Anton grunted at the hard plastic that dug into his ear. The glowing headset placed around his eyes glowed a forest green that flickered into an amber yellow. The light flickered faster with each passing moment; the green disappearing much faster before being overcome by the yellow.

Calista adjusted her headset and pressed a number on the keypad. 032620. She slapped the red button on to console, and a lock unlatched within the door.

She looked back at the trio behind her. With a silent nod, she kicked eyes with each of them. Aslovee scowled at the door while Isabel flashed a nervous thumbs-up at her. Then, to Anton.

"Ready?" Calista asked.

"I don't even know what to do," Anton said. He bopped the side of his head when a flurry of numbers that scanned through the headset. "What do these even mean?"

"You'll know what to do when you need to do it," Calista said right when she opened the door to the receiving chamber.

Anton yelled when the golden light permeated the entire hallway. His eyeshield instantly programmed to dim the lighting and made the hue a few shades darker. The beam was still a strain as a harsh heat broiled Anton's skin like the sun had been captured and harnessed in that very room. The loud hum of the beam rattled Anton's eardrums and made him cover up the sides of his head.

"Anton, can you hear me," Calista said. Her voice blared out in an earpiece lodged into Anton's right ear.

"Why is it so hot?" Anton asked.

"Don't worry," Isabel said over the radio. "It won't burn us. We're the chosen ones. Remember."

"I don't feel very chosen," Anton said.

The rest of the group went into the chamber. Anton followed suit and bumbled into the room. It was a tall circular room with four mechanical tendrils containing the beam. The floor was a white tile witn matching walls that seemed to rise up forever into the sky. Anton doubted this was visible from outside the building. The room defied the laws of physics with the beam as well rising upward into the heavens with no ceiling in sight.

Calista ran for the edge of the beam. A sharp bolt jumped out and nearly tapped Anton's nose. He yelped and took another step backwards. Isabel and Aslovee stood on opposite sides of the beam and stopped with Calista tapping on her headset.

"Drake? Class 1-A? Can you hear me?" She spoke.

A brief click and then a tap of a microphone.

"We read you," Drake said over the intercom.

Calista breathed and stepped closer to the precipice of the beam's perimeter. "When I say so, press the enter button. That will transport us to Deku's current coordinates. Hopefully, we will have absorbed enough the energy to give to Deku and defeat Alistair."

Anton gasped and clutched his chest. "You mean we're going to get zapped by this thing?"

"When we absorb the energy," Calista said. "We will possess it and transport to Deku. Then, we will supply him the energy and he can vanquish Alistair."

"But you said it was too powerful for someone to possess," Anton said.

"Deku is the only being on Earth strong enough," Calista said. "We will each be holding one fourth of the power, and we can only possess it for a few seconds. Otherwise we will explode. At least in this instance, it will only be him."

"Is there a scenario where we don't explode?" Anton asked. "Like maybe w-. Wait, what? Deku will explode?"

"He won't survive after expelling his energy on Alistair," Calista explained. "Even if he does, we have to take the energy out of him with this machine and return it to the universes."

Calista twitched when the intercom blared out and screeched in her ear.

"Calista," Drake said. "The video from Deku right now…he's taking Deku's quirk."

"Then we have to hurry," Calista said.

"No, stop," Anton said. He clicked on his earbud and cleared his throat. "Everyone. Calista just said Deku is going to sacrifice himself. He'll die if we go through with this."

"What?" Megan screeched over the microphone. "Calista, you didn't tell us that. You said we could all get out!"

"To be honest, I thought this was obvious," Isabel said.

Calista shook her head and groaned in frustration. "You wouldn't help us if you knew. Look, this is the only way for it to be fair. Deku dies a hero, and all our universes are saved. If it makes you feel better, we're bringing him back right after so you can say your goodbyes."

"No, Calista," Anton said. "There has to be a better way."

"Then you come up with it," Aslovee said. "Synch rate is at seventy percent."

The beam dimmed for just a brief second in intensity. The width of the beam shrunk before inflating back to its previous thickness.

"This is why you don't play hero," Aslovee said to Anton. "You play hero, and you die. And other people die. You have to think about what's best. And me existing? You existing? Our worlds existing? That's all that matters right now."

"You're wrong," Anton said. "I'm not killing Deku."

"Then I'll make you," Aslovee said.

The shorter boy lunged at Anton. Far more muscular, he made shirt work of Anton's attempts to flee as he wrapped his arms around his midsection. Aslovee picked Anton up and dragged him towards the beam.

"Ready the coordinates," Aslovee said.

Anton, not one to play fair, bit down on Aslovee's hand. He shouted in agony and let go. When Anton was freed, he spun around and pulled out a pocket knife. He sliced into his forearm and grunted from the bubbles of blood that popped up from the wound. However, the purple cloud of Pathogen sprung out like most from a geyser and floated above Anton's head.

"Pathogen," Anton said and pointed to Aslovee. "Kill."

"Wait, don't!" Isabel shouted. "If you do that, we're all dead!"

"I don't care," Anton said. "You lied to us. How do I know you're not helping that guy get rid of Deku. That is his goal, right? Aren't we just doing what he wants?"

Calista fumed and pulled out her wand from her back pocket. "You will do what we say, and if we have to end one life to save trillions of others, than so be it. You won't get it in the way of our goal."

"Go ahead and cast some dumb spell on me," Anton screamed. "Pathogen will still be able to go around and inject himself inside you. And if he does, you all die before you hit the ground."

Uh…boss? That's not how I work. I haven't even killed anyone before.

"They don't know that," Anton whispered.

So there the four of them remained in a stalemate. Calista stood in front of the beam, her eyes narrowed in rage at the boy stopping her scheme. Isabel knelt down next to Aslovee and wrapped a protective arm around him. He glared arrows into Anton's soul, his pitch black eyes betraying no emotion but fury and anger.

And in the center of the semi-circle, Anton stood with Pathogen swirling next to him ready to strike.

"ALISTAIR!"

The blonde turned around. The green electricity siphoned from Deku's body into his wand as he craned his head back. When he saw the girl standing at the bottom of the steps, his glowing eyes dimmed for just a second, and the glow diminished from his frame.

"Moxie," Alistair said. Then, he gasped and flickered his gaze at the wand his hand was glued onto at the moment. "Moxie! Moxie, please hellllll-."

His cries turned into laughter. The glow returned to his eyes as the electricity zapped around his body with a loud snap.

"Moxie Lee," Alistair said in a deeper voice. "The dumb Cajun girl that gave me life! I thank you for carrying the crystal around. I wouldn't have ever been able to enter this world if someone hadn't worn it."

Moxie let go of Lloyd's hand. "Lloyd, please run."

"No. I'm with-."

"Please," Moxie said. "This is my mess. And I'm going to fix it. No matter what."

"You're right. You will fix it," Lloyd grabbed Moxie's arm and threw it around his shoulder. "And I'm going to be right there with you."

Moxie smiled and grit her teeth when they both climbed up the first step. Alistair turned and stood. His wand pointed downward, the energy still flowed from Deku who was in a frozen comatose state. The blonde wizard stared down with disdain at the pair stumbling upward towards him.

"Alistair," Moxie said. "This is your last chance to end this."

Alistair laughed. "Alistair isn't available for your stupid lectures, you inbred redneck," he said with a mirthless chuckle. "I thought you would have figured out by now that this power is not just Alistair's to own. And let's be honest, little girl, you are in no position to threaten me."

"It's not a threat," Moxie said. "It's a promise."

Another step. A quarter of the way there.

"Oh, I see," Alistair chuckled. "So this is the part where you lecture me about the power of friendship or how you'll win because you're fighting for what's right? 'Cause I've heard it all before."

"No," Moxie coughed as she gripped Lloyd's shoulder harder. "I'm going to tell you why you're going to lose."

Alistair's grin gave way for a viscous stare. "So you can predict the future now."

"No, but I know God's word," Moxie said. "And God's word is the future."

"Ugh. Will you knock it off with the stupid Jesus talk all the time," Alistair rolled his eyes. "One thing I will say about Deku back here," he pointed behind him at Deku's dormant body that continued to lose power. "Is that he didn't need a Bible every time he opened his stupid mouth."

"I'm a simple girl, Alistair," Moxie moaned when she took another step on her rolled ankle. "I'm not very smart with books. I don't get good grades. And I don't talk as good as you. And I still think the first person born with a quirk was Jesus. Whatever you throw at me that you think is an insult, it may be true."

Halfway up the steps, she swallowed for her parched throat and wiped away a droplet of blood from her eyebrow. "But I'm pretty smart when it comes to people. I know when someone who seems mean is actually kind. Or someone who seems confident is actually scared. And I know when someone is just hiding who they are, and what they actually believe in. I know when someone feels they haven't gotten a good shake in life. When they can't let go of the past. They're haunted by it. They're consumed by it."

"So what?" Alistair said. "That has nothing to do with us."

"In fact," Moxie said. "That's your only reason for being. To prey on it. To make people feel like they got no future. They got no reason to belong. No reason to be. This whole school year, I've come across that. A boy around your age who seemed mean, but was just hurt by others in his past. A Pro-Hero who'd gotten cancer and didn't think he had no more reason to be here. Even a crazy lady who made robot versions of her dead son just so she could have the perfect one. People who couldn't forgive themselves nor forgive others."

Finally, Moxie took the last step with Lloyd. Lloyd let go and stepped to the side a few feet as Moxie approached Alistair on the summit. Now, Moxie's charcoal eyes bore right into Alistair's emerald hues.

"But the thing about forgiving, Alistair," Moxie said. "Is that it sets your soul free. But only if you forgive yourself first. Give yourself that gift, Alistair. Give yourself permission to be free from the past. And come with me to the future. A future made by us. A future made for us."

The boy stood motionless. Moxie quirked a small smile and held out her hand towards Alistair's chest. He stared intent right at her without a hint of reprieve.

Then, his eyes wallowed up into tears. Without a change to any of his face muscles, the tears started to build at the corners of his eyes.

"M-Moxie," Alistair said in a soft voice.

"Alistair," Moxie said. "I know you're in there. Fight this demon in you. I know you can do it."

The light emanating from his eyes dimmed again. This time, the energy flowed before diminishing like a power surge that flickered to life and then died off. Alistair closed his eyes and groaned out in pain. His wand still taking in One-For-All, he struggled in place and tensed up his whole body.

"Moxie," Alistair stammered in a higher-pitched voice than before. "Moxie, help!"

"Be a hero, Alistair," Moxie said.

Alistair opened his eyes with a cry. The light disappeared around his irises and the electricity died out from around him for a split second. He gasped and stared in horror at Moxie's blood and dirt-covered face.

"Moxie," Alistair said. "Run! It's too late. He's taken the quirk!

"What?" Moxie shouted.

Then, a female voice pierced through Moxie's head.

Make him grab the crystal! Now!

Cue "Jet Set Run!"

"What?" Aslovee shouted. "The synch rate just plummeted to near zero!"

Drake paced around the room as Megan shouted through the intercom to the others still in the standoff. He rushed past Blake and peered at the screen.

The synchronization rate peaked and fell like a roller coaster. Sometimes it was nearly full. Other times, the rate had fallen to just above zero.

The Class screamed when the building shook again. The energy beam in the chamber rose in volume before lettering out into a small stream and then erupting to engulf nearly the entire circumference it had previous.

"I'm looking at Isabel's phone," Blake said. "Alistair is fighting…Moxie?"

Drake peeked over Blake's shoulder. Moxie and Alistair were frozen in place before Deku's limp body. A massive eruption of light encompassed the two with a harsh wind blowing around them like the center of a twister.

"Wait, so is Deku dead?" Hunter asked. "Is that it? Are we done?"

"No," Megan shook her head. "It can't be."

"But even if it is," Drake said. "Moxie is fighting him. And Calista showed us footage of her fighting him in other universes. Why? What makes her special?"

"It's the crystal," Leo said. "The crystal she wore. She got it from that weird machine at Steve Buscemi's house."

The class turned to Leo. He stuck his hands in his hoodie pockets and blushed at the attention.

"What?" Megan squeaked.

"Me and Abel went with Moxie to a Steve Buscemi's house," Leo said. "It was our first challenge to find the bomb. And there was a machine, and the is crystal came in. It was kinda like the one in the other room, but a bit smaller."

"But if that crystal is how Alistair got here," Megan said. "Then shouldn't the crystal be helping him?"

"No, because both are here for different reasons."

The class turned back to the corner of the room. Robyn sat up and rubbed her eyes from her long nap. "Hey, hope I didn't lose too much blood."

"Robyn," Megan asked. "Are you okay?"

"Please, I've been stabbed by much more and mimics harder things," Robyn said. "Besides, blood is generated quickly in human bodies."

"I know," Blake said in excitement. "Like ten gallons a day or something like that!"

Drake cleared his throat. "What are you saying, Robyn?"

"I heard Steve Buscemi talk to Anton and Moixe about it under a lunch table," Robyn said. "Moxie said wore the crystal, and Alistair showed up. So it makes sense that him being here is connected with th ecrystak, right? But I'm thinking that the crystal didn't need to be worn at all for Alistair to appear in this world. I mean, why would it?"

"I don't know," Megan said. "Magic?"

"But if the crystal has been helping Moxie fight Alistair," Drake said. "Then maybe Robyn is right. What if the crystal arrived at the same time as Alistair to trick him into thinking he needed it to survive?"

"But why would it do that?" Hunter asked. "If the crystal and Alistair are cool with each other, why would the crystal do anything now?"

"Because they aren't cool," Drake said. "If Alistair knew that the crystal was bad for him, he'd have tried to destroy it a long time ago."

"So then," Megan snapped her fingers. "The crystal was sent here to stop Alistair! And it came at the precise time Alistair was our into this universe to make him think he needed it to be worn!"

"When in fact," Drake said. "It came to help defeat him. Leo, you're a genius."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Leo said with a quiet hum of embarrassment.

"Hey, I came up with that," Robyn said. "Don't I get credit?"

"Weren't you passed out this whole time," Hunter said. "How'd you even know about most of this?"

"Oh, I've been awake since the bus ride here," Robyn said. "I just wanted to eavesdrop in case you guys gossiped about me."

"But wait," Megan said when Drake approached the computer. "Who sent the crystal then?"

"Not important," Drake said. He pressed the button on the intercom. "Listen up! We have a plan!"

Time slowed to a crawl as the jade glow ignited around Alistair in a vengeance. He cackled out, All-For-One taking over his body. He flicked the wand up to Moxie with an evil grin plastered into his face. As he did so, Moxie's crystal glowed with her eyes turning into the bright scarlet tint that protected her during their last bout. However, with the green electric energy spitting off Alistair's body, Moxie knew this time would be different for her.

She reached out for Alistair's hand, but he was too fast and snatched it away. Instead, the wand pointed right at her heart and prepared for a final spell.

Until a rope of dust snagged the end of the wood.

Alistair sneered at Lloyd who pulled the dust back over to him. The lash of black debris could not hold onto the wand for long, but it was enough to move it away from Moxie and distract Alistair. Lloyd jumped down the steps to avoid an attack as Alistair was still turned towards him.

This was her chance.

Moxie rushed forward and pushed Alistair onto the ground. She landed her knee on his stomach and grabbed his cold, empty hand. With all the strength she could muster, she pulled his hand up and enclosed it around the red crystal.

Another beam of light, this one half red and green, erupted and rose up into the sky. Both Moxie and Alistair screamed as the current of energy racked their bodies. Moxie felt a rush of heat that fried her brains and made her see nothing but white. Her frame vibrated with the pain of a thousand hammers slamming down on every inch of her skin. Her arms shook with the grip around Alistair's hands slipping and faltering.

Alistair laughed and rose his chest upward. In a surprise to Moxie, he squeezed around the crystal harder.

"Whatever is in this crystal was quite powerful," Alistair said. "Too bad I have One-For-All on my side now! United Kingdom Smash!"

He pressed around the gem harder. Moxie cried out when she felt a crack snap into the surface. Then another. Another.

Her head fell backwards, and her mouth fell open in a silent scream. The pain grew unbearable as Alistair strained to destroy the crystal. The beam illuminated mostly in green with the ruby portion relegated to just a small sliver of the light.

Moxie, despite her heart feeling like it was about to split in half, put on a brave face and met Alistair's smug grin. She bared her teeth and used all her strength to keep Alistair's hand in her grasp.

Crack. The crystal shook in their hands, and the light started to die out in the center.

"Moxie?"

Drake nodded. "Yes. It's our one chance. The crystal was sent here to help us. And if we give it this power, maybe what's in the crystal will actually be what defeats Alistair. And maybe it will absorb the energy."

Inside the chamber, Calista lowered her wand. The beam shook with the entire room threatening to crumble on top of them. Anton softened his scowl and stood with Pathogen ready next to him.

"Anton," Calista said. "Would you be willing to give Moxie this energy? She could possibly live."

Anton caught his breath. Calista smacked her lips and looked back at the energy. The number for the synch rate still battled back and forth on her monitor.

"Anton, it's our only shot." Calista said. "I can't guarantee anything, because what happens when this energy hits Moxie's crystal…well… even if Drake's right…I have no idea what happens next."

Anton nodded. "What do you think Pathogen?"

Let's fry some pasty wizard ass!

Deku, still alive, could only watch in terror at the occurrence before him. His body was useless; only enough energy to capture some lukewarm air that reeked of smoke and burnt wood. He prayed that his body could somehow move and he could assist Moxie, but his limbs betrayed no movement.

Alistair laughed again and licked his lips. "Last chance, Moxie. I'd promise I won't harm you, but let's be honest. I'll just do it anyway."

As Moxie's eyes were polluted with Alistair's face and the bright light suffocating her, memories flooded her mind.

Being a little girl and having the tiny minnows chomp at her toes in the creek. The tickling sensation as they all seem up to her. The warmth of her Golden Retriever's fur as she rolled with him in front of their yard. How happy her daddy was when she opened up that envelope with her acceptance to that fancy school out West. How her brother had given her the shotgun to protect herself. The long drive out there, in her old Orange Dodge where she had seen more palm trees and cacti then she thought existed. Her first day blowing up the door with Katsu to Bakugo's classroom. Shooting the Robber at the gas station. Meeting the charming ghost from another universe named Alistair. The king and pointless conversations with him that made her feel less lonely in her new world. Cooking dinner with Shoto for the entire class. Finding out James wasn't all that bad. Slapping him, and then saving each other within the span of one night. Their first kiss. The nights of having to hear Abel shouting at the television screen from beating Austin again at a video game. Leo somehow becoming great friends with James. Steve Buscemi somehow becoming a lunch lady at the school. None of these events made sense in a vacuum. And together, they still made no sense. But it was her life. And it was her existence. And it meant something. She didn't know what it meant, but it was something.

Moxie closed her eyes. The memories that played like a film strip in her head started minimize in her mind. The picture faded away like a dying television screen into static. And then, the screen morphed away into darkness.

The moment the rolling memories disappeared….

Don't worry, Moxie.

Who was that?

Moxie, a blend of multiple voices said.

Don't worry. It's meant to be this way.

It was planned this way.

This is the way.

Moxie opened her eyes. What she saw made her mouth drop agape.

Deku, staring right at Moxie, disappeared into a bright yellow mist that evaporated into the sky.

Lloyd, who hid behind the side of the staircase, shrieked when his own body levitated into the same powder. His body compressed into nothingness as he left this earth.

On the battlefield behind Moxie who turned her head a brief second to see the phenomenon, Abel, Katsu and James' corpses vanished as well.

In the white room, Leo fell backwards. Before his back hit the ground, He vanished out of thin air.

"Merry Christmas." Shoto said.

Momo cried out when Shoto's body turned into lead-coated flaked that melted into her hands. Then, the substance was gone along with any hint of Shoto Todoroki.

Within Moxie and Alistair's hands, the crystal erupted into a bright scarlet light.

"Synch rate…whoa! 100 percent!"

"Now!" Calista shouted.

Anton stuck his hand into the beam. He screamed as the white energy absorbed into his body. His entire being glowed an ivory white. It was a sensation unlike anything Anton ever felt. Both painful and euphoric, the noise fizzled his brain while the power suctioned through his body like racing lava.

Within a second, the beam disappeared. Instead, four glowing teenagers stood with the energy of hundreds of universes imprisoned within their bodies.

Calista press her headset. "Drake! Now!"

In the white room, Drake slammed the button with the proper coordinates.

At USAHS, Anton popped up in a tower of code that disappeared as fast as he arrived. His body already started to give way from the amount of energy that overwhelmed him. His vision grew blurred and his limbs weak.

In his headset, a target symbol locked into a figure at the staircase about fifty feet above them. The target locked in on Moxie who was still on top of Alistair.

"Everyone, now!" Calista roared over the radio.

Anton, however, couldn't move. His body was too weak, and his legs shook as they started to give way to his weight.

I can take it from here, boss.

Pathogen leaked out of Anton and grabbed Anton's right arm. The lavender cloud wrapped around his arm and lifted it up towards the the button on the side of his eye shield. With all its might, Pathogen pressed Anton's limp hand onto the button.

SNAP!

The four beams shot over the campus and up the staircase. Golden energy zipped past the remnants of the school and screeched towards Moxie like a runaway train.

Moxie's eyes widened with the power making her shiver. With no other course of action, she stared at the incoming missiles and braced for its impact.

The four rays slammed into Moxie at the exact same time. Her body filled with a light matching the intensity of the sun. Her head lifted up with her mouth open from a silent scream. With the collision, the light beam enveloping her and Alistair died and left everything around their vicinity with an eerie silence.

Moxie hitched a quick breath and looked back down at Alistair. The green electricity around him ceased, and he could only examine the girl in shocked puzzlement. His hand still remained around the crystal, but now it was stuck.

He tried to wrench his hand away, but the muscles and bones around his body no longer worked. He was glued to that position with this weird Cajun teenage girl wielding the power of multiple universes within her body.

Alistair continued to thrash underneath Moxie. Again, his eyes flickered with the illumination growing bright and dim with each gnash of his teeth.

"Let go!" He yelled.

In a lighter voice, Alistair opened his eyes. "No!"

"Do what I say."

"Never!"

It was then that Moxie realized Alistair wasn't stuck to the crystal. Within his own body, Alistair was fighting back for control from All-For-One and forcing his hand to stay on the crystal.

Moxie's glow ended when the energy ran over her skin from all sides and up her limbs. It traversed like blood coats int though her veins from her head and feet towards her midsection. Through her heart. And then finally converging into the part of her chest where the crystal rested on her skin. The energy seeped into the gem and ended its journey within its confines.

"No," the deep voice shouted from Alistair. "This can't be possible!"

"It is possible," Moxie spoke. However, her voice escaped her mouth with a mixture of seven other voices speaking in unison. "Because virtue vanquishes all sin."

Alistair opened his eyes one final time. Now the normal shade of brilliant green, they welled up with tears as his shoulders wracked with guilt.

"Moxie," he shouted. "Please end this! Do it now!"

Moxie looked up into the sky. Without another thought, the words left her mouth like a puppet controlled by a higher being.

"Ascendo Tuum!"

Then….

White. A canvas of only white.

Moxie opened her eyes. The ringing in her ears gave way to the stillness of the white landscape. In fact, there was nothing to see beyond the horizon. There was no horizon. Just white.

Then, right in front of her, two shapes arrived within the strange realm. One was a handsome, blonde boy with the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. He collapsed onto the ground and attempted to rise up. However, he could only wretch on the floor like a cat coughing up a hair ball.

When he looked up at Moxie, his eyes were reddened from tears. He reached a hand out and struggled to control his voice.

"Moxie!" Alistair said. "Please help me!"

Seeing his eyes, the girl knew right away that he was no longer under the control of the strange force that overtook him. She ran over towards the boy and fell to her knees next to him.

"Alistair," Moxie hugged the boy and ran a hand through his hair. "Alistair, are you okay?"

"Moxie," Alistair stammered out. "It's All-For-One! He's going to kill us all!"

"What?"

"Behind you!"

Moxie turned around. Her body sat in front of Alistair like a protective shield as the large flume of black smoke morphed into a body. It was not a real body, however. It was more of a defined shape that stood like a horrifying monster. With giant black teeth and only a black bur for arms and legs, the strange opaque cloud loomed overhead Moxie and Alistair.

"Not so fast, Purple Haze," a voice belted from behind the pair.

Moxie turned around to find seven people in a small circle just a few feet behind them.

Abel stood at the end of the line with an old set of headphones. He turned up his music and pointed the interior of the speakers at the monster. "Time we sent you on the highway to hell! For I am the Virtue of Humilty!"

A sound wave slammed into the monster and made it shriek in pain.

On the other side of the group, Leo gripped a cell phone and flicked it open. He flashed the screen at the monster and held his finger up to the screen.

"And I am the Virtue of Patience," Leo said. "A virtue where time heals all."

Leo set back the clock on the phone from midnight to and rotated it twice counter-clockwise. The monster shrank and lightened from pitch black to a lilac cloud.

"And I am the Virtue of Chasity," Lloyd announced next to Abel. "And with my power, I show that the desecration of sin has no match for the power of being virtuous and-."

"Shut up and get on it with!" James shouted across the line of people towards him.

"This is a virtue of chasity. To keep your soul free of impurity and worthy of eternity!"

Lloyd opened the locket around his neck. The picture of his family bore into the black orbs that were eyes of the small monster. It shrieked in pain at the sight of Lloyd's mother, father and sister.

Katsu, who stood with his hero costume back in top shape, took out a key from his pocket. "And I, Katsu Muteki, am the Virtue of Charity. Gifting those with less so they have more than they could imagine! Spiritually, that is!"

The key shot out a small golden laser that eyeched into the monster's face. It roared, but could not move to escape. It was trapped and forced to face the music of the Virtues.

Shoto took out an identical key and flashed it forward. "And I'm the Virtue of Gratitude. A virtue that has shown me just how much I have in my life to be grateful for. Like my family. Momo."

Shoto turned and gave a quick nod at Katsu. "And you, Katsu. Thank you for this gift."

Katsu flashed a toothy grin with the hint of tears dotting his eyes. "No prob, Sho-off!"

Shoto shot another laser fr the tip of the key. The monster squealed like a dying pig.

James sighed and pulled out a strange elongated oval object in an aluminum wrapper. "Do I have to?"

"James!" Lloyd said.

"Fine," James said. "I'm James. I'm the Virtue of Temperance. I'm not that angry and selfish anymore. Here. Have a fake halal hot dog."

James unwrapped the hot dog and chucked the food at the monster. It disappeared into the cloud and caused the most pain of any of the tokens. The monster shriveled up into a tiny orb of pluming purple that hovered just at Moxie's eye level.

Finally, Deku stepped up. Looking as vibrant and strong as ever, he held up a single strand of green hair. It was not unlike the strand of hair he had ingested all those years ago when he was a scared boy crying on the sidewalk before All Might.

"And I am Izuku Midoriya," he said towards the evil creature. "I'm a boy who just wanted to help make the world a better place. A world where people can know that evil like you will no longer cause them fear. A world I can leave better than when I arrived. I'm a Pro-Hero. I'm a son. But most importantly…."

Izuku walked up to Moxie with the strand of hair in between his thumb and finger. He held the hair towards Moxie with a wide grin on his face.

"I'm a teacher."

The monster let out one last shriek before it simply shrunk into a tiny orb the size of a marble that floated just out of arms reach from Moxie and Alistair.

"This last step is for you, Moxie", Izuku said. "We are the embodiments of these Virtues. But you encapsulate all of them."

"Kindness," Shoto said.

"Charity," Katsu said.

"Chastity," Lloyd said.

"Humility," Abel cheered.

"Patience," Leo whispered.

"Temperance," James grinned with a wink.

"And diligence," Izuku said. "You and all of the students of this Class 1-A, of this entire generation, you are the ones who will protect our world. Our loved ones. Our homes. And finally…the hope that everyone holds…that tomorrow will be just a little bit better than today. The hope that for those lost souls out there…that they will find something worth living for. And they'll realize just how special and important and loved they are. And that someone like you will be there to help them on the journey."

Izuku knelt down and reached the strand of hair out to Moxie.

"Like every person, whether they have a quirk that can shoot neon or a quirk that makes gumbo spicier, or no quirk at all, we all have something within us that makes us just as capable of being a hero as All Might himself."

Izuku reached out for Moxie's hand. He grabbed it and clasped the hair within her fist.

"You, Moxie, are that person to lead people through the dark. You're the person that will make those lost souls feel a little less lonely. And you're the one that will show the world that evil and resentment are no match for love and truth."

The rest of the group surrounded Izuku and Moxie with Alistair climbing to his feet. They stood in a semi-circle and watched as Izuku wiped away a tear.

"Moxie Lee, you too can become a hero. And you, too, can become the greatest hero that ever lived."

Moxie wanted to say that she was shocked as her teacher cried with happiness in front of her. She wanted to say she was euphoric for being able to receive such words from her and all of the people surrounding her. She also wanted to say that she was scared because they were still in a white abyss with an evil being watching them the entire time.

Instead, she simply smiled and nodded.

"Great," Izuku said. "Now…eat this!"

Moxie looked down at the strand of hair in her grasp.

"Huh?"

"It's how I can pass my quirk on to other people," Izuku said. "The quirk I have, I wasn't exactly born with it. I received it from All Might."

"Hah," Abel said. "I knew it!"

He was promptly elbowed in the rib cage by James who came over just to do that action. "Shut up, you dumb racoon."

Moxie stared at Izuku, but then she shrugged. "We'll, I reckon this isn't the strangest thing to happen to me today. Might as well."

Moxie placed the hair on her tongue and chewed on the strand. With a wince, she swallowed it and felt the strand slither down her esophagus. Once it disappeared into her stomach, she gasped and flexed her hands open.

A brilliant golden light gleamed around Moxie's entire being. The calming warmth tickled her skin with tendrils of lightning running up her body from her feet all the way up to the top of her head. The cloud of electricity rose upward as if it were scanning a new member to admit into the One-For-All family. Her charcoal eyes flashed red once more before reverting back to their normal state.

When finished, Moxie felt more alive than ever before. The energy straightened up her back, and she felt the strength of a million Pro-Heroes invading her bloodstream. Her vision sharpened, and the colors around her popped into eruptions of purple and pink. The electricity that spat out of her being now appeared to be celebrating a new hero that had risen.

Now, Moxie turned towards the tiny ball that was once All-For-One. Without any advice, she knew exactly what she needed to do. The voice that had instructed her throughout this ordeal of a day told her just what to do. She faced the orb and walked right up to it.

"One percent power," Moxie whispered to herself. She had no idea where that phrase came from, but her body moved before she could have a chance to process what would transpire next.

Moxie held out her finger pressed to the pad of her thumb. She placed it right next to All-For-One and inhaled one last crisp breath.

"Louisiana Smash!"

Moxie flicked All-For-One. The charged energy within her dispelled from both her new quirk and the red crystal around her neck. The explosion rocked the participants around her to the core. All of them doubled over and shielded their face from any possible debris. Moxie disappeared within a cloud of light red and yellow dust that swirled around her body like a cocoon. The flash blinded everyone for a second, and the white landscape was dotted by the large glow of Moxie's awakened quirk.

Then….

As soon as it came….

Nothing.

The dust evaporated, and Moxie stood in front of the infinite monochrome that stretched to unknown regions.

She turned around. Looking immaculate and unharmed, she shrugged. "I reckon that was easy. What did y'all think?"

Abel cheered and threw his hands up into the air in celebration. "Yeah. In your face, demon spawn! Gonna go to the roadhouse and have a real good time tonight!"

Alistair ran over and crushed Moxie into a hug. Moxie returned the hug, although her lungs were compressed from the pressure.

"Moxie, you did it," Alistair said. "I'm so sorry for what I did. Thank you for saving me."

"S'alright, Alistair," Moxie said. "You fought back. Couldn't have done it without you."

"You were phenomenal, Moxie," Lloyd clapped a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I had a feeling that, one day, your devotion to God and your Class would see us through. Like Moses ushering people across the Red Sea. Or Noah pushing animals on the ark. Or-."

James wrenched his arms between Alistair and Moxie and split them apart. "Hey, hey, hey! Hands off my girl, chameleon! And back off, you manatee," he shouted at Lloyd.

Before Moxie could say anything else, James grabbed her face and planted a massive kiss right on her lips. He kept up the barrage as Moxie giggled from his tingling breath stroking her cheek.

"James," Moxie laughed. "Please stop kissing me!"

Her smile dropped when she saw Katsu staring at the two in an awkward fashion. She tugged James back from his grasp and separated from him. She straightened out her hair and cleared her throat.

"So…how long has this been going on?" Katsu asked.

"Okay, as fun as this is," Leo said. "We're still freaking stuck in some weird empty space. Anyone got ideas to get us out? I mean, I still got some questions about all of this."

As luck would have it, the universe did have an idea. Behind Moxie, a black door popped up from the ground.

"Wha-?" James asked. "When did that-."

He was interrupted by the door opening. Everybody gasped when they saw the tall figure with curled black hair poke his head out of the door. Behind him, loud music played over a DJ turntable with people dancing and cheering in the background.

"I think I can help with that," the strange accented voice drones into the room.

"No way," Abel said. "It's…it's…."

"Abel, don't think too much. It may not come out right," the man of indeterminate age slurred.

"Principal Tommy!" Everybody shouted in unison.

"Oh, hi Deku. Ha ha ha." Principal Tommy said.