Izuku fell on the bed with a tired sigh, looking up at the ceiling. The Heights Alliance Hotel that Slice had suggested was an amazing building. While it somewhat resembled his school's dormitory, it was several sizes bigger, fitting for an hotel that boasted of being able to host every single fighter if necessary.

Izuku wasn't sure of what to think about the day. It had started with him falling from the sky and ended with joining a multiversal tournament, so he had to assume it counted as a very busy day.

On the other hand, in between had been where his attention had focused. Isidro, and then a grim painting of his worst fears.

Admittedly, he felt like the latter was the one that was leaving the biggest impression. Izuku had always known that Tomura Shigaraki was a dangerous man. He had always known that as a villain he could cause untold damage. In their last meeting, at the mall, he had warned him that before a Hero arrived he could kill Izuku and dozens of civilians, and he was right. And yet, the destruction Izuku had seen was on a level he could hardly grasp. All of humanity reduced to ashes, dust swept away by time.

He wondered if his version of Shigaraki was exactly the same. He knew there was a difference – there had been even between those three – and that they were immortal while the one he knew hopefully wasn't. He still couldn't shake the feeling that, even if the scope was smaller in his case – and he wasn't sure of that – he had been shown the future.

He had been shown his ultimate failure.

He bit his lip. He knew rationally that he had no idea of what had transpired. Who knew if he even received One for All in that world? Who knew if he even was a Hero at all? With everyone dead, most likely only Shigaraki, locked in that cell, knew exactly what had happened in those worlds. But that didn't make him feel better.

The only thing that made him want to do was getting stronger. Strong enough he could protect everyone.

Strong enough that future never became real in his world.

He looked at the clock, that marked 1 AM on the 8th of June. The tournament would begin on the 9th, with the remainder of the day being the last chance for people to enter the tournament. From his understanding, the tournament allowed 160 people in, with a Qualifier round and then the proper Tournament. 13 days total in this world, then, to go through it all – assuming they made it to the finals. They had no reason to stay that long if they were all defeated sooner.

Apparently, the JTO made it a point to never release the list of fighters they had every year until the end of the Qualifiers. It made sense, according to Kiruka: it meant the Qualifiers attracted a lot more viewers, that were curious to see each year who was fighting, and it kept them glued to the screen to see if their favorite was returning from the year before. Of course, there were a few fighters that 'accidentally' leaked their participation, to hype the tournament a bit, but the vast majority were unknown.

And then there were the Wanderers. It still amazed Izuku that some worlds could just know about the Multiverse. Sure, the theory existed even back home, but it wasn't something proved, and was even contested by some people.

And if those people were here to fight, then maybe they were also eager to help.

As he fell asleep, he could only hope that was the case.

-

Shoto took a deep breath as he walked out of Scotland Yard. The two officers that had interrogated him had told him to be ready to get a call from them if something came up, but he was fairly sure that nothing would. His testimony was of almost no worth, given all he could say was that the victim was alive when he left and that he never saw the attacker.

Of course, he had gotten some information in return. The person that had attacked the building had not used a traditional bomb, since there were no shrapnel or other tell-tale signs. The explosion might have been from a compound made to explode, a spell, or a Quirk. He pitied a bit the fact there was no way for them to track the source down yet, since that would cut down the possible causes by two thirds.

He had also mentioned the disappearance of the giant axe mounted on the wall, and thus received confirmation that he was right and there was no sign of the weapon.

Which led to the question of why someone would steal a six meters tall giant axe. He didn't question that they could, because a Quirk, magic and super tech gave endless possibilities to sneak away the weapon. The only matter was that said weapon was a One for All. That seemed an odd coincidence, that exactly that would disappear.

He entered the car and Uraraka, in the front seat, gave him a kind look, before starting to drive. "So?"

"The fake documents you gave me worked. As for Takeyama, it wasn't a mechanical bomb, but that doesn't mean much in this world. And yes, One for All is really gone."

"That's bad. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was stolen because of the name."

"Agreed, and Takeyama's final words were pretty clear the killer was aiming at it specifically." He grimaced, "If I had just insisted a bit more…"

"Don't start blaming yourself over a death you were not involved with. That's how you start feeling guilty for every death in the world. For all we know, if you stayed there you would have been dead too."

"Or I could have saved her."

"From what? She got attacked by one single hit and that killed her. If it was enough to kill a five meters tall woman, what would have happened to a person your size? Maybe we would still be picking up pieces from the room." She tried to laugh, and he could appreciate the effort to cheer him up, but he couldn't really shake the feeling of being involved completely away. She realized that, because she stopped and just shook her head, "Look, Todoroki, let me tell you the truth: we have no reason to get involved. We will let the police handle it."

"But One for All…"

"Was stolen, but we don't have any reason to believe this is caused by the Multiverse, right?"

"It can't be a coincidence."

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying this theft could be because someone found out Yu owned a magical weapon with a lot of power in it. It being a One for All might be secondary to it being a weapon of that kind."

Shoto looked outside the window, as their car flew above the road, and had to admit the possibility. She was right that he had jumped to the conclusion the weapon had been stolen because it was a One for All, but the weapon was also a magical artifact more than one person could have been interested in. It still didn't sound quite right to him, but perhaps she had a point. "Did you tell Mariah?" He asked.

"Mariah and Isaac, yes." She took a soft, gentle expression, "Isaac cried. He is very, very attached to anyone related to the League. He never takes it easy when one of us dies. Mariah… She is rushing to the police right now, I bet. She will have the investigation kept under check with whatever excuse she can cook up."

Shoto nodded. "Good."

Uraraka and him kept silent for a while, before the woman broke the silence. "So, I take today we aren't going to your next name on the list?"

Shoto bit his lip. Would it be right too? He didn't want to waste more time, but it just felt wrong to brush off Takeyama's death like it was a minor thing off the road. "I think we should wait for tomorrow. Let's just go back to the headquarters."

"Aye aye, captain!" Uraraka said cheerfully, taking a sudden left turn. Really, Todoroki admired her. She was definitely a good person that was doing her best to help him, despite the fact she had also seen the giant die. And unlike him, she probably knew the woman. And yet, she wasn't showing any sign of surrendering to the pain. It was only Shoto's expertise that allowed him to recognize the subtle signs of sadness and anger. The lightly reddened eyes, the tight grip on the wheel, the frown on her face.

He wondered if she was planning something more than just watching the investigation unfold. It would have been very Uraraka to try and intervene in it, broken back or not.

That thought brought back a rush of others. Damn, he had been away for a long time by now. How were the others doing?

How was Tooru? For all she knew, they had been caught right before teleporting, since they had just vanished all at once. 'I'm still alive.' He told himself, 'I will save you. I will defeat All for Deku.'

The car kept driving through the streets of London.

-x-

Reiko Yanagi, the Bell Witch, was sitting in her room, casually reading a book. She had been allowed one book per day for her good behavior, and she was enjoying a rather boring retelling of some war.

Truth was, she was just boring. A few days before, the witch had come in and told her she was being moved to the Tower of Magic, which sounded like a cheesy name but turned out to be a quite effective jail. Apparently, the magic users of this world wanted to test some ways to break the spell that had brought her there. She was also fairly sure they intended to try and study her Quirk on the side. It made sense, since her powers did look somewhat similar to magic and she called herself the Bell Witch.

She did wonder why no one had come visit her for anything except the meals for the last few days though. She didn't mind, but she was starting to get a bit frustrated.

"Lunch." A knock on the door distracted her from her thoughts. She frowned. A bit early for lunch, today. Maybe just a mistake?

The man that walked in wore the same suit of armor as the other guards, but he looked somewhat different, like he found it cumbersome to move into. He walked up to her, deposited her lunch on the table, and then looked at her and her book. After a moment, he pulled another one out of a satchel. "Here, this one is better." He said.

"I haven't finished this one…" She started, but he grabbed the book and switched them quickly.

"It's just a better read. I suggest using the bookmark I left you." He replied, and with that walked out. Reiko blinked, then her eyes slowly moved to the book. It was oddly bent, like the bookmark inside was too big. With a sudden realization she pulled out the content. A large key.

She grinned, using her powers to make it float. All along she could have easily opened the main lock, but she needed the key to open the second one. With this, in a matter of minutes she was out, sneaking down the corridor. Following her steps from a few days before, she suddenly noticed a guard walking up to her. Reiko instinctively prepared for combat, but the guard just chuckled. "Let's go." He said, removing his helmet. "We have a lot to talk about."

She blinked.

"Hawks?"

"In the flesh. Although, probably not the one you know. I'm from Nion, and I want to join the Demon King's side."

"What? Why?" She studied him carefully. In her world, Hawks was a master thief far superior to his father, but who knew what he was here.

"I'm just interested in joining the winning side. Nion is going down in this conflict, and before it does me and a few of my associates figure it's better to switch. You get me?"

She nodded slowly. Joining the winning side was a good strategy, and the Hawks she knew was exactly the kind of guy to come up with this plan.

She thought. Her Crest was still pulling her in the same direction since she had left the cell, telling her to go back to her master. She assumed that Hawks knew about it, and freed her for that. Still, there was the possibility he was using her.

"How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"Well, why else would I do this."

"Finding my master."

"And then what? I don't know if you have noticed, but I'm not the power type of fighter. I don't really have any reinforcement either. It's either joining you and your master, or joining you in a cell."

Reiko slowly nodded. She wasn't convinced, but she didn't care that much for Arkin's safety either way. He seemed believable enough, and it wasn't like Hawks couldn't be killed if he was planning to turn against them. "Alright. Let's go."

The birdman nodded and started walking them up a few stairs when a bell begun ringing. "Shit…" The man muttered, looking around. She did the same and realized that there were no windows big enough for them to slip through. "We need to go higher. There has to be a…"

"Hawks!" A voice shouted from down the corridor. They both turned in time to see a man with green hair in his twenties, wearing a mask with white eyes and a suit with a spider design on it.

"Is that Spider-Man?!" She shouted, and Hawks in response just grabbed her and took flight. Even in a corridor, the main advantage of Hawks power, the fact he didn't need to actually flap his wings to fly, was evident. The Fierce Wings, really the feathers, pushed them both upper. Their pursuer of course didn't just wait. He immediately propelled himself forward with a web and started to give chase.

He launched a web, but Hawks released a few of the feathers to form a sort of shield, enough to block the sticky substance before it touched anything, making the thread fall on the ground, then did so a second and a third time. After the second time, she added her own power, using Poltergeist to deviate a net and make it stick to a wall instead of them. Spider-Man didn't miss a beat, though, releasing it and continuing up the stairs in pursue.

"This is gonna hurt, cover the head." Hawks murmured, and she did as instructed when she saw they had reached the top of the tower, where a large door opened onto a roof. Well, it would have opened, but instead Hawks and her smashed right through it in a rain of splinters, the wood weakened pre-emptively by more Fierce Wings but still very solid. Luckily, it seemed the Spider-Man – what the hell – had been as surprised as she was, because he fumbled his next shot, as Hawks took flight and quickly left the tower behind.

The Spider didn't stop, though. Instead, he grabbed something and used a web to spin it, as a sort of sling, then launched what looked far too much like a bomb for Reiko's taste. She changed its course just at the right time, as a moment later the bomb exploded into an enormous web that enveloped aimlessly the roofs of nearby houses.

And then they were gone, the city disappearing behind them.

"Alright." She admitted, "Maybe you are on my side after all."

He winked.

-x-

"I have to give it to him, that was some good acting." The Green Scar commented, walking up the roof when he was sure that Hawks was gone and far away.

"What, I don't even get my own award? Well, to be honest I probably don't deserve it that much." Spider-Man commented, "We are lucky she didn't know me. I was so focused I forgot to use any of my usual quips. Anyone that has seen me fight would have been able to tell I'm a lot more chatty."

"That last bomb really sold the act, though." The Green Scar nodded, "That way, even if they find the bug, they will think it's a byproduct of your attack, rather than Hawks carrying it from the start." He paused, "How many does he have?"

"Five scattered across his feathers, one hidden in the neck of his coat, one inside his left boot. Enough that even a search should leave at least one, if they even bother. Considering this is technology only a few of them would know, they might not." He pressed the side of his head, "Now we wait. Once his signal comes, we will know he has arrived."

"Or dead."

"Gee, you are a ray of sunshine, aren't you Green Scar?" Spider-Man asked in a jokey tone.

"I'm just saying the risk is there. It's a better idea than trying to follow the girl after contriving a believable escape or bugging her and letting her go, since we don't know what her Crest would make her do in those cases, and we will have a man on the inside, but still…"

"It's gonna be fine." Spider-Man interrupted, "I'm positive."

The Green Scar looked at Spider-Man, crouched on the edge of the castle tower, his white eyes on the mask staring off into the distance, the wind making the rabbit-like ears of his hoodie and his green hair move in the wind, and wondered how similar he looked back then. Back on the top of Butterfly Castle, when he would look with the Princess toward the rest of the Kingdom, positively cheering her up after a combat where she thought she hadn't done enough, or her doing the same to him if the situation was turned around.

He sighed, shaking his head. That image brought back other stuff, things he wanted to keep buried. "Well, if you say so, I guess I will trust you."

-x-

Izuku woke up slowly, as the memory of where he was hit him. Heights Alliance was still the same as the night before. He turned to the clock, and noticed it was exactly the time to wake up. Slowly, he dressed up.

The night before had been harsh for Deku, but now fully awake, he felt better than he had when he had gone to sleep. Of course the memory of what he had seen, the memory of those destroyed worlds, was still there. It probably would never really leave him.

But he was ready to do better. To never let what happened there happen to his own world.

With a muffled sigh he moved to the door. Turning around, he saw a piece of paper stuck under the door. Curious, he read it.

'Good morning mister Izuku Midoriya (#137). This is a notification to inform you of the pre-Tournament meeting scheduled for today, June 8th, at 3 PM for participants in your numbers slot (131-140), at the Ultra Arena, lobby B. Please make sure to be present, since the rules of the Tournament Qualifiers will be explained then. You are required to show the number you were assigned to participate.'

Izuku nodded and walked down the stairs, putting the note in his pocket. "Think this will go well, Zuzu?"

"Well, it's going to be a good training for sure. My data says usually any participants in this tournament comes out stronger by the end."

He entered the dining room, where breakfast was being served. It didn't take him long to find Huanli and Izumi, given the amount of sweets on the table. He quickly grabbed a plate with an apple and bread and sat down next to them. "Morning."

"Morning Izuku." Izumi replied, downing what Izuku noticed was black coffee. He grimaced, wondering how she could just drink something like that with apparently no sweetening of any kind. "So, did you get that note too?"

"Lobby B and 3 PM, yes."

"Ah, so it's really the same one, Huanli and I got the same one. Which means we have six free hours. What do we do after breakfast?"

"Training of course." Huanli replied, downing a cup of milk and then crunching on a chocolate bar. "We need to be in top shape for this, after all. Also, I asked miss Kiruka, and this tournament has no ring out rule." She grinned at Izuku, "You aren't winning with a caveat this time."

Izumi smirked, "Still angry he beat you?"

"He didn't beat me! He just used the rules to his advantage!"

A loud laugh erupted from a table nearby, and they turned to see a sight that made Izuku take an unconscious step back. Chojuro Kon, the Villain known as Chimera, his canine head and black dreads making him recognizable at a glance, laughing loudly. "Ah! So you are making an excuse, girl?" He asked, pointing at Huanli.

"I'm just saying it wasn't a win!"

"It wasn't? What does it take to win, then?"

"W-Well, he should have knocked me out!" She defended.

"So you are saying the only way to win a fight is to knockout someone?" He huffed, "Very harsh. It means I should keep attacking a surrendering opponent then?"

"N-No, of course not, but I'm just saying he won by a technicality-" She stumbled on her words, but once again Chimera interrupted her.

"Technicalities can cost you your life on the field." He pulled out a cigar, then paused and looked up. Following his gaze, Izuku noticed him stare at the 'no smoking sign'. He scoffed, and put it back in his pocket, "You put a step out of the ring, but what if you weren't fighting on a ring but on top of a building, or next to a road with heavy traffic? Ring-outs get you used to situation where you aren't fighting with all the space in the world at hand." He stood up, grabbing his empty plate, "I suggest you think more about your fighting style, if the moment you find yourself in a cramped space you are toast."

Huanli slammed both hands on the table, "I'm not a bad fighter." She hissed, and Izuku had never seen the girl get so angry.

"Then you better prove it soon." And with that, he deposited the plate and left the room.

Huanli fumed for the rest of the breakfast, and Izuku really hoped this wouldn't bounce off into their training.

-x-

Huanli's mood was foul as she walked outside and reached one of the many training grounds that the Heights Alliance Hotel offered to its guest. That morning, when she had found out that this world was so over the moon with the concept of fighting that structures like those were commonplace in almost every public and private facility of a large size, she had been ecstatic. Now, however, she was also angry.

She admitted her comment on the ring-out had been childish, but she wouldn't let that big guy call her 'toast'. For that reason, the girl placed herself on one side of the closest ring. A few people, realizing that they were about to fight, started taking a look at the field, and she found herself wondering if some of them were their opponents of the next day, but she shook her head. No point in wondering if they were spying on her.

"Alright, who starts?" Huanli asked, watching as Izuku and Izumi looked at each other and shaking her head. "Come on Izuku, you first!" She shouted, and the boy sighed but didn't answer.

Observing him, now dressed in a t-shirt, short training pants and those iron boots of his, plus the gloves on his hand, she admitted Izuku had some advantages over her. He was taller, so a longer reach, and had a distance attack. His punches and kicks were also way stronger than hers, and even if she used the Renlei Quan, she wasn't sure she could beat him in that department. The Axiuluo Quan maybe could make her strong enough, but she remembered the words of her master about using it for too long, and she wasn't about to go wild in a spar.

Tu-tum. Tu-tum. Tu-tum.

The beating of her heart was calm, controlled. She smiled, and chose her plan.

So instead she went back to her basics, the Shou Quan that she had mastered first. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathed, and when she opened them she could feel herself different. As her Qi streamed through her body, a physical sensation like the rushing of hot water just under her skin, she balanced it, moving the clear, positive karma to match the amount of dark, negative karma.

Tu-tum. Tu-tum. Tu-tum.

Balance was the key of Shou Quan, the animal fist. The Renlei Quan emphasized the civilized state of humans, but the Shou Quan emphasized the wild notion of a beast. No good and no evil exist for an animal, just the will of their instincts.

She rushed forward, focusing her Qi on her hands. Shou Quan had two focuses: to strengthen one's bones, and to allow to manipulate the Qi like it was a part of one's body.

Tutum. Tutum. Tutum.

Her heart was accelerating, the slow rhtym taking a slow crescendo.

She turned around, using the Hou Wei. The Monkey Tail was one of the opening moves she favored, because it was highly unpredictable. The bones of her back strengthened, while the Qi shaped itself into the consistency of a bony tail. Barring that technique, it was the one with the longest reach.

Tutum. Tutum. Tutum.

'Keep your flow steady.' The reassuring voice of her Master resonated in her head.

Izuku of course ducked. She knew of his Danger Sense of course, and had no doubt he could tell that her attack was coming.

Tutum-Tutum-Tutum-Tutum.

The only sound in her hear was now the thundering beat of her heart.

'An opponent that dodges one attack is open for another.'

She counted on it, and pivoting on her right foot she brought forward the left one, feeling the Qi move down through it, the bones of the flat of the foot feeling stronger and almost sharper. The Ma Ti, the Horse Kick, impacted with Izuku's chest, and he huffed loudly. She grinned, but when she tried to follow with an upside arch Izuku managed to move through the pain and extend Blackwhip.

Tutum-Tutum-Tutum-Tutum.

'No one can stay always on the offensive.'

In a fraction of a second she moved her Qi, now not focused on her feet but her legs. The illusion of the bones changing shape was just that, but her Qi was still giving her the same ability of the limbs she had simulated. The Tu Tui, the Rabbit Legs, propelled her back with a three meters long jump that made her land back where she had started.

TutumTutumTutumTutum.

And then her heart beat accelerated further, resounding deep like the thunder of the drums of war, and it came.

'What are you doing?' Another, different voice asked in her head, a sort of deep growl that made her stumble for a second, before her feral instincts took over.

Izuku now was on the offensive, unleashing a series of Air Force. She dodged one, with her feral instincts driving her, gritting her teeth like a wild wolf that found itself forced to fight back, and then let one hit her, making her pant, before Blackwhip grabbed her from the leg. She was thrown up into the air, and Izuku jumped to follow her. She smirked.

TutumTutumTutumTutumTutum.

'He fell for it, attack!'

She spread her arms, feeling her shoulder blade and back once again harden as the wings of Qi sprouted from her back, the Zhuque Chibang, the Wings of the Crimson Bird, allowed her the rush forward, like a bird of prey, while she extended her head forward. More Qi flowed up to her skull, and she grinned wildly as her forehead impacted with Izuku's steel boots.

Shou Quan was an ability with many influences. The main was Master Ojiro's karate training. However, there was also Master Usagiyama. She developed her techniques basing it on Muay Thay and Lethwei. And from lethwei, she had developed the technique of the ultimate headbutt, Niu Jiao, the Ox Horns.

Tutumtutumtutumtutumtutum-

A mad crescendo of feral instinct, a resounding battery of thunders that inundated her mind with the desire to destroy.

'Kill him.'

Normally, headbutting a kick covered in steel would have been the worst idea, but with her bones reinforced by the Qi, that also acted as a cushion around her brain, she could do it safely. And adding in the strength power of a Qi attack, she grinned as Izuku's kick was not only stopped entirely, but Izuku himself was so surprised he lost balance, thumbling back to the ground.

She followed up by turning in midair using her Qi wings, ignoring the light drop of blood that came from her forehead in her violent state. Shou Quan reinforced the bones and slightly enhanced muscle strength, but it did nothing to the skin, so getting a superficial wound or two was expected.

Tutumtutumtutumtutumtutum-

'Kill him.'

Izuku didn't let her think for too long. He stumbled back up and after making sure she was ok released his Blackwhip like a net, to try and catch her as she came down, but Huanli changed her course with her wings and landed safely, releasing the Zhuque Chibang and panting a little. It was the hardest technique of Shou Quan to use, and she had understandably risked a bit using it.

Tutumtutumtutumtutumtutum-

'Speed, Number Eight.'

Changing her stench, she took a breath and switched to Renlei Quan. Her Qi shifted, returning to its natural state, and she rushed forward. Renlei Quan powered someone's reaction time, her sixth sense so to speak. As she closed with Midoriya, bending under a kick, she could almost see each droplet of sweat fall from his brow, almost feel the heaviness in the air as a move he called Manchester Smash came down from above. That one was fast, and she barely dodged it in time, feeling the scratch of the sole of his foot against her nose. She grinned, and then unleashed the Hyperquad Fist, Chaopin Suchen. The technique created by her master's second teacher, the unnamed man only known as Knuckleduster in Japan and Hyperquad Fist in China.

'You are the next one, Number Eight. You were born to be-'

Tutumtutumtutum-

She didn't predict the follow up kick though, as her body slowed a bit due to the strain of keeping up Renlei Quan for so long. She grunted as the kick connected straight with her abdomen and took a few wobbly steps out of range, using her heightened senses to avoid the incoming Air Force. She still took a few, but she could still go, even as her heart slowed down a bit and the voice roared in rage-

At least until Izumi walked in the ring. "Enough!" She shouted, and Huanli blinked, paused, confused, looking around like she was seeing the training field for the first time.

"Huanli, this is going a bit too far, don't you think? We have to fight tomorrow, and you both have been throwing around a lot of power."

"Sorry, I think I got excited and-!" Izuku shouted, but Huanli didn't even listen to him. Izumi was right. She had let the Shou Quan get the better of her. No, she had let that side of Shou Quan get the better of her.

Again.

"Dammit." She mumbled.

The Animal Fist was her favorite style. She had mastered it first many years before, back when she was… back before she was Huanli Quanteng. And she loved to use it just like she loved real animals. And yet, here she was, failing to keep in check the same feral savagery that she was supposed to control. To keep in check the thoughts that always assaulted her when the fights started to heat up.

She looked around, noticing there was quite a large crowd of onlookers now, and felt even more ashamed. A spar shouldn't have attracted that many people. She should have been able to control herself.

"I'm sorry." She said, and then walked out of the ring, "I think I'll go to the gym a bit."

"Huanli…"

"I'm not angry with you Izumi. I'm a bit upset with myself." She quickly bowed to the crowd and left. Turning a corner toward where she had been told the hotel gym was, she sighed. "I lost control again." She mumbled, touching her forehead. During the high of the fight, it had seemed such a good idea to use the Ox Horns against Izuku's kick – and it had worked – but it was another reaction caused by her animal side. An instinctive attack brought down because she could, instead of because she was planning for it.

Huanli closed her fist, looking down at it. She knew even after all those years her other training – her first training – was still under her skin. That under Huanli Quanteng there was still Eri, the Heiress of Darkness. That one didn't just forget something they had been raised to be just because of someone else's kindness and guidance stirred them in a better direction. But she really, really wanted to.

She was raised to be a monster, saved by her mother and given a better purpose in life, a better way to use her techniques. But even after eight years, that uncomfortable desire to let her techniques control her was still there.

She sighed. The Multiverse training had been risky. She had never been away from her mo-her Master's calming presence for so long. But she needed to be away. She needed to go through what she had.

Not just to become stronger.

Not just to prove her own strength.

But to leave behind Eri, Number Eight, the Heiress of Darkness, and become truly Huanli Quanteng.

Tutum-Tutum-Tutum-Tutum.

'You are not her though.' The rumbling voice of her very first master told her, 'You are not the heir of One for All, you are-'

"Stop!" She shouted, and gripped her arm so strongly that she almost broke it. She took a deep breath, trying to slow her own heartbeat down again, to silence those drums that called back the past she so desperately wanted to bury. "I'm Huanli Quanteng. I'm Huanli. I'm… I'm the future Master of Zhandou Quan. I am not the Heiress of Darkness. I'm not Number Eight." She breathed deeply, her heartbeat slowing down, the voice of her past gone back to the deepest recess of her mind. Not gone. But beaten back by the gentle presence of her Master's soothing teachings.

With a deep sigh, she smiled. She was still herself. She was who she wanted to be, and she would prove to her Master that she was right when she chose to take in the girl that was supposed to be her worst enemy.

She would prove that she was Huanli, the student of the One for All gym that one day would inherit it. Not Eri, Number Eight, the future leader of the reborn All for One.

She was never going to be.

Tutum. Tutum. Tutum.

Never.

-x-

Izuku and Izumi trained with each other for a while, unable to find Huanli despite looking for her, before eventually deciding to go to lunch. Once again, there was no trace of the girl.

"Do you think she is ok?" Izumi asked, and Izuku sighed.

"I don't know. I don't know her nearly enough to figure out what happened. She seems to like fighting, but she went wild out of nowhere and at the end she ran like she was scared of what she had just done." Izuku grimaced, "You think I did something wrong?"

"You were just reacting."

"I know, but maybe I pushed her too far? I was trying to match her, and she seemed to be using a lot of her power…"

"Yes, too much. I know the difference between a spar and a fight, and when you go as far headbutting a kick, even if somehow your powers help for that, you are probably going too far." She shook her head, "If you go all out like that, you are just going to hurt yourself and the other before the real fight can even begin."

Izuku nodded. He had the same impression. In the fight he had always been on the defensive, largely because he had no idea how to react when she had started to attack that way. "We should talk with her."

"I don't know. I'm worried it might be something she doesn't want to share. You saw how she ran away."

Epsi emitted a faint beeping sound, and then lighted up, "Uhm, I'm sorry for interrupting you, but it's half past one PM, you might want to finish eating and start getting ready. Considering miss Huanli has to be there with you, I think you can talk with her then, right?"

Izuku and Izumi nodded, sighing almost in unison. It was true that they really didn't know Huanli and her circumstances. They barely knew each other, to be honest. It was a bit preposterous to try and argue what was normal and what wasn't about a girl they had known for a day.

Case in point, by the time they were ready to go, having showered and changed into clean clothes from the sweaty ones they had been wearing before, they walked down to find a smiling Huanli. The girl waved at them, "Alright guys, let's go!" She said, eyeing the clock. They did the same, noticing they had about half an hour left. "Did you both take your numbers?"

"Uh, yes. Huanli, about earlier…"

"Oh, right." She bowed her head, "I'm sorry. I let that guy's words get to me and lashed out. I'm sorry I ruined our spar."

"O-Oh…" Izuku blinked, "No, it's not a problem. We were just worried you weren't…"

"I'm fine, guys." She grinned, and Izuku really couldn't tell if she was forcing it or not, "I just got upset. I'm really really sorry."

Izuku nodded, unsure of what to say. Looking at Izumi, he could guess she was thinking she might have been telling the truth, but there was just no way to know. "Alright." Izumi was the first that spoke, "Let's go."

It took them about twenty minutes to reach the large arena, and then only five minutes to find the lobby. The room they were allowed into once they showed their numbers – that were examined with some kind of scanner, proving they were more than just paper, before asking them to wear it for the duration of the meaning – was a small conference room with twenty seats, a large screen and a podium from which someone could address the crowd.

Izuku took in the people present in the room. The large horned man with his 131 strapped to his shoulder was an unknown, as was a chameleon-looking Mutant with his 132 tied to his arm. 139 was apparently another Mutant, a humanoid white rabbit with a blue t-shirt and black shoes on. When they entered, she was the only one that glanced briefly at them, before apparently not seeing whatever she wanted to see and turning back to the screen. 133 and 134 were identical twins with bright orange hair, once again people Izuku had never seen before. They sat down in time to notice that 138 was missing. 140 arrived a moment later, and Izuku stared at Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu as he walked in wearing a long sleeved white shirt and black pants. It was a rather weird look on the teenager, and he didn't say anything to him, so Izuku had to assume Tetsutetsu wasn't the one from his world, despite the age being the same.

They waited four more minutes, before the last of them walked into the room. Izuku's eyes went wide as he watched Kurogiri casually sit down on another chair, still dressed prim and properly as he had been at the USJ, with his metallic collar and glowing yellow eyes too.

He calmed himself. This wasn't the same Kurogiri as the Villain. The number 139 he wore on his sleeve was proof enough. He would have probably thought about it more, if it wasn't for the exhausted man that walked into the room a moment later. Despite his different hairstyle, consisting in his beige hair kept in a bun, Yokumiru Mera was still the person that had directed the test where he had received his Provisional License. Izuku couldn't claim to know him, but he definitely recognized him.

"Alright, just two more to go…" The man groaned, putting down the coffee on the podium and standing next to the screen, "Greetings, everyone. You are ten of the one hundred and sixty people that have the privilege to participate in this year's National Tournament, either invited by one of our recruiters or passing the test."

His tone had now shifted a bit as the screen came to life, showing a panel of one-hundred and sixty numbers divided in groups of five at random, with the word 'EXAMPLE' printed above it in a quasi-transparent font. At the top of the page were the word Qualifiers. "So, the tournament is divided in three stages: the Qualifiers, the Preliminaries, and the Tournament proper." He gestured to the screen, "The Qualifiers will take place this weekend, so tomorrow and the day after. As you can see, they take place with the participants divided in groups of five. Each group is randomly selected right before the event, so don't think you will have the time to study your opponents."

He zoomed in on the image, to focus on the first set of five, that included a spot with a golden crown, "The only exceptions are the first and seventeenth fight, that host the Master of Battle," He moved slightly to show a silver battle in the seventeenth group, "And the runner-up. So if you get drawn into either of those… well, you are in for trouble."

He switched the page, that now showed an hexagonal arena with stick figures on five sides and one left empty. "The fight is a simple game of Steal the Tail. Each of you will start the game with a fabric copy of your number. You can place it anywhere on your body, but it has to be visible. The objective is to steal your opponents'."

He changed page again, now showing a series of stick figures. Five were fighting under a '5:00:00' digital clock. "The fight starts as a five-minutes match. You are allowed to use any means necessary to steal the opponents' numbers, so long as you don't kill them or harm them permanently. No eye gauging or hitting someone in the nuts, stuff like that, I mean. Breaking a bone? Sure, it happens, but don't fight like you are gladiators in the Colosseum. We are an extreme sport, but we are still a sport."

The image changed, now showing a stick figure with three lines on their right arm, "Once one fighter has collected three numbers, the timer stops. The people that at that point have no numbers are out, and the fighter with three numbers passes as an A-Lister. If there is someone with two numbers, he passes as a B-Lister. Otherwise…" He switched image, showing two people facing each other, "The two remaining fighters have to face each other for the number, with one extra minute added to the timer."

A third picture, this one showing two people with the clock behind now marking 0:00:00. "If the time runs out, a panel of judges will give votes depending on the performance, so remember that if you think you can just dance around the fight until the clock strikes midnight." He paused, "Sorry, that was a stupid joke. God I'm tired… Anyway, that's the gist of the Qualifiers. Any question?"

The rabbit girl raised her hand, "Isn't this a bit… weird for a fighting event?"

"We have tried various ways to select the fighters. This one sells the most tickets, because apparently people like the 'strategic edge'. After all, the fight requires not just to know what a direct opponent is doing, but also how the rest of the field is going. It's also less prone to incidents and more prone to upsets, so that's an advantage for the many people that watch it for the betting." He paused, looking at his paper, "Any more questions, miss… Princess? Weird surname, considering your name is Japanese."

"That's not really…"

"Doesn't matter, I'm used to weird stuff. Any other questions?"

Izuku looked around, then raised his hand, "What are A-Listers and B-Listers?"

Mera sighed, "Let me continue and I'll explain." He clicked a button and a new slide appeared, this time showing a tournament roster that started at the Top 64, marked as 'Preliminaries'. He noticed each pair of the Preliminaries had a spot marked as A and one marked as B.

"As a B-Lister, once all matches are over you are randomly assigned a B spot on the roster. Then, the A-Lister come in and, based on the turn they won in the Qualifiers, they can choose an A spot. Essentially, they get to pick their first opponent and their overall position in the roster." He looked at them, "Yes, miss Izumi?"

"What about the winners of the later rounds? They basically have no advantage from this. Heck, the A-Lister of round 32 has no advantage at all."

"That is true, but no randomization system is absolutely perfect, and there will always be a number 32 that doesn't get to pick. This is just the best way to assign an opponent. Also, you are not completely correct. As an A-Lister, you always know who your opponent is going to be, which is something the B-Listers only learn when their name is called the day of the event." He snickered, "You should see the face of the poor bastard that gets called to challenge the Master of Battle first."

Izuku nodded. It made sense. It still gave at least some advantages to the people that had effectively won their Qualifiers, and assured some level of randomization.

"The Preliminaries are on next Thursday and Friday. We held them those days because they always sell the least, most people just tune in to watch the fighters they know. And to bet, of course. After that, the Top 32 is on Saturday, the Top 16 on Sunday. Then there is a day off, and the Quarter Finals, Semifinals and Final are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday." He looked at the room, and now four people had raised their hand. He paused a moment, staring at his list, and then pointed, "Yes, miss Izumi?"

"Why in the middle of the week?"

"It's a national holyday. We sell an outrageous amount of tickets since it's the Fighters Week, where we celebrate the long history of Japanese Arena Tournaments and the glorious Champions of the past.

Izumi nodded and the other hands lowered. Mera nodded and gave a few other instructions, including an explanation on how the payment of winners worked – percentage on the bets of the round they won, split 60/40 in the Qualifiers and evenly in all other rounds – but he also said there wasn't much of a point in explaining the Tournament to them since, as he put it 'most likely one or two of you at best will qualify, so it's better to wait and just explain it to those fighters that enter the Preliminaries'.

It didn't take long before everyone stood back up and left. The girl with the mutant bunny quirk, who looked like a humanoid bunny rather than something like Rumi Usagiyama, the Hero known as Mirko, seemed to look at Izuku once again, before she apparently dismissed whatever she was thinking about.

After they left, they spent the rest of the day training in the gym. Izuku managed to break eight Punching Bags before one of the trainers in the area coughed and pointed him to a special one enchanted to not break under strong impacts. Izuku sheepishly nodded. As he kicked, he thought.

Joining this tournament wasn't a bad idea, but it still felt like he wasn't doing enough. He needed to start finding people to help. Sure, waiting for the Tournament to see who was the stronger fighter was a good idea on paper, but even before that he could start making research of his own, right?

"Hey Zuzu, can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, mister Izuku."

"Can you try to figure out which fighters of the tournament are Wanderers?" He smiled, "I think I need to start working on recruiting." As he kicked again, he blinked, "Also, where has Izzzuku been all day?"

-x-

Izzzuku leaned back, "… And that is why they now have a rule against me taking part in this Tournament ever again." He winked, "Cool, right?"

"I- Can I ask you what you want from me?" His new friend asked, and Izzzuku grinned.

"Well, for starters I want to ask if you could not throw that thing at me next time." He explained, pointing to the round object the young man had embedded quite deeply into the wall.

"Sorry? You kind of… waltzed into my room uninvited."

"True, true." Izzzuku replied, "I'll cut the chase then. I've been looking around all day, and you seem like the best guy to ask. So can I offer you to meet a dear friend of mine tomorrow?" He grinned, "I think you two will like each other. We all are one and the same after all, even if your story is very different."

"I… Why? If it's because they are curious to meet me…"

"No, no, don't worry. You don't even exist in that world, or at least this version of your heroic self does not. Sorry, a bit complicated, I know. No, I just think you might want to hear them out. They really need more heroes. There are a bunch of useful people around here, but you seem the best candidate to start." He winked, and turned to look at the object in the wall, "You wouldn't leave someone in trouble, right?"

The Izuku he was looking at sighed. Izzzuku knew he had just given him an argument he couldn't turn against.

Of course. After all, helping people in their own way was the driving force of every Izuku.

Even of those that would rather not fight.

"Just think about it, alright? Not necessarily tomorrow, but I'm sure you will like them."

"I... I will, fine."

"Good. Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Izzzuku."

The teen stared at him, but Izzzuku just grinned. Oh, he was sure Izuku and Izuku would like each other.

(xx)

It's Halloween, but unfortunately no scary Echoes. I really wanted to make one but there were a few problems. Fortunately, this means regular chapter. And probably another Echoes soon.

So instead, we get checks the list Movement on the fantasy front, a pep talk for our dear Shoto, Huanli development, Tournament rules for the Qualfiiers, and Izzzuku having made contact with someone new.

Yeah, overall, fairly confident this was worth missing an Echoes.