It took a while, but eventually I was able to reach the edge of the dome. Luckily, I had chosen the correct direction, because just a few metres away from me was the exit door. I stepped through to get my first look at what had gone down while I was busy.

The main plaza was right in front of me, the massive fountain a beacon to orient myself by. Scattered along the ground between the entrance and the fountain were dozens of bodies, taken down by Aizawa-sensei. The teacher was currently engaging the guy with hands everywhere, the one that had some form of disintegration quirk.

"Oh, thank god. It's just you," A voice said a bit behind me. I whirled around as quickly as I could, which given my poor range of motion in my torso and reliance on tentacles to act as legs, wasn't that fast. Stood on either side of the door I exited from was Sero and Ojiro, poised to attack. And completely soaked.

"Whoa, man. Are you okay?" Sero asked.

I had closed the gate over my face, so they could see what was likely the mess of my nose. And the rock still stuck in my arm.

"I'm fine, I can still move. Where did you two come from?"

"The flood zone," Ojiro answered, pointing to my left where there was a large lake. "There were a bunch of guys with quirks like shark mutations, so we barely made it out after distracting them with Sero's tape. We were planning on sneaking around to the entrance while avoiding the battle in the middle."

"So, did everyone get sent to a different zone, then? There was no one else in here," I tapped on the glass of the dome.

"Don't think so," Sero replied. "Look at the entrance."

I looked to where we had been intercepted by the mist man and saw a bunch of figures, around five in total.

"It looks like Midoriya, Tsuyu, Kirishima, Ashido, and—" a loud explosion could be heard with a flash of light in that direction. "And Bakugo," he finished.

Something seemed familiar about that list. Wait, weren't they all the closest to the exit when we were warped? If my memory was correct in that, that would mean that those close together were warped to the same location, and since I was separate from the group, I was unlucky enough to be alone.

The shadowy mass of the mist villain appeared next to the hand guy, no longer guarding the entrance. Aizawa-sensei had made it through the majority of the small fry, and now only the hand guy, mist man, and the hulking thing with an exposed brain remained.

"Let's go, seems like no one is guarding the entrance now," I told them. "Make sure to keep low, they'll probably attack us if we are spotted."

We started crawling around the outside careful not to bring any attention to ourselves. The space between the edge of the downpour zone and the fountain where the three main threats still were was not much, and if even one of them noticed us, they would no doubt aim straight for the kill.

"The amount of time you can erase our quirks is decreasing, isn't it Eraserhead?" Shimabari said. He lurched over as Aizawa-sensei, or I suppose he is Eraserhead at the moment, punched him in the gut. Shimabari's hand reached for the extended elbow, but it would seem that Eraserhead heeded my warning and jumped back before contact could be made.

"Tch, what a pain," the hand man whined. "I missed my opening."

"Shigaraki Tomura," the warper spoke. Wait, so that guy's name wasn't Shimabari? "It would seem that one of the students managed to escape to get help."

Shigaraki began to scratch at his neck. "Seriously? I gave you one job, and you just ruined our entire mission. This place will be swarming with pros in no time. I didn't even get to try using Noumu."

We shuffled forwards a bit more. We were in the most dangerous spot now, where the three villains were only about ten metres away.

"Though, I suppose we have a bit of time. Might as well break the Symbol of Peace's pride," Shigaraki's head turned, and he looked directly at us. We had been caught. "Noumu, kill them."

Instantly the black creature vanished, reappearing in an instant in front of use fist cocked back for a punch. I leapt to the side, ignoring the pain in my ribs, and knocked Ojiro and Sero to the ground. I cried out in pain as the rock in my arm was pushed further in from the impact.

A massive gust of wind passed over our prone forms as the force of the punch rattled the glass of the dome and kicked up dust. A single hit from that thing would instantly kill any student, perhaps except Kirishima.

Ojiro jumped back up as soon as the wind stopped, swinging around to smack the Noumu with his tail. The strike connected cleanly with its neck. The monster didn't even seem to notice, retracting its fist slowly from its punch. It didn't even seem to be thinking.

Luckily, Ojiro escaped any retaliation courtesy of Sero grabbing him with some tape and dragging him out of the way. I opened a third gate to try my hand at attacking, hoping there might be some weak point.

[Merge?]

The tentacles holding me up spasmed, dropping me back to the ground. The presence in my head was stronger than it had ever been, and "spoke" just that one word. It wasn't verbal, it didn't even really say a word, more like it conveyed the intent in a way I instinctively understood.

I tried to lift myself up, but my tendrils seemed almost like they were unsure whether to move as I wanted. My left arm was useless, and my right would cause my ribs to flare in pain, knocking me back to the ground.

"Wazawa! Come on, run!" Sero called out. He and Ojiro had taken the opportunity to run as far as they could. It would ultimately be useless. The Noumu covered far more ground in a second than they could in ten.

The creatures beaked mouth hung limply open as it looked down at me, laid on the floor helpless. It was taking its time to attack, and if it weren't for the complete lack of intelligence in its eyes, I'd think it was enjoying it.

My hands began to tremble. The black beast lifted an arm up to crush my skull. This must be a first for me. I'm afraid.

[Merge?]

Once again, the thing in the back of my mind made its presence known. It was useless. This was beyond anything I had faced before. This creature was nothing as simple as a tree or a particularly large machine. It was a killing machine designed solely to kill us. It truly was The Many That Extinguishes Hope.

"Noumu, get the ones that are running first, that one is practically dead already," Shigaraki ordered.

The arm stopped a few inches from my face. The creature spent no time processing the order, immediately bounding in a single step to Ojiro and Sero, who had frozen in fear. Eraserhead had broken through the defence of the mist villain and was running as fast as he could to them, but he wasn't fast enough. My classmates waiting at the entrance had started to sprint over, Bakugo even using explosions to propel himself forward. They were too far away.

I had only one option. It wasn't ideal, it might not work, I might even harm those I'm trying to help.

But it's better than doing nothing as they died.

"I really hope I'm right about this," I said as I willingly dropped into unconsciousness, letting the presence take over.

I want to protect them.

~X~

I once again was floating in a sea of nothing. This time, however, there was no far off light of memories. There truly was just nothing but the far-off twinkling of stars, far more numerous than I had seen before. They were like little flares, blinking in and out of existence. This was my fifth time in this place, but this was the first time I didn't even have visions of a life of mundanity.

Surrendering my consciousness was a risky move, I really had no idea how I act in that state. I used to think the tentacles I summoned just lashed out and destroyed everything nearby without me to control them. Then I destroyed the zero-pointer during the entrance exam, further supporting that belief. Looking at it now, I don't actually know if I destroyed anything else, only the immediate threat I had been thinking about at the time.

Then there was last week, where I lost consciousness twice to find out as much about this attack as possible. At the time, I was more focused on the new information I had learnt, but I later realised how odd it was that not a single pebble was out of place. It was the first time that I was not in immediate danger, or in any danger at all, and my quirk didn't act out during either of my stints in this plane.

That left me with two possible conclusions. Either my quirk has an autonomous self-defence, protecting me from danger while I'm incapacitated, or it acts in accordance to my wishes at the time of losing control. The former was more likely, but I was hoping for the latter in this case. My priority was to prevent my classmates from dying here, and hopefully any time in the future. Blindly attacking the enemies would achieve that, assuming I was successful, but it was less effective than responding to attacks against them.

But this all just added yet another mystery to my pile of confusing things about my quirk. I still didn't know why exactly I got the knowledge of another world in the first place, nor what the plane I was currently in even was. Now I have a presence in my head that can attempt at communication, and an autonomous function? It was so absurd it was almost like it was multiple quirks.

"We assure you, Sotoki, that you possess only the one ability your people call 'quirks,'" a mysterious… voice? said. It was less a voice and more a collection of sounds mimicking a voice. It sounded like stones scraping together, the roll of far-off thunder, the ominous wind through a cave, and the sound of steel groaning under strain all mixed together to create a rumbling sound that formed words.

A void seemed to form, blotting out all the stars in a certain direction. Something huge and unseeable was before me, expanding endlessly.

"What are you? And for that matter, where exactly is this place?" I asked. No doubt this was the presence in the back of my head, the lack of proper speech was common between the two.

"This is our personal part of existence, a world where we exist and also one that is our existence itself. As for us, we believe it would be better just to let you figure it out yourself."

The darkness shifted somewhat, a long line of pitch-black darkness reaching out to me. I hesitantly grabbed a hold of it, to find a familiar texture. It felt almost smooth and metallic, but at the same time, rough enough that my fingers couldn't slide across them. It wasn't cool to the touch, nor was it warm. If anything, I'd say it had no temperature at all. I don't mean that as in it had no heat — not only would that be physically impossible, but it would be so cold that it would kill my cells — but rather that concepts such as hot and cold held no weight against the material, like I could light it on fire for an hour and it would feel the exact same.

It was a familiar texture to me. It was exactly the same as my tentacles. That combined with the impossibly black surface led me to just one conclusion.

"So, you're my quirk, then? I've got to say, I wasn't expecting you to be sentient, much less like this."

"We are not your ability, Wazawa Sotoki. We have existed for far longer than you have been alive, and we will continue to exist long after your death. This realm is where your portals connect to, and a fragment of our form is lent to you for a time."

What? I know I once theorised that my quirk was just to create portals, but how did that explain controlling the tentacles, or the visions, or anything at all really? And if this thing wasn't my quirk, then what the fuck was I talking to?

I asked as such. "What are you then, if you aren't my quirk."

The void was silent for a moment, as if thinking about it. A large star burst into life — flanked by a smaller one with a thin beam between them — completely encompassing the surrounding lights in its intensity. "It would seem your goal has been achieved. The Once Bearer has arrived, and your allies are no longer in danger. What do you wish for us to do now?"

That's… good. If All Might had shown up, then we might have a chance against that Noumu thing. Then again, it was brought specifically to kill the Symbol of Peace. "If you are in control of my body, then give me back control."

"You will likely regret this. Very well, if that is what you wish."

My vision began to darken, the remaining stars I could see were fading as I was losing consciousness. Or was it regaining consciousness? Before I fully faded, I asked one more question. "You never answered me: what are you?"

A deep rumbling sound was made, almost like laughter. "We are."

~X~

A scream tore from my lips immediately. My muscles burnt and my bones rattled. I fell to my hands, knees shaking with the pain.

"Wazawa! Wazawa, are you alright?" a voice asked.

"Didn't you say that wasn't Wazawa, sensei?" another commented.

I took a deep breath and coughed up some bile. "What a fucking asshole."

"Language," Aizawa-sensei admonished lightly.

I wiped at my mouth and slowly twisted so I was sitting on the floor. At some point I had moved to right outside the entrance. The only one on the battlefield now was All Might, grappling with the Noumu. Shigaraki and the mist villain sat back and watched the fight between physical equals.

I looked around. It would seem only the five who were left here, Ojiro, Sero, and Aizawa-sensei had made it here so far. Well, plus the limp body of 13-sensei. I was somewhat glad to see that Ojiro and Sero had escaped unharmed. It would seem that whatever was piloting my body followed my wishes. Aizawa-sensei was not so lucky. Before I surrendered control, he was relatively unharmed, only having a few scrapes. Now he had one arm twisted and limp, and a leg bent the wrong way.

Midoriya was standing next to me, eyes intently focused on the ongoing fight, trembling with nerves. Good, I needed to ask him something. "Midoriya, help me up, I can't see properly from down here."

He jumped slightly and hurried to gingerly lift me up, arm hung around his shoulder as he supported my weight. I suppressed the sudden discomfort I got when someone touched me. My legs were constantly shaking in strain, unable to support even the limited weight they had to. I leaned down next to Midoriya's ear and spoke quietly.

"You have some form of connection to All Might, right?" I asked, making sure that no one else could hear us.

"Huh? I-I don't—"

"Don't bother trying to lie, I already figured it out, and frankly I don't really care."

He was completely still, like a rock, as he processed what I said. Eventually he nodded slightly.

"He also has a time limit as well. 3 hours?" another nod. "And you think he has used up all his time already?" Midoriya was trembling now. That gave me all the information I needed to know.

"Sensei," I said louder. "Do we have permission to interfere if there's a chance All Might will lose?"

I couldn't see him from where I was, but I could imagine the look he was giving me. I subtly showed three fingers, like 13-sensei had earlier. He sighed.

"You have my permission," he conceded. "But! You are only to engage if I tell you to."

I nodded. "All right. In that case… Midoriya, you can create blasts of wind by flicking, right?"

"Ah, yes! But it breaks my finger afterwards," he answered holding up a hand with three broken fingers.

"Okay, if we need to fight, aim for the one with all the hands. He seems to be the one ordering that Noumu thing around, so it will probably defend him if he is in danger. Ashido, you too, try spraying acid at him. Make sure not to get close to him, he has some form of disintegration quirk. Sero and Asui—"

"Call me Tsuyu," the frog girl interrupted.

"Right. Sero and Asui will be on rescue duty, you'll need to make sure they get out after they attack," they both nodded. "Bakugo, you'll be attacking the warper, make sure he can't redirect any of the attacks. Your explosions can dissipate the mist."

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" he yelled. He would do exactly what I suggested. My head began to swim, and the ground was spinning.

"What are the rest of you doing, then?" Ashido asked.

I shrugged and flopped to the ground, ignoring the pain in my everything. "Not sure. Ojiro and Kirishima are better close range, they can't really get close against our enemies. And I'm going to spend my time trying not to bleed out."

I pulled at the shoulder of my now torn costume. The arms had somehow been essentially shredded. My left shoulder was in a bad shape. I hadn't removed the rock stabbing it without anything to plug the wound, so when I dove to the ground to avoid the punch from the Noumu, it had been pushed further into the flesh, almost flush with the rest of my arm.

A lot of blood had gushed from the wound, coating my entire arm. There was probably a lot on my face as well, coming from my brutalised nose. The blood loss would certainly explain the dizziness. Lying back, I focused on breathing through my mouth, trying my hardest to stay awake.

I must have focused hard enough to block out all other sounds, because I barely noticed Aizawa-sensei barking instructions to my classmates. The next thing I knew, there was cheers of relief and I was being picked up off the ground.

I cracked open my eyes to see a blurry figure telling me everything would be all right before I succumbed to the call of sleep.