Bit of a delay with this chapter. For some reason, it's always the short ones that take more time.

(XX)

"I'm sorry about your defeat, Shinomori." Izuku said.

"It was bound to happen when facing the Battlemaster." Shinomori, the fourth holder of One for All in his own world, replied with a shrug, sitting down in front of Izuku at the table. His morning breakfast, Izuku noticed, was made of just two apples and a glass of water. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. He has five generations of One for All on me."

"He didn't seem too happy." Izuku noted.

"He wasn't. He expected me to fight to the bitter end." Shinomori shrugged, "I'm not that kind of person. If I was, I wouldn't have become a hermit hidden in the mountain to cultivate One for All, but I would have charged in against All for One like my predecessors did."

Izuku hummed. "I wanted to ask… You look a bit different from the Shinomori of my Vestiges."

"I do?"

"It's the scars. You don't have them." Izuku traced a finger down his face, where the scars had been on the Vestige of the Fourth.

"Ah. Well, I can't help with that. Either what caused them hasn't happened yet, or I avoided whatever event caused them."

"I suppose that's true. I shouldn't assume you two are one and the same." Izuku scratched the back of his head, unsure on how to continue. He really wanted to make conversation with one of One for All's previous wielder, one he could meet outside of his dream and wasn't… well, All Might, but he couldn't think of anything that didn't amount to 'so what's it like to live with All for One running the underworld?', and that seemed in poor taste.

It was Shinomori that spoke up instead. "What are you planning to do Izuku?"

"Mh?"

"I mean, after the Tournament."

"Well, I have to train until I get Teleport under control, and then fight All for Deku, All for One, Shigaraki and Alien King…" Izuku sighed, "It really sounds overwhelming when I say it out loud."

Shinomori nodded, "I can imagine. I refused to fight one, and you will have to fight four. At least you will have help."

"Right." Izuku looked down to his cup of tea, "I… Shoto and Ojiro said the Heroes of their world will help, and Itsumi was sure that her own Heroes would absolutely take down Alien King, especially after… what happened in her world."

He still remembered that day in the Star Tower when Isaac had told them that Itsumi's world had been attacked. One of the three other wielders of One for All had died, and her own mother had been wounded grievously, though Isaac had mentioned that she wasn't in a life-threatening state.

It still did nothing to help Izuku ease his feeling of guilt. He was the one that jumped into All for Deku's world and from there to Itsumi's. Sure, it wasn't his fault that All for Deku had obtained Teleport and One for All, but he had never jumped before. Maybe, if he had never met Izuku at all… "Calm down." Shinomori suddenly said, "I can tell you are having some very negative thoughts. That, and you started to mumble. Low volume, but I could still hear words like fault and All for Deku, so it's not hard to figure out what is going on."

"Thank you." Izuku nodded, finishing his tea, "I just worry."

"I can tell. Well, no reason for me to not help you."

"About that-" Izuku wanted to ask why Shinomori was agreeing to help him when there was that much risk involved, but before he could a man walked up to him. With leaves for air and a scarf covering his face, the man extended his hand.

"Hi, are you Izuku Midoriya? The one they call Deku, I mean?"

"Ah. Yes, and you are… Kamui Woods?"

"I believe in your world I'm called that. Here I'm just Shinji Nishiya, or Woods as my friends call me. I wanted to talk to you about your situation. I believe I could improve myself by helping you."

Izuku blinked. "A-Absolutely!" He stood up, "Thank you very much!"

"No problem at all."

As he and Deku started to talk, the question slipped from Izuku's mind.

-x-

"You are angry." Zombie commented matter-of-factly, blocking a blow of Blight-Killer with the back of his axe, then turning around and slamming the back of the weapon in Revenant's gut. The other Izuku had brought up a dagger and had body armor, so all that did was make him cough and stumble back a few steps, but it was still a hit Revenant should have dodged entirely.

Revenant coughed, "I am." He admitted, sheeting Blight-Killer, "And I need a smoke." He said, sitting down on a rusty bench. The clearing Revenant and Zombie had found for their training was what remained of an old picnic area, probably abandoned since it was off the paths around the Arena, instead lost in the woods. The benches were rusty and rotting in a few spots, one of them being completely broken. The tables had been pushed out of the way, since the two didn't need them, and now it was their training spot, away from prying eyes.

It was pragmatic, of course. Training was good and all, and Revenant wasn't going back on the promise to help Deku and the others with it, but for his own, he preferred more privacy. Zombie shared the idea, and since they would only meet in the finals, if they met at all, he made for a good sparring partner.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lighted one, taking a deep breath. "Miss Yagi won't like you smoking." Zombie said with a chuckle.

"Miss Yagi isn't here." Revenant replied, with a frown. Zombie chuckled again, and pulled out a cigarette of his own. For a while, they kept their silence, each busy only with the respective vice. To Revenant, it was really just a way to ease his mind. Not calm down entirely, but make himself more… controlled. At ease, as much as he could be. Never so calm he would be unable to detect the intent of those around him, to feel his skin crawl if an armed enemy decided to try his luck at killing him, but calm enough.

He still wasn't sure if Sugoh had taken away entirely his ability to relax ever again, but he was leaning toward a yes. Yet another reason to murder the bastard.

"What got you upset. Want to share with the class?" Zombie finally asked.

Revenant sighed, smoke escaping his lips, "It's nothing important. Just… the Arena."

"What of it? Wrong positioning of the buildings?"

"No, they did a good job with that. It was more a matter of the buildings' design."

"Something to do with your… rather fancy introduction?"

"Everything." Revenant replied, "I went through some stuff for over a year, and it always enrages me to see it trivialized. The JTO doesn't really seem to care."

"Ah, I see. I will admit, I'm worried about how they will introduce me today. It's gonna be an interesting thing to see."

"Really? I doubt you can get something worse than 'The Necro-Stomper'."

Zombie snickered, "You know, let's take your mind off it. We are going to meet in the finals, and by then I think we will have shown most of our cards. Why don't I show you what I can do for real?"

Revenant grinned, "You are giving me an oddly good deal."

"Eh. Consider it just sportsmanship."

They moved back up to the two sides of the clearing, Revenant pulling out clearing. Zombie looked up at the sky, noticing the sky shining down on them both, and sighed, before pulling out from his trench coat… a book with a demon on it and a small red bookmark poking out of a page. He opened it, while pulling out the bookmark, and then dodged to the side as Revenant's opening strike missed his abdomen by inches.

"Risky." And then turned the book's pages, before putting in the bookmark and grinning, "Let me show you this chapter of the Book of Evil then."

Revenant's eyes went wide, and he took a step back in preparation. A deafening howl echoed through the clearing.

-x-

"What was that?" Izumi asked.

"Not sure." Argali replied, "So, feeling confident for your next match?"

"Not really…" Izumi admitted, "I still have an ace up my sleeve, hopefully, but it will still be tougher than this one."

"It probably will be." Argali admitted, "But I'm sure you can do it."

"Hope so. What about you?" She asked, "Not that I think you need much help, considering you somehow defeated a dragon as a sheep."

"It's not that amazing…" He started to say, only for Izumi to glare at him, "Alright, I admit it was a good showing, but to be fair I already know Ryukyu, I even interned with her, so I knew how to approach this. You never fought Geten."

Izumi wanted to call him out on the fact his Ryukyu was certainly different from this one, but she decided against it. Argali had been honest about his praise, even if she didn't feel like it was deserved. She sighed, and sat down as he handed her a bottle of water. "What's it like?" She asked.

"Mh?"

"Your world. What's it like? I mean, you have those things called Quirk, right?"

Argali chuckled, "I wouldn't call them 'things', but yes. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering." She replied, looking around, and nodding toward another ring, where Huanli and Chojuro Kon were sparring, though you wouldn't be able to tell at a glance, since they seemed to actually be trying to kill each other. "Huanli comes from a world where Qi is real and can be controlled. Kon comes from a Quirk world, from what he told us, though unlike yours it seems they have mostly Heteromorphic Quirks. What about yours?"

"Well, from what I can tell there isn't much." Argali replied, "I was born with the Quirk of turning into a sheep, went to UA, a Hero Academy, and graduated to then become a Pro Hero."

Izumi nodded, then looked down, "Man, that sounds… fun. Though, I'm the Council President and Boss of Yuuei, so I guess we are similar."

"Well, I never really was the boss of anyone." He replied, sitting down too, "I was just a student. Though I did become Class Representative in my Third Year." Izumi nodded. She really didn't know what else to ask. Who are your friends? Do you have a family? Those questions seemed odd to ask. Wow, so that was why people never just sat down with their alternate selves to share their biography in comic books and the like, uh?

"Aren't you a teacher though?" She finally asked.

"Yeah. Somehow I agreed to the proposal of becoming a UA Teacher. I blame Yaoyorozu, really."

"And how is that? The teachers at Yuuei aren't that great, to be honest. Really most of them only show up to take note of the absentees and do the obligatory national tests."

"Eesh, sounds rough." He shrugged, "No, my UA is basically the opposite. We take Hero training very seriously, since you know, those kids one day will have to keep our cities safe. It's a very demanding course."

"Yeah, sounds like it. Lots of kids take it?"

"My son plans to." He replied, and saw her eyes grow wide, chuckling, "Yeah, I'm married, did you think I wouldn't have children too?"

"I… To be honest I didn't consider the idea."

He grinned and pulled out his phone, pressing a couple of times on the screen before turning it around and showing her a picture. Argali was standing next to an aged version of Tsunotori. An older boy, that looked seven or eight, with blonde, curly hair and four horns on his head, two straight ones sprouting from the top and two curled ones that circled his ears, was standing in front of them. On Argali's lap was sitting a girl around four with green hair of a lighter tone than her dad. Her legs had hooves, she noticed. Finally, a newborn child was resting in the mother's arms.

"Those are Itsuki, Anna and Kiku." He explained with a proud look on his face, "We took that picture when Kiku and Pony came home from the hospital."

"They look… Really cute." Izumi managed to say. It was weird to be in this position. She was watching what her children might look like… if Pony was a boy, at least. 'Uh, that's an interesting thought. Would the children swap too? Would they be a girl and two boys?' The Multiverse was confusing. She returned the phone to the man, who smiled.

"So, is this interest in my family born from anything? Anyone you like?" He asked, with the look of a relative that was messing with a younger one, though Izumi turned deep read either way.

"I-I-I mean, it's not like- I'm not interested in- I mean, there are some people that- I-It's not important anyway, r-right?" She looked away, flustered.

Argali snorted, "Oh my, seems I've touched a nerve."

Izumi was bright red at this point. Yes, she got flustered easily when it came to her love life, sue her! It wasn't like it was easy to like… Well, it wasn't like it was easy to have a crush like hers. She huffed, looking away, "It's not important anyway. Let's go back to training." She declared out loud, standing back up, pulling out a training sword and marching back toward the ring.

Argali chuckled. Well, this was something that took him back.

-x-

Itsumi pushed to the side and attacked with her weapon. The Green Scar, Izuku, blocked the blow, before grabbing it and twisting the cane out of her hand. "Again." He said, pushing it back into her hand.

"Yes, of course..." Itsumi panted, and the Green Scar nodded. He had to admit, Itsumi was absolutely a hard worker. She pushed through every minute of their training without complaining. If he didn't know she was the daughter of himself and... alright, that was a scary thought, but himself and a female version of Bakugo, he would have realized it just by the effort she put into it.

It was impressive, and it was giving results. She couldn't beat him, but from the various sparring matches he had done around the camp, only Itsuka and Canary were capable of fighting him on equal terms. His current body, after all, was young but not to the point of his teenage self.

Itsumi took her stance again, and with a smile, The Green Scar gestured for her to move forward, but this time she didn't take the bait. Even panting and huffing from the physical exertion, she wasn't going to rush forward.

So the Green Scar did instead, lighting up with One for All. Only ten percent, but enough to move at superhuman speed. Itsumi blocked raising her own One for All and crossing her arms, getting launched back by Izuku's kick. She winced, but landed on her feet and rushed forward, before attacking with her cane, a lunge that aimed for Izuku's chest. He sidestepped the attack, and then extended Blackwhip, more out of a reflex. The dark tendril grabbed Itsumi's leg and made her trip, sending her rolling on the grass.

"Not bad." He said, "The lunge was good, but you exposed yourself too much. I could have landed a hit, instead of making you trip."

"I can tell." She said with a slight growl.

'Eh, there is Katsuki's daughter.' He thought with an amused smile. "Well, don't worry too much about it. We are training, it's normal to make mistake."

"We won't be just training for long." She replied, "It's two days now."

"Two days are a long time. And it's more like three, we will have to also scout the place."

"You won't be training the day before." Itsuka pointed out. Itsuka Quanteng, the master of Qi, had been observing them for a while, but this was the first time she spoke, "We need to be in perfect shape, which includes well-rested. Moreover, we don't want to run the risk of attracting unwanted attention, and if they spot the fight that's exactly what will happen."

Itsumi grumbled, but the Green Scar just laughed. "Alright, then I guess it's two days. But come on, you are getting better with your weapon, and you have a few good tricks up your sleeve. You can do this."

"Easy for you to say, you are the strongest here."

Itsuka snorted, "Sure."

"What, are you saying you are the strongest?" The Green Scar asked, with a curious look.

"Nope." She pointed toward the horses, "That would be Canary."

Said Canary turned toward the three of them, stopping his cleaning of the closest horse, "Uh, me?"

"You are."

"I-I am not! I can't level a mountain."

"Oh yeah? Then sing Killer Queen."

"Oh come on, that's unfair." Canary pointed out, "I could ask you to use that super-powerful Qi thing you can do, and you'd probably beat me before I can even start to sing. The Green Scar can too for that matter."

"So I guess you are the strongest at range." Itsuka concluded.

"I- Why is this important?!" Canary asked.

"I don't know." Itsuka replied, "I just figured I'd share my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, the order of strength goes Canary, me, and the Green Scar."

"Wait, why am I third place?"

Itsuka winked, "Because I'm stronger." And with that, she walked toward the horses. The Green Scar sighed.

"Ugh, she is like Solaria. Without the 'genocide all monsters' part, thankfully, but still..." He took a deep breath, "Women, am I right?"

"I am a woman."

"So you are." He nodded, "So you are..." He walked off, joining the others on the horses.

Itsumi felt the need to question if she was really the only sane one in this group.

-x-

All for Deku yawned. The lab of Kyudai Garaki was a revolting place, even for a person like him that wasn't above using Noumus. He assumed other people would have found it fascinating, but he wasn't one of those. Garaki, like many others, was a pawn. Even his predecessor had agreed on that. The good doctor was zealous and lacked any morals, which was good for someone you wanted to use.

In his world, he was also very dead now, and not mourned by anyone, except All for Deku himself when he had to make sure the remaining High Ends weren't wasted against the wrong Hero because no one could really replace them. Even if Twice could create clones of them, that wasn't quite the same.

"What are you doing here?!" Said doctor asked as he entered the room. His eyes turned into slits, "How did you know about this place?"

All for Deku shrugged, "I used Kurogiri's portals. Well, my portals, I took a copy of Kurogiri's Quirk years ago."

"Impossible! I haven't managed to create a copy of the Quirk-"

"Yet, Doctor, you haven't managed yet. Provided you survive, making copies of basically any Quirk will become second nature for you by the end. Though, that won't really help when Present Mic and Eraserhead kill you for murdering Oboro Shirakumo."

The Doctor paled, "I…"

"You die. You never let Twice near you either, counting on a little Noumu of yours to get clones, so when that Noumu gets destroyed too, that's the end of you." All for Deku sighed, "Just try to keep that in mind. The last thing we need is for you to pass away for now."

The Doctor nodded stiffly, but his eyes didn't grow less suspicious. "You know I don't work for you?"

"No, but you don't work for Shigaraki either, do you?" He asked, and the Doctor's eyes went wide.

"What-"

"Please, you think I didn't try to figure out what was going on? I underwent this process." He said, pointing a finger toward the vat where Tomura Shigaraki was floating, "But mine was different. I can tell All for One is doing something to Tomura that my version of him didn't."

"And what if he was?" The Doctor asked. All for Deku smiled. That, at least, he could agree with. That reaction of not trying to hide the fact. The Doctor knew he had been found out, and was snapping back.

"I don't care." All for Deku replied, and the Doctor blinked.

"What?"

"I think All for One would be willing to work with me. I think Shigaraki is less likely to do that. So, if you are really planning to install All for One inside Shigaraki… well, I'm not going to stop you. I just wanted to warn you." He tapped him on the shoulder, creating a portal with his other hand, "In all the other universes we know, be that mine, Alien King's, or the one we learned about with 'Star Might', All for One always loses, and his successor is the one that raises, to win or fail. Try to consider well which side you want to be on."

"I'm loyal to All for One."

"Good." All for Deku stepped through the portal, "It's always good to know where you stand."

He arrived on the other side, landing in his own room. The PLF had given him one, and he had more than graciously accepted. It was rather comfortable, even if nowhere near his own home.

"How did it go?" Higuchi asked. His own version of Spinner and bodyguard nodded respectfully, not acknowledging how weird it was for All for Deku to not even slightly react to his sudden appearance. Simply put, All for Deku had expected him, really. Higuchi was a good fighter with the right Quirks to hide his presence, and knew he was coming back. "They are implanting All for One inside Tomura's mind. Not sure if it will be a takeover or more like having an erudite parasite, but both cases mean Shigaraki stops being the same person."

"Is that good?"

"For Shigaraki? No. For 'Deku', even less so. For us? I guess it depends." He leaned back, "Weird to think it could have been me too?"

Higuchi's eyes went wide. "What?!"

"At one point, All for One had considered the idea. I found out from the Doctor, after my Master passed away. The idea of transferring someone's mind along with their Quirk isn't that absurd." He sighed, "I guess he simply changed his mind."

"Are you sure-"

"That I wasn't taken over by All for One? Trust me, you'd notice the difference. Also, the plan required him to be alive. His death against All Might pretty much sealed away the very idea. Though he had abandoned it even before."

Higuchi nodded, the lizard man trying to grasp the concept. Taking over your student was a level of cruelty even most Villains wouldn't stoop too. All for Deku had to admit, the news was pretty shocking. He had been wary of the Doctor and spiteful of his Master for a while, before realizing that he had the means to do it but never did, which must have meant something. "It's up to the Doctor now, anyway. He might change his mind and side with Tomura, or he might stay loyal to All for One and complete the process as instructed. As I said, it doesn't make a difference for us."

"You have a preference though." Higuchi replied.

"I do." He replied. And he knew the lizard was wondering which one it was.

-x-

Deku looked up at the Arena. Knowing that today he would have to fight did make him more nervous, he realized. "You alright?" Captain Kamino, walking next to him, asked. Him and Revenant had agreed to not stay around each other until the following day, mostly because with their fight imminent, the two didn't want to show each other any sign of what they were doing. That was why Revenant had spent a good chunk of the day training with Zombie in the forest, and why Captain had jogged off and trained somewhere else. Captain Kamino would go watch the Tournament with Argali and Fuyumi, like the day before, but he had decided to at least come around and wish good luck to them.

"A bit." Izuku admitted.

"Well, don't be. I'm sure you can do well. I mean, today started well for you, right?" He asked, and Deku nodded. Really, to be approached by another version of Kamui Woods interested in helping him against All for Deku and his allies? That was a really good start of the day.

He just had to hope all his luck hadn't been burnt out there. He had picked his opponent without a lot of thought really: just someone that put him against Fuyumi only in the semi-finals and that didn't have a name of one of his friends. Of course, he had since asked and obtained from Epsi a lot of information on her target, but still…

"Guess I'm not the only one that mutters." Captain commented, and Izuku froze. The other teen patted him on the shoulder with a chuckle. Deku had to look up a bit to see eye to eye with the second Izuku. Probably a result of the serum, or whatever had turned another version of himself, but Captain Kamino was about ten centimeters taller than Deku was. Which was surprising when he remembered the other was technically younger, even if by less than a year.

"Sorry…"

"Izuku, I get it." Captain replied, winking, "We are both the same on this. This is unnerving. Still, I believe in you." He smiled, a gentle smile that felt reassuring.

"Thank you." Deku said. He took a deep breath. He was a Hero-in-Training, so he shouldn't have felt nervous. Out of all the Izukus here, in fact, he should have been more confident than Izumi or Captain Kamino, considering one had no formal training and the other had admitted to him that he had trained but hadn't seen real combat often. Izuku had done both. He had taken out Overhaul, Flect Turn, Nine… Alright, all of those had almost killed him, and most of those had required someone's help and involved near impossible odds, but still, he should have had at least a ounce of confidence in himself.

He just needed to find it.

"Don't worry, Izuku, you can do it. Also, for you it's only training. Worst case scenario you lose and spend a while waiting for Izzzuku before continuing your journey."

Put that way, Deku had to admit he had a point. Then again, this was a discussion he had already made a few times.

As Captain walked away and Izuku entered the changing room, he found Revenant already seating in front of the screen. "You are late." He noted.

"Sorry. I was talking with Captain."

"I'm not offended or anything." Revenant replied, "Was just wondering where you and Epsi might be.

Epsi lighted to life, "No problem at all, mister Midoriya. I'm ready." She said with a smile and a thumb up.

"Mister Midoriya?" Revenant asked, frowning slightly.

"I- Oh, I meant Revenant." She quickly corrected herself, "Sorry. Uh, it seems my memory is getting a bit full. I'll do a cleanup of unnecessary files."

Deku nodded. It made sense Epsi needed to keep her memories in order like any other computer. Of course, unlike his cellphone, Izuku wasn't about to start trying to fumble around with Epsi's files, knowing she would handle them. "Do you need help?" He asked anyway.

"No, no, I can take care of it." She replied, smiling again. Izuku nodded, though he did feel like she seemed a bit… strained.

"Are you… Are you sure you are ok, Epsi?"

"Sure! Don't worry." She nodded again, and this time she seemed more convinced. Izuku nodded as well, though he promised himself to check on her later.

"And we are back!" The announced declared meanwhile, Revenant muttering a finally next to him as the first fight begun. Izuku looked around, and suddenly realized something.

"Where is Huanli?" He asked.

Revenant looked at him. "She left earlier to prepare for the match, or so she said. Izumi is with her, and they are in the Arena, so we don't have to worry."

"Oh, alright." Izuku nodded. "Wait, what does she need to prepare?"

"I don't know. Guess we will find out." Revenant replied with a grin.

Izuku sighed. Yeah, they would find out, and very soon.

(XX)

Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Argali from Sheep go to Heaven by Dramatic_Spoon
The Green Scar from The Green Scar worldbuilding thread by Quantum01 and The Green Scar by Pro-man
Canary from Canary by cloud_nine_and_three_quarters

So yeah, the bridge chapter between the first and second day, with a quick look into the training of the Izukus and the planning of the other.
I figured I'd use the opportunity to also showcase where everyone stands. The big fights are coming soon (because we are going to get back to back the remainder of the Top 64, the Top 32 and the Fantasyverse battle), so I think it's fair to see how everyone is preparing.

Nonstop action, here we go!