"… And finally, from the Endeavor Group, Moe Kamiji, the Burnin' Punch!" Izuku finished, and then he studied the full list. This one was the golden round, so far. Five fighters, all from their world and all veterans with at least a Top 32 in their belt.
Moe Kamiji, Burnin' Punch. Quirk user that controlled fire, twice made it to the Top 32 out of two partecipations. A fighter that wielded fire with extreme precision.
Shinya Kamihara, Edgeshot. A martial artist capable of using Ninjutsu, with two Top 16 and a Top 32 under his belt.
Tamaki Amajiki, the Wild Chimera. A Quirk user with the ability to transform, with a Top 16 and a Quarter Finals qualification in his record.
Tsuyu Asui, Frog Lady. A Quirk and Tech user gifted with the ability of a frog, that she had amplified with technology, and had taken part in the tournament twice, achieving the Quart Finals both times.
And then there was the God of Thunder. Denki Kaminari, that used to be a common but not overly impressive sight in the Preliminaries, had disappeared for two years. Then, four years ago, he had returned and blown the competition away with his new weapons. Three Quarter Finals and a Semifinal, and that was when he wasn't as jacked as he was now.
This was a big deal as a match. Each of them was a candidate for the Finals, in his opinion. And each of them had an adoring fanbase that no doubt was currently ranting on social media about their favorite fighter having this in the bag.
He passed a hand on his mouth, realizing he was salivating a bit. This was the best!
He stared at the countdown ticking down and grinned as it reached zero, the betting phase ending and the fight entering its start.
For a long moment, there was no movement. Everyone stared at each other, trying to determine who was going to fight who. And then a drum begun to beat.
The hammer started to switch position, hitting one tomoe-inscibed membrane after another as the ring behind Denki's back rotated rapidly. Izuku sped away from the ring, knowing what was coming, and the other four fighters looked up as the sky became dark, clouds covering it.
Asui lounged, her legs propelling her forward toward the God of Thunder, who smiled and rotated the hammer in his hand, before tossing it forward. Asui kicked upward to stop it from impacting her, and Denki extended his hand. The hammer stopped in midair a moment before the kick could hit it and started coming back, Kaminari swinging it to the side in time to stop a large hoof from hitting him. Amajiki grunted and moved back to avoid a returning swing, before the God of Thunder extended his free hand and punched another one of the drums that were floating behind his back.
Izuku grabbed the mic, "And here it comes, ladies and gentlemen, a classic opening move, the Symphony of the Thunder God! Those guys better find cover!"
And then it came. Thunder rained from the sky, a true storm of energy that cracked over the entire field. Amajiki couldn't dodge it, close as he was to the man that was the epicenter of that storm, and Asui, close as well, got hit by one single discharge, enough to make her cry in pain as she jumped back, trying to stay out of range.
It was a testament to their toughness that both fighters had managed to not be knocked out, although certainly Amajiki's current appearance was helping. He had formed a ball of tentacles, extending from his legs, and then had covered them with a layer of what Izuku assumed was a crab's carapace.
A ball of fire surged forward, and Denki had but an instant to extend his hands forward. Instantly, the six drums moved forward, forming a defensive shield. The fireball exploded, enveloping them, but when they came out they were still intact, like nothing had hit them.
Without missing a beat, Denki charged forward. The Thunder God rotated his hammer, launching it toward a still stunned Asui, who had no hope to dodge it as it hit her in the face and sent her fly, and then slid on the ground under a tentacle from Amajiki, his left hand extending to recall the weapon once again. The following attack was another ball of fire, and once again the drums blocked it.
"As expected, it's the God of Thunder that is attracting all the opponents. But he isn't the kind of fighters that lets himself be defeated easily!"
Just as he said that, Denki recovered the hammer, right as another tentacle came down towards him, and hit.
There was a cry of pain accompanied by an explosion of broken carapace as the hammer impacted the limb, making it explode, some people, probably those that didn't know Amajiki's Quirk, shouted in surprise, and Izuku nodded, "Don't worry folks, Amajiki's Chimeric appendages aren't directly part of his body, and them getting destroyed has no harmful effect on him!" He said, "That said, don't you think Burnin' Punch is making a mistake? After all, how many time has she hit those drums?"
Izuku grinned, knowing full well he now had the crowd's attention, and as he expected, Denki was smiling too. He threw his hammer toward Amajiki's actual body, the weapon crashing through another tentacle and hitting the masked face of the fighter, the carapace cracking and his nose taking a clearly unnatural bend. With a smile, Denki moved a finger and one of the six drums moved toward his hand, that then recalled the hammer. The weapon flew towards it and impacted directly the drum. The other five started to rotate and then a thunder rained down right on Burnin'. The girl shouted and then slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"And that was the Divine Punishment! What a move! Hit the drums, and then next thing that will be hit is you!"
He nodded, knowing that by now everyone's attention was on Kaminari among the audience.
Izuku was a professional, after all, he knew well how to handle the match to make it feel as surprising and exciting as possible. And he knew well the ninja.
He glanced down and watched the referee, the only man here besides him that was keeping his eyes on the whole field and not just on the God of Thunder and the Wild Chimera. After all, those two were the flashy fight.
None had noticed that Burnin' Fist and the Frog Lady were busy struggling against the only opponent that hadn't leapt at the God of Thunder and was now reaping the benefits. Shinya Kamihara, Edgeshot, slid past the guard of the Burnin' Fist, dodging with grace two scorching hot fists that would have probably caused him severe burns, and then grabbed the number. That was the moment. "Start moving the camera to Edgeshot." He murmured to the private channel, then switched back to the public, "And we have our first catch!" He shouted, and the audience gasped, their eyes suddenly drawn toward the two women and the man. Tsuyu in that moment opened her mouth, her tongue lashing forward, but Edgeshot grabbed it and pulled, using his other hand to stab with a kunai toward Burnin's incoming fist.
Tsuyu and Burnin' both cried in pain, and Izuku watched as the man followed with a kick in Moe's stomach, that sent the burning fighter flying back and slamming against a wall, and then, when Tsuyu finally reached him, extended his hand toward her shoulder.
Of course, Tsuyu wasn't dumb, and she used her left feet to pivot and then kick with the right upward. It was really close, Shinra's mouth piece flying up and his nose cracking, blood flowing out, but that was when the now free hand of the man let go the kunai and grabbed a sai. The three pronged knife stabbed into the thigh, and before Tsuyu could process the man leapt forward, grabbing her number.
"And we have our A-Lister!" Izuku shouted, grinning as the referee called for a stop of the match between the remaining combatants. The God of Thunder glared at the man, and Izuku knew he wouldn't be the only one. Some people always made the mistake of thinking that fighting smart was fighting dirty. All Kamihara had done was attacking the easiest opponents to face.
-x-
Deku couldn't help but glare at the version of Edgeshot that walked out of the field as the A-Lister, along with the stretchers of Tsuyu and Moe. He knew rationally that the girls' worst wounds had already been healed on the spot and now they were just going to be healed fully with a day of rest, probably without consequences given the technology, magic and Quirks the JTO had, but he was still… angry. He didn't like to see them like this.
"Calm down." Izzzuku said, moving down next to him, "They are fine."
"Aren't you angry?"
The dream being nodded, "I hate it. But everyone in that field? They signed up for this. All of them are native of this universe that love nothing more than to fight in that arena."
The rest of the match went quickly. Alone, despite his strengths, Tamaki wasn't a match for the God of Thunder, who managed to grab his number and get in as a B-Lister.
He clearly wasn't happy.
Izuku watched him walk outside, and then looked at Fuyumi. "That one?"
"Probably, yes." She nodded, "I want to wait until I have seen almost all matches but honestly, an electricity user and the Steam Armor don't mix."
"You are asking him a lot, Fuyumi." Captain Kamino pointed out.
"I am asking him a favor for a favor. He wants me to fight to the death a version of you that has killed a ton of Heroes like him. Winning a match for me doesn't really sound that impressive by comparison."
"She is right." Deku interjected, "She isn't asking that much. Those aren't deathmatches or anything like that. I can do this. I was here to train anyway."
Captain Kamino glanced to Argali, the horned Izuku glancing in turn a moment to Deku, before shaking his head. "We are all the same, Captain. You are not making him budge on this."
Captain Kamino looked from the older Izuku back to the younger one, and sighed. Izuku studied him for a moment, thinking about what he had understood of him so far.
The Captain and him were around the same age, he had noticed that immediately. However, the white-haired teen acted in a very mature way, more than Izuku did at any rate. He wondered why that was, why him and Captain Kamino were different.
Thinking back at his introduction, he remembered the Captain was said to have basically undergone the same transformation of Captain America from the comics, so maybe that was it. Different circumstances had made him mature faster. Still, what must have that been like? If he really had been around at the beginning of the age of Quirks, he must have seen firsthand a lot of the worst parts of recent history.
"Fine." Captain Kamino said, startling him, "I can't stop you, but first, you have to focus on what's to come next."
Argali nodded, "He is right. You need to first win your match. And you have to be an A-Lister, if you want to make sure you can cover your part of the deal with Fuyumi."
"Yes, I know."
"Good. In that case, here is a suggestion. Go back to your changing room, and stay there. If they call you in and you aren't there, you will get the stupidest disqualification you could have risked."
"But the recruitment…"
"We can take care of it." The Captain raised his hand, "I'm free after all, and Argali…"
"No objections." The man nodded, "I already got my second place. Technically, I'm freer than you are, since you will have to choose your opponent."
"Actually, I thought about something for that." He looked at Fuyumi, "If he loses, would you be ok with me beating the God of Thunder?"
"So you would take him on in the Top 32 matches?" Fuyumi asked, looking a little apprehensive, "You know that it's a tough match, right? I asked him because he is here to train and nothing more, but you have something to lose."
"I guess…" He took a deep breath, "I guess I just have to win, or hope Izuku wins."
Izuku couldn't hold it anymore, "W-Wait, but… why go this far? I'm… thankful, really. You are helping me immensely already, you agreed to come with me, but… why?"
Cap looked at him for a long moment, "Wouldn't you do the same?"
"Well, yes."
"There you have it. It's the right thing to do. Anyway, I don't have much to lose." He grimaced, "I want that information, but it's not life changing. It's more about giving myself some closure."
Izuku made to ask, but Zuzu-9 coughed, interrupting him, "Uhm, I'm sorry to end this, but I want to point out that we should go, Mister Izuku. They are right, there are four matches left and by my estimate you will take about five minutes to reach Miss Izumi and Miss Huanli."
Argali blinked again. Izuku had noticed earlier that of the three, he seemed to be the only one truly surprised by Epsi. He wondered why Captain Kamino wasn't at least as surprised – he knew he had introduced the AI to Fuyumi earlier – but then shook his head. No time for that right now. "Right, you are right of course. I… Thank you." Izuku bowed his head, leaving the room.
Only then he noticed that at some point, Izzzuku had left.
-x-
My name is Izuku Midoriya, a Pro Hero known as the Wooly Hero: Argali. My Quirk… Well, it's nothing special. I have the ability to transform into a sheep.
Right, I know, sounds pretty bad. But you would be surprised at how many Villains don't expect to be hit in the face by a full grown sheep.
I never expected to enter the Multiverse, but if it's for a friend? I'd have done it a thousand times.
After all, what are Heroes for?
I'm Izuku Midoriya, a pro Hero. And there is nothing else that I would rather be.
"So. No one asked about the cat ears." Fuyumi pointed out the moment the teen left.
"I mean, he might be a Mutant, I didn't want to assume. And secondary traits aren't that rare, apparently. Look at Argali." Captain Kamino replied, sitting on a chair. "I remember back in the early days that would have been seen as incredibly weird."
Argali sat down right after to the left of the young Hero, with Fuyumi to his right, and looked at the young teen. Of the three of them, he was the oldest, though he judged Fuyumi was at most five years younger. He didn't really want to ask her, so instead he focused on the actual question.
"Why?" He asked looking at Captain Kamino.
"Why I assumed he was a Mutant? Well…"
"No, I mean, why did you offer to fight Kaminari." Izuku clarified, and he noticed the younger one grimace.
"I told you, it's…"
"The right thing to do, yes. But you are going really far for this. You didn't need to go as far as offering her to fight the God of Thunder." Argali gestured to Fuyumi.
"Well…"
"And don't try to say 'well I might have to fight him anyway', we both know that making it certain is different from just having the risk." He pointed out.
Izuku sighed, looking at his knees, and Argali noticed his look. "I just… I just thought… I thought I could make myself useful."
"What?"
"Right now… I have nothing much. I don't have a family, I don't have any friends, I'm… alone, really. Sure, Mister Yagi was kind enough to welcome me into his house and shield me from unwanted attention – as much as he can, at least. But it doesn't change the fact that I still don't know what I am supposed to do." He gulped, "My prize in this tournament is information on my family. At best, that means descendants from my father or my uncle. At worst, it means I get graves to mourn them." He shuddered at the thought, and Argali felt like he had unwittingly stepped on a landmine.
"I'm sorry for…"
"Don't be." Cap looked back up, taking a deep breath, "What I meant is that my prize isn't much. I can find this out on my own, with a bit of effort. I know the information is out there now, it will only take some work to find it." He smiled, "Also, I haven't promised to lose the tournament. If I beat this Kaminari guy, or if Izuku beats him and I beat Izuku, I have good chances of winning the whole thing."
Argali looked at him. Captain Kamino wasn't lying, per se. He did believe he had the chance of winning the Tournament, of course. But he still didn't like the behavior he was showing. In all this, he was speaking like he didn't matter. Like his own wish to know that information on his family was not as valuable as giving Izuku – who needed help, but could find a lot without this – and his issue.
It was a delicate matter, and as he glanced at Fuyumi, it was clear she was as incapable of finding an answer as he was. What could they tell him? Argali had instantly accepted when Izzzuku had told him that they had Kendo safe and sound. And the pro Hero hadn't missed the wording Fuyumi had used. She wanted Izuku to beat Kaminari, but she had never said what she would do if Izuku didn't. Would she really back away from helping? Argali doubted that. She had been probably as blindsided by Captain's offer as he had been.
That was when Fuyumi spoke, "Well, I think we should all rest, right? We had a long day. Why don't we go grab some dinner? On me of course."
Argali chuckled. It was the same strategy his wife used whenever one of her friends was feeling down. Good dinners did wonder to rise the humor of someone feeling down, usually. "Well said. It's a bit early, but that gives us time to change and find a proper restaurant."
The younger Izuku nodded, his white hair waving slightly. As he stood up, Argali told himself that, after all, this meeting had been well worth it. There was someone that needed help here, and let it never be said that the Wooly Hero would leave someone on their own. After all, he had become a teacher to look after teens anyway.
Might as well look after one more.
-x-
Izuku took a bit longer than necessary to reach the changing room. He was walking down the corridor when Zuzu pointed out to him one of the defeated fighters he hadn't met yet, a Mutant Quirk user by the name of Eiji Okameda that looked like a large turtle, so he had rushed to ask him for his help. Unfortunately he had refused the idea on the ground that he was supposed to go on a vacation with his wife once the Tournament was over. Izuku had of course understood and walked away, though it was a bit of a disappointment.
As he entered the room, he found the girl busy discussing the latest match, which apparently he had just narrowly missed.
"Hello Izuku! Hi Zuzu!" Huanli said, waving slightly at them, "How did it go?"
"We found three actually." He said with a smile, "Captain Kamino, Argali and Fuyumi Todoroki."
"Nice." The girl grinned, "You missed a lot of matches though. Are you sure that's fine?"
"Don't worry." Zuzu perked up on the screen, "I made sure to record all results, and we can easily find the matches online to rewatch them if needed."
"That's why you didn't talk much earlier?" Izuku asked, "I told you, you should try to speak up more."
"I know, I know, I'm trying my best, but I can't really change in a day." She pouted, "I will get there."
Izuku nodded, then looked at Izumi, "So, how were the matches? We saw the one with Denki and Edgeshot."
"The ninja? Yeah it was cool, but I was talking with Huanli earlier and we agree that the so called 'God of Thunder' didn't really do his best."
"You can tell just by the way he is built." The martial artist explained, "He kept up a very defensive stance, and used the hammer mostly to attack at range, but he has the build of a close combat fighter."
"W-Why wouldn't he do his best, though?" Izuku asked, and Huanli shrugged.
"If I had to guess…" She paused, and turned to Epsi, "Ehi, Epsi, you can find past matches, right?"
"Of course." The AI replied, "You want me to look up mister Kaminari?"
"Yes please, do that."
Epsi nodded and dutifully closed her eyes for a second, the three teens walking closer, before she opened her eyes again and a video appeared on her screen. The unmistakable figure of Denki Kaminari was there, already armed with his hammer and the drums, but he was a lot leaner, looking a lot more like the Kaminari Izuku knew.
"This is his match from last year?" Huanli asked.
"Yes."
"Then he has done a lot of training to switch fighting style in the last year." She said, "That must have been tough, but if he did it correctly, he might be stronger than he used to be before." She chuckled, "It might actually be worthy to reach first place in the Qualifiers in that case. Last thing we want is fighting him, and the fact he is a B-Lister means we can avoid him."
"I thought you would jump at the idea of fighting him." Izumi commented, "He is strong and all…"
"No, I want to fight the ninja." She replied, "He is the interesting one for a martial artist like me." She replied, "I'm lucky I will go after him, so I can make sure to be on the same bracket. If it doesn't take too long.
They glanced at the screen, and blinked, realizing they had completely missed the fifteenth match starting. No one had come to call them, so of course they weren't supposed to be in it, but they were still supposed to pay attention.
They were barely in time. They watched as Juzo Honenuki used his Quirk to turn the ground into mud, only for Iida to jump past it. The other three fighters, that included Bubble Girl and two people Izuku didn't recognize were trapped in the ground as it solidified. Unsurprisingly, Iida made the choice to not rush toward Honenuki's captured opponents. Having already captured a number before, the moment Honenuki grabbed his own he was declared A-Lister, while Iida bowed at his recognition as a B-Lister.
"Typical Iida." Izuku murmured with a smile. He did his best to avoid shedding tears seeing his friend on the screen, but it wasn't easy, even if rationally he knew they weren't the same person.
"Are you ok?" Izumi asked, noticing it.
"I… Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a while."
"If you don't want us to take part in this…"
"It's a bit late for that." Izuku pointed out, "And it was my choice to do it anyway. And Huanli is right. Watching those matches is making me realize how much I can grow. Those people… There are a lot of strong fighters, and I can certainly learn from them."
"That's the spirit!" Huanli slapped his back, and Izumi chuckled. Even Zuzu did the same.
Izuku sighed, feeling better. This journey wasn't all bad, after all, he thought looking at the girls. He had made some new friends, seen new places, and had a concrete chance of saving his Universe. If he hadn't jumped in the wider Multiverse, who knew what would have happened.
Then, after the shortest break they had taken between matches, barely a couple minutes, the announcer made a name, and Izuku straightened up, suddenly. "What is it?" Izumi asked.
"He just said…" Izuku stared at the screen, to make sure he had heard the name right. Of course, seeing professor Ectoplasm being called had been interesting, as had been the name of Ibara Shiozaki from Class B, but the one that had really surprised him had been the very first.
"Hikage Shinomori…" He whispered. The Fourth user of One for All in his own world.
Izuku wasn't dumb. He had noticed for a while now that he seemed to only arrive in universes where either him or someone from his generation was a wielder of One for All. There had been exceptions, like Mariah's world, that seemed to be two generations ahead, and Itsumi's, that was already moving forward by one, but predecessors still wielding the power had been rare. Technically, the only exception was the Forestverse, as far as he knew.
So the idea of seeing one of his predecessors had suddenly made him incredibly interested.
He studied the appearance of Shinomori. He had already seen him in his few dreams of the Vestiges, of course, but seeing the man in person was different. Shinomori was pale, with a well built frame. He wasn't as muscular as other fighters, but seemed quite agile. He was also missing the cracks on his face that Izuku distinctly remembered from his dreams of the Vestiges, and his hair weren't white but a pale blue.
The fight started soon after, and his Predecessor leapt forward, dodging one blow after another from the opponent, a man almost three meters tall with a bulky frame. However, all the strength in the world didn't manage to so much as brush Shinomori, who took his time hitting his opponent with blow after blow, aiming at the jaw and abdomen with lethal precision.
Izuku wondered if he had One for All. From what they had heard, in this world One for All was a magical ring of some kind, but he had no idea if the man was from this world or from another. His guess would have been the latter, since this world already had an Izuku that was clearly an adult, but who knew, maybe…
"Izuku, you are mumbling quite loudly, and you don't have Overzealous Databook as an excuse." Izumi commented, and Izuku blushed as he realized he had been sharing his thoughts out loud. He went back to focusing on the fight, watching the man elegantly dodge every last blow and finally knock out the larger opponent.
Was this how Danger Sense worked? All Might's notes were very vague on the Fourth, but Izuku could already see the applications. The ability to predict and dodge any incoming strike would be extremely valuable when fighting Villains.
So far, Izuku had only managed to feel Danger Sense, but never to truly test it. It had come about during his fight with Isaac Green, though he hadn't realized at the time, and since then had rung a number of time, but never in a way that made Izuku consistently rely on it. But to think he eventually could manage to pull what the Fourth was doing here was quite incredible.
"I want to talk to him." Izuku said.
"Who, that guy with the pale blue hair?" Izumi asked, "Why?"
"It's a bit long to explain, but I'll try to catch him before he leaves. Since this is the last match…"
"We meet up outside? Sounds like a good idea, especially because I'm hungry." She replied.
"Don't try to walk out of returning your sword, the guy is still angry." Izuku replied, and Izumi in response snorted. He really hoped she would actually do it.
He rushed down the corridor, Zuzu giving him instructions. He heard the muffled announcement that professor Ectoplasm was the A lister and Shinomori the B Lister, then turned another corner and bumped into someone.
The impact made Izuku fall to the ground. He caught himself and jumped back on his feet before looking up. And up. And up.
The Battlemaster stood in front of him, his presence almost enough to make him shiver at such close distance.
Of all the people Izuku had thought he'd meet, Kendo Rappa, the man that according to the League was considered one of the strongest and most dangerous men in the Multiverse, was not one of them. He didn't know exactly why – after all, he was a fighter – but still it was unexpected.
In response, Rappa looked down, while Izuku tried to figure out his height, ignoring the ringing of One for All in the back of his head as it reacted to the large man. 270 centimeters? More? He was certainly taller than All Might's Hero appearance, though perhaps not by much.
Meanwhile, the taller man was studying him. Izuku was in full Hero costume, given technically he might have had to fight at any moment. Without saying anything, the man squatted down, standing with his arms on his knees. At this height, he was still taller than Izuku, who had never felt shorter than that day.
"So, which are you? The one with the shield, the one that smells of death… Well, certainly not the one with the horns." He paused, "Uhm… No, neither of them. There are more copies of you, yes?"
"I… Yes, though we aren't copies, we are…"
"Don't care. Answer this: why are you here?" He asked, and it was almost like Izuku was compelled to answer.
"I'm training." He replied in a flash, "I need to fight more opponents to become stronger."
The grin that grew on Rappa's face was terrifying. "Nice. Very, very nice. A simple goal, but that makes it all better." He cracked his fingers, "Well, if you get to choose your side, try to stay on the same of the steam girl."
"Fuyumi? Why?"
"I always choose the opposite side of the bracket from the B-Lister of my fight. I like to fuel their antagonism." He winked, "And that goes for you too. Become strong enough, and I can beat the shit out of you when you are at your strongest."
Izuku stared at him as he left. He didn't really have a choice on the matter, to be honest, but he wasn't about to tell the man. Only when Rappa was out of sight he sighed in relief.
He had considered asking the Battlemaster for help, but it sounded far too dangerous. From what he had been told by the League, there wasn't much that could stop him, but the collateral was just too much. And he didn't really know if he could actually trust him.
With a sigh, he turned around and rushed to try and find Shinomori.
-x-
Shoto watched a new wave of guests enter the Headquarters. They were all being checked, one after another, to make sure they were who they were supposed to be, which once again was a rather serious reminder of his world, with all the attention to try and sniff out any Twice double or transformed Himiko that might try to break into their hiding spots.
To keep the attention low, the League was trying to make people enter in groups of five at most, but even then, Shoto doubted this would last much longer. Sooner or later, someone would notice that tens of people were walking into a building, and no one was walking out.
"Can we really fit all those people in the base?" He asked to Uraraka, who was sitting behind the desk once again.
"We don't really have a choice." The girl replied, "The Headquarters can host about sixty people, so we should fit them all, though it will be a bit squeezed. That is assuming we need to." She grimaced, and Shoto did the same. They had only made it through the first forty names on the list of names Mariah had given him, and already three more were missing. Two with One for All, which seemed to set a pattern, and one was a magic user. Mariah was trying to figure out if the woman was connected to the other disappearances or just an unrelated event, but finding out that she was gone had made Mariah decide the only choice they had was try and host all the people on the list and try to figure out the leak.
On one hand, for Shoto that was great, because it meant he only needed to stand at the door and spot more people walking in, and identify the ones he wanted to recruit. On the other, it was unfortunate they had to go through that. He knew what it felt like to have to hide. "What about the Star Tower?" He asked, "That's a safe spot."
"We are taking there the lost Wanderer that live in other universes, but yes, we will also move there some of our own." She grimaced, "This is bad though, really bad. Even if right now we can shelter them, we need to figure out who is doing this and why."
"Do we have any lead?" Another voice asked, and they both gasped, caught by surprise, turning around to see Lissa standing behind them, Bakugo to her right. The question had been asked by the man.
"Not really. We thought they were going after One for All users, but that theory has cracked." She explained.
"Who disappeared?"
"A woman named Camie Utsushimi that used- uses hypnotic magic." Uraraka replied, correcting herself quickly but not quickly enough for Bakugo to not catch it.
The man snarled, "Dammit, every time…" He muttered, but before Shoto could ask what he meant, Melissa spoke up.
"Uhm, if I can help in any way…"
"You can't." Shoto bluntly stated, "This enemy is after One for All, from what we can guess-"
"What he means," Uraraka replied, interjecting, "Is that right now we have no leads. The best chance we have is trying to collect everyone here, not rushing out, so if you want to help, you can try to calm down the people in here. A lot of them are civilians that had just managed to set up a semblance of normal life before this happened. They will need moral support."
Lissa sighed, but nodded, walking away. Bakugo shook his head, "You aren't really going to help like this, floaty."
"I didn't lie."
"No? I would guess you have an idea, at least."
"I might." She admitted, "Though how you figured it out…"
"The Uraraka in my world makes the same expression when she has an idea." He casually replied.
Shoto nodded, "I was thinking the same thing. You think you know where they got the information from, right?"
"I… I have an idea, but it seems such a random guess. I want to ask Mariah and Isaac their opinion, anyway, and…"
"Why the hell are so many people in here?!" A new voice shouted, and all three heads snapped up, where two people were walking down the stairs. The first one was Melissa Shield, except that she was a lot older, and Shoto recognized the one they had known as Mel. She was back then. "Uraraka, what happened?"
"Calm down Melissa." The second one, the Izuku Midoriya with a metal arm known as Power Suit, said, "Though I have to say, I'm surprised too."
"Power Suit?" Uraraka looked at him in surprise, "I thought you wouldn't be back for another week."
"I wasn't supposed to, but yesterday Mel came around while travelling back here and…"
"We can talk about pleasantries later, explain." Mel interrupted, looking at the free of them, and Shoto sighed, as Uraraka begun to explain.
Why was it that he always found himself involved in trouble?
-x-
My name is Izuku Midoriya, also known as Fusion Hero: Dekiru by… well, pretty much only my classmates.
I was born with a weird Quirk, that allows me to absorb inorganic matter and fuse with other people, called Fusion.
With it, I always wanted to be a Hero. Thanks to my childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, I managed to keep up the dream even when we got older and my Quirk started to make rumors circulate.
Then I met All Might, and he offered me One for All, after me and Katsuki – or well, Katzuko did really – defeated a Villain in self-defense.
But there is still so much I have to learn, so much I have to do, before I can truly call myself the heir of All Might.
Until then, I will work hard for it.
I will work hard to become Dekiru, the Fusion Hero. Because there is nothing else I would rather be.
Dekiru looked up at the sky. The starts were shining above the capital of the Kingdom of Colfire. The lights of the large fantasy city he was staring at were not nearly bright enough to hide it, so he was getting a sight that a city boy like him rarely got to observe by himself.
He breathed in and out, staring at the shining stars above. He couldn't call himself knowledgeable on constellations and celestial bodies, but he would go out a limb and say that the sky above wasn't the same. For one, even he knew how to find the Ursa Maior, and the constellation was nowhere to be seen. 'Unless this is the southern Emisphere. I don't really know how to find any star there…'
Katsuki would know, of course. He would be pointing out stars the moment he noticed Izuku wasn't managing to. Uraraka would probably call him out on it, and they would start fighting. Tsuyu would probably just watch from the sidelines.
They would all get a good laugh and then go back to training, or home if it was that late.
He didn't even notice the tears streaming down from his eyes until his vision became blurry and those unknown stars in that unknown sky became impossible to distinguish. When he realized he was crying, though, he couldn't really stop.
For all that Izuku had been going through a lot of things, he had always had his friends. Well, mostly Katsuki, but since joining UA so many more. Uraraka, Tsuyu, Mina, Eijiro, Minoru… Hanta, though him and the tape user had only grown closer since the Festival. But still, they were friends.
If only he hadn't jumped toward Kurogiri. If only he hadn't been hit by Forcible Quirk Activation. If only whatever combination came out didn't send them both into the Multiverse…
He cried a bit more, letting the tears stream down his face. And here he was, lost with the solution at hand, because that solution required him to like a song.
It was so dumb. He didn't even hate it, he just didn't feel like listening to it again.
Like Canary had said, you couldn't really force tastes. The best he could come up with was listening to it from time to time until it hit.
It still hadn't.
Finally calming down, Izuku went back to looking up at the night sky. "Will I ever make it back?" He wondered. The people from the League all liked to say yes, but he had heard how many people never managed to. He didn't want to be one of them. The people here were nice, Lissa was an amazing friend, but… It wasn't his home. Those weren't the same as his friend.
With a soft sigh, he leaned back, letting himself fall on the floor of the tower. It was an old watchtower, from what he had been told, but now it formed part of the castle keep, surviving from the age of the first king. All interesting stuff, but he wondered why he even bothered remembering it all.
"Are you asleep?" A voice asked, and his eyes sprung open. He saw The Green Scar standing above him, and blinked a few times, before jumping up.
"Uh, ah, hello Green Scar."
"Hello Dekiru." He replied, sitting down on the edge of the tower, on a short battlement, "What are you doing up here all alone?"
"Just… looking at the sky."
"Must be hard looking at it with all those tears." He replied, and Izuku stood back up.
"You saw me?!"
"Nope. But you have red eyes and the face of someone that just cried. Not hard to figure it out." He grinned, "Not exactly a difficult guess."
Dekiru looked away, blushing a bit. Of course, it wasn't hard to guess. "I guess you are right. And you? What brought you here?"
"Don't change the subject, we will talk about this." The Green Scar replied, and Dekiru mused that, despite looking in his early twenties, the man really acted like he was in his forties. Which he was, to be fair. As he watched, his smile became softer, "But if you want to know, I guess I can tell you. I was here to reminisce a bit."
"About what?"
"About the last time I stood on a castle tower." He chuckled, "The last time I sat in a place like this, looking out to a vast Kingdom of infinite possibilities." Dekiru watched his face grow a bit harder, with the look of someone remembering something really, really unpleasant but at the same time that they couldn't bring themselves to dismiss. Eyes lost for a long moment to the horizon, before he took a deep breath, "But let's talk about you." He finally said, "What made you cry?"
"I guess I… I miss home." Dekiru admitted, "I know, everyone here does, you do too, I'm sure, but… I don't know, how am I supposed to make it back? Are my friends ok? Is Japan doing well without One for All?" He sighed, "I guess I just let it get the better of me. I just… I can't imagine never going back. Never seeing them again."
"I can. I got the experience twice, actually." Dekiru looked at him.
"… How?"
"Well, the first time it was in my head. A magical girl summons you to a magical realm and then has no way to send you back. And then stuff happens and… well, you spend thirty years in that world." He grimaced, "As you can imagine, I thought I had lost all of my friends back home. Even if they weren't dead, hopefully, they would have certainly moved on. By the time I came back, we would be strangers." He frowned, "Not that I was close with a lot of them, it was the second day of school after all… But I digress. Anyway, I moved on, made myself a life in that world, all the jazz."
Dekiru didn't interrupt, curious, so the man took it as a go to continue. "Then after those first thirty years I got put into a crystal jail. Which was really dumb because I did the right thing, but even if I was conscious when it happened, which I wasn't, explaining yourself to Rhombulus is useless, and Heckapoo is a psycho that should really… Ahem, anyway," He coughed in his fist, "that meant I was frozen for three hundred years."
"Three hundred…" Dekiru gasped, unsure of what to say about that. It was such a mind-boggling timeframe.
"Yeah, you get it. By the time a new Princess came and convinced Crystalhead McSnakehands to let me go, no one I knew back there was still alive. I also assumed the same of the people back home, so I wasn't even sure if I should have accepted going back home."
"And then what happened?"
"Oh, I went back. Figured I would try to see what Japan had become without me and One for All" He chuckled, "It turns out, back in my home dimension, it had been half an hour."
Dekiru stared at him in disbelief, and Izuku started to laugh. Before long, Dekiru couldn't help but join him.
"See, you get it! I got so worried, so scared, and when I went back, the first thing I got was an unimpressed look from Mister Aizawa and an 'explain, now'." He chuckled, "I guess they were about ready to call the Police and denounce Bakugo for manslaughter."
"Why?"
"Oh, he had just attacked me with an explosion when I vanished. It probably looked like I got atomized by it or something."
Dekiru chuckled again. Oh man, getting hit by Katsuki like that would be…
He sighed, and the Green Scar noticed the change in tone, because he chuckled. "You realize I'm not telling you this because I feel like sharing tonight." He asked gently.
"No, I know, you want me to understand, right? That being away from home doesn't mean necessarily that I have lost everyone."
The Green Scar nodded, continuing to sit there and think. Dekiru wondered what he was thinking about. Maybe he was thinking back. "You have been away for a few days, Dekiru. Less than Itsumi or me. Certainly less than I thought I had been the first time." He winked, "Don't let it bother you."
Dekiru nodded, and they sat there, the Green Scar sitting on the battlement, Dekiru on the ground next to it. It was rather soothing, spending time like that, and Dekiru was starting to be lulled into sleep, when the door slammed open. "He stopped!" Spider-Man shouted, making them both jump. Unfortunately, the Green Scar was on the battlements, making him fall forward because of the surprise. Luckily, his Blackwhip and Spider-Man's web prevented him from falling.
"If you do that again, I will…" The Green Scar started, before pausing, "Hawks stopped?"
"Yes!"
"That's a big deal! Keep an eye on it and tell me if he starts moving again, they might just have stopped to sleep. I'll go tell the others." He looked at Dekiru, "Let's do the same."
The Hero in training nodded, following the other's instruction, and smiling.
He would go back home one day.
But for now, he would do with what he had to.
(xx)
Featured in this chapter:
Captain Kamino from Kamino's Ward by tunafishprincess;
Argali from Sheep go to Heaven by Dramatic_Spoon;
Power Suit from Rejected Stones by FullParagon;
Dekiru from Dekiru the Fusion Hero by | Omega Infinity |;
The Green Scar from The Green Scar worldbuilding thread by Quantum01 and The Green Scar fanfic by Pro-man;
Spider-Man from Amazing Fantasy by The Infamous Man;
As I mentioned before, now that we have a lot of crossovers I plan to tag the various fics in the A/N unless a new crossover Izuku appears for the first time.
So, aside from all that, let's look at the chapter. We have Denki's thunder fighting (with a mystery on the fighting style), we have some more Captain Kamino and Argali, we have some Izuku running into danger, and we give a quick look on a few other universes while also having two little heart to heart between characters from different fics. Honest, I didn't plan ahead for it to be necessarily the crossover characters talking to each other, but it happened and I couldn't be more happy for it.
And with this, the first day of the tournament is over, with Huanli and Izuku still expecting a fight, and another alternate Izuku still unaccounted for. What expects us? Only time will tell.