," she rose up and grabbed Bakugo's chin to face her. "And next time, we'll see to it that you can keep her. For the whole time."

Bakugo nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

Edith shook her head and walked back towards the costume. "Sadly, it will have to wait. The Feds have finally caught onto us and are trying to find you all. So the servers at our site are all shutting down in about an hour so we can move everything to our new secret location. It's a volcano on Montserrat. Very evil lair-ish of me, don't ya think!"

Edith grabbed the hero costume and presented it to Bakugo. "Now, I could give you and your class the location and code needed to escape from this digital universe back to the real one, but I imagine a goody-two-shoes like yourself would just ray us out. Besides, Bakugo is the number two hero in Japan. He has a reputation to keep! Actually, you'll be number one soon, since Deku you forced Deku to join our little experiment."

Bakugo held his hero costume in hand. His hands started to shoulder. "Right. We did kidnap him along with the students for this session, didn't we?"

The fabric started to contort from the fire beginning to grow from his hands. As it did, Isabel and Aslovee hopped up to their feet. Both of them unsheathed their weapons and pointed them at Bakugo.

"Wait, don't destroy it!" Isabel said. "Look, what you do with the students is your business. Really shitty, but it's your business. But we need what's in that costume."

"Why?" Bakugo said.

"It has a page of the Salton Sea Scrolls inside," Isabel said. "We need that to stop Alistair."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that annoying brat," Edith said. "He helped me quite a bit in explaining his situation. Frankly, I'm fine with whatever he wants."

"But he's going to take Deku's quirk," Aslovee shouted. "And what he plans to do with it, he could destroy all universes!"

"Meh. We had a good run," Edith said. "Besides, a universe without my Martel, a universe where some wimp like Deku has so much power…not a universe worth living in."

The costume sparked with small flames burning at the edges of frays. The smoke reflected off Bakugo's red eyes as the fabric started to twist with the heat.

Isabel cocked her gun and Aslovee took a step forward. "This is your final warning. Experiment all you want. Just let us stop Alistair!"

Bakugo thought about it. Alistair had certainly been a surprise. When Edith told him that a strange being from another universe had entered into the fmdigital world they had created, Bakugo dismissed it as a prank or a glitch. However, Edith had explained how the being had taken her to a place beyond the scope of their artificial universe. For a few moments, Bakugo stood in the real world and saw how she had gone offline. When Edith returned, she explained how Alistair had taken her to another place off the map they had created. Then, she explained how Alistair's goal involves ending Deku.

At first, Bakugo wanted Alistair gone, but realized they could use him to their advantage. The chances of Deku being in the right state to do this experiment again unwillingly was slim to none. As much as he hated it, an outside source killing him and taking One-For-All away would end two birds with one stone. He hated it would come down to that, but any loose ends need led to be dealt with. And if that meant Deku needed to die to have a chance with being with Uraraka in the digital world, then that was a chance he would take.

"I'm sorry," Bakugo said. "But I can't take that risk. I need Project Daedalus to continue. Until I finally am with my Ochako."

Just as the shoulder caught on fire….

Cue "Wont Get Fooled Again" By The Who!

A strange synthesizer echoed out. First, a small beat that emanated from around the room. Bakugo stopped his hands and looked around at the area.

Then, a harsh drum beat. Like a gunshot, it reverberated around the room.

"Did someone leave a radio on?" Edith asked.

The keyboard went faster. The drum beat exploded into a hailstorm.

Faster. Faster! And then!

"YYYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH"

Bang! A white flash exploded in the center of the room. Bakugo flew backwards with his hands falling off the costume. The fabric floated away as the table split in the middle and exploded bits of mahogany around the room. Edith sailed into the control panel. Her head slammed into a button, and she slumped onto the ground passed out.

Lloyd crashed into Isabel and Aslovee. The three of them landed in a heap feet away from the source of the flash. When the debris flew past them, Lloyd looked up.

"Wait. That's…." Lloyd trailed off at the familiar face.

Five people stood in the center. One was a tall man not much older than him. A man with a hood over his head and white and red hair split down the middle. Lloyd recognized him as Shoto Todoroki. Next to him was Katsu who was shirtless save for a black sash with grenades on them and black pants and boots. Next to him was James who locked eyes with Lloyd. For a brief second, James seemed relieved at seeing Lloyd, but then toughened his face up. He stretched his arms in a strange purple and black striped sweater and matching pants with an orb of purple neon glowing in his hands. Next to him, a brunette with a long side braid and a black cloak raised up a stick of wood around the room.

And finally, another brunette. This one finally connecting in Lloyd's head. The loudest, most annoying one in the whole class. He suddenly remembered! It was-.

"It's been a long time since I rocked and rolled," Abel Chevelle said stretching his yellow gloves. "But I'm back in black!"