Izuku had expected a lot of things when the man – the Hero – that had taken them into custody led them to an elevator and up twenty floors. Maybe an interrogation room like in a police station, maybe just a small room. Instead, he kept a close eye on them, but didn't try to interrogate them, or take anything they had on them, and instead led them to a large room Izuku could have called a suite.
It had a large plasma tv with a six people couch in front, an internal kitchen, rich decorations all around, and doors that seemed to lead to various other rooms. It didn't escape his attention, however, that the door closed behind the group as they entered.
"I apologize for our reaction on the ground floor." The man finally said in perfect Japanese, turning around. Izuku noticed his expression had gone from the deep frown he had before to a worried, almost apologetic look. "We have had a difficult day, with another Wanderer reaching our world and wreaking havoc in the streets of the city, and we overreacted when more unknown ones crossed the door. Since you never tried anything on the elevator and while I led you here, and even let me lock you in here with me, despite the ample opportunity you had to react, I believe this is in order."
"Good." Todoroki said, looking around carefully. He didn't seem particularly content with the explanation. "What now?"
"Rest. Zuzu-9 will take care of you." He walked away, "And welcome to Los Angeles." And saying that, he opened the door, leaving. The door closed immediately.
"Quite the quick turn around." Ojiro commented, yawning, "And what even is a Zuzu-9?"
"I am a Zuzu-9." A translucent girl next to him said, once more using Japanese. Ojiro shouted and jumped back. Todoroki stiffened and his hand instinctively caught fire. Itsumi and Izuku both took a step back, activating One for All. The translucent girl chuckled, "I'm sorry, but unauthorized use of Quirks with hostile intent is a violation of my security parameters. I would ask you all to stop immediately. Also, I am a hologram, so you can't hurt me with fire or punches and kicks."
"A hologram?" Izuku asked, before looking the girl upside down. It was true. She was the green hologram of a girl around the age of fourteen, wearing casual clothing made of a shirt, pants and boots, with a long ponytail and freckles. The body wasn't quite uniformly green, with the face and arms lighter and more transparent than the clothes. Izuku looked up, to notice her body seemed to project from a small hole on the ceiling, likely where the machine that made it possible was located.
"Indeed. My name is Zuzu-9-Lambda, the Nineth Generation National Security and Protection AI produced by One for All Enterprises, Tokyo, Japan, from the universe mister Star Might marked as J-713, or AIverse. You can just call me Zuzu, Zuzu-9, Lambda or even Zu, as you prefer. Just please, do not call me Skynet or Matrix, that joke was old even for my predecessor Nana-7." She chuckled once more, a sound that Izuku found had a distinctly artificial note under it, "Well, I'm just a copy of the original Zuzu-9, or Izuko Midoriya, and unlike her, I'm actually only charged with the Star Tower and the Might Tower. I guess that makes me the Tower Security and Protection AI."
"Alright, Skyn…" The girl glared at Ojiro, who quickly took it back, "Zuzu-9. Can I ask what is going on?"
"Of course. You are currently undergoing a period of mandatory isolation. This period will terminate when we either confirm your health through observation, which will take a few days, or when you allow us to examine you. Nothing invasive," She added noticing their expression, "We just wish to confirm you are not carrying any illness or curse that our world and what we brought from other worlds can't cure. Your reports are being transferred on my database as we speak and perusing them shows no signs of you having visited a world quarantined for neither of those, although your time spent in a magic world means we will need to examine you for any lingering magic effect."
"That's efficient, I suppose." Todoroki replied, "After that, can we speak to Isaac?"
"First you will need to be interviewed, but after that, sure."
"Can we skip the interview? Atura already asked us all the questions she needed for the report."
Zuzu-9 shook her head with a small smile. "It's a necessity. Miss Atura's report is imperfect due to her limited amount of information. Your interview here will ascertain whether you belong to one of the Universes we know off, and we will also use it to determine if some of you will require training." She looked at Izuku.
"You mean me with Teleport?" He asked, pointing at himself.
"For starters, yes. But according to her report, miss Midoriya and mister Ojiro have both learned magic. We need to make sure they didn't learn any dangerous spell. There are rules and protocols the League follows regarding the spread of powers from one Universe to another." She pointed at the three of them, "Nothing much, just protocols to make sure you won't upset the balance of power in your world."
"Balance of power?"
She nodded with a smile, as she opened her hands to show a simple graphic of three spheres partially interconnected floating between them. "You see, each universe in the Multiverse belongs to one of three types, depending on what kind of power is wielded in it: the natural-born superpowers known as Quirks, the artificial powers we classify as Science, and the unexplainable powers we call Magic. Universes, as a rule, depending on their location to determine where they belong. As such, if we were to introduce a power of a different type, we theorize that universe would move to fit properly. So we are obligated to make sure you will not spread magical knowledge, and it dies with you. Otherwise, the various Currents might be disrupted."
"Didn't Isaac bring Magic back to this world?"
Zuzu-9 nodded, "Indeed, which is why this theory was born. Since mister Star Might brought back Magic and Scientific equipment from his various adventures and made the mistake of introducing it to sidekicks and a few other Heroes, we have had major technological leaps that were not expected in decades and a few 'sorcerers' appearing in this Universe. As such, we believe the universe has moved from its original position to accommodate the presence of those powers in it. Since then, we have been very careful with such a situation." She pointed at the three of them once more. "Which is why we will need to make sure you can't spread around that knowledge."
Todoroki's eyes narrowed and Izuku noticed him moving slightly to cover Ojiro and the two teens, "How would you do that?"
She shook her head, "Oh, nothing bad, we are just going to check what power it is and give you some fake device to convince people you are using Support Items to simulate the effect of the spells. A bit cumbersome, but definitely preferable to the alternative."
"And what if we decided to teach other people anyway?" Ojiro asked.
Zuzu-9 brought a finger to her chin, as if in thought. "Mmh… I suppose Mister Isaac would ask you not too, but there isn't much we can do otherwise. It's your universe, I suppose, and if you want it to change, I guess that is your choice."
"Really, that's it?"
"Sure. The League for All is not a police force. We are a shield to defend the Multiverse, and a Universe changing is not necessarily a bad thing. Whether it's a net negative or a net positive in the end is up to the people from that world. Just be aware both possibilities exists."
Izuku nodded. It made sense, and he had to admit, even he was starting to get tired, which probably didn't help in the situation. He needed his brain to work properly, and the Teleport had exhausted them all.
"We are going to sleep then." Todoroki replied, beating him to it, and judging by Itsumi opening her mouth at the same time probably her too. "Tomorrow we will take care of whatever you want us to do. I don't particularly want to go through a medical examination but it's better than waiting in here."
"Absolutely. Shall I schedule you an appointment for the test for tomorrow morning then?"
Todoroki nodded and looked at them. After a moment, Izuku and Itsumi nodded as well. Ojiro sighed. "Fine, fine. Just hope there aren't too many needles."
"Thank you very much! Don't worry, thanks to the medical tech from Midorikawa Enterprises, we can take care of all tests in a matter of hours. Your interview will likely be in the afternoon." She smiled and nodded, "Now please, feel free to rest." She said, pointing to a door on the side, entering, they found a short corridor and three double rooms richly decorated. Ojiro and Todoroki claimed the first, while Itsumi and Izuku claimed the last two.
Each room was richly decorated and included wardrobes, beds, a bathroom with a shower and a desk. Normally, Izuku would have jumped in the shower, but the Teleport had cost him a lot. He crashed into bed, barely registering that some decorative object that used to be on the bed had fallen to the ground, before he fell asleep.
-x-
Izuku was deep in his dream. He usually didn't feel that so clearly, but in this situation specifically he could tell he was dreaming. The land around him, however, was not the usual dark plain he had grown to expect in those lucid visions he had of the Vestiges. Instead, he was sitting in a room. An empty wooden table was in front of him, and a large mirror stood on the opposite side of the room, next to a door. He recognized vaguely the room, it was a questioning room from a tv show he had seen long ago.
The door opened and he blinked twice as he – another Izuku Midoriya – walked in the room. This one was identical to him, down to age and body type, even the scars on his hand, except that he was wearing a police outfit.
"Hello." The teen said, sitting down and pouring a cup of coffee to Izuku – a cup that seemed to appear out of thin hair.
"Uh, thank you, but I'm not really a fan of coffee…"
"It's tea." The other Izuku replied, and looking down, Izuku saw it was, indeed, tea, even if a moment before it had smelled and looked like coffee.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Do you know where we are?"
"A dream?" He risked. The other Izuku nodded, with a wry smile.
"Why, you are perceptive. I take you already met the Vestiges, if you can tell apart dreams and reality so easily." The Izuku chuckled, and snapped his fingers. The room changed, and both him and Izuku were now sitting in an elegant living room. Gold, silver and various other metal shone on mysterious machines and unknown decorations on the surrounding shelves.
"What is this?"
"A dream, you said it yourself. You knocked down a dreamcatcher, so I finally got to sneak in the room. I can't make it outside, since Isaac is firmly cautious and placed one on basically every door, but I got to meet you at least." He moved a hand forward, "Izuku Midoriya. Though that's a common name, isn't it?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya too, yes. You can call me Deku."
"Nice to meet you Deku. Please, use my codename as well. I'm Izzzuku. Three zzz, like you were snoring. It's important." He chuckled.
"Uh, alright. Did you say Isaac was trying to stop you? Why?"
"He says I'm a 'bad influence' on the Travelers, or that 'I shouldn't use my powers so willy-nilly." He shook his head, "I like him, but he is too much of a no fun and all business kind of guy. He needs to relax. I should turn him into a cat next time he comes to my world."
"You what?"
"Ah, sorry, nothing important. Anyway, out of curiosity, what's your power? Quirk, Science, Magic…"
"I have a Quirk, One for All." Izuku replied, and the other grinned impishly, an expression Izuku found surprising on his own face.
"Ah, called it! That's ten bucks from Spider-Man next time we meet. 'Next Wanderer is going to be a magic user', he said. I knew it was going to be a Quirk!" He chuckled, standing up, "Well, thanks man, that's all I needed to know."
"Wait, wait, but who are you?"
"I'm Izzzuku. Weren't you listening?"
"No I mean, aside from your name. Do you have some sort of dream invading Quirk, or is it something else?"
"It's magic." The other one replied, with a shrug. "Don't worry, you have Teleport, right?"
"Yes." Izuku nodded, and the other teen's smile grew wider.
"And you don't have Guide."
"No."
"Excellent!" He shouted with a wide grin, before putting his arm around Deku's shoulders, "Izuku, my man, you and me are going to know each other officially soon enough. When we do, I need you to act surprised, since otherwise Isaac will find out I snuck in here. Can you do that?"
Izuku nodded, since he couldn't really argue with him. He had the impression it wouldn't be a safe choice.
"Good! But just to make sure of that, I won't tell you anything else about myself. Don't worry, Isaac will do that. Well him or Melissa." He snapped his fingers again, and Izuku found himself back in the dark world of the Vestiges, back to having most of his body shrouded in darkness. "See you."
One last snap of his fingers, and Izzzuku disappeared completely.
"That was new." A voice commented behind Izuku, and he turned to see the Vestiges, the First standing in front of the other. "You are having quite the adventure, Nineth."
Izuku nodded.
"As always, we are here for you." He added, and the people in the shadow nodded, Daigoro showing one of his gruff smiles while Nana Shimura nodded encouragingly. "By the way, congratulations for awakening Danger Sense."
Izuku blinked twice, his eyes going wide in surprise.
"Yes, you used Danger Sense. Didn't you notice? During the battle with the gunslinger. That ringing sensation…"
'That was Danger Sense? But I never felt it since.' His eyes darted to the Fourth, who shrugged, before understanding what he meant.
"I guess it's possible you were never in any real danger since. I don't know how One for All interacted with it. At least, it means the sidekicks you met earlier were not trying to harm you, just scared." He replied, and Izuku nodded. That seemed sensible. Maybe he should have figured out what activated Danger Sense. Was it an active attack, or did it react to other type of risks, like falling debris. He needed to figure out how to test it properly…
"Regardless," Nana Shimura spoke up, interrupting his thoughts, "You are doing a good job, kid. Float is here for you, when you will need it the most."
"My Quirk as well." The sixth said. In the shadow, the second nodded too, even if they didn't say a word and Izuku couldn't really make out their appearance.
Izuku nodded back in thanks, but also started to worry. They were so kind, but he knew they were probably more worried about All for One and what Shigaraki might do while they were here.
"Don't worry Nineth, we aren't going to begrudge you for something beyond your control. We need to make sure All for One is kept in check, but we can't really do much if you can't control Teleport. I'd even suggest you accept whatever training the League has in store for you."
'I know, I can't risk to lose myself in the Multiverse again.' He thought. Once Itsumi went back home, he risked to lose himself in the Multiverse every time he used Teleport, until he gained control. It was the best choice.
The First smiled. "Well, it's time you wake up Nineth. Farewell, until next time."
Izuku tried to speak once more, even if he knew it was futile, to thank them, and his eyes opened.
-x-
"Good morning, mister Izuku." The girly voice of the Zuzu-9 hologram said as he walked outside of his room. He had put back in place the dream catcher that had fallen to the ground the night before, so he hoped it wouldn't do any more damage. He considered asking Zuzu-9, but Izzzuku had asked him to not tell anyone and he had no idea of whether that was a good idea or not. 'If they really introduce him to us, I can probably ask.'
He still didn't know if what had happened before meeting the Vestiges had been real or not. Part of him said it had just been a silly dream interrupted by the shadows inside One for All, but at the same time the First had reacted to it, something that made it far more likely it was real. 'Assuming I didn't imagine the Vestiges as well, but that seems farfetched. There wasn't any inconsistency.'
"Mister Izuku?"
"Ah sorry, Zuzu-9. Are the others awake?"
"Yes, mister Todoroki woke up very early and has already undergone the tests. Miss Itsumi is taking them right now, and Mister Ojiro is waiting his turn. I will accompany you there." She bowed slightly, and Izuku started to follow her. Her switch from one projector to the next was very smooth, but she still had to disappear and reappear for a split second, which Izuku found vaguely disturbing. The AI opened the door and showed Izuku his way down the corridor and to the closest elevator. A projector was even installed there, allowing her to stand next to him as it begun moving downward.
"So, if you don't mind me asking what's your world like?" He asked, both to fill the silence and out of genuine curiosity.
"Well, it depends. Are we talking of Outside or of New Reality?" She asked, "The latter isn't much different from this one, and is the only one I have truly lived into."
"What's the difference then?"
She smiled. "A very marked one. You see, this is my world." She explained, showing the projection of a planet between her hands. The map looked like Izuku's world, but he realized in disbelief the differences after a moment. Enormous craters covered the surface, and it took him a moment to realize what it meant. Zuzu-9 noticed his expression and nodded. "Yes, your guess is correct. My world was hit by a large meteor shower centuries ago, and that was the beginning of the end. One of the meteors harbored an illness, a dangerous pathogen that killed millions before the world governments started to try and react. And since abandoning the planet was impossible and staying outside meant death, only one choice was left: the people were put in a sleep-like state and New Reality was built. A 'Matrix', so to speak, an alternate world people could experience while sleeping their entire life inside capsules. Originally, the intention was for it to be temporary, but the pathogen… it didn't work like those from Earth. It's still out there, ready to kill any living being that breaths it, drinks it, touches the sprouts it produces on plants. So, before we knew it, New Reality became the real world, and Outside a distant place only few technicians explore, to make sure everything keeps running properly. It is undeniable that New Reality is the lifeline of humanity." She shook her head, "And to protect it, we Ais were created. We defend New Reality from bugs, glitches, and from 4-Garaki, the virus known as All for One."
Deku wanted to ask more, but in that very moment the elevator stopped, and the AI stepped outside. Izuku followed her.
-x-
Izuku sat in the waiting room, and jumped up when he was called in.
Professor Aizawa. Principal Nezu. Recovery Girl. All Might. All for Deku smiled warmly as he entered the Principal's office in UA, but internally he couldn't help the building frustration and hilarity mounting in equal measure. After all, he had killed three of those people, and his master had caused the death of the fourth. The fact they were welcoming him with open arms made it hard to not laugh in their face. But there was also a danger. 'Eraserhead.' He thought, 'If he uses Erasure on me, the gig is up. I'll have to kill all four and then… I guess I can blame it on Spinner since he is waiting nearby for a signal, but it would still look suspicious, even if I manage to do it only with Slicing and Sword.' Of course, he knew that coming to the school was a risk, but he needed to study what the Heroes situation was in this world, and doing so from UA would be more convenient than doing it while hiding from the public eye. If he disappeared again, they would once more search for him, and Izuku would have to divert time and energy into hiding further or fighting them off.
Aizawa and Nezu were talking, but he didn't really pay much attention, merely nodding and smiling when he was expected to. It was too dangerous to use his power on Aizawa to know what he thought, and Nezu was smart enough to figure out something was wrong if he had a sudden migraine right then. He had asked about them before, to All might, with subtle questions on how the teachers and 'his' classmates were doing. Recovery Girl asked him about his injuries and scheduled him an appointment to heal the fractures. Izuku agreed and thanked her profusely, before Nezu spoke again.
"Now, to address the elephant in the room, young Midoriya, can you tell us again about the events that transpired in your time away from UA?" The Quirked animal asked. Izuku nodded and recounted the version of events he had prepared before contacting All Might. He had teleported in the world of All for Deku, stumbled into Ojiro, taken him to a hospital, and after fighting Muscular and All for Deku had teleported again, with Todoroki in tow. That much was stuff he knew the other Izuku had experienced too, so he hadn't really lied about anything. After all, at Izuku Midoriya had gone through all that. Did it matter if it wasn't the exact same person?
The rest of the story was what he had made up in his time in the Flameverse, fusing the memory of Izuku's time there he got from the people that had interacted with him with lies based on the real events that transpired. A harrowing tale of trying to help save that world until a bad Teleport had dragged him back home. 'And isn't that a funny coincidence? Is the Multiverse made of only three worlds? No, that Isaac Midoriya exists. Is the number so low chance would just let me land here?'
"Are you sure this was real, Midoriya?" Eraserhead asked.
"I am." Izuku replied, "I was there. Please, I know it's hard to believe, but…"
"Calm down, problem child. You are going to give me a headache, but I believe you. At least, I believe you believe this is what you experienced, and I can't find another explanation. Unless the Principal can think of something."
"I'm afraid young Izuku's tale, while interesting, will require some form of proof. Couldn't you invite here one or more of those people you mentioned?"
"I-I can try." He replied, with a frantic nod. He wanted Spinner hidden, but if they started to seriously doubt his mental health it would impact his own goals. He had thought of coming up with another kind of lie, but he didn't know the world enough to do that without leaving holes in his story. If he had known about Gunga in advance he might have built something from there, but it was too late. Not to mention, he wanted this League of Villain group on his side, and putting more Heroes attention on them was not going to help that goal.
"Good. I don't want to keep you from your friends further, Izuku." The principal said with a large smile. "I know some of them have been rather vocal about your disappearance."
'1-A.' All for Deku thought. That was a dangerous meeting. The students were many, and All Might didn't have the same knowledge of all of their relations with Izuku. It would take time to find out, even if he knew that Iida, Uraraka, Aoyama, Bakugou and Todoroki were his closest friends, according to All Might's memory. Headaches could only happen so often before people got suspicious, after all. 'I'll start with them, and figure out the rest from there. I can always pretend to be a bit confused by what happened to me if something goes wrong.'
All for Deku bowed once more as he left the room, accompanied by Toshinori. The door closed, but he silently activated a Hearing Quirk, one that allowed him to hear everything within its range.
"What do you think?" Nezu asked.
"Either this is true, and we meet this Ojiro, or we can assume Midoriya's mental state is compromised. I personally think that it's the latter, but there was no sign of any head trauma."
"Should I try to see if he is under the effect of a Quirk?" Eraserhead asked. All for Deku stiffened slightly.
"You can if you want, but I doubt it. I think our dear student is either honest or living a delusion. I for one want to believe it's the former."
Aizawa grumbled something about such a thing being impossible, but whatever happened afterwards was silenced as All for Deku stepped out of another door and the sounds became too muffled even for his powered hearing. Still, it had been worth knowing. Eraserhead was going to try and undo his Quirk soon. He needed to set up his countermeasures. He quietly undid the Quirk and sighed. "No one believes me, right All Might?"
Toshinori hesitated, and Izuku hid a grin at that. So even the faith in his pupil of the ex-Hero wasn't absolute. Good to know. It made it easier. "I think you believe it. And I believe in you, so I will listen to you, Young Midoriya. If you say that happened, I want to believe it did."
'But you didn't say you believe what I said.' He thought. Good. That gave him an advantage, since they wouldn't believe it worth checking if he was the real Izuku.
'Exciting.' He thought, 'Perhaps it's childish, but I think I will enjoy this little game.'
After all, his master had always said enjoying his actions was important. And All for Deku was going to enjoy his hunt to the maximum. He felt the Vestiges react in the back of his mind, but pushed them back. He was going to pay with another session of suffering. But in the end, One for All was always going to lose.
He would make sure of that.
(xx)
I've been waiting for so looooong... To introduce Zuzu-9 and Izzzuku, that is. Although, I guess Izzzuku's proper introduction will have to wait a bit more. Zuzu-9, on the other hand, is from a universe I really liked designing, even if I'm not sure how much we will see of it in the main story. And yes, technically there are multiple Zuzu-9, since being an AI she is replicable. However, each of them has her own individuality, so if we ever meet another besides Lambda, be prepared to see similar yet different interactions.
Also, does the All for Deku switch work in catching people by surprise? I'm curious. And yes, he definitely inherited a bit of the enjoyment for his evil actions from old All for One.
I really hope people are interested in both sides. I don't think each chapter will have All for Deku's POV, but he will definitely be prominent in the second part of the story we are now in.