"Oh, great. The sponge and the raccoon."

"Did you expect anyone else?"

James sat on the couch in the strange laboratory. Being told he was "mostly dead" put a damper on his mood. Having to be around two of the more annoying students in his class made him realize he was in hell.

After having the whole situation explained, James thought he would be more surprised. However, the Floridian just figured this was another wrinkle that some higher being would want thrown his way. Of course he couldn't just be happy for once. There needed to be even more challenges. And what bigger challenge than finding out your entire school year wasn't even real?

"Listen, James," Calista said. "I know this is all hard to take in, but there is still time to end this threat and return you home."

"That Alistair guy made my girl cry," James said. "I want to tear him to shreds!"

"We'll, based of the footage," Shoto pointed at the different screens around them. "Moxie is doing quite well at that."

Sure enough, Moxie and Alistair bounced around from universe to universe killing each other in creative ways. James had to admit he was impressed, and his lips curled into a grin as he saw Moxie shove another sword up Alistair's ass.

"That's my girl," James said.

"Okay, I'm confused," Katsu said. "Why do you keep calling her that."

"Oh, right," Shoto said. "You…Uh…you don't know about James and Moxie."

"What about them," Katsu said with a frown. "Have you two been talking to each other behind my back?"

"Been a lot more than talking based off what I've seen," Abel chortled.

As Katsu stood up to fight, Calista held out her hands in between them. "Both of you get a grip. We have a very limited schedule. Void Industries is shutting your servers down in about an hour. If we can't get you out before then, you're brain dead. And if we can't stop Alistair before then, he'll end all of our universes. Real, digital, it will all be gone."

Katsu grunted and sat down. "Fine. I'll let it slide for now. So what do we have to do?"

Shoto laid out a map on the counter. "The missing Salton Sea Scroll page is in Bakugo's costume. An outside source was able to secretly enter the digital universe and put it on there. We get that, we got the information to stop Alistair."

"And Drake and Blake already cracked the code to find the exit point," Calista said.

"Ace Detectives Drake and Blake," Abel said. "I knew that chess playing would help those weirdos!"

Anyway," Calista rolled her eyes. "Drake and Blake were able to tell Martel who then told Deku. So all of the class should be heading over there. But it's all for naught unless we can get the final page, translate it, and then upload it from the computer in the exit point to our system here. Then, we can override Void Industries' system and get you out where hopefully, the authorities will be there to save you."

James grunted and ran a hand through his hair. "And then we'll be free of this nightmare."

"Then, let's waste no more time. Shoto said. He stood up in the center of the room with a remote in hand. "Let's go."

"Time to free the rats from the cage, boys," Abel shouted and cheered.

"Wait," James said. "I got one more question?"

They all looked at the boy. "What?" Katsu asked.

"Where are we? A place where we're mostly dead? A place that can overpower Edith Void's computer? What is this place?"

Calista chuckled. "If I said this was divine intervention you were witnessing, James…that this was Heaven…would you believe me?"

"No."

"Okay. Then we're in Florida."

Anton had a hard time realizing how heavy Robyn was. Slung over his shoulder, she teamined unconscious and cold as Anton ran down the staircase with her arms flapping behind her like a dead seal.

"Did you really have to bring her," Megan shouted at Anton. "She's literally dead weight."

"No, she's still breathing," Anton said. "And I'm not leaving her. Besides, Martel said to bring everyone we could."

"Anton, we need to get to the Sea Scrolls," Megan said. "Your vision may have given me an idea."

"Like what?" Anton huffed. This cardio was not good for the scrawny kid.

"We'll, why did you have that vision?" Megan asked. "Do you know?"

"No, I thought it was just a nightmare," Anton said.

"There is a reason," Megan said. "And I think it's because you can read the language on the scrolls."

The two ran out of the dormitory across the manicured grass lawn. They cut over the grass and past the tall oak tree towards the school bus rumbling in front of the school. A few other students were piling on the bus as they neared the vehicle.

"Why would you think that?" Anton asked.

"Because in the other scrolls," Megan said. "It's very specific about a vision. The person who had the vision, they were the one chosen to read the last page. The page with a secret language."

"What? I'm the chosen one?" Anton screamed. "I don't wanna be the chosen one! I just wanna go home and eat pizza and potato chips!"

"We'll, too bad. You're the chosen one," Megan stopped right by the school bus. "So stop being a pussy and be the chosen one."

Megan grabbed Anton by the shoulder and threw him into the bus. Robyn's head slammed into the stair handle to go up into the bus before being pulled into the cockpit.

Bakugo brushed the broken concrete out of his blonde hair. Already, his head was hurting. More so from Abel's annoying voice and music than from the impact of the eruption.

"Of course you would be apart of this," Bakugo shouted. "You dumb Radiohead. You and Icy-Hot's dumb kid."

Edith Void awoke from her dazed state and sat up. Her back leaned on the control panel and she let out a distressed sigh. "Oh, geez. How are you all still alive?"

"Guess you didn't expect an encore from us, did ya," Abel shouted. He turned towards the opposite side of the room. Laying on top of a control panel was the burnt, but still intact costume.

"Abelsquad!" Abel pointed at the jacket. "Retrieve the jacket. I will handle Bakugo."

"We are not calling ourselves that," James growled.

"Agreed. We should be called Shoto-Squad," Katsu said. "Or the Mostly Dead Squad or something."

Edith rolled her eyes and gripped her remote in hand. "Bakugo, finish them. You have one hour. No one leaves this universe or we're fucked."

She presses the button. A cerulean ray of light beamed down on her and rendered her into a shadow of strange coding and numbers. They code levitated upward before disappearing into the ether.

Bakugo shot to his feet, his teeth bared at the group like a rabid dog.

"You are not going to jeopardize Daedalus," Bakugo shouted. "This is my chance to be with my Ochako."

"I doubt Uravity would want you to kidnap a bunch of kids and force them into your virtual reality roleplay." Abel said.

"You don't know shit!" Bakugo screamed. His hands erupted into two days of flames and flung himself upward.

"Isabel, Aslovee!" Calista shouted. "The costume!"

Bakugo raised his fist and prepared to throw down a heavy fireball on the group still gathered in the center of the room. He roared as his face began to grow with the fire about to burst.

Splash! A stream of water smashed into Bakugo's face. He fell backwards and slammed into the ground. The water was pressured enough to push him backwards. He fell back on the floor drenched in the water.

Calista extinguished the water and flicked her wand again. "Petrificus Totalus."

Bakugo froze in place seated on the floor. His hand outstretched and his mouth agape, his eyes glared at Calista.

Isabel and Aslovee ran over with the costume. The three of them stood together and huddled with the costume in the center.

"Are you two alright?" Calista asked.

"Great. Just kidnapped a few a Mormons," Isabel said. "Why didn't you tell us Bakugo was also behind this."

"We didn't know even know this was a fake universe until a few days ago," Calista said. "We thought Leonhardt was behind all of this."

Crack! Calista turned back to see Bakugo snapping his limbs and breaking out of the invisible prison holding his body captive.

"Buy us time," Calista shouted at the others. "We need time to translate and program the sea scrolls into our system uplink!"

"What?" Abel asked.

"Buy us time. And…I hope to see you again soon. But if not, know your sacrifice saved all of us."

"Sacrifice?" Katsu shouted. "You already killed me once!"

"And I hope it's not twice." Calista said. She grabbed the others and twisted her body around in a spinning motion. The three from another universe disappeared into a black mist before leaving the scene.

As they vanished, Bakugo snapped out of the spell and rose back to his feet. He seethed in fury with the sweat around his hands evaporating into smoke.

"Where the fuck did they go?" Bakugo shouted.

"Your mom's house," Abel shouted. "That's where they went."

Bakugo roared and charged at the group. Shoto rose up a wall of ice around the group and enveloped them in it. Bakugo crashed his face into the ice as thick as steel and started to pound at the structure. His hands beat away chips of ice with the fire from every punch meting it away.

Shoto turned back to the students. "I must leave you all as well."

Katsu's breath hitched. "What? But Shoto, we need you."

"No, you don't, Katsu," Shoto said. "There's something that I have to do that I won't be able to once we leave here. So I must go and handle it. You have all the training you need. It may not have happened in the real world, but in here is all that matters right now."

"But wait, Shoto," Katsu said. "The real world. You explained it to us, but…did we meet? Did you adopt me?"

"No, Katsu," Shoto lowered his voice. "All of that we're implanted, artificial memories from this simulation. It never happened."

"But why?" Katsu asked. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Much like Bakugo," Shoto said. "I just wanted a family. A son. And you were perfect for that. Before Void Industries put you in this universe, you were in juvenile detention for the last six years. Everything last you being arrested for blowing up your parents home was fake. I'm so sorry."

Shoto knelt down and bowed to Katsu. "But the memories we have, the times I helped you and you helped me…that was all real. Can you please forgive me?"

Another blast. The ice started to drip on top of them with chunks of it falling around the three students and the Pro-hero.

Katsu hemmed and looked down at Shoto. Unlike the others, who only had the last six months as a simulation, his memories held six years of fake events. Everything involving Shoto never happened. He wanted to scream and punch him, but mostly, he wanted to cry. The one person that made him feel like part of a whole, and he wasn't even really here.

Katsu grinders his teeth and balled up his fists. "I'll forgive you later. Right now I have to handle your classmate."

Katsu held his hand out at Shoto. The man looked up and saw the hand along with the brunette staring down at him. Shoto snagged the hand and rose back to his feet.

Shoto raked his gaze around the other three. He narrowed his eyes and pointed at the angry man behind the meting ice.

"Remember, Bakugo tires easily from heat exhaustion," Shoto shouted over the sound of rumbling explosions. "He has no costume or technology, so he relies on brute strength. You can tire him out. Stall until you're taken to the exit point."

"Who is taking us?" James asked.

"You'll know when he's here," Shoto said. "I believe in all of you. Enjoy this. It's about time-."

Crash! The ice broke away completely. Bakugo stepped through the puddle of chilled water now on the ground with steam billowing from his grasp.

"Bakugo got a taste of his own medicine."

"Die, IcyHot!"

Bakugo unleashed a ray of flames that roared like a locamotive towards the four. Shoto snapped his fingers and vanished out of thin air. James dived out of the way with Katsu embracing the blast and flying off toward the ceiling. The cannon smashed into the opposing wall. The control panel on the other side exploded with the wall collapsing. Light broke through with the San Francisco skyline appearing in the hot sunlight. The harsh breeze flowed into the room and tossed Abel's hair around before he slid his heel onto the back of the edge. He stopped himself juts inches from falling out of the building and looked down at his wrist.

"Time to get heavy," Abel shouted.

Cue "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden!

He pressed a button on his wrist. The moment the harsh guitar riff blared in his headphones, Abel's wild eyes glowed form the surge of power.

"Ha ha, yes!" Abel shouted. He dug his heel into the floor and charged forward.

Bakugo released another blast right at Abel. He fell to his knees and slid under the attack. Then, he slipped around the right side of the fire ray and flipped over a piece of debris that flew past him. He somersaulted right in front of Bakugo and dismounted just inches in front of him.

Abel, however, didn't take the chance to move any more. Bakugo took his fist and slammed into Abel's middle with all of hos might. He uppercutted the punch to go right into Abel's gut and puncture his lungs.

Bakugo grinned for a second at the contact. His grin faltered when Abel scooted back only an inch and grinned.

"That was all you got?" Abel asked. "Hit me with your best shot!"

Bakugo punched Abel again, this time in the face. Bakugo groaned in pain. For some reason, Abel was extremely tough. It was akin to punching a steel vault door with no quirk. He punched harder and faster, but the punches seemed to glance off Abel like a mosquito biting an elephant.

As Bakugo grew frustrated, he ignored the slash of purple lightning that sliced at his cheek. Bakugo stumbled back and grabbed his cheek. When he looked up, he saw Katsu's amber eyes as the boy rocketed towards him utilizing his quirk. In mid-air, Katsu pulled the pin on one of the grenades around his chest. It exploded with a roar echoing over the tile flooring and knocking Abel down to the ground. The ball of fire expanded, and then shrank into Katsu's body making his frame glow with a bright gold sheen. He pointed out his fist and streamed straight for Bakugo at the speed of a jet.

The loud smack of Katsu's fist into Bakugo's face sounded like a crashing jet into a runway. Bakugo tumbled like a dust bunny backwards with his entire jaw unhinged and broken from the hit. His nose smashed, blood streamed from his face with his eye already swelling shut.

Katsu rolled over and flipped upwards to full height. The three rush over and attempt to pounce on Bakugo. Until he held out both hands and unleashed a halo of fire that exploded the three backwards. Abel scooted backwards, much heavier to lift up now. James fell back and slid on his back. Katsu took the energy and landed right by a large piece of steel from the control panel. He flicked the panel forward channeling all of the energy Bakugo unleashed on him. The panel sailed forward so fast, Bakugo had no time to react when the edge of the steel collided with his mouth. He skittered backwards, a few teeth flaying away from his mouth with stars popping into his eyesight.

Crashing into the wall, Bakugo stood up and smashed his foot into the ground. The shockwave of the blast rose the floor and crumbled it like old bread that revealed a deep hole into the floor beneath it. James blasted the neon underneath him and threw himself to the side away from the collapsing floor. Katsu blew up another grenade and bounced himself away. Abel however, was not as fast and had to run away from the shockwave. The tiles rose up and were nipping at his heels about to throw him into the abyss underneath him. He huffed and sprinted as fast as he could, but his heaviness caused him to go slower than normal.

"Oh, shit," Abel shouted with the hole about to envelope him. He screamed as the ground disappear under his feet and he felt no weight around his body.

However, he did not fall. Instead, a rope of black dust covered his midsection like a harness and lassoed him towards the safety of the entrance half of the room.

Standing at the door, Lloyd controlled the dust and pulled Abel towards him. Once at his side, Lloyd released Abel and grabbed the lash of dust in his hands.

"Thanks for the help, Mister Sandman," Abel chirped.

Lloyd stepped forward with James and Katsu landing right by his side. The four of them advanced in a line towards the large hole in the middle of the room. It's if tile fell from the rafters with a few water pipes leaking water from above leaving puddles of water reflecting the four standing by the precipice.

A bright tungsten flash morphed in the hole. Bakugo rose up and landed at the edge of the whole. Half his face bruised and covered in blood, he spat out a tooth at his feet and opened his palms tostadas the four. They approached him with caution, stepping slow like a zookeeper attempting to capture a rabid tiger.

"You students are so precious," Bakugo said. "Thinking you could really stop all this. Even if you can escape here, the Feds won't find you in time before we just kill you all."

"Then we die in the real world," Lloyd shouted. "We die free and existing in the world created by God and only God!"

"You are easily the most annoying of all the students," Bakugo spat out. "All the talk about God. All the lectures. Acting like your a leader. You know what happens to heroes like you? Wet blankets like yourself die. You get too caught up with the rules instead of doing what needs to be done. Stretching the limits of what heroes can do?"

"Like kidnapping innocent kids," Lloyd said. "All to pretend somebody who is no longer living can be alive."

"She will be alive!" Bakugo shouted. "In the next round of trials. With the next batch of students! She will be alive and she'll stay that way."

"Yeah, right," James said. "If you can't even keep her alive in a computer, you're more pathetic than I thought."

"Fuck you!" Bakugo screamed. He clapped both hands into a small funnel and shot out a tight beam that erupted and raced for Lloyd. At the speed of sound, the boom blew Bakugo back with Lloyd only widening his eyes in shock. Katsu and Abel leapt out of the way, but the taller red-head had nowhere else to go.

His yellow eyes reflected the fear in his gaze with only the light of the ray filling up his vision.

Then….

An obsidian head of hair leapt into the center of the fray. He cried out with his hands in front of him, the blast crashing into the small orb of neon he formed within his grasp. James screamed as he pushed Bakugo's ray ever forward. The two engaged in a standoff with the central part of the ball of light spitting out sparks of neon and fire.

"James!" Lloyd said as he wrapped his arm around James' middle to keep him upright.

"Back off, you manatee," James said. "This one is all me."

More ceiling tiles collapsed from above. Some got precariously close as the floor underneath them started to wobble. The building swayed with the wind growing louder and whistling into a piercing screech. Any second, the whole skyscraper would fall.

"Guys, we gotta take the money and run!" Abel shouted.

"You three go. I'll handle this," James said. The ball of light moved a tad closer to the center.

"No," Lloyd said. "I'm not leaving you."

"Do it!" James screamed. "You deserve it more than me. I'm just some delinquent. A bully. You deserve the real world. Not me."

"Yeah, we're sticking it to the end," Abel shouted over the hiss of the light rays.

Then, a giant pane from the ceiling fell. Right in between the two fighting Bakugo and where Abel and Katsu stood, the panel crashed right through the floor and left a gaping hole that separated the two.

"See ya!" Abel smacked Katsu's arm and ran out of the collapsing room. Katsu followed suit and sprinted for the steel door at the exit. They disappeared into the hallway and slammed the door shut.

James tried to wrestle Lloyd's arms from around him. "Lloyd, I said to let go of me.

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm with you until the end," Lloyd shouted.

"Just get out before I kill you!"

"No, you mean too much to me," Lloyd said.

James turned and stared deep into Lloyd's golden eyes. "What?"

Lloyd, surprised by his own words, wiped away his shocked expression with a warm smile.

"Remember what I said at the Pier? Jonathon protecting David," Lloyd smiled at James. "Deku said it himself. We make a good team, dolphin."

James could only stare at Lloyd, somewhat annoyed but also touched that this kid, who had been a thorn in his side so long, would stand by his side in what could be their final moments.

Then, right when the ceiling collapsed over them completely….

Lloyd grabbed the crucifix around his neck. He squeezed and melded it into a ball of dust. He cast it forward like a dart and it sailed through the air.

Zip! The dust poked Bakugo in the eyes and caused him to lose his grip on his fire. His hands instinctively reached up for his eyes that watered from the dust only to be blasted by James' neon eruption. He screamed and flew backwards into the hole and down the collapsing skyscraper. His blonde hair disappeared into the crumbling abyss as debris tumbled around them.

"Let's go!" James screamed. He grabbed Lloyd's arm and pulled him for the exit.

It was too late. The ceiling completely tumbled and crashed into the floor in front of them. The building crashed onto itself with the walls buckling towards the interior. Ropes of cables and pipes rained down with the roar of a nuclear blast surrounding the boys.

Lloyd held onto James as the floor finally gave way underneath them. Both of them plunged into the darkness of the rubble. Above them, the bright blue sky shrunk with the layers of the building falling on top of them and erasing the light of the sky. James blasted one more orb of neon above him to create some light, but the feeling of falling into nothingness caused him to do little else then shout. Feeling Lloyd's shoulders, he wrapped himself around the boy and closed his eyes. He just hoped that he had redeemed himself, and that home would be rewarded somewhere, someway for saving everyone. His classmates. Moxie. Deku.

Everyone except Lloyd.

At least we'll be together, James have off one last thought.

They both fell together into the darkness.

Until, they stopped.

James, his eyes still shut, felt a gentle breeze waft over his hair. From his eyelids, he could see a strange emerald glow flash around him and Lloyd. The hairs on his arm stood up as his insides felt the two of the floating upward though the wreckage. Until finally, a bright light of the clear blue sky and the crisp Bay Area winter air.

James opened his eyes. Still hugging Lloyd, he felt another, stronger pair of arms around him and the Canadian boy. When he craned his head around, he finally saw the green eyes and hair of a certain Pro-Hero.

"Mister Deku!" Lloyd cheered. "Just as I suspected!"

"It's time to go home, students," Deku said with a bright smile. He turned himself around and glided downward over the city streets. His quirk kept him in a static cloud that kept them afloat, a small boat in the giant ocean of the sky.

James turned to Lloyd who was blocking the bright sunset that looked over the Golden Gate Bridge. The quiet ocean sloshed at the pillars of the bridge as the cars slid over the tar asphalt like fireflies on a summer night. Lloyd grinned at James, and the boy couldn't help but feel odd at realizing his close proximity to the boy.

"Hey, dummy," James said to Lloyd. "What was that with you calling me a dolphin?"

"I just thought you got to call people animal names. I thought you'd appreciate it," Lloyd said.

"You manatee," James said with the ghost of a grin. "It's supposed to be an insult. If you say it as a compliment, it's weird."

Lloyd looked out over the horizon as Deku fell with style above the city. "I'm okay with weird."

It had felt like hours to the two teenagers.

Alistair and Moxie took turns killing each other in every new scene they popped up within. At one point, the fell onto a bed with two men laying next to each other. One of them was a silver haired man from the ice rink. Before Moxie could realize it, Alistair grabbed her and threw her out the window.

When her head splattered on the pavement below, they awoke to another scene in space. They floated around trying to grab at each other, the lack of oxygen not harming them in any way.

Alistair tried to shout at Moxie, but since sound can't travel in space, she could only put her hand up to her ear. What?

Alistair shouted again. Still nothing. Until a giant rocket crashed into Alistair killing him instantly.

Flash! Back in the castle in a strange underground chamber. Statues of serpents rose above in old stone with the damp air giving Moxie a chill. She turned around to see Alistair with his wand limp within his grasp.

"Wait, Moxie," Alistair said. "Please stop."

"No," Moxie said. "Cause then you'll try and kill Deku."

"Please, Moxie. I need a brea-."

Moxie responded with another shotgun blast. Alistair dived out of the way and grabbed a random wizard hat on the cobblestone floor. He pulled out a golden hilt to reveal a sword.

Alistair screamed and charged at Moxie. He flashed the sword and pointed it at her chest.

BLAM! Moxie shot Alistair's head off yet again.

"Really?" Moxie asked before the scene changes again.

Now, in the hallway of a space station. The zero gravity surprising Moxie, she dropped her shotgun. Before she could grab it, Alistair lunged ahead and pushed it aside. He grabbed at the crystal around Moxie.

Both of them screamed. A large current of electricity shocked both of them. A white light enveloped them with Alistair's grip loosening on the gem. Moxie forced her eyes open and punched Alistair in the face. He rolled backwards and tumbled mid-air right by a random sword hanging in the hallway.

His wand nowhere to be found, Alistair grabbed the sword and pushed off a pillar in the hall. He charged at Moxie again who swam in the air for the shotgun. She snagged it upside down with the barrel pointed downward. She had no time to correct with Alistair racing towards her like a rabid cobra.

Clang! The sword sliced at the barrel of the shotgun. Moxie spun around from the moment and cried out as Alistair jabbed at her back. She wiggled herself around and smacked the tip of the blade away.

The two exchanged blows with Alistair forcing Moxie down the hallway. She flipped upside down with Alistair remaining upward and trying to slash at Moxie. Moxie's eyes darkened into a deep crimson with every blow before she stopped cornered and her back on the window. Her head level with Alistair's, she hooked the tip of his sword in the trigger handle of the shotgun. She forced it forward rendering the steel stuck in the small hole.

Both of them fumed, each one trying to push the weapon into the other's chest. Their eyes level but their bodies on opposing sides of gravity, they let out yells with one final push.

The weapons cracked under the pressure. The shotgun split in two with the sword's steel splintering like burnt pieces of paper. It spiraled below Moxie's head with debris from the shotgun wood bouncing of Alistair's face.

The two grabbed each other's hands and gasped for air. Staring deep into the other's eyes, they paused and examined the other. Alistair saw Moxie's flushed face with the planet Earth swimming behind her in the deep darkness of space. Their faces both softened looking at each other, and their breathing slowed to a quiet sigh. Moxie blinked at Alistair's breath, the soft scent of mint coming from his mouth.

"Moxie," Alistair asked. "Can we please talk?"

Moxie, not seeing another alternative, nodded.

"Alright."

Atop the space station, Moxie sat next to Alistair with her legs swinging over the edge of the structure. In space, they both sat within a protective bubble Alistair cast around both of them. The translucent film brightened the black atmosphere into a deep lavender. Beyond their gaze, Earth twirled at a minuscule pace. It was quite calm and with both teenagers side by side. Alistair had his leg kicked up and leaned back with his arm hanging over his knee.

Moxie had no idea what to say to Alistair. Killing James in front of her lowered the amount of sympathy she had towards him to sub-atomic proportions. Part of her wanted to reach over and strangle him. However, after the last few hours of stabbing and shooting him, she knew a lot of that anger was the power from this crystal around her talking. Within the bubble, the red electricity dies down around her body with her eyes returning to the normal charcoal grey tint. Likewise, Alistair's eyes stopped glowing with the energy subsiding around him.

"Why?" Moxie asked to break the silence. "This whole time. Why?"

Alistair sighed. "It's quite simple, Moxie. I just want to go home. I can't let that go. My friends. My family. That's all this has been for."

Moxie sighed. "I get it. I reckon I'd feel the same if I was in your situation."

"But there are some things you don't know, Moxie," Alistair said. "About your universe. About other universes. Just how fragile these connections are. And I really wish I could save you from whatever consequences my actions may bring."

"Alistair," Moxie said. "You don't have to do this. Taking Deku's quirk, using it to travel back home. I don't know what that will bring, but messing with God…that's what you're doing, isn't it?"

"It is."

"And your Creator you keep talking about," Moxie turned to face the sorrowful boy. "That ain't God, is it?"

"Maybe a God," Alistair said. "But not the one you talk about."

Moxie scooted closer to Alistair, her hand nearing the ankle of her shoes. She planted herself with her right hands fingertips right by Alistair's.

"Stay with us," Moxie said.

Alistair looked at Moxie. "What?"

"Stay here. In my universe," Moxie said. "I know it ain't home, but…it could be."

"No, I can't," Alistair said. "I…I was just starting out in life. I had ambitions. Dreams. And fire it to just end…I need another chance."

"And this is it," Moxie smiled at the boy. "Stay here with me. I can teach you the ropes. You can be a student at USAHS with all of us."

"Moxie, I can't," Alistair said. "I don't belong here."

"You don't think I know what that's like," Moxie asked. "I haven't felt like a belonged nowhere in a while. When my momma died, since I moved out to California…I don't think I've ever really belonged. I know what it's like to be treated less than. I know what it's like to be stuck in the past. But the thing about me and our class is that they don't care. Sure, They don't all get along, but we know each other. And deep down, we care about each other."

"But my universe is real," Alistair said. "This one…is any of this even happening?"

"That's the thing, Alistair," Moxie said. "I don't know which universes God makes more real or more fake. Maybe we could be real. Maybe we aren't. But if he allowed it to be created, if he created it, then that's all I need to know. Cause whether it's a universe where some wizards shoot magic sparks at each other, or one where teenagers fight in some death match, or one with just a lot of figure skating, or even one where a bunch of people got superpowers, there's always something in someone that's worth loving, Alistair. And that love makes you and me and all of this…real. Even if it turns out I'm just apart of some weird dream your having, or we're in some dumb old fanfiction being read by some weirdos in a Discord server, we're just as real as anything else. Because that love makes this real. That love…makes us real."

Alistair sniffled. Tears welled up in his eyes as he wiped away some saline from escaping onto his cheek. He tightened up his throat and looked down at the wand in his hand.

"I'm gonna miss home."

"You will at first," Moxie said. "But the great thing about home isn't where it is. It's who is with you."

Alistair wrapped his arms around Moxie and buried his head in her shoulders. He sobbed with Moxie flashing a sad smile and squeezing him in the hug. They stayed like that on top of the space station for quite some time.

Eventually, Alistair relapsed and pulled back. Both of them grinned at each other, Alistair's eyes still watered but crinkled with happiness.

"Also," Moxie said. "I can show you where I live and you can meet my brother and my dog. I can even give you driving lessons."

"What makes you think I can't drive?" Alistair asked in mock offense.

"I thought wizards just drove on dragons or broomsticks or something," Moxie laughed.

"So stereotypical," Alistair said. "I expected better from you, Moxie."

The two of them shared a laugh. When finished, Alistair neared Moxie and they both gazed deep into the other's eyes. Alistair's betrayed the slighted glow as he snuck a glance at the crystal around her neck.

No, a deep voice boomed in his head.

Alistair Leonhardt, you will finish your task. No matter what.

"Moxie," Alistair said in a suddenly darker voice. "Have I ever told you…Your eyes are incredible."

Then, Alistair leaned in for the tell-take signs of a kiss. Moxie frowned. The strange glow and hardened glint in his emerald eyes along with this action made her puzzled. As much of a flirt as he was, would the Alistair she knew do something like this right now?

Then, a hot burst erupted in her heart. Her eyes widened and she gasped just as the female voice shouted through her head.

It's a trap!

The tip of Alistair's wand jabbed right at Moxie's neck.

"Avada Ke-."

BLAM!

Alistair screamed. With hardly a thought about what she just did, Moxie looked at the small revolver that she had just pulled out from her hidden holster in her school uniform shirt. She dropped it and ran for Alistair who writhed in agony on the floor. The bubble surrounding them collapsed leaving them vulnerable to the effects of space.

Alistair's wand floated upward and away from the momentum of his tumble. The wand disappeared into the atmosphere of Themis strange universe they had travelled, never to be seen again.

Moxie leapt onto Alistair, her limbs moving in their own accord. She was a passenger in her body with some invisible force taking control as she planted both her knees on either side of Alistair and sat on his middle. His hands covered up the destroyed half of his face now seeped with blood and chipped bone.

Put his hands on your crystal! Now!

With no hesitation, Moxie grabbed Alistair's blood-coated hands. As she pulled his hands forward, she grimaced at the half of his face that was completely destroyed. The skin was ripped off to reveal only the muscle and torn bone in his previously angular cheek. All that remained fro the left side of his face was his eye now propped open from lack of skin to cover his eye with a blink. Moxie wanted to throw up, but she stayed the course and wrapped Alistair's hands around the crystal around her chest.

Both of them screamed with the bright light drenching them in debilitating pain. Moxie felt her teeth chatter as she threw her head back. The scream silent from the vacuum of space, her mouth hung open and her eyes shut to the blinding white light that rose upward into infinity.

Then, they disappeared.