"Do you think anyone is watching us right now?"

Drake looked up at Megan. The girl sat down and handed Drake a water bottle that Martel had within his void space. Drake grabbed the bottle and crinkled it in his hand. He sat on a burnt tire and stared at Blake's body now covered in a torn black tarp Izuku had found laying around. He placed Robyn underneath the same tarp and pushed both of them together. There would be no funeral arrangements for either him nor Bakugo with the blonde Pro-Hero dragged to the side and dumped by a heap of gravel. The rest of the class were despondent. Some of them had quiet tears streaming down their faces. Others could only give off faraway stares into the distance.

Nobody really spoke to one another for the few minutes after the harsh realization of their situation. Martel scoured through his tablet for any other exit point they could use. On the top of the screen, a countdown to the shutdown of the servers ticked to just under an hour remaining. The remaining students sat together on various piles of garbage with the gasoline and sewage aroma polluting their senses. Izuku still sat at the center with Hunter's head in his lap. He had an ice pack on his head that Martel gave to them, but the boy's breathing was still shallow with the occasional shudder. He was not far away from death himself.

Anton, in the corner with Lloyd, took out the headset he was given by the visitors from the other universes. He examined the large glasses in his hand and saw the refelction of his green skin on the reflective exterior facing away from his eyes were he to put them on his face. Curious, he set the visor onto his ears and looked at the world. The sight of the destruction around him was the same. Then, he pressed a button on the side. A grass green light illuminated the eyewear, and lines of code ran over the screen on the glasses.

It's the backup code.

"You're right," Anton said. He sighed and leaned back onto a broken lamppost. "Doesn't do us much good now, though."

Hey, boss. I wanted you to know that...in the real world...I know we had our problems. But you were a great host.

"Thanks, Pathogen," Anton said.

I mean, I caused the death of many kings and world leaders, but somehow, you were able to not die. Although, I admit, your family's food was part of the reason. However, the whole reason was because I actually liked you. You're funny, and you're actually talented and nice. You just gotta let more people in, boss.

"Okay, Pathogen," Anton said. "I'll make sure to do that in the next life."

You better. Cause if you get reincarnated, I'm coming over. Don't care if your another person or you get turned into a manatee. I'll be there.

"I can't wait."

Over by the flat tire, Drake licked his chapped lips and rubbed the temples of his numb head. He would rather focus on his impending doom than have to deal with strange theological questions from anybody.

"Do you mean spiritually?" Drake asked.

"I don't know," Megan plopped down next to Drake on the tire. "I really don't have any more ideas. The Syndicate, the people I was working with to get the Sea Scrolls, they haven't responded to any of my distress messages. And I doubt they know where we're located in the real world. Which really makes me wonder. Did they know we were stuck here? I knew them from my father well before I entered here."

"Unless they have a plan," Drake said. "It doesn't matter."

Megan sighed and rested her head on Drake's shoulders. "You're right. It's a shame. I was just getting used to you boys. I mean, you're normally quiet, but the other boys in this class are all loud and obnoxious. Especially Lloyd. I never liked him. Well, I do now. But only because we're all about to die. Or be deleted from existence. I'm still not sure exactly."

Drake ran a hand through his hair and scanned the quiet students looking downtrodden at the wreckage around them. "I just feel like there has to be one other method. Would Void really have only one exit chamber? Wouldn't there be a backup?"

"That remote Bakugo had," Megan said. "That may have been a device that transported him without the chamber. Without a computer."

Drake pulled out the remote from his pocket. He swiped it from Bakugo's corpse after he had stopped crying over Blake. What remained of the remote was crushed metal and chips torn on top of a motherboard. Martel had already deemed it beyond repair without some materials he had no ownership of with his quirk. Drake crumbled the bits of computer hardware in his fist and squeezed it until his knuckles turned white.

"I wish I had all the facts," Drake said. "If I did, I could solve this."

"Story of our lives," Megan said. "I hope at least we'll be known for this. We might even become famous. Besides, my dad and Leo's dad are both big Pro-Heroes. I'm sure they've been going to the press about us."

"Then it's a testament to how well-hidden we are," Drake said. "That they still haven't found us."

"We can always dream."

Next to Drake and Megan, Moxie had left a dejected Izuku and decided to sit in between Alistair and James. She swung her legs on the bed of a pickup truck as she twirled her fingers together. She sighed and rested her head in her hand with her elbow digging into the grey stockings on her legs.

"Mister Deku has no answers," Moxie said. "We're stuck."

"At least we got to save the universe," James said. "And a whole bunch of others."

"And you took down that angry blonde guy," Alistair said. "That's gotta be worth something."

"Shut up," James grumbled. "You're the cause of almost all of this."

"Excuse you," Alistair said. "I had nothing to do with you all being trapped in here. In fact, I did help in a way."

James frowned and glared across Moxie at the boy. "Oh, really? I can't wait to hear this."

"Well," Alistair smiled towards Moxie. "I kept Moxie quite a bit of company throughout this year. Y'know, I was the one that said she should give you a chance."

"No you didn't," James growled. "Stop lying."

"It's true," Alistair said. "Isn't it, Moxie?"

Moxie chuckled with the ghost of a blush on her face. She stroked her brown hair dotted with pebbles and gravel flicking off her mane. "I guess he helped me a little in that department."

James rolled his eyes and leaned on the side of the truck. "I can already tell you would be the most annoying of any of the class. Even more than Lloyd. At least he isn't some pretty-boy Brit holding a stick."

"Aw," Alistair fluttered his eyelashes. "You think I'm pretty."

James rolled his eyes and got off the truck. He trudged towards Leo to converse with him. Moxie scooted over to give herself and Alistair more room. She gripped the ruby crystal in her hand and stared deep into the gem.

"So, Alistair," Moxie said. "What did this crystal mean to you? Where'd it come from?"

Alistair faced her and leaned close towards the crystal with a small grin on his face. "Ah, I never told you. That crystal was in my family for generations. It gave good luck to the person who wore it. Where I'm from, luck is actually a magic of some form, so we take heirlooms like that very seriously. It was passed down from my grandfather to my father to me. Though, I admit, it didn't do me much good in the luck department. The sport I played at my school, we lost almost every match. My grades were horrible. Though, I was always quite popular, especially with the ladies."

"Yeah, right," Moxie laughed. "The moment you open your mouth, I bet you scared all of them away."

"My words were my biggest enemy," Alistair said. "I got detention quite often for some choice words to my professors. Things took a turn for the worst in sixth year. A strange object arrived at my school, and I went to look for it. However, I was attacked by some evil spirit that stated I was the personification of the sin of lust. A strange energy filled me from the crystal, and I was more powerful than I could imagine. However, that changed when I searched for more of these sins to defeat. And...I fell in that tree and died a particularly embarrassing death."

Moxie frowned as Drake and Megan gave an odd look towards the two. "Wait a second. So, the crystal helped you in your universe. But...It stopped you in this universe."

"Well, in a way, it did help me," Alistair said. "It freed me from All-For-One and helped defeat it."

"Wait a second," Drake stood up. He waved at Leo across the clearing. "Leo?"

Leo perked up and shot to his feet. "Yes?"

Drake pointed at the crystal around Moxie's neck. "The crystal? Where did Moxie get it?"

Leo blinked and took a step towards the center. "The what?"

"The crystal," Drake said. "Remember? We talked about the crystal? Who sent it and from where?"

"I don't know," Leo said. "But it must of been from some other dimension if it came with that bloke," he pointed at Moxie.

"Exactly," Drake turned to Megan. "It came from somewhere else. Another universe. Another universe!"

Megan gasped and jumped up next to Drake. "Yes. It came from a machine. Leo! You said it was from a machine."

"Just like the one that was destroyed," Leo shouted. "The machine in Steve Buscemi's house!"

Moxie exchanged a glance at Alistair and climbed off the pickup truck bed. "Wait a second? Will that work? The machine was a bit smaller? I don't know if it will work for all of us."

"It's our only hope," Drake said. "Everyone! Listen up!"

The class gathered around Drake.

"We have an idea," Drake said. "Moxie, Anton and Leo know where there is another machine. It's at Steve Buscemi's house in Malibu."

"Huh?" Some members of the class asked in unisons.

"I know it's weird," Drake said. "But time is running out, and it's our only shot. We just need help in getting there."

"Great," James said. "Hey, Martel. Why don't you pull out the bus you have in that cartoon space of yours."

"I don't believe I have any buses," Martel said. "However, I do have a hover board that I can attach an inflatable wagon to."

"An inflatable wagon?" Drake asked.

"Okay, can we focus," Izuku said. He stood up in the center of the class and circled the eyes peering at him. "We have to work together. Drake, how many people can you fly?"

"Normally, two."

"Okay, that three down," Izuku said. "Martel, your hoverboard and wagon. How many for that?"

"It's not the safest method," Martel said. "But I can squeeze four."

"Excellent," Izuku looked to the rest of the group. "So that's seven. Which leaves us with ten. Think, there has to be some way we can get them over to his house. Anyone that can fly or run for a long enough distance to get to Malibu."

Honk! Honk!

The students looked around for the source of the car honk. Then, the sound of rumbling engines rushed towards the wreckage.

Two pink low-rider Cadillacs squealed on their brakes and spun into the dirt clearing in the middle of the wreckage. The cars spun around in donuts and slid to a halt with a round of dust splattering on Izuku's torso.

"Yo, what's up, kids," Cletus shouted in one car.

"It's ya boys here to save some heroes," Raimundo shouted out.

"Oh, hey," Moxie waved. "It's the crazy guys that have been around us most of the year for some reason."

"Crazy? We loko, girl," Raimundo shouted. "Now get on in!"

Izuku scrambled into the first car he could reach. He hopped into the passenger seat. Not one to turn down a random gift from the heavens, he buckled up and saw Leo and James pushing Hunter into the seat behind him. Moxie held up the boy from the other side and squeezed them into the back packed like a tin can of sardines.

Before the car zoomed off, Izuku gave one last look at Bakugo's body. The wave of odd emotions still flashed over him, but Izuku flashed a brave face and narrowed his eyes at Bakugo. Izuku had closed the man's eyes his own hands, and the blonde hair still poked out from where the body was stashed.

Izuku shook his head. He had a mission to focus on. If Bakugo still had a body in the real world, then at least he could say goodbye that way.

The cars raced out of the wreckage towards Malibu. Martel lugged the wagon with Abel, Katsu, Austin, and Synaes hanging on for dear life. Drake flew above with the two covered bodies of Blake and Robyn in tow.

Despite nearly crashing and getting whiplash from the pairs crazy driving, the class made it to the front of Steve's house. The class piled out of the cars and wagon as Drake landed with Blake and Robyn's covered bodies in his grasp.

Izuku slammed the car door shut and bowed to Raimundo and Cletus. "Thank you so much. We'd be lost without you."

"Least we could do," Raimundo said.

"Yeah, we shouldn't of tried to squish you and your students earlier this year. Lo siento, know what I mean?" Cletus said.

Izuku glanced behind him at the class. He bit his lip with a guilty twinge of his eyebrows.

"Hey, look," Izuku said. "I don't know if you realize this, but-."

"Nah, man," Cletus said. "We know all about that digital universe shit. No big deal to us."

"Yeah, man," Raimundo said. "We just like vibing."

The cars screeched off the curb out into the highway. Izuku could only shrug his shoulders. Then, he ran back towards the front door where his students congregated.

Bang!

Izuku kicked the front door down. After knocking for a few seconds, his patience disappearing faster than the chipped paint on the front of the mocha oak door torn in two.

"We only have three minutes," Martel said with his tablet in hand.

"Lead the way," Izuku said to Moxie, Leo and Anton who pushed past him. The rest of the class ran behind him through the foyer into the kitchen area. Moxie spun by the doorway to the basement and grabbed the doorknob. Without control of her new quirk, a strange red heat glowed from the doorknob.

The door flew off its hinges and tumbled down the steps. Moxie gasped and looked at her hand which already had several bruises formed on it. She cried out at her wobbling hand that slunk in her grasp.

"Mister Deku," Moxie said. "I think I broke my hand."

"Don't worry," Izuku gestured for the class to rush down the stairs. "It's normal! Everyone in!"

The class rushed down. Izuku grabbed Hunter in the wagon and carried him in his arms down the steps. The pounding of feet echoed between the narrow grey sheetrock walls and the golden railing dull under the dim moonlight shining from the kitchen. Izuku jumped onto the surface and bounded around the corner to the steel door at the bottom of the stairwell.

Moxie pulled the silver handle. The door slid away with a hydraulic hiss and revealed the basement covered in chrome walls and steel rafters. She ran over the metallic tile and reached the marble pedestal at the center with the red lever. Moxie grabbed the plastic handle and pulled it backwards.

The room rocked the students to their knees. Smoke slithered through the room with a roar from the fake wall before them cracking open and sliding to the side. Moxie held onto the pedestal and kept on her feet. Izuku stumbled and leaned on the wall. Leo and Anton, already used to this movement, closed their eyes and crouched down to maintain balance.

When the rumbling halted, most of the students lay flat on their backs. A few of them groaned with Izuku picking Hunter back up in his arms. He breathed out when he saw the small platform in front of a wall of machines blinking a rainbow of neon lights and hummed with aluminum walls twinkling under the ivory fluorescent lights that burned above.

Anton ran over to the computer. He hovered his fingers above the keyboard; they trembled above the letters as the code ran over the screen on his glasses.

Anton turned around to the class. "I don't known how to use this."

Martel ran towards Anton. He pulled out a connection cable and plugged one end into the CPU. He grabbed Anton's glasses and plucked them off his face. Martel found a small port on the side and pressed the end of the cable into the glasses. The frames flashed a bright lime color and blinked.

On the screen, a sign popped up.

CODE UPLOADING.

"Alright, everybody," Izuku said. "On the platform."

The students scrambled for the platform. Much smaller than the exit chamber at the pawn shop, the teenagers scrunched together with their elbows digging into the midsection of the next person. Drake slipped between Megan and Anton with Robyn and Blake over his shoulders. He tapped his foot and swallowed to quench his parched throat as his heart palpitated within his chest.

"How much time left?" Izuku asked.

"One minute," Martel said.

Beep. Beep. The alarm rang through the room with the lights flashing red in the ceiling.

"The code is now running," Martel said. "However, we are five seconds behind the server shutdown."

The class let out a collective gasp. All eyes fell on Izuku for some guidance. Izuku stepped off the platform to Martel. "What? Can we speed it up?"

Martel typed some more code into the computer. He clicked on a button which caused the glasses on the desk to glow red along with the light above.

"I am manually overriding minimum power limit. Each transport uses slightly more power than needed for safety. If we use only the absolute minimum power for sixteen people, we will beat the shutdown by five seconds."

"Sixteen," Izuku repeated. "Martel, we have seventeen."

"I must stay behind to initiate the transport," Martel said. "This override must be done manually."

"What?" Izuku darted for Martel and grabbed his arm. "Martel, no. You don't have to do that."

"I do," Martel gave a blank stare up at Izuku who shook him. "The system was designed that way to preven-."

"I don't mean that," Izuku said. "I mean you shouldn't! I'll stay behind! Just tell me what to do!"

Katsu raised his hand. "I hate to say it, but Robyn or Blake don't seem very alive anymore."

"What is wrong with you?" Abel said. "We're bringing them back whether they're alive or not."

"But why," Katsu said. "They're probably dead."

"We're not leaving Blake," Drake said in a dark voice towards Katsu.

"But if it's to save someone we know is still alive-."

"Bro, We were dead like ten minutes ago," Abel said. "We don't know what will happen in the real world. Maybe they'll wake up."

"I doubt it," Katsu said.

"Hey, sponge," James said. "We're not leaving nobody behind," he peered his head over Lloyd's shoulder towards Martel. "So get on up here, robot! Before I make you."

The room trembled. A bright light flickered above the platform with dense fog blowing out from the walls. Martel held onto the shaking desk with its sides while Izuku grabbed onto Martel's arm.

"Please release me," Martel said. "This is the best way for all of us."

"I'll do it, Martel!" Izuku said. "Just let me!"

"The world needs you, Mister Deku," Martel said. "It doesn't need me."

"You're wrong," Izuku said. "Stop it."

"The world doesn't need a robot like myself."

"You're wrong," Izuku placed his hands on Martel's shoulders. "You're as much a human being as everyone else, Martel. You have a reason for being just like everyone else. Period."

Martel looked up at Izuku. The countdown continues under thrity seconds with Martel ripping his gaze away from Izuku's eyes and down towards his chest. He let out a sigh and pulled his shoulders back in resolve.

"Thank you, Mister Deku. But this is my reason for being. To free you from my mother's prison. Thank you for giving me this chance."

Izuku hugged Martel. While he had never had much interaction with the boy, he thought many nights about the predicament Martel had been placed within. Finding out your mother was the cause of such trouble, along with finding out he was made along a long line of robotic clones would horrify anybody. However, Martel remained as strong as ever. To Izuku, he was far more human in that moment than most Pro-Heroes.

Izuku let go and rushed back to the platform. The rest of the class huddled together with Izuku and Moxie right in the middle at the front of the line. Moxie wiped away a tear from her cheek at the sight of Martel typing away the final line of code for the override. His tablet on the desk, Moxie could see the clock tick down to the final ten seconds. Martel raised his head over the top of the computer monitor and scanned the class one final time.

"Goodbye," Martel said.

His finger rested on the button to override the power limit. The code rushed over the screen. Then, with eight seconds left, the script ran to the end of the screen.

OVERRIDE SUCCESS. RUN IN 5.

4.

3.

2.

The world slowed to a minuscule crawl. Seconds stretched to decades with time flickering like a film strip running at twelve frames per second.

Martel was just about to press the button. Moxie's sadness evaporated into shock when she gaped at the bright funnel of code that whipped behind Martel like a twister.

Edith Void appeared within the column. The light disappeared around her, and she raised up what seemed to be Bakugo's grenade gauntlet. Pointed right at the class, she grabbed the pin and pulled it.

Moxie's grey eyes reflected the brilliant light of the flames that erupted towards them. They travelled fast enough to destroy the entire machine just seconds before the class could leave. The fire screamed towards them, and the heat warped around her like a snake about to suffocate it's prey.

Without a second thought, Moxie leapt from the platform and pushed out her uninjured hand. She felt the power of One-For-All charge within her legs, and a massive clash rang out from her feet colliding with the floor of the platform.

Moxie flew forward towards the blast. Behind her, Izuku screamed and held out his hand to reach her. He jumped from the platform and dived for Moxie. His fingers just missed her foot as he flung himself through the air and flailed his hands to somehow grab her.

Next to him, Leo rushed for the pair. James gasped and tried to grab him, but Leo slipped through his fingers. The boy rolled off the platform with his hands outstretched for Moxie.

At the center of the room, Moxie smashed her fist into the flames. The fire dissipated and ran over Moxie's body like a golden halo. The eruption swam out parallel to the impact and shielded the platform from the blast. A harsh wind blew over the classmates that could only stare in horror at them flying away from them.

James lunged for the edge before Lloyd held out his arm and smacked James' chest. The blow pushed James back into the platform and underneath the bright light that enveloped the class.

Martel, who had been momentarily distracted by the blast, whipped back around and saw the coping down to run the backup code had finished. On his tablet, two seconds remained.

With an explosion of tangerine fire and ruby sparks dancing over his head in the thick, glycerin-polluted air of the basement, Martel pressed the button to intimate the transport.

The platform flashed with a blinding gleam that trembled over Martel's gaze. The outlines of his class melded with the white and then disappeared with the end of the flash. Then, he glanced at his tablet showcasing the shutdown of the server.

Two.

One.

Zero.

The basement disintegrated into a wall of code before dying into darkness like an extinguished flame. Moxie fell onto an invisible floor that matched the black that surrounded them. She leaned upward on her forearms and stares at Edith who stood with an amused smirk on her face.

Izuku and Leo fell on their faces. When Izuku rose back up, he saw the dark expanse that consumed them. He whipped his head around and saw nothing but a terrifying black that stretched towards nowhere.

Black.

Black.

Infinite Darkness.

Izuku gasped. The sound of his breathing rang loud and full on his ears like he was wearing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. There were no ancillary noises. His ears rang none, and he couldn't hear his shoes moving on the floor he could not see. All the sound that remained came from the voices of the people around him.

"Congratulations," Edith said. "You did it. You got your class out of the digital universe I made. The first to do so."

Edith sat down on an invisible chair. She crossed her legs and threw away Bakugo's gauntlet. It rolled and kept rolling until it evaporated into the darkness. Moxie got up to her feet. She stretched out her wrist and legs. All of the injuries from early were gone, and her clothes were in a perfect state.

Moxie turned back to Izuku. She gasped at the sight of Martel helping Leo up from falling on what could be perceived of the ground. Behind them, Alistair stood with his hands clasped by his waist with a mournful expression.

"Alistair," Moxie asked. "Leo? Mister Deku, why are you all here?"

"Oh, they just wanted to play hero," Edith waved her hand around in dismissal. "But you, Moxie! You're the real hero. Because of you, the consciousness of all of your classmates are being uploaded into their bodies as we speak. I'm sure they'll be waking up in their tubes any second."

Moxie frowned. "Tubes?"

Moxie yelped when Izuku rushed past Edith towards Moxie. "Edith! What did you d-."

Edith took out a small remote control and waved it at Izuku. "Ah, ah, ah! This remote is the only way to get out of here. Come closer, and I'll break it."

Izuku sneered with a look of rage Moxie had never seen in his eyes. "You evil…bitch. Where the hell are we?"

"It's pretty simple," Edith said. "Project Daedalus was always intended as a long-form project. Create a digital universe, put people inside, and…see what happens! Initially, I was just interested in creating a perfect version of my Martel. I would finish him, and then take him out to the real world where we would live in sunshine and rainbows. But, as you've seen with my precious Martel, this technology worked so well that I wondered why I shouldn't just keep going. That's what science is, right? Stretch the limits of creativity. Create an artificial intelligence that would be indistinguishable to human beings. We were trying to make both a world, and a cast of characters, that would seem as real as where you're from, Izuku. The real world."

"Cast of characters," Izuku shouted with spit flailing from the tip of his tongue. "You kidnapped children. And me!"

"Did you not hear what I said," Edith said. "We were making a world…and the cast."

Behind Izuku, Moxie frowned and narrowed her eyes. The wording from Edith made her ponder while Izuku shouted at her.

"Why?" Izuku said. "Why all of this?"

"This technology can be used for anything," Edith said. "Imagine starving kids in Africa. Veterans coming home from war without any legs. The elderly with nobody left in their lives. Why wouldn't they want to enter something like this? Throw in the occasional Pro-Hero who lost both his wife as son in an accident he caused, and you got a self-sustaining venture."

"What?" Izuku asked under his breath. "But Bakugo only lost his-."

"Nope. He lost both," Edith said. "He was able to save the son during this simulation, though. But in reality," Edith ran a hand across their throat.

"No. No, I would have remembered that," Izuku said.

"We'll, I hope you wouldn't," Edith said. "Seeing how we erased your memory from the last few classes."

Izuku blinked and felt a metallic pang stab at his heart. "What do you mean?"

"Every single simulation, you've been in here with Bakugo," Edith said. "You've been within this same cycle for over five years."

Izuku fell to his knees. He held his chest and panted. He knew he was stuck in this world for a period of time, but he could not fathom being in this world for more than just a few months.

"No," Izuku said. "That's not possible!"

"Bakugo kidnapped you five years ago and forced you into Daedalus," Edith said. "Every time his wife and son died, he made us wipe your memory and restart the system. You've just been lucky. The last few times, his son at least made it a few years before dying of something else. A villain attack? Pneumonia? The simulation is surprisingly creative."

"And you've been doing this with random children you kidnap?" Izuku screamed.

"Well, that's what we told you," Edith said. "We thought it could get you to pipe down and stop trying to escape, which you've tried to do quite a few times in the last couple of simulations. We got a lot of circumstantial evidence that would have you roped in court case after court case for years. The good news for you, though, is that none of it involves kidnapping."

Izuku sat on his knees and examined Edith's smug face. "Why wouldn't it be."

"Because your students aren't real."

Izuku turned towards the remaining group behind him. Moxie cupped her hand around her mouth and sniffled. Leo's mouth trembled while Martel could only stand and stare back at Izuku with regret.

"This world isn't real," Izuku said. "The year they've had isn't real. But they exist."

"No, they don't," Edith said. "All of their thoughts, history, and memories are fake. They don't exist in the real world. In a way, they are all just like Martel. Minus having my DNA, of course."

"Mister Deku," Moxie said in a quiet voice. "It's true, isn't it?"

"No," Izuku said. "No, they're real."

"They are computer files," Edith said. "They do have real bodies, but they were artificially created in our labs. They're floating around in tubes at Void Industries right now."

"Why…why would you even do such a thing?" Izuku said.

"Much like with Martel," Edith said. "We planned on uploading their consciousness to their bodies. We would free them, eventually. However, it would only be after they became the perfect obedient heroes. We would create them, put them out in the world as their agency, and bask in the glory of "finding" so many great heroes. It's a win-win."

"But what about their families?" Izuku asked. "What about their quirks?"

"All fake," Edith said. "Concoctions made by a bunch of character creators we found online. Some of them were imaginative, but we couldn't use all the stuff they put on their applications. I especially liked Blake's creator. She was much more thorough than some of those others."

"So…my family," Moxie said looking down at the black floor. "My dog. My home. All I am is just…floating around in a tube."

"Y'know, that's the weird part, Moxie," Edith said. "You, specifically, don't exist at all."

Moxie stared like a dead woman poking her head in a noose. She stammered out a few syllables before falling into a pit of silence.

"No code for you exists," Edith said. "Well, not code submitted into the system by our creators. You are purely Aritfical Intelligence. And yet, here you are! A simple Cajun girl somehow getting into Class 1-A. Your adventures with Alistair. The new holder of One-For-All! Shows how smart Deku is at choosing an heir."

"One-For-All doesn't make mistakes," Izuku shouted. "Moxie is the right person. Because that's who she is. A person."

Edith sighed and twirled the remote in her hand. "Sadly, with all the hubbub from your precious All-For-One and those strange glitches of people from other "universes," we've attracted the attention of the feds. They'll be coming to investigate any moment now, so we have to shut the whole thing down and move it to our island facility in Montserrat. But don't worry, we'll start up again with a whole new cast of characters. As far as you all are concerned, though…well…your fate will be much faster and less painful than Bakugo."

Edith rested her thumb on the red button of the remote. Izuku cried out and held out his palm towards her.

"Wait, Edith!" Izuku shouted. "What about the students that made it? If what you said is true, they'll be alive!"

"Nothing a few baseball bats can't solve," Edith said when she held up the remote to her head. "They'll be too weak after waking up, anyway. Never born, never real."

"Edith, wait!"

Izuku's screams fell into silence when Edith pressed the button. Behind her, an odd flicker of lavender color mixed with the white code enrapturing her body before squeezing into a funnel of white. Then, the flash dispersed and left Izuku reaching out into darkness.

Izuku collapsed onto his arms. His fists balled up and shook. His green eyes filled with tears as the endless black covered him like a poison dripping into his lungs. He seethed and gnashes his teeth, and he also cried and coughed out spittle that wracked his entire body.

"Mister Deku," Moxie kneeled down and rubbed his back. She also was in tears, but she bit her lip and focused on calming down her teacher. "Mister Deku, please stop crying."

"Moxie, I'm so sorry," Izuku said in between gasps for air. "I don't know why this has happened. Why, God. Why?"

Moxie hugged Izuku. She placed her arms around his midsection and pulled him up to kneel with her. Izuku opened his eyes and faced the dark abyss only illuminated by the four other people around him. Beyond these people was nothing but an eternal gulf that would keep their souls erased from salvation forever. The thought of never seeing sunshine again. His mother. The Central Platform. His friends. Heaven. It was too much for Izuku as all seemed lost. There was no facade of stay strong for his students anymore. He shut his eyes, a different black covering his eyes as Moxie kept rubbing his back.

Moxie was not faring much better. Her entire being was nothing but a few lines of code in a program. She should not have even been an important character in this story. She was just an aberration that was picked at random to be apart of this tale. The memories of being in the bayou and her entire family were false. The pain of her mother committing suicide, of her father being an alcoholic, of her brother and her dog being too far away to see when she decided to go to her new school. It was all just fiction.

After a minute, the two began to calm down. Izuku wiped away a tear from Moxie's eye. She looked up and was faced with the darkness that looked overhead. She saw Alistair walk up to her from the corner of her eye and sniffled.

"Alistair," Moxie said. "Why are you here?"

Alistair gave Moxie a sad smile. "I didn't belong in your universe, Moxie. And without All-For-One's power, I guess I don't belong in your real universe, either."

Moxie gave off a sad chuckle. "I guess that makes two of us."

Alistair gave her a charming smile and outstretched his arm. Moxie grabbed his soft, warm hand. Halfway standing, Moxie grabbed Izuku's arm. The dejected man looked up at Moxie's grey eyes. Despite the tears, they were strong and filled with resolve.

Her look rejuvenating his composure, Izuku latched his hand onto her arm and rose up along with Moxie. They stood next to Alistair and faced Leo and Martel.

"I am truly sorry," Martel said. "I was only aware of my situation, not of anyone else. I was tricked by mother into believing only I was fake."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Izuku said. "Martel, you're a good kid. All of you are. And all of you deserve a chance at life as much as I do."

"Where even are we?" Moxie asked. "Is this hell?"

"A vast nothingness that we will have to traverse forever?" Alistair asked. "How fitting is that? No fire or brimstone. Just…nothing."

"No," Izuku shook his head. "No. You all don't deserve that. I mean…isn't that the point of life? You live on Earth. You act right. You do right by others. You die. And then you get to go to the afterlife. Being in nothing for eternity…that's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Izuku," Alistair said.

"Life isn't fair, but death is," Izuku said and raked his eyes around the small circle of people. "Or, at least, what happens after death is. If there's one thing that's fair, it's the afterlife. This can't be it. No, there has to be something we're missing. Something left that can help us."

"I have food in my space for a few days," Martel said. "Something like that?"

"No," Izuku said. "Something that can save us. I know you may not be able to make a transport platform, but we need to think what could get us back home. What could upload our consciousness back to our bodies."

Leo held up his hand. "Professor Deku, I have an idea."

Izuku looked down at Leo and frowned. "Leo, why did you even step off the platform. You could be in reality right now?"

"Because," Leo said in a gentle tone. "When I saw you leave the platform, I knew you would need help to get home. And I think I have an idea."

The circle enclosed in front of Leo. All eyes on him, he dug his shoe into the ground and slid it underneath where he stood. He clasped his hands behind him and peered at his feet.

"My quirk has two facets," Leo said. "One is making small objects reverse in time. The other is creating my own time space thy runs concurrent to our own. I can effect objects and people within this space. It's how I beat Moxie in that exercise at the beginning of the year."

"I remember that," Moxie said. "You just popped up like you were there the whole time."

Leo nodded. "I don't know if it would work here, but I could take us back in time to just a few seconds before Edith left. If we all grab onto the remote with her, maybe it will take us back home."

"But you said you never transported other people with you," Izuku said. "And it's never been beyond five minutes."

"We're still within the time range," Leo said. "And you're right. I've never done anyone else. Let alone four other people. But…it's our only hope."

"You passed out for the whole day before," Izuku said. "What would happen to you if you did this?"

"I could die," Leo said. "But I'd rather that than be stuck here. I'd rather be dead as a hero."

Alistair cleared his throat. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm stuck here for real."

Moxie took off her necklace with the crystal. She walked to Alistair and held up the necklace towards him. "No, you're coming with us. We won't know if it will work till we try."

She draped the necklace around Alistair. The crystal hung over his collarbone and gleamed with a small scarlet luminescence that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.

"The crystal," Moxie said. "Remember? A power that crosses universes. And that power is One-For-All. It exists in that crystal, and now in me. Maybe, just maybe, that will be enough for you and I."

"And if it's not," Alistair said.

"Then we'll spend all of time in here. Just the two of us," Moxie grabbed Alistair's hand and gave it an assured squeeze.

"That's fine by me," Alistair said with a small smile. "You make the dark a lot less lonely."

Moxie ruffled Alistair's blonde hair and faced the rest of the group. "Alright, then here's what I'll do. I'm gonna use my original quirk to increase the natural state of Leo's power. I'll try as hard as I can, but I think we can make you strong enough for all of us."

Leo looked down at his wristwatch. "My watch stopped when we got in here, but the manual timer didn't. It's been over almost five minutes since Edith left. So, if we're going to do this, now is the time."

"Let's go," Izuku said.

"I'm ready," Moxie said.

"I will make this all up to you," Martel said.

"Same," Alistair said. "I have a story, and I intend on finishing it. For good."

Leo nodded. "Okay, then let's gather close to where Edith was."

The group rushed en masse towards the spot a few feet away from where Izuku fell. Despite not seeing any surfaces, Leo felt sure on his feet instead of floating around in space. When he got as close to where Edith stood as possible, he let out a long breath.

"Keep one hand on me at all times," Leo said. "As soon as you can, put a hand on Edith's remote. You should be able to feel it. She won't notice until I stop my quirk. At which point, if I time it right, she will press the button right as we materialize."

The group nodded at Leo. He gestured for them to come towards him. They all grabbed onto Leo's back and shoulders like their lives depended on it.

Moxie latched onto Leo's arm and hooked it with her own. It reminded Leo of walking down Hollywood Boulevard with Robyn after their long day together. A twinge of sadness added fuel to the blaze of determination raging inside him to get his friends home and make sure the people that caused this pain would pay.

"Ready." Leo said.

He closed his eyes and bended his head down as if in prayer. Leo flickered in and out of the groups view with a strange deep purple tint wrapping over the boy. His outline vibrated in and out of focus like the static of a television screen.

Moxie activated her first quirk and felt the energy flow from her towards Leo. The static traversed over Leo's body towards Moxie's. Then, it crawled up the arms of each person who held onto the boy. The light ignited around the group and cocooned them from the darkness. A harsh heat wafted over them as the black before them fizzled into a river of lavender that ran over their sight.

Then, from the translucent haze came the image Edith seated and facing away from them. Only about three feet, but it appeared to be three hundred miles between the remote in her hand and the void.

The group moved together. Their feet heavy like anchors, they shuffled forward with the heat starting to burn their skin. Leo grunted out and felt his legs already start to give way.

"Wait, Edith! What about the students that made it? If what you said is true, they'll be alive!"

A harsh ring pierced through their ears. The sound crescendoed into an ear-splitting apex. The world around them shook and vibrated with the purple film obscuring the remote that Edith showed off on her hand.

As Edith spoke, Moxie grabbed onto the remote. Then, Martel reached over and placed his hand on the surface. Alistair was next who groaned out in pain from his head shaking like he was being electrocuted.

Izuku grabbed onto the remote. He looked down at Leo who stumbled right behind Edith. He tried to lift up his arm, but his muscles began to fail.

"Nothing a few baseball bats can't solve. "They'll be too weak after waking up, anyway. Never born, never real."

Edith's thumb pressed down on the surface of the button. Then, she started to put pressure on the center.

Izuku saw Leo collapse with his knees and head buckling down. With one final stretch downward, Izuku grabbed Leo's limp arm and pulled it towards the remote. Izuku cried out, the weight no different than lifting up a building as his arms trembled and his head pounded with the ringing that deafened him.

"Edith, wait!"

Closer.

Closer.

Almost there.

The very edge of the remote.

Leo released his quirk. Right then, the entire group appeared for just an instant to their past selves. Izuku could see himself on the floor unencumbered by any screen. For just a split second, he was in the same moment as the Izuku from a few minutes prior.

Then, the swirl of coding surrounded all of them. Like an Angel covering him with immaculate ivory wings, the code enveloped Izuku and lifted him upwards past the dark. He rose further, and then he started to fly with a large gust of wind shooting him into the air like a rising star.

A swirl of colors rushed past him with his head forced upwards. The green coding along with purple ribbons swam around him. Then, it morphed into starbursts of scarlet and gold that raced past him. The soft breeze whistled past him with a gentle massage blowing through his green hair, and Izuku panted for air as a bright light blinded him at the end of this long tunnel.

Flying past the colors, Izuku splayed out his limbs at the mercy of the wind pushing him into the unknown.

Into white.