"I will have your head on a fucking plate for this, Midoriya!" The voice shouted in his earphone as he stared at the tech clock on his wrist. He could see the betting sites going live with the odds for the second round of the Qualifiers, and it was clear that, across the board, he had just made Captain Kamino the favorited for this round, his rating rarely going beyond 1.10. 'Wops.'

He discreetly moved his mic to the inner channel. "I don't see the problem boss. He was bound to have low rates, he is clearly a Captain America alternate version. Remember that time we got Spider-Man to compete?"

"I know, Midoriya, but that stunt of yours has cemented him as the favorite for this round. If he loses, we will get in some deep shit when they accuse us of leading bets!"

Alright, admittedly that was true. Midoriya had let his excitement about the existence of a version of himself that was clearly Captain America's lost Japanese cousin take over his professionality, and he was sure as hell going to regret it if he lost. "I… trust he will win?"

"Don't say it like a question. You better hope he does or we will find a new announcer."

Izuku winced as the communication came to an end, and another voice took over. "You are an idiot." Jiro stated.

"Tell me something I don't know…" Midoriya mumbled back, a hand over his face, "Well, let's hope Cap wins this one. Want to make a wager?"

"Sure. If he gets a B-Lister position, you will write one hundred times 'I'm an idiot that can't keep his mouth shut' on the blackboard we have in the conference room." Jiro replied.

"And if he is an A-Lister?"

"You tell me."

Izuku thought for a moment, "Say, there is this great restaurant in west Musutafu, what do you say…"

"Tuesday night?"

"You read my mind." He replied.

"Not that hard, it's mostly empty." Jiro replied, and Izuku couldn't hold back a grin, as he watched the countdown.

All rounds except the first had a five-minute pause to allow people to place their bets on the various sites. Of course. At a glance, the current ratings for the A-Listers gave Captain on top, then Tank Tetsu, then Shuichi Higuchi and Bomber at about the same rate, and finally Izumi. For the B-Listers, Tank Tetsu and Cap simply switched place, while the others remained the same.

The reason was fairly clear: of all the fighters, Izumi was the only one completely unknown, and even as a Guest fighter she was in a round with some rather exceptional fighters. Tank Man of course, but Bomber and Shuichi were both equally well known as expert fighters. And of course, there was Tank's Quirk probably pushing him up in this particular match, due to the very lucky theme. He sighed, and looked at the ten seconds remaining, switching the mic back to the public channel.

"Ready!" He said on the three seconds mark.

The five all took their fighting stance, and he watched Captain Kamino pull out his shield, Tetsu's arm start to glow, Shiguchi pulling out a katana and a wakizashi, and Bomber pointing his claws forward. Meanwhile, Izumi just pulled out a bokken, the wooden sword pointed forward.

"Begin!"

-x-

My name is Izuku Midoriya, from Kamino Ward, Japan. When I was born, the world was thrown into the Dark Age of Quirks. My parents were part of the first generation, part of those that were suffering the blunt of fear.

I was powerless, but things weren't easier, as I was born with a rare disease that forced me in bed.

My hope came from my uncle, passing onto me his love for comics, and from a serum, a unique creation that worked not only at healing me, but at giving me superhuman skills. Unfortunately, I was the only one that would ever receive that serum.

Then came the Stand of Kamino, and my father propping me up as a symbol of the Metas. I became that symbol. I, a powerless child, was Captain Kamino, the symbol of a better future for those with Meta Abilities.

Until my final fight.

The crash landing.

The ice.

And when I awakened, the world had changed.

I still had my shield, but did the world need it? Did the world even need a Captain Kamino?

I'm Izuku Midoriya. I was Captain Kamino. But right now, I'm not sure if a world of Heroes needs a relic of those times.

Izuku had not expected this when he became Captain Kamino. He always thought that, even if superpowers were becoming real, even if Vigilantes and powered criminals were becoming more and more present, he would never be involved in the more complicated and far-reaching plotlines of his uncle's beloved comics. And when he came back, when he woke up from his hundred years of slumber in the ice, he was fairly convinced he had been right. Heroes and Villains existed, but there were no Skrulls secretly replacing Heroes, no Symbiotes bonding to antiheroes and serial killers, no mad Titans hunting for magic space crystals, no ring wearing intergalactic police forces or children escaping the destruction of a planet.

No Multiverse.

That was until he heard someone knock at mister Yagi's door, only to find on the other side a green-haired, older – in appearance at least, he was over one hundred years old – version of himself. The Izuku had smiled, extended his hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

Then Cap had reflexively bashed what he could only guess was an appearance stealing Villain with his shield. Rude in hindsight, but it was what it was.

'And from there we got here…' He thought, as he prepared his shield.

It had been a stupid and rash decision, to be fair, but Izuku wasn't really in the position to say no when they had made an offer he couldn't say no to. They had also thrown in some money, but that didn't matter to him. Mister Yagi was rich enough to provide him, and eventually he would find a way to live by himself, now that Meta Abilities – no, Quirks – were the norm. On the other hand, his real reward was something a bit more important.

"Begin!" The referee shouted at the same time of the announcer, and Izuku leaped forward.

-x-

Izumi had been prepared to a lot of things, but facing a lizardman with two swords had not been on the list. In hindsight, she should have been more prepared, after hearing Izuku's stories, but sue her, she had never seen a Mutant before two days ago, she was still adjusting.

She dodged the blade of the wakizashi and blocked the katana with her wooden sword, thinking quickly. She felt the pressure, she had to admit that. The audience had vanished from her sensory perception, busy making sure that she couldn't be blindsided by one of the other opponents. Not that it mattered, since right now she was already being pressed by the lizardman.

The man brought down a blow. Izumi had already noticed his swords had a dull edge, probably because if they were he might have accidentally killed someone. "Fourteenth President of the Student Council, Bad Bye, the Deal to make the sword take damage instead of the wielder." She whispered, as low as Overzealous Databook would allow, and the dull blade crashed on her shoulder. Izumi winced at the pain, but no sign appeared on her body, and she watched the bokken crack. The Delinquent thanked her quick thinking that had made her grab a spare bokken instead of her dear treasure. "Masamune's Katana Number Thirteen, Shinko no Rensa. A sword that can cut only what the wielder wants it to and nothing else." Izumi suddenly blurted out, and grinned. So, magic sword, cool. She blocked another blow and used One for All to dull the pain. "Plus, Twelfth President of the Student Council, Crash Pain, the Deal to not feel pain." The young delinquent murmured, and then rushed forward. The lizardman was quick to adapt, and had probably heard what she had said, since he quickly moved his stance in a defensive position, probably guessing correctly that she didn't have all the time in the world to use those abilities.

He was mostly right. She had five minutes, less than the maximum time the match could last, before a Deal switched off. Her limit was also the number of Deals she could use at once, and the fact that once a Deal stopped working, she couldn't use it until the next day. Someone that knew could force her to drop a good Deal for a worse one, but right now, with an opponent that was unaware of her full skills? She was right at home.

Izumi pushed in, her blade crashing down on the lizardman's ribs. She felt a poke in her gut, and watched as her bokken snapped, apparently destroyed by the man's stab with the wakizashi. She looked down. She would have been gutted if she hadn't kept Bad Bye activated. "Masamune Wakizashi Number Fifty-five, a Wakizashi capable to break anything that isn't made of steel. Bit overboard, don't you think?"

"I was aiming at the weapon." The man hissed, before kicking forward. Izumi didn't feel the pain, but apparently the man had understood the weakness of Bad Bye: if she wasn't holding something that could count as a sword, it wouldn't activate.

Izumi tossed the handle toward him, and rushed in with her fists placed on a guard, now wary of the Wakizashi, "Plus, Twentieth President of the Student Council, Mosquito Gate, the Deal to make hits hitch instead of hurt." She grinned as he heard that and punched. As she thought, her hit before had dislocated his shoulder, making the man's attack far too slow to hit her. While with one hand she grabbed the hand holding the Wakizashi, with the other she hit him in the chest with a fist. Once, twice, three times, and then she pulled back, still holding his arm.

Mosquito Gate sounded stupid on paper. The Deal to make a hit hitch sounded like you were joking, until you started to feel like your entire chest had been covered by nettle. A fighter trained to hold back pain, to resist it, but hitching was a far worse feeling that ate at your self-control. And with that self-control slipping, the hold of someone on something like a weapon was far from ideal.

And so, without using another Deal, she managed to pull the Wakizashi out of Shuichi's hand, grinning as he tried to scratch the feeling away. It was probably petty, since she knew very well how much Mosquito Gate could feel bad from her first tests with it, but right now she didn't really care.

"Alright, let's go." She said, "Let's go."

-x-

Captain Kamino had rushed in, shield upfront, slamming into the larger opponent on the field. Originally, his training as a fighter was more for show than for actual combat use: he was a Meta Human symbol, after all, he was supposed to be able to show some fighting skill but not fight on the frontline.

However, his uncle had always said Izuku could do whatever he thought was right, even if he didn't approve of it completely, and Izuku had. The serum had given him the ability to fight, and he wasn't going to waste it. His father had quietly acquiesced at his request to learn more combat, even if from then on he expected his son to give his best to it.

That had led to him crashing in the Arctic with a plane and waking up a century later, but hey, not every decision came with a perfect reward. Still, he was very thankful about that choice as he dodged below a swing of a set of claws and brought up his shield with both arms, making the large bat creature's jaw ring with a satisfying sound similar to a rock hitting a bell against the Vibranium shield. He quickly freed his right hand, hitting the man in the chest, before realizing that the other opponent was shooting something. He pulled back the shield and braced as what looked like a laser beam impacted the shield, making him stagger back. He looked at the man that had stood to his right, and his jaw dropped.

"I-Iron Man?!" He asked, staring. True enough, Tetsu's hand, arm and head were now covered by some sort of armor, more barely visible under his clothes, his hand glistening as he charged another beam that Izuku prepared to parry with the shield. 'Control yourself Captain.' He heard his teacher's voice call, and he leapt out of the way of a third shot just as his first opponent, the man with bat wings, looked back at him coming out of his daze before leaping forward, wings outstretched and claws on the ready. Izuku blocked one such claw, hearing the sound of metal grinding on metal – how hard were those claws? – and then slammed the side of the shield on the other hand, the man grunting in pain as a crunching sounds resonated from his wrist before Izuku followed the attack with a kick to the chest. A second later, the man with the armor aimed once more his arm at him. Izuku realized it was coming though and used the kick as a way to leap back, landing and blocking the beam of energy with his shield. The second the laser beam ceased he threw it and moved back a few steps, just as the incoming claws of the giant bat-human – Bomber, he was called Bomber – passed right where he had been a moment ago.

The shield flew for ten meters, bounced on the opponent's metal-covered face making him stagger, came back with precise aim to the temple of the larger man known as the Bomber, and from there bounced again, like a disk in a game of table hockey, ready for Izuku to jump in the air, grabbing it back and using the momentum to turn around.

The hit to the head, however, wasn't apparently enough to stop the Bomber, who roared – uh, was he capable of speech? – and launched himself toward Izuku, charging head first. Izuku raised the shield to block the headbutt, and only then felt the heat and saw the grin on the Bomber's face. "Checkmate." He said, his stomach starting to glow.

Without thinking, Izuku jumped, curling into a ball behind the shield as an explosion rocked the arena. He was sent flying back, but managed to plant a hand in the ground and both feet behind it, the right arm still holding on his shield. "Did he just blow himself up?!" He shouted.

In response, the Bomber emerged from the smoke surrounding him, now noticeably leaner. 'A Quirk that turns body fat into explosive material? He must be immune to his own explosions then. That's really cool, but how much does he convert? Can he…' He stopped himself and bounced the shield on the floor sideways just in time, the round object bouncing back up toward the air and slamming into his opponent's jaw, sending him staggering back once more.

A moment later, though, he was hit by a beam of energy on the side and sent flying back. He looked to his left and saw Tetsu, his hand still up after shooting that blow. Izuku winced, holding his side. There wasn't much blood, so probably only a superficial wound – made sense in the tournament, after all, though he did wonder what kind of energy he was using to achieve a concussive blast – and chastised himself. Of course the bearded man had resisted the explosion, the armor was there for a reason.

He glanced back to where he had been before. The last hit to the jaw had knocked out the Bomber, and his shield was resting not far from it, so he rushed back.

If he had guessed right, Tank Man's ability was a Quirk that allowed to cover the body – all of it or part of it – with that Iron-Man looking armor, while also being able to shoot lasers from it. A dual Quirk? Was that possible? Or was the armor actually tech?

No matter, he had seen a weakness. There were several seconds of reload between shots. If there weren't, he could have used them a lot better, shooting him while he was in the Bomber's claws. Though maybe he had held fire on purpose, planning to take on the weakened winner. Either way, Izuku knew he only had a few second. With that in mind, he rushed forward and slid next to the Bomber right on time to dodge another shot of the opponent's weapon, taking the chance to grab two things. The shield, that he grasped with his right hand, and the number from the Bomber's shoulder, that his left hand managed to pull away before he used his shield to block a new incoming attack.

"And one minute and fourteen seconds into the match, we have our first number catch. With Bomber apparently out of commission, who will win of our last four opponents?!"

"I will." Izuku mumbled, rushing forward. Tetsu lowered his arm and aimed at his legs, but Izuku was familiar with that dumb idea that Captain America could just be defeated by shooting his legs, and in response leapt forward, jumping over the beam of energy and then throwing his shield as he landed.

And Tank Tetsu in response grabbed it, his other hand now covered in armor too, even as his face became uncovered, a grin welcoming him. "Oh come on, who are you, the Winter Soldier?" Izuku shouted, before rushing forward.

He dodged a steel covered fist and punched aiming at the face, not to deal damage but to distract his opponent. 'Alright, let's see if the armor covers the entire body…' He thought, punching the stomach and feeling armor there, his hand painfully reminding him that padded gloves or not he was not supposed to punch still. Izuku winced, but with the other hand grabbed his shield back from the metallic man's hand and pulled. Tank Man, most likely unprepared to the strength of his grip and at least slightly distracted by the punch to the face, failed to hold on, though the last surviving paint on the round shield was completely scratched off by the friction of his gauntlet. The man grunted and aimed down his hand, the ray of energy coming forward. In a split second, Captain Kamino planted his feet and blocked it with a shield, the blast of energy reflecting off and right into Tank Tetsu's defences.

Izuku knew that he could win this. He had figured out how the Quirk worked, and it was just a matter of forcing an opening. It was clear that if the Bomber, who was larger and physically stronger, had gone down, so would Tetsu. But that wasn't the objective of this game.

So instead he took a few steps back and threw his shield again, flat and parallel to the ground, aiming at the eye slits that allowed Tetsu to see, counting on it covering the man's sightline and at the same time attracting his attention. True to his expectations, The man raised both hand to block the incoming blow, and didn't see Izuku jump to the side and then rush in a the full speed the serum would allow, giving him just the opening to leap forward and pull on the man's number, tied to his left arm.

People roared as he raised it above his head, along with the one caught before.

-x-

Izumi dashed forward, 'her' Wakizashi and her opponent's katana exchanging blow for blow. The blood shot eyes of the man that was shouting for her to give back his weapon were covered in tears, and neither from pain nor from worry for his weapon. She did feel a bit guilty, because she knew what it felt like to fall into a pile of nettle's leaves, and she knew the other man was suffering because of Mosquito Gate. Any time she punched with her free hand or managed to cut lightly his skin with the Muramasa blade, having already added into the mix Beginner's Hard Luck to not miss, he was feeling a bit worse. Hitching all over and trying desperately to figure out a way to stop.

She dodged low, and rushed in, kicking and stabbing all at once. Once again, no damage was dealt, not even with the magic of the Masamune, but the man winced anyway as she retreated.

Izumi grinned, watching his hands shake as he tried to resist the urge to scratch himself, to find a way to make the feeling stop, and smiled. "Plus, twenty-third President of the Students Council, Sense of Wonderful, the Deal to disturb senses."

She grinned and moved in once more, knowing that her opponent was too distracted to stop her, and placed a hand on his chest. He blinked, confused, and then brought down his blade… missing wildly.

Sense of Wonderful disturbed only two senses at once, and never completely, but Izumi knew full well that even feeling like you had dust in your eyes and a ringing bell in your ears was enough to make most people wildly miss their attack.

Izumi stepped back and moved out of the way as he swung wildly. Then she rushed forward once more. "Plus, Second President of the Student Council, Rob Curtain, the ability to steal."

The lizard – Shuichi, she reminded herself – shouted something, but his attempt to dodge her was ineffective. She grinned savagely has she moved her hand forward to his side, were the number was tied.

Rob Curtain was the ability to steal, but it didn't mean that stopping her was impossible. It wasn't an attack, so Beginner's Hard Luck didn't synergize with it, and it only meant she was able to steal anything she touched. That was why she hadn't used it from the start: because she knew that when Shuichi was still in control, she wasn't going to manage to lay a finger on his number.

But now, with him both hitching thanks to the just terminated Mosquito Gate and with his vision and hearing disturbed by Sense of Wonderful, he could only clumsily try to swipe at her. She took the blow, wincing and wishing she still had Crash Pain up, but a single finger bruised the number tag. The finger curled almost on its own getting a solid grip, and a moment later she was far away with the opponent's number in hand.

"And our winners manage to succeed almost simultaneously!" The voice from above shouted, "With this, Captain Kamino passes as the A-Lister of his round, while Izumi passes as the B-Lister!"

-

"Alright, that was exciting." Izuku, the announcer commented, the chuckle from Jiro reaching his ears.

"Well, glad you aren't getting fired, mister announcer."

"And I'm glad you are coming with me to that restaurant." He replied with a smile on his face.

"I suppose you are. Now take the break and get ready, you have a lot more matches to go."

-x-

"Yes!" Izuku and Huanli shouted in unison, giving each other a pair of high fives.

"She did it!"

"She did it!"

"Yep, I did it." Izumi said, walking into the room that the three fighters had been assigned in the Arena, from the corridor that led toward the battlefield. It was a rather simple one, but from what Izuku understood the rooms were assigned depending on the firm the fighters were part of. This was supposedly the League for All fighters changing room.

They both stared at her as she sat down panting. "Ugh, that was exhausting."

"It was?"

"Yeah. I used Six Deals and physically exerted myself at the same time, that's not a fun combo." She downed a bottle of water she had probably been handed on the way there, "It's a bit much."

"They make you tired?"

"Yes. You thought I could just drop all twenty-eight Deals without trouble? The more I use them, the more tired I get. Six in a row, especially with four of them being so powerful, paired with so much fighting, is almost my limit." She casually waved, "Well, not that it matters, I'm done with fighting now."

"Yeah. Just a pity you didn't make it as an A-Lister." Huanli commented.

"Eh, I'm not complaining. That Captain Kamino guy took on all the strong fighters it seems, and I was left with the swordsman Lizard." She grinned, "By the way, do you want to see a magic weapon?" She asked, and casually pulled out the wakizashi.

"You didn't give it back?!"

"Should I?" She raised an eyebrow, "No one stopped me from taking it and walking off with it, even the Lizard guy. Granted, he was still scratching himself like crazy."

Izuku winced, "Yeah, you should probably give it back."

"Meh. What if I kept it though?"

"Izumi…"

"Ugh. Spoil sport." She sighed, "Fine, if he doesn't come looking for it, I will hand it back myself, happy?"

"Nevermind that, give me a rundown. I want to understand what happened!" Huanli intervened.

"Alright, sure. So, first of all…" She ran them through a description of the fight, explaining each Deal she used. "And Rob Curtain finished the job." She explained.

"Wasn't it dangerous to give up on Crush Pain?" Izuku pondered, "You could have won by using your skills alone, rather than using Beginner's Hard Luck to make sure to hit."

"Yeah, but without Beginner's Hard Luck it would have taken longer, and I knew I was on a time limit. The other three fighters were duking it out, but the moment one won, the bell was going to ring and my opponent would get a chance to collect himself. And that would have made it harder to make him distracted enough that I could slip under his guard with Sense of Wonderful."

Izuku pondered that. Technically, she would have lost Crush Pain anyway once Rob Curtain activated, but it would have meant she would have been hit far less. Which brought to mind… "Shouldn't you be in the infirmary."

"Well, I should, but I didn't really break anything. They said that I can go later to get my bruises and cuts checked, but we have almost a full week before the next match and I'm fine." She shrugged, "It was a remarkably easy fight, all things considered. Maybe I'm just that awesome."

"More like your opponent wasn't expecting you to have so many useful abilities." Huanli pointed out.

"Hey, is not like I have that many good ones. Some of my powers are absolutely useless."

"Like what?"

Izumi sighed, "I'm tireeeed, don't make me use them."

"Don't try to chicken out now, you can use more if you just sit there."

"Gah, fine." She closed her eyes, and suddenly she was tearing up. Izuku took a step forward, watching her bawl. "T-Tenth President of the S-Student Council," She sobbed, looking genuinely desperate, like she had just been told some news that had mad her distraught, "Death Tear Friend, th-the De-Deal to tear up at w-will." She said between sobs.

"For real, the Deal to tear up at will?"

Izumi was still crying, "A-And I-Inter Horn, the Deal to grow a horn at will." A horn sprouted on her forehead, like a unicorn's appendage.

"A-And finally Ca-Can't be Ca-Cat Ears, the ability to sprout cat ears on an-anyone." At this, despite still being tearing up, she grinned, lunged forward and touched them both on the chest. Izuku felt something change on his head and a moment later looked at Huanli. She had large, grey-furred cat ears on her head. Judging by her look, he was the same, though he could guess those were green-furred.

"Izumi!" Huanli shouted, covering her head as she touched the new appendages in utter disbelief. "How could you?!"

Izumi looked at them both, and then teared up even more, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought it would be fun!"

"No, no it was f- Wait a minute, are you trying to make us feel guilt with those fake tears?!"

The delinquent grinned, "Yep!" She said, finally stopping to bowl, either because she had deactivated the Deal or because she was keeping it back, "So see, none of those really help in a serious fight."

"That's really interesting, but uh, can we get those off?" Izuku asked, touching the ears.

"Oh yeah, uh, about that… You are kind of stuck with them for the next twenty-four hours."

"Come again?"

"It's the deal to sprout cat ears, not the deal to make them disappear." Izumi chuckled, "What's the matter, I'd say you look rather cute." She poked her horn, "I'm in the same boat anyway, this thing isn't going away until tomorrow. That's why I didn't use Eye Eye Eye Eye Eye Eye Eye Eye, the Deal that makes eyes grow anywhere except in the eye sockets. You probably wouldn't like to look like Argus until tomorrow."

"Grrreat." He grumbled, "Well, let's hope that…"

Izzzuku flew into the room, "Great job Izu-" He paused to stare at them, blinking, "Uh, did I… did I choose the wrong room?"

"No. No you didn't."

Izzzuku snickered. And then started to laugh. "Oh my god, Zuzu, tell me you are recording this!"

"I already took several pictures. For Deal research of course." The AI replied.

Huanli pouted, and Izuku just sighed, before turning to Izzzuku, "So anyway, aside from all this, was the Captain the Izuku you talked to?"

"Yep. I showed up in his room and he threw his shield at me. Rude." Izzzuku grinned, "Anyway, yeah, try it out. The kid has been back for only a few months but as you can see he didn't get trained for nothing. If you can convince him to join up, he totally will."

Izuku smiled. "Thank you so much!"

"And I have analyzed the other fighters!" Zuzu added cheerfully, "Miss Fuyumi from the Steamverse is already known to the League, and I think talking to her is worth it. You might also try with the locals! They are looking for a fight, after all."

Izuku smiled and then nodded. "Alright." He said, "Let's not waste a minute then."

"Of course. Miss Huanli, I have sent you a phone number for this device." Zuzu explained, "Please call us if mister Izuku has to reach the field."

"Sure!" Huanli gave a thumb up, "But shouldn't you watch the remaining matches?"

"I am." The AI winked, "Connected to the internet, remember? I will not miss a single one. However, if you and miss Izumi could stay here and watch the matches yourself, it would help us. You could point out something I'm missing."

Huanli didn't need to be told again to watch the matches, Izuku knew. "Let's go." He said, "And thank you girls."

"Don't mention it."

"I'm pooped anyway, I might as well watch this." Izumi waved with a laugh, "Though, grab a hat, I can't take you seriously with the cat ears."

Izuku yelped and his hands flew back to his head, feeling the green cat ears protruding from his skull. He nodded, and left the room.

-x-

"He is gone." Rikiya pointed out, "Out to see the girl he brought in, I suppose."

"You know how Izzzuku is."

"Oh, I know quite well." He grimaced, "Almost ruined our competition." He took a deep breath, and turned to Kiruka, "Now, while we are alone, have you considered my proposal, miss Yagi?"

"You know I can't just say yes or no."

"Then just say maybe. We and the League have a strong relation, but I wish it went… deeper."

Kiruka knew full well what Rikiya wanted. When they had first made formal arrangements with the JTO, they had agreed to work together, with the League making sure to take in Wanderers that were stranded and the JTO in exchange offering a passage to their patrollers to any unknown world their Recruiters might discover. However, now Rikiya was asking a lot more. "You can't just expect the League to agree to take you to the Universes you don't know yet or allow you to hire Patrollers as Recruiters."

"Why not? It's an honest job."

"The Battlemaster…"

"Comes and goes as he pleases. He wouldn't be privy to the database, since he only comes here to fight."

Kiruka bit her lip. Technically speaking, the JTO wasn't offering a bad deal. They already had the means to travel the Multiverse either way, it would just mean making it safer.

And yet she couldn't think it was a good idea to let the JTO get so close in the League's running, especially now that two of the founders had passed and the vacancies were still felt. Midorikawa, besides being their main tech guy, had been their funds provider after all, and since he had died, the League had been running on whatever money the remaining eight Founders could put together. They had still a lot left from their battle against the Dragon Emperor, but as years went by it was starting to run low. Maintaining the AIs alone was an expensive endeavor. Rikiya never commented on it, but Slice was well aware that he hoped the JTO would take the spot of funds provider.

They had money to burn, and if it was to access the Epsilon Database? They would gladly burn it all.

"I will discuss it with the Founders."

"I ask nothing more." Rikiya replied, taking a slow sip, "It would help us a lot with substituting the last-minute fighters. Why, just two months ago a Recruiter had to run an emergency search to find a new fighter, after the previous one just up and vanished. Of course, he found one, but it's still annoying. If we had the League's help, it would be a lot smoother."

"You say he… vanished?"

"He turned out to be a Twice clone." Rikiya shook his head, "Unusually resistant, but still a clone."

Kiruka nodded. Not unlikely to meet a Twice clone, but for some reason this information was bringing to mind something. She couldn't quite put her fingers on it, though.

"Alright everyone, time for the next round!" The announcer meanwhile shouted, and Kiruka's attention went back to the matches.

-x-

Dekiru took a deep breath, and walked on the training grounds. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Izuku, we have already done it, no point in doubting now." Canary replied, extending his hand. Dekiru nodded, and took it.

"So what now, you do a little dance?" Itsuka asked, observing them from the sidelines, "Like in Dragon Ball, you know?"

"No, no, we don't need to." Dekiru explained, "we just do this." And he activated his power, a blinding light enveloping both him and Canary. A moment later, exactly where the two had been holding hands, stood an odd figure.

On the surface, the fusion appeared like any other Izuku. Just slightly taller than Canary, with longer green hair and somewhat softer facial features, like he had deaged a couple years. Their clothes were a match of Dekiru's blue shirt and Canary's red and white one, turning into alternate lines of white, red and blue, like a badly designed American flag. Since they had been wearing the same pants, given by the palace, they had a single pair of them, that however seemed somewhat padded around the legs.

"Alright, I guess I'm here." The new figure waved, saluting with a voice that sounded almost like it was echoing, "Hi Itsuka, hi Itsumi, nice to meet you!"

"Uhm… Hi. Canary? Dekiru?" Itsumi tried to wave as well, unsure of how to address the fusion.

"Both." He paused, "Or neither, call me… Dekary. Yes, that seems like a good name." He flexed his muscles, and Itsumi noticed that he was more muscular than either Dekiru or Canary had been, like he had inherited the strength of both.

"So, what can you do? I remember Canary saying your fusion also powers up your Quirk."

"Oh it did. Look." He bent his head, exposing his throat, and Itsuka looked at hit, noticing something odd.

"Wait, you have two larynxes."

"Yup, and I can control them at will!" He said, winking. "I can… alternate… the one I speak from." He said, and demonstrated this. Itsumi noticed one sounded somewhat different from the other, "And I can sing from both. You get what that means?"

"Two songs at once…" Itsuka nodded, "Yes, I can see how that would be an improvement for you."

"Well, that, and if I instead use them together, they reverberate and produce a stronger sound. With this, I can easily be heard far further than normal, meaning my power can reach further." Dekary smiled, and Itsumi noticed his mouth seemed weird. From a normal look, it didn't look like anything, but looking closer, it was like in his mouth there were two smaller mouths, that when moving in unison were indistinguishable but became awfully evident when he did stuff like smiling. Most likely, it was because without teeth and tongue he couldn't produce the full range of vocals needed to sing with the separate larynxes.

"Alright, let's try this." Dekary decided, and sang with both voices, using Across the Multiverse once more. The portal was double the size of the previous one, though Itsumi wondered if that meant more than just being able to pass with larger cargo.

Dekary stepped through, and a moment later stepped back. "Nope, nothing." He sighed, as the portal dissolved.

"What happened?"

"It's an issue of focus." He tapped his head, "See, my memories – Dekary's – are a fusion of Dekiru's and Canary's. I know everything those two know, so on paper I should be able to use Across the Multiverse to reach back to Dekiru's home. But, for some reason, it doesn't work. I keep getting sidetracked."

"Any theory on why?" Itsuka asked.

"A few. The main one, right now, is music taste." Dekary shrugged, "To work, Living Melody requires for the user to 'like' the song. I know it sounds very superficial, but it's a very tricky requirement. There are excellent songs that won't work with my power, and terrible songs that work because I enjoy them even if I rationally know they are bad."

"Oh, like using Britney Spears to catch Stain?" Itsuka teased.

"Toxic worked…" Dekary defended, "Anyway, current theory is… what if when we fuse our musical preferences didn't? In that case, it means the Quirk would still work, but only with one of the sides, so to speak."

"So you are saying Living Melody works because Canary likes it, but doesn't manage to latch on Dekiru's memories because he does not."

"Something like that. Fusion is weird. Dekary is neither Dekiru nor Canary, but is both of them. I am a third person, and so my music tastes are also mine. I can say I don't find Across the Multiverse particularly interesting, but still enjoy it. Is this a stacking of Dekiru and Canary's opinion, a sort of middle point that makes it work but not work the way it's supposed to?" He shrugged, "Or maybe I'm overthinking this and it's a matter of focusing properly. I'm kind of new to this whole concentration thing, not as prepared to it as Canary was, so maybe…"

"Alright, alright, bottom line, it requires more testing." The martial artist sighed, "Why does the Multiverse always have to be so complicated?"

"You tell me." Dekary bowed elegantly, "But for now, I shall bid you both goodbye. See you soon."

And with that, he turned into the two fused individuals once again, both sitting down. "Uff, I knew Fusions can be exhausting but it's a bit harsh."

"Sorry…"

"Don't be, I didn't mean it like a complaint. It's fun, isn't it?"

Dekiru chuckled, "You know, back in my home universe, before UA, no one would have said that. They said my fusions had… implications." He shook his head, "But I'm past that. My Quirk is useful and will help me become a Pro!"

"Well, you have both Fusion and One for All. You can make them eat their words."

"I want to try too." Itsumi suddenly said, and everyone turned to her, "Fusion, I mean. It sounds fun."

"Nope." Canary intervened, before Dekiru could say something.

"What?"

"I can't allow that, because we don't know how One for All fusing with One for All would interact."

"What do you mean?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "Wouldn't they just fu… se… Oh!"

"Yeah, see, you figured it out. What happens when two One for All fuse? For all we know, they might end up forming a single one, and when that happens…"

"One of us would be without One for All after the fusion." She nodded, "So that's what they meant when they said they had to wait for someone that doesn't use the Quirk to travel to show up."

"Specifically, we wanted to keep it away from both One for All and All for One." Itsuka intervened, "So we never used either. Although, I do wonder what would happen if he fused with me. Would he just be able to use both Zhandou Quan and his Quirk, or would he actually acquire a new Quirk that uses Qi in some way…" Itsuka shook her head, "Questions for later. For now, let's resume training. Ojiro is working hard in learning Magic some more, and Dekiru and Canary have their thing to do. So, Itsumi."

"I know, I'll go look for The Green Scar and…" She paused when Itsuka grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Oh no. The Green Scar is your trainer when it comes to One for All, but you also have a new weapon, which means you need a martial arts instructor." She smiled, "I'm not outsourcing him that."

Itsumi felt in danger.

-x-

"So, this is the house." Shoto commented, looking at the building. Unlike in Takeyama's case, this building was a small detached house with two floors, about two hours from the borders of the city of London. The garden was well kept, and the house seemed in good conditions too.

He rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.

His skin prickled. Maybe it was nothing, but he didn't like the idea of not checking at all. He jumped over the fence using his ice to not touch it, ignoring Uraraka's look of confusion, and walked up to the main door. His knocking once again didn't heed no answer. He looked around, and decided to move around the house. Something wasn't right.

Chiyo Shuzenji was the oldest Wanderer of the League that lived in this universe. Once the Healing Hero: Gran Cure, she had retired, but Shoto had decided to try to recruit her as a healer, since apparently she could cure almost anything thanks to a mix of her Quirk and One for All.

The backdoor was wide open, and Todoroki felt his worry spike. He stepped in, looking around. There were signs of the door having been open by breaking the lock, so this wasn't just a case of an old woman forgetting to open.

He silently entered the kitchen, and made his way through the corridors, hearing the sound of a television from the living room. He entered silently, and then gasped. There were signs of a fight in the living room, that he couldn't see from outside. The television was on the ground, the screen cracked but still functioning. The couch was upside down and thrown into the back wall, the carpet on the floor shredded and burnt.

He tried to see if there was any indication of who might have done this, but he couldn't find anything, so he rushed upstairs. Room by room, and then back down, he could find no ulterior signs of a confrontation. Examining the fridge and the cupboard, most of the fresher food was starting to rot, a sign this had been at least a week old. He rushed back outside, checking the far end of the garden, but even there no signs of the elderly woman that lived in the house. It was unlikely she had up and run herself, since she had no reason to. Kidnapped? But why?

He rushed back to the car.

"Shoto, what's going on."

Shoto entered the vehicle, "We have a huge problem. Where does the next name on the list live?"

"About an hour north, why?"

"Gran Cure is gone." He replied, and Uraraka gasped, "There are signs of a fight. Something is happening here. How long has it been since you last heard of her."

Uraraka frowned, "About… a week and a half? Yeah, ten days ago."

Shoto grit his teeth. Too long, "What about the next one?"

"I called her yesterday."

"Better. Let's go."

"You think they could be going after the Wanderers?" Uraraka asked, while speeding up, "It seems hardly possible. We have made sure that it would be hard to track them down."

Shoto didn't say anything, just thinking. He had a bad feeling about this. This might just be a coincidence, one person dying in a robbery and the other being kidnapped, but what was the chance that both would be Wanderers? And Wanderers with… "They might be after One for All."

"That seems even harder."

"But we can't discount the possibility. That's why we need to go through the list fast."

"In that case, I will make a call." Uraraka replied, "We need the fastest vehicle known to the League." She composed a number while keeping one eye on the air ahead, luckily mostly empty. There weren't that many cars outside of the city, and even less flying cars. "Jirou, it's me."

"Ochaco?"

"Yup. I need you to go to the address I sent you with One for All. Think you can make it? We might have a problem."

"I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Nice." Uraraka grinned, "See you in an hour." She put down the phone, and accelerated even further. Todoroki hoped they would be fast enough.

This was starting to remind him a lot of the early days of All for Deku. The sudden disappearance of a Hero, only to find them dead, and the murder of other at the hand of accidents or minor villains. All stuff they hadn't managed to put together as the actions of a single man, back then.

Not this time.

-x-

"And with that, match six is over, ladies and gentlemen. What a… frightening show." Izuku managed to say, his breath catching in his throat a bit. "Izuku Midoriya passes as our A-lister and Oboro Kurogiri as our B-Lister."

He looked down. Two fighters had broken bones, but that wasn't unusual. The real issue was the ease at which their opponent, the new A-Lister, had delivered them. Frankly, there was something odd about that Izuku. He was… scary, there wasn't a better term to call him. 'I hope Keigo knows who he brought over.' He thought, before shaking his head. The guy was strong, apparently at ease with a surprising amount of weapons, and with the mind to match, that was what mattered for the Tournament. He took a quick break, sitting down on the entrance he had used, using the commercial break to his advantage. With a sigh, he checked the clock as the minutes passed, until he finally pulled out the mic again. "So, who's next?" He asked in the private channel, talking to Jiro.

"Seventh match coming right in." She answered, and he looked at the list of fighters. "Oh my god, really? Another one? Four Izukus in seven matches?"

"Look at the bright side, we only have two left after that, and then you are done watching yourself getting punched in the face."

"We have a Jiro in the tournament too, right?"

"Yup, so I empathize deeply with you." She joked, "Now come on, next match, mister. Chop-chop."

"Yes ma'am." He took flight again, promising himself he would give Hatsume a gift for making this version of her jetpack last so long without a new recharge. It gave quite the effect and a unique way to watch the show.

"Alright everybody, we are back, so let's get ready to rumble!" He shouted, and the crowd cheered. "Alright so, let's introduce our five fighters!"

-x-

"Well, let us test this." Lord Arkin said, studying the magic circle to make sure there was nothing out of place. When Izmird had all but bursted into his room to present his results, he had been skeptical, but the more he observed the magic circle, the more he was convinced that he was right. With this one, they could increment their sessions of summoning to a daily basis without risking to kill the Asset. How beautiful.

Izmird nodded and dutifully stepped back. Arkin studied the elf, to make sure he wasn't trying anything funny, but the mark on his hand made him rest at ease, along with the presence of the Claw and the Gun in the same room. No one could doubt they were his strongest fighters, for now. Even if he was strong, if Izmird tried to rebel against him he would be defeated by the Crest and those two.

He put his hand on the head of the child and bemoaned once again the failure to capture either the Prince, his other version, or the other Asset with Teleport, the one that was an alternate version of the Hero. The former would have given him the material to summon an alternate version of them and bind it to a Crest, making them his puppets to replace the Prince and weaken further the nation, even if it would take a few attempts, and the latter would have allowed him to alternate multiple summonings. Ah, if only. An army of those would have proven so beneficial…

'No use reminisicing.' He told himself, smiling and beginning the ritual, chanting quickly in the elvish tongue alternated with demonic speech, his personal way to keep the full formula hidden. Izmird had been ordered to not use a spell to understand what he was doing, and the demonic speech in the spell would be incomprehensible to most. Not that it mattered if he found out the incantation, but the first rule of a summoner was preventing his exact wording to be understood by his servants.

He then tailored it a bit. Last time, he had attempted to mount a defense, and that had ended in failure. This time, he needed a hunter. A predator. And as he tailored the spell to search not for someone that would be willing to serve under the command of another, but for someone that would hunt men like cattle, he smiled, feeling the familiar sense of purchase.

"And with this, I bind you to my will. Now, come forth!" He concluded.

A creature stumbled through the portal. No, not a creature, a man, one with a gaunt and cruel expression only barely covered by an overly large, dirty coat. Dirty of blood. He looked at his hand, a big, dark wolf's head appearing on the back of it, and smiled. "What is your name?" He asked.

"Who the fuck are you…" The man growled, "Where am I?"

"I asked a question. Answer!" Arkin ordered.

"I'm Sagawa." The man replied, with a low grumble. Before looking at the noble in confusion. "Why did I…"

"Mh, I think I'll call you Hunter." He replied, patting him on the head. Sagawa snarled and moved to leap at him, but Arkin just grinned, "Stop." He said, and Sagawa stumbled, his entire body locked in place, "I control you now, Mutt." Arkin said with a grin, before pausing, "Yes, I guess after all, you are a Mutt, not a Wolf." He grinned, "But you will serve me well."

Mutt snarled again, but Arkin just grinned, noticing that, even if tired, the Asset was much better. Yes, this was definitely going well. A couple of days, and he would unleash his hunters. This time, there would be no mistake.

-x-

"And we have our winners!" Izuku shouted into the mic, smiling. "Our A-lister is Tomoko Shiretoko, the Princess of Weak Points!" And as for our B-Lister, congratulations to Izuku Midoriya!"

A pair of horns glistened over the head of a sheep, as said sheep turned around and transformed in mid air into a man in his twenties with large horns. "Congratulations to the Wooly Hero: Argali!"

Argali, the Pro Hero, looked at the arena. 'Don't worry Kendo, I finally have a way to find you.' He thought, 'I promised Pony and Todoroki I would, and I will.' He smiled and looked up to the Arena. 'Even if I need to win this entire tournament.'

(xx)

And the pieces move, and move, and move...
First of all, let us start with the thanks to Dramatic_Spoon for the permission to include characters from their fic Sheep go to Heaven. It's a very entertaining fic that I suggest to read, and is complete too. Sagawa is one of my favorite OC villains, and while I normally prefer enforcing a strict 'no OCs' rule that I strongly apply to my own worlds, that doesn't mean that when we go into the universe of other fics I'm against including the more iconic ones.

And of course, you can't have the Big Bad Wolf without the Sheep, and with Sagawa in one world comes Argali in another. What is our favorite sheep man doing, and will he get to meet Izuku Merinoriya? Will the Merino and the Argali come to blows or be best friends?

Meanwhile, the pieces move everywhere. Cap ad Izumi get their win and Izuku starts his recruitment drive (now with cat ears). Itsumi and Dekiru train with Canary, The Green Scar and Itsuka (and do not worry Ojiro fan, our dear boy is proceeding as well) and Todoroki starts finding out that maybe something more is going on back in the Allforverse, and teams up with Space Jiro and Uraraka to try and find out more.

I think you can tell, but this is a point of the fic I've been eagerly awaiting to explore. See you next week for more Multiverse adventuring!