MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. ANY OTHER UNIVERSES VISITED, REFERENCED, OR DESTROYED DO NOT BELONG TO ME. ESPECIALLY THE ONES I COULDN'T CONQUER, BUT I TRIED MY BEST.

The waiting is the hardest part, especially when every second wasted is another universe dead. Speaking of which…

My Alien Academia

Chapter 46

Crisis of Faith

Tokyo

Kendo Itsuka practically flew across the rooftops, One For All surging through her in response to her rage. There, right in front of her, was the man who had caused so much misery—not just for Japan, but for her, as well. He had, by his own hand or through his followers, killed Heroes, police, and anyone else who tried to stop him.

Today, it ended. Today, Midoriya Izuku would be dragged into the light, either as a prisoner, or a corpse.

"Get back here!" she shouted, and tried to snare the man known as Seraph with Blackwhip, but again, his exoskeleton let him dodge just in time.

But that was exactly what Kendo wanted him to do. Instead of catching Midoriya, Blackwhip latched onto a flagpole, and she swung herself around to cut off his path. Her hands grew to massive size, and she pinned him to the roof of the building they stood on.

"You're not going anywhere," Battle Fist growled. "But maybe you'll get a lighter sentence if you tell me what you've done."

Seraph's helmet folded back, revealing the face that had somehow swayed millions across Japan to his cause. "Dear Itsuka, if I was responsible for this, do you really think I'd be running? And before you claim it's because I made a mistake… well, I think you know by now that my mistakes are never to this extent. Why, they don't even measure up to yours. Tell me, what were All Might's final words to you again?"

Kendo saw red, but then felt a sharp pain in her right hand. The pain spread up her arm, and then through her entire body, and she fell in an agonized heap. She barely had the strength to glare at Midoriya, who held a bloody knife in one hand.

"I really must thank Pandora for this lovely neurotoxin," he said, and then glanced up at the sky, which was slowly cracking apart, along with the rest of the world. "I wonder if I'll be able to kill you before this phenomenon reaches us? Let's find out."

Midoriya stared at his reflection, only occasionally looking away to vomit, and then wash out his mouth. He'd tried to eat something earlier, but his stress was doing his stomach no favors, and had barely managed to find the nearest bathroom on the Watchtower in time.

Why was this happening? Why did he have to be on this team? Everyone was either traumatized, out of their depth, or an outright supervillain. Aside from Lex Luthor, none of them were even old enough to rent a car—Midoriya didn't even have a driver's license yet! What business did he have saving the entire multiverse?

This mission had barely begun, and he already felt like a failure; he couldn't stop thinking about Sam and Dean, and how he'd been unable to save them. That was all he wanted to do, to save people—what kind of Hero couldn't save the innocent from monsters?

He wanted to talk to someone about this. His mother, his friends, Ben—someone had to have some good advice, right? Except, when he thought about it, what could they say? It wasn't like Iida, for example, knew how to fight an alien warlord from another universe bent on destroying all of creation.

The thought of him posing that question to Iida, and the resulting arm-chops as he tried to even process all that, almost made Midoriya break into hysterics. Instead, he emptied what little remained in his stomach into the sink.

A knock on the bathroom door made him jump. "Hey, Izuku, you good in there? Luthor says he's got something for us."

"Y-yeah, sure," Midoriya called out. "Thanks, Mirio."

After making sure he was presentable, he left the bathroom. His visor was in his pocket, and his hood was pulled back. Normally, he was proud of his costume, and wanted to look like a Hero every time he wore it, but now… now, he didn't feel like anything but a failure.

"Man, I hope Luthor found something useful from that goo I gave him," Togata commented as they walked—he seemed so relaxed, much to Midoriya's envy. "It better be worth it; I spent almost an hour scrubbing my gloves."

"Maybe he found a weakness in those monsters," Midoriya offered.

"Maybe the universe will cut us a break and we'll find out they have a really stupid weakness," Togata half-joked. "Like salt, or wooden baseball bats."

"The universe is never that kind," Jen called out as they entered the hangar; at their looks of surprise, she tapped her ear. "Super-hearing, remember? Anyway, yeah, baldy has some news."

Luthor shot her a dirty look, and then pressed opened what looked like a small pocket watch. It hovered in midair, and projected a hologram of the grey sludge Togata had given him.

"I've been examining the sample of the creatures you fought on Earth-901," he said. "Firstly, they are not natural; there are clear signs of genetic tampering. Someone created these things from different samples of DNA—quite inelegantly, I might add. Vilgax, or someone working with him, only wanted these things to function enough to get the job done."

Kevin snorted. "I'm guessing that job is murder, murder, and more murder?"

"You're forgetting all the destruction that accompanies that murder, but yes." Luthor sighed. "I didn't recognize most of the DNA used, but I was able to identify one element. Ultragirl, did you ever hear about the creature called Doomsday?"

Jen frowned. "I think so. He was created to destroy Superman, right? He fought an evil version of him, came back, fought the real thing, and then got sent to the Phantom Zone."

Luthor scoffed. "Clearly, the Justice League didn't want to advertise just how dangerous that monster is. For those of you not in the know, he was created by Cadmus, a shadow cabinet of the US government dedicated to defending the world from the potential of superheroes going rogue. I admit that I helped them, in an effort to further my own goals.

"Back to the point, before Cadmus was shut down, they used parts of Kryptonian DNA to create the ultimate lifeform. Doomsday is strong enough to destroy worlds, tough enough to survive against the most powerful attacks and deadliest environments, and has absolutely no mercy. His greatest strength is his ability to adapt; he will always come back to life, forever immune to whatever killed him. I sincerely doubt the Phantom Zone weakened him, nor did it help what passes for a mind in that beast."

Julie swallowed. "And those things that we saw were made from him?"

"Not entirely," Luthor revealed. "Creating Doomsday took years of trial and error, not to mention resources that Vilgax is probably more interested in destroying. These creatures are a shadow of a pale imitation, made with numbers in mind. If they had Doomsday's true power, Ultragirl, you wouldn't have just been scratched—you would have been killed."

"Then why make them at all?" Gwen asked.

"That's the interesting part." Luthor started to pace. "The sample I examined showed signs of aggressive cellular degeneration, caused by a form of radiation I've never seen before. The method Vilgax uses to travel between universes must be extremely hazardous. For ordinary humans, just being exposed to that energy for too long is lethal; immediate symptoms would include spontaneous organ failure, seizures, and extreme vertigo."

"I was near a portal when it opened," Julie said quietly. "It felt like I was being ripped apart. That must be why I was such a mess inside, and why Ship had to…"

Jen gently patted her shoulder when Julie trailed off. "And these creatures use the Doomsday DNA to safely travel between universes?"

"I wouldn't say 'safely'," Luthor admitted. "As I said, the sample I examined was already suffering degradation. I imagine that they can last only until the universe they are attacking is destroyed."

"Maybe that's what we need to do," Togata said. "We find wherever these things are getting made, and we shut it down! That would at least buy some time, right?"

Luthor shrugged. "That's assuming Vilgax is foolish enough to limit his production facility to one location, and we can find it among infinite universes."

"It's better than nothing," Midoriya said quietly. "If we can stop even some of them, we could save a lot of people."

Gwen sighed. "You're not wrong, Izuku, but we still need to find the place."

"Fortunately," Paradox said as he abruptly appeared, "I believe we can help with that."

Midoriya blinked at the sudden arrival, and then wrinkled his nose at the overwhelming smell of alcohol coming from the man standing next to Paradox.

"Hey, you lot," the blonde man greeted, his words slightly slurred and mixing with a thick British accent. He was tall, wearing a rumpled trench coat over an even more rumpled set of pants, dress shirt, and tie. He held a bottle in one hand, and the book the team had recovered in the other. If his bloodshot eyes and swaying were any indication, he probably hadn't done much reading.

"Oh, god." Jen buried her face in her hands. "John, you're drunk again."

"Nah, love, just tipsy; you've never seen me really drunk."

Paradox shook his head. "Everyone, meet John Constantine, last of the Laughing Magicians, and current master of the House of Mystery."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Laughing Magician? What, do you do birthdays for clowns?"

Constantine grinned, and tossed his empty bottle into the air; it shattered into a thousand pieces, then reformed into a glowing dagger that sank all the way to the hilt into the floor.

"That was me knackered," he said. "You don't want to know what I can do when I'm trying." His eyes roamed over the group, until he saw Luthor. "Oy, Lex, what the hell're you doin' 'ere? Paradox, mate, you never said anything about that asshole bein' part of the team."

"It was difficult enough to obtain your assistance," Paradox said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "If you had known about Luthor, you would have said no."

"Even with the multiverse at stake?" Togata asked.

Paradox shook his head again. "Jennifer isn't the only one who hates him that much."

"You're damn right!" Constantine staggered towards Luthor, but just as he drew back his fist, he slumped and walked away. "Ah, hell, what do I care what you do, Lex? You're dead at the end of this shite either way."

"I'm well aware," Luthor said calmly. "Consider this my last attempt at redemption."

Constantine laughed, but it was harsh and cruel. "Oh, mate, you can try to redeem yourself all you want, it won't make up for the millions of lives you've ruined."

"Which is why I said 'attempt'." Luthor leaned against his cane and sighed. "Paradox, why did you bring this fool here?"

"Because he's the only sorcerer I know who could read the contents of that journal, understand it, and not go completely insane or be corrupted by its power."

Constantine pulled another bottle out from under his coat. "Hence the drinking. Helped me keep my head."

Jen rolled her eyes, but she seemed strangely fond of the man. "Yeah, it probably doesn't hurt that you're already screwed up."

"Good point, love." Constantine took a swig, then handed the bottle to Paradox and started flipping through the book. "Okay, I've only been able to scratch the surface of this thing. The journal entries are just a disguise, meant to hide the true message from those without any sort of mystic connection. Any one of you who read it probably dodged a bullet."

Midoriya swallowed nervously.

"Anyway, that cult worshipped this Vilgax prick, but he also scared the piss outta them. They were afraid that their 'god' might be too powerful, and sought to balance his might so that their world wouldn't be destroyed."

"It wasn't enough," Paradox said grimly. "Earth-901 was wiped out twenty minutes ago, along with the rest of that universe."

Constantine shrugged. "Judging by what I've heard through the mystical grapevine about that universe, it was probably goin' ta Hell anyway. And I mean that literally." He tapped at one of the pages. "Those of the cult with more than a spark of magic looked into the void a little too long. It killed them, but not before they found clues—hints of items that could limit Vilgax's powers, or maybe even kill him. And, because they wanted to be mysterious wankers, they put it in prophecy form."

"What does it say?" Gwen asked.

Constantine sighed. "I hate reading prophecies. Here, let me show you."

He waved his hand, and letters literally flowed off the pages and hovered in midair.

Living crown of a broken king

Kept from all 'til calamity strikes

The first step to forge the ring

An Emperor's mask conceals his lie

Circled by puppets and foes

The second part with blood you'll buy

Time unbound is hidden well

Guarded by the noble blind

Break the final piece from mortal shell

When the words faded, everyone was silent for a moment.

"Is that it?" Kevin asked.

Constantine scowled. "It was written by madmen in a cave. I was just glad it wasn't a Sex Pistols song backwards or something."

Jen frowned. "So we're looking for a living crown, an emperor's mask, and 'time unbound', whatever that last one means." She turned to Luthor. "Any ideas?"

"Why are you asking me? Magic isn't something I hold much knowledge of."

"You're the one who's always bragging about your Twelfth-Level Intellect!"

Midoriya raised his hand. "W-well, going by the last line, it sounds like 'time unbound' is a person, doesn't it?"

Julie nodded. "That sounds right, but I don't know about anything about a living crown. What about the mask?"

Constantine sighed. "Y'know, I remember hearing about some emperor in another dimension muckin' about with magic he shouldn't. I could call in a few favors, maybe find out where this bloke is, and if he's got a mask."

Togata grinned. "Sounds to me like we've found at least one lead."

"That's assuming this prophecy holds any weight," Luthor pointed out. "For all we know, it remains the raving of lunatics."

"It's more than we had an hour ago," Midoriya said, feeling a spark of hope for the first time in hours.

"Indeed it is." Paradox closed his eyes, and then smiled. "Now that I have even a faint idea of what to look for, I believe I can find a universe that holds a living crown, while Mister Constantine takes another team to get the mask. After that, we will all go to retrieve Time Unbound."

Midoriya reviewed what Paradox just said, and frowned. "Do you not want all of us going out at once?"

"Correct, because Mister Togata brought up an interesting point. If we are to keep Vilgax from doing irreparable harm while these items are being retrieved, his progress needs to be slowed. I will do everything in my power to locate where his forces are being created, and send the third team to sabotage their production."

Togata punched his open palm. "Okay, so who goes where? Any ideas, Izuku?"

As soon as Paradox had said that they would be broken up into smaller teams, his mind had gone into overdrive. "We'd need at least one heavy hitter per team, preferably to distract any potential enemies while the others go after the target. Professor, would you know who'd be best suited for each place?"

Paradox considered this for a moment. "Jennifer, you and Kevin will retrieve the crown. This task will require stealth, speed, and some roguish behavior. Gwen and Mister Togata will find the mask. I would like Miss Yamamoto, Mister Midoriya, and Luthor to stay here until I can determine where they need to go."

That… wasn't what Midoriya wanted. This meant waiting, and that meant being alone with his downward-spiraling thoughts. Also, he didn't like the idea of being on a team with Lex Luthor; he hadn't even had a conversation with the man, but if even half of what Jen mentioned in her earlier rant was true, he was possibly one of the most evil people he'd ever met.

As if merely thinking about him was enough, Luthor stepped forward. "If I'm to be part of a field operation, there are a few things I'll need, Paradox."

"I'm well aware," Paradox said archly. "I'll have them ready before you leave."

Constantine sighed. "Right, I suppose I should get started on my end. Cheers, you lot."

Jen waved to get his attention. "You're heading back home, right? Tell Zatanna I said hi."

Constantine's smile was a little more genuine. "Sure thing, kid, but she should be back in the League in a few weeks. Just try to make sure she has a universe to work in, yeah?"

Once Constantine was gone, Jen noticed the others on her team looking at her with questioning eyes. "Long story. Short version, a family friend spent the last few years being possessed. She's free now, and recovering."

Midoriya couldn't help but smile; even if he didn't have much context, it really helped to hear some good news.

"Hey, um, Izuku?" Julie waved at him. "If you don't mind, could you help me with something while we wait?"

Midoriya glanced at the others, but all he got were shrugs—or indifference, in Luthor's case. "Uh, sure?"

"Great." Julie led him to the far side of the hangar, where a stack of supply crates shielded them from view.

Midoriya wondered if Julie knew that Jen had X-ray vision and super-hearing, making this privacy moot, but he decided not to say anything.

"S-so, what's up?"

"Well, Mirio said that you're kind of a superhero fanboy. I was wondering if you could help me figure out my powers." Julie held out one arm; the skin rippled, and then black goop erupted from her pores, covering her arm up to the shoulder. Green circuitry appeared as the goop formed into armor around her limb. "Any ideas?"

Midoriya had a notebook out before he knew what he was doing. "Okay, let's talk about how you felt when that happened. Any drawbacks, like fatigue?"

Julie grinned. "Oh, yeah, you were definitely the right person to talk to."

It turned out that Constantine required several hours to undo several barriers stopping them from going to the universe that had the living crown, so Paradox sent Togata and Gwen to retrieve the mask while they waited. That gave Midoriya and Julie plenty of time to go over what they knew of the latter's new abilities. Soon enough, Midoriya thought she had enough of a grasp over the basics that she should spar.

"In my world, the best way to test someone's powers is by training against someone else," he said. "Why don't you try against one of my aliens? I can turn into something durable, and you can get a handle on actually trying to hit a target."

Kevin, who had been watching them, chuckled. "What, your school encourages you to beat each other up? Can I go there?"

Jen grinned. "Oh, it gets better. Apparently, his school has a whole fighting tournament, and it's on national TV."

"That's actually kinda cool." Kevin eyed Midoriya. "How'd he do?"

"He won for his year; it was really cool." Jen shrugged at her 'cousin' apologetically. "I wasn't in a good mood when I watched it, but when I think about it now, it was really cool."

Midoriya blinked. "Wait, you watched the Sports Festival? How? That was before I met you!"

Jen snapped her fingers. "Oh, right. Ken and I were there to make sure you really deserved the watch. Did we forget to tell you?"

"I think it got overshadowed when you kidnapped me."

"Yeah, good times."

Julie was clearly confused, and a little annoyed. "Um, I thought we were sparring?"

"R-right, sorry!" Midoriya hastily turned into Swampfire. "Let's see how strong you are. Remember what we talked about, and try to hit me."

"Okay." Julie concentrated, and the same black goop covered her body like a wetsuit; a moment later, it expanded and shifted into formfitting black plates and green circuitry, including a helmet. Only her face was exposed, but it was protected by a green visor. "Let's see how this works."

The first punch she threw barely left a dent in Swampfire's plant body, and he frowned. "Okay, do you even know how to throw a punch?"

Julie looked embarrassed. "I kinda thought I'd get super-strength or something."

"You should still put some effort into it," Jen called out. "Swampfire can take whatever you dish out."

Julie nodded, and put all her weight behind the next blow. There was a sickening squelch as she punched clean through him, only stopping when her elbow emerged out his back.

"Oh, geez! Are you okay?"

Swampfire looked down at her. "Well, I don't feel pain, and I'll regenerate when you pull that out of me."

"Phrasing!" Kevin shouted, and Jen fell over in a fit of giggles.

Julie tore her arm free, and glared at Kevin. "Hey, Kevin, can you absorb some metal, please?"

Still amused at his own joke, Kevin humored her and placed his hand on the hangar floor. He'd barely had time to cover his body in metal when a beam of green energy slammed into him. Julie smirked as she lowered her arm, now encased in a cannon almost twice as wide as her torso.

"You were right, Izuku," she said cheerfully. "All I have to do is think about the task I want accomplished, and my powers form the technology that best accomplishes that task."

Kevin grumbled as he got to his feet. "So the task you wanted to accomplish was to shoot me!?"

"Pretty much."

He gave her a dirty look. "I hope Gwen's having more fun than I am."

Constantine wiped his hands. "All right, kids, everyone off the bus."

"What bus?" Togata asked. "We stepped into a circle, and you spoke gibberish."

"Is he always like this?" Constantine asked Gwen, who shrugged.

"Don't ask me, I just met him this morning."

Constantine shrugged. "Anyway, welcome to Earth-1055—specifically, a sub-dimension. It's a little weird, and dangerous, so don't get yourselves killed while you go rob this emperor guy."

"What, you're not coming with us?" Gwen asked.

"Hey, you two are the multiverse's champions, not me." Constantine shrugged. "Seriously, it's never a good idea to interfere with that kind of thing, it never ends well. The best I can do is help you figure out what you need, and help you get there."

"Speaking of which, where are we?" Togata looked around, and saw what looked like a village not too far away, and a large castle looming in the distance. "If we're here for an emperor's mask, shouldn't we have arrived closer?"

"Lad, would you want to just pop into the enemy's stronghold without a plan?" Constantine shook his head. "First, you've gotta find the guy, see what he's doing, and find the best place to rob him."

Togata grimaced. "I can't believe you just told us to do that with a straight face."

Constantine shrugged. "What? The guy's a tyrant and a right arse. Just try not to get yourselves killed, all right?"

Before the teens could question him, Constantine vanished.

Gwen sighed. "Okay, I'm betting we'll stick out, so we shouldn't go straight through the town. We'll go around; it'll take us a little longer, but we won't cause a scene."

"Good idea." The two walked in silence for a few minutes, until Togata spoke up. "Hey, what do you plan to do once this is all over?"

"What, you mean other than go back to my normal life?" Gwen tapped her cheek, under her glowing eye. "I've gotta figure out how to get my face normal again. Kinda hard to get into college if I look like I'm radioactive."

"If it helps, you'd fit right in on my Earth," Togata said. "I mean, I know a guy with a bird's head, and a girl who's invisible all the time."

"How do people not bump into her?"

"She wears clothes."

"Ah. That makes sense." Gwen paused, and peered at the town. "Um, is it just me, or are none of those people human?"

Togata followed her gaze, and realized she was right. The inhabitants of the town wore clothes like medieval peasants, and some of them looked human, but even from a distance, Togata could see that even the most human of them had pointed ears. Others had far too many—or not enough—limbs or eyes. Togata and Gwen weren't as shocked as they could have been—the former had grown up in a world of Quirks, while Gwen knew aliens far stranger—but this place wasn't what they were expecting.

"I think I saw a video game like this once," Togata commented.

"Which one?" Gwen asked.

"I don't remember," Togata admitted. "I've been kinda focused on becoming a Hero. Between that, schoolwork, and trying to have a social life, I haven't had time to play video games in years."

"Speaking of time, let's pick up the pace." Gwen set off at a jog. "Maybe we can sightsee after my universe gets put back together."

Togata bit his lip, then hurried after her. Every so often, he was reminded that Gwen, Kevin and Julie could only keep going because of the hope they had that their universe would be restored. If they lost that hope… well, Togata had only been taught about dealing with people who had lost everything, and had no desire to actually experience it.

"You know, I really wish that Constantine guy had told us what this 'emperor' looks like," he said after a few minutes of silence. "All we know is that he's got a mask, but what if he's got a whole army of masked soldiers or something?"

Gwen shrugged. "Find the most important-looking person in the building and hope we get lucky?"

"As plans go, that isn't the best I've heard."

"It's not like we had a long time to discuss it," Gwen said defensively. "And we're on a timetable."

"Okay, that's a good point, but maybe we should stay hidden until we have an idea of what's between us and the target."

Gwen thought about it. "Yeah, good point. Honestly, I'm just used to Ben always making things up on the fly, or having an idea at the last second."

Togata smiled. "My mentor has the power to see the future, so he always taught me to be as prepared as possible."

"All right, that's kind of cool." Gwen glanced at him. "So, I know about the ability to go through walls, but what else can you do?"

"Super-strength and speed, higher-than-average durability, and I can create these energy tendril things that latch onto stuff and won't let go." Togata hesitated, then decided to keep going. "Apparently, I'm going to get other powers, but I haven't awakened them yet."

"I was going to say that's weird, but then I remembered my life, and suddenly it's not as weird."

The rest of the hike was silent, but the small amount of banter had made the trip more companionable. It gave Togata time to process everything that had happened, which he really needed. After all, he had gone from training to stop street thugs with superpowers to literally saving the multiverse in less than a day, and that was more than a little jarring. He eventually decided to compartmentalize, and take things one goal at a time, so that he wasn't overwhelmed; the way he figured it, as long as they completed each task, one at a time, they would win.

Maybe that was why he saw Midoriya as the natural leader to this team, he realized. He was young and inexperienced—compared to Togata, anyway—but he could wrap his brain around the big picture, and then break it down into manageable pieces for himself and everyone on his side. He had displayed that before, during the mission against the Eight Precepts, but that had been colored by his hatred of Chisaki. This time, there was no personal vendetta to get in the way.

As he followed after Gwen, he suddenly worried that she, Kevin and Julie might have that problem.

Midoriya panted lightly as he turned back to normal. "Wow, you're really getting good at this!"

Julie smiled as her armor withdrew under her skin. "Thanks. It just feels… I don't know… natural."

"Probably because it is," Kevin called out. "It was natural for Ship, and he's part of you now. Your brain is basically remembering what it now already knows."

Julie grimaced. "I'm getting a headache just thinking about it."

"Good, you deserve a headache after shooting me."

The door to the hangar hissed open, admitting Jen and Luthor; the former was holding several pizza boxes, while the latter was pressing holographic keys generated from a small silver device that floated in front of him.

"I brought lunch," Jen announced. "And Lex hasn't done anything evil the whole time, which has got to be a record for him."

"Does that mean you'll start trusting me?" Lex asked, not looking up from his work.

"Not a chance in hell." Jen put the pizza down and peered at Luthor's work. "Any progress?"

"I believe so." Luthor glanced up when he felt everyone staring. "It's not as momentous as it seems. I've been running scans of as many universes as possible, trying to track down the source of the creatures Vilgax is making. In doing so, I've been able to map out how they're spreading; with every new piece of data, it's starting to look like they are coming from one location. The multiverse is vast, however, and it will take some time to narrow down the universe in question, not to mention the planet. Give me another day, two at most."

Kevin blinked. "It's only going to take you two days to calculate a specific place in the infinite multiverse?"

"Now you see why he's so dangerous," Jen muttered.

"Speaking of the multiverse," Paradox said as he appeared, which made everyone twitch in surprise, "I have good news! I've located the living crown the prophecy spoke of. It's now time for Jennifer and Kevin to depart."

Kevin looked mournfully at his uneaten pizza. "Nuts."

"Suck it up, convict." Jen smiled at Midoriya. "Try to keep an eye on Lex, okay? If he does anything suspicious, don't be afraid to break his legs."

Midoriya almost protested, until he remembered that he'd done much worse to Chisaki. "Sure thing. Good luck, and don't take any unnecessary risks."

"The entire multiverse is at stake," Jen reminded him. "Every risk is necessary."

"Right." Midoriya smiled weakly. "Don't die?"

"You need to work on your pep-talks." Still, Jen gave him a hug before turning to Paradox. "Let's get this over with."

After the three were gone, Midoriya shared a look with Julie. "I guess training is over."

"Yeah." Julie sat down, but kept Luthor in her line of sight the entire time. "Now we wait for our turn."

"So, you're seeing this, right?"

Togata wanted to keep walking, but he couldn't. He was too busy staring. "I'm seeing, still working on believing."

"This isn't just a big island," Gwen said slowly, as if trying to understand it herself. "It's a giant skeleton."

After cresting a hill, the pair had seen what looked like massive, curved stones rising from the ground. Further in the distance, they could see an enormous horned skull. Togata tried to figure out how big a creature like that had been in life, but gave up when he realized that it would be miles high.

"I have to know," Togata said. "Did this thing die on top of the island, and then it adapted around the body over thousands of years, or did it die first, and the island rose up around it?"

"I don't know," Gwen admitted. "And if we weren't in a hurry, I'd love to find out."

Togata laughed. "Yeah, maybe we can come back and explore after we save the multiverse."

"Sounds like a fun vacation." Gwen focused on the castle, now less than half a mile away, and then dropped to the ground. "Get down!"

Togata was half a second behind her, and only after he was in cover did he follow Gwen's gaze. She had spotted a column of people, with grey uniforms and white cloaks. They wore vaguely bird-shaped masks, and carried spears; it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were soldiers.

"They're headed for the castle," Gwen observed. "Let's follow them, and see if they can find us an entrance for us."

Togata grabbed her arm. "Wait, you can tell they're going through the front gate. That's not gonna work for us."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Actually, I think I do." Togata pointed to the top of the castle walls. "The guards are patrolling, but there's a gap. If we time it right, we could pass through the patrols without a problem."

"Huh." Gwen blinked. "That's pretty smart. You weren't kidding about learning to be observant."

"I try." Togata carefully made his way down the hill. "Come on, we've still got a hike left to go."

Sticking to the outskirts of the forest, they made their way to the castle without being detected. They still didn't know if the soldiers were good guys or not, but they weren't going to take any chances—especially since their mission was to rob the emperor.

"Okay, we're here," Gwen said. "I can make a platform to carry us up."

Togata shook his head. "Unless you can make your powers not glow, I think we need something a little less conspicuous. Give me a second, I need to get the timing right."

Gwen reluctantly nodded, and Togata used Permeation to sink into the ground. He counted in his head, calculating just how long he had to sink before he built up enough momentum. After eleven seconds, he deactivated his Quirk; just as planned, he was catapulted straight up at considerable velocity. He managed to snag the edge of the crenellations and pulled himself over, and then threw Blackwhip down to Gwen, latching onto her and reeling her up.

"How was that less conspicuous?" she asked as she steadied herself.

"It wasn't glowing pink."

"… Okay, point taken."

"Hey!" Togata and Gwen whirled, and saw one of the soldiers, who had just rounded the corner. "Stop right there!"

Togata moved on reflex; he channeled One For All to cross the distance in an instant, and knocked the guard out with a quick chop to the neck. As soon as the soldier hit the ground, Togata frantically looked around, but didn't see any other guards; he must have mistimed one of the patrols, but not by too much.

"We need to get going," Gwen said, after running to catch up with his near-teleport-level dash. "We'll have problems if we have to fight our way through the whole castle."

"Yeah." Togata spotted some stairs, and headed towards them. "This way."

They stuck to the shadows as they entered the interior of the castle. It was filled with gold and marble, and portraits of a figure with a golden, beaked mask and a white cloak. Judging by the way the paintings were held in clear esteem, Togata figured that was the emperor—that, or all the previous emperors all wore the same outfit. Either way, they now knew what the mask looked like.

"This place is pretty empty," Gwen noticed. "I figured there'd be government officials, courtiers, people like that."

"Maybe today's their day off?" Togata shrugged. "Or maybe the emperor makes all the decisions. He could be a dictator; the way those paintings showed him raising a golden fist didn't give off a warm and fuzzy vibe."

"No, really?" Despite her sarcasm, Gwen was smiling. It gave Togata hope that he was keeping her from completely falling to whatever her powers were doing to her.

"I think we're going to have to take a prisoner," Togata said, after a few minutes of fruitless searching. "We can interrogate them, and find out where the emperor is."

"That's assuming we can get them to talk," Gwen countered, but sighed. "But, yeah, it's a better option than just wandering around."

"Okay, so we'll jump the first person we see; if they don't know where the emperor is, we'll make 'em tell us who does."

To reduce risk, they searched for someone alone, which meant they avoided patrols of multiple soldiers. Eventually, they found a guard standing outside a door; even with a mask covering his face, he looked bored out of his mind.

Gwen grabbed his head with a whip of Mana and dragged him over to them. Togata ripped the spear out of his hands, and shoved him against a wall.

"Here's how this is gonna work," Togata said, channeling his inner Nighteye to sound as intimidating as possible. "You're gonna answer my questions, and if you do, I won't break your ribs. You shout, I break your ribs. You try to escape—"

"I get it," the guard said quietly, "you'll break my ribs. Why just my ribs?"

Gwen leaned in close; Togata couldn't tell if she was intentionally making her eye glow brighter, but it was certainly ominous. "Because if we didn't need you to talk, we'd break your jaw. Now, tell us where the emperor is."

"I have no idea!" The guard looked to his right, then his left, but there was no one around to help him. "Look, I'm just a Coven Scout, no one tells me anything! Steve's barely good enough to work here!"

Togata wanted to sigh; they had a basic grunt who didn't know anything. "Then tell us who would know where the emperor is."

"Uh… the Golden Guard? Shorter than me, wears a golden mask, has a staff with a red jewel on the top. He's the top enforcer these days, and he gets his orders directly from Emperor Belos."

"Okay, so where is he?"

The guard, Steve, moved one finger to point at the door he'd been guarding. "That way. He's probably doing research for Belos' next assignment."

"I believe him," Gwen said.

"Yeah, so do I." Togata drew back his fist. "Sorry, buddy, but I have to knock you out now."

Steve sighed. "Yeah, I figured. This has not been Steve's day."

A quick punch to the head knocked Steve unconscious; Togata only took enough time to put the guy in a more comfortable position on the floor, and then joined Gwen by the door.

"So, any idea how we're going to get this Golden Guard to talk?" Togata asked. "He's probably too loyal or smart to scare him into talking."

"Actually, I think I have a plan." Gwen's hands were surrounded by Mana. "Follow my lead."

The Golden Guard's mask hid his surprise, but from the way he moved when Gwen shattered the door, he wasn't expecting company. He swept up his staff and pointed it at them, its red gem crackling with energy.

"Who are you two?" he demanded—and it didn't escape their notice that he sounded significantly younger than them. "What are you doing here?"

"Take him down," Gwen ordered, and charged. "Don't let him reach Belos!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Togata understood Gwen's plan. If the Golden Guard thought their objective was to keep him away from the emperor, he would do everything in his power to do the opposite, and they could follow him.

Assuming it worked, of course.

Just before Gwen reached him, the Golden Guard vanished in a flash of red light. When he reappeared, he was hovering above them, nonchalantly laying along his staff.

"Nice try, girl," he taunted. "But you'll have to do better than—"

"You were saying?" Togata interrupted, suddenly in the Golden Guard's personal space, his body crackling with golden energy.

The Golden Guard yelped and teleported again before Togata could kick him. Actually, Togata could have hit him before he vanished, but he couldn't risk knocking him out and losing their best lead. What he could do, however, was keep him focused on retreating, and not give him time to counterattack.

Gwen had the same plan, and was hurling bolts of Mana at the Golden Guard whenever he stopped moving. With two skilled opponents not giving him space to breathe, much less fight back, the Golden Guard took the only route left to him, and ran. He teleported to the doorway, and then flew down the hall, riding his staff like the Wicked Witch.

"Quick, we can't lose him!" Togata sprinted after him, but not before taking a tendril of Mana from Gwen, who was hovering on a pink platform, and dragging her behind him like a kite.

The Golden Guard led them on a wild chase; when he thought they were getting too close, he would teleport to widen the distance between them. After seeing him do this a few times, Togata realized that he could only teleport to a location he could see. That meant they would only lose sight of him if they got really unlucky.

A few times, groups of soldiers would try to stop them, but Togata easily passed by with Permeation, and Gwen would toss bolts of Mana at them to keep them from trying to catch up. After a few intense minutes of chasing, the Golden Guard led them to an imposing doorway; he practically collapsed off his staff, and staggered through.

"Emperor Belos!" he shouted. "We have intruders, they're trying to—"

Even Gwen, with her emotions muted as they were, winced when Togata punched the Golden Guard in the face. His mask shattered, revealing a young blonde boy with scars and pointed ears; he managed a wheeze, and then slumped to the ground, completely unconscious.

"That was kinda brutal," Gwen said.

"He'll be fine," Togata assured her. "He'll need some ice, but he'll be fine."

"Oh, that's good," a low, almost soothing voice said, and the door slammed shut, locking them in. "I put a great deal of work into my Golden Guard, and I would hate to have to replace him so early on."

Togata folded his arms over his chest, the picture of calm nonchalance. "Emperor Belos, I presume?"

"Indeed." Belos was tall, his body completely hidden by white robes, golden gauntlets, and a golden, beaked mask with what looked like antlers. "And might I say, I've never seen a human in a costume quite like that. It looks rather uncomfortable."

"Nah, it's designed not to pinch. First thing I asked when they made it for me."

Belos shifted slightly in Gwen's direction. "I'm not sure what to make of you, child, but you look like you're falling apart."

Gwen cracked her knuckles. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Oh, I know that better than anyone." Belos clasped his hands behind his back. "Now, what is so important that you had to chase my poor Golden Guard throughout my castle?"

With barely a glance shared between them, Gwen and Togata split apart, slowly moving to each of Belos' sides.

"We're not here to cause trouble," Togata said, holding out hope that the situation could be resolved without further violence. "But things are really crazy right now, and the only way we can save a lot of people is with that mask of yours."

"So, you know…" Gwen held out a hand. "We're gonna have to borrow that."

Belos didn't respond for several long seconds, and then held his hands out; Gwen and Togata tensed when they saw him holding a staff similar to the Golden Guard's.

"I'm afraid I have to decline," Belos said.

Togata felt the ground shudder beneath him, and instinctively activated Permeation. That prevented him from getting grabbed by a fleshy arm that grew out of the floor. He darted back, only to get his legs swept out from under him by another arm that attacked from behind.

Gwen hurled a bolt of Mana at Belos, who casually batted it aside with his staff. "Try again, girl."

"Go high!" Togata shouted.

Gwen leaped, but another arm snagged her ankle and slammed her into the floor. She spat out blood, and rolled to avoid a blast of red energy from Belos' staff. He tried to fire again, but Togata grabbed his arm and threw off his aim; Belos gestured, and part of the stone floor warped into a spike and headed right for Togata's face. The only reason he wasn't killed was because he used Permeation on his head, but the surprise was enough to make him loosen his grip, and Belos slipped free.

Togata and Gwen retreated for a moment, if only to give themselves time to breathe. Belos merely stood there, likely wondering what their next move would be.

"Something's wrong with this guy," Togata whispered. "When I grabbed his arm, it didn't feel… human."

"Then we take him down before he tries to surprise us," Gwen said quietly. "You go low, I'll go high."

Togata nodded; he leaned forward and used Permeation again, vanishing into the floor. With One For All boosting both his body and his first Quirk, he wasn't so much ejected from the ground as he was launched out at escape velocity. He passed easily through the flesh-arms that Belos summoned, and smashed his fist into the emperor's gut. He would have gone for the head—it was the fastest way to knock someone out, in his opinion—but he couldn't risk destroying Belos' mask.

Belos stumbled back—and Togata was surprised he was still standing after taking a twenty-percent hit—but before he could recover, Gwen flew over him and bombarded him with Mana. She then tied his arms to his sides with a pink rope of energy and jumped off the Mana platform she'd been riding; Togata was positive she'd landed on Belos on purpose.

"Let's try this again," Gwen all but snarled, "and give me that mask!"

Rather than wait for his reply, Gwen ripped the mask off Belos' head, revealing a very human-looking face—not counting the pointed ears and green mark that nearly bisected pale skin.

"Oh, very well," Belos said, and rolled his eyes. "You've beaten me and claimed your prize. I have other masks, you know; that one just happens to be my favorite."

"Whatever." Gwen handed the mask over to Togata; she then paused, and spun around to punch Belos squarely across the jaw.

"Whoa!" Togata grabbed her arm before she attacked again. "What was that for? He's beaten, we don't have to keep hitting him!"

Gwen pulled her arm closer, and dragged Togata to her with surprising strength. "I'm having a bad day," she hissed. "I have lost too much to be nice right now, and if I think you're going to stop me, I will crush you like a grape. Understood?"

Togata nodded warily, and Gwen stalked off; still lying on the ground, Belos sighed.

"You can't reason with crazy," he said.

Togata suddenly had no compunction about kicking the man while he was down, and then hurried after Gwen. Their mission was over, and now they had more important matters to attend to.

"I've found it," Luthor declared suddenly, and Midoriya thought the man almost sounded excited.

"What'd you find?" Julie asked, as the cannon on her arm morphed into something with too many barrels, and then vanished under her skin. "The secret to reversing hair loss?"

Luthor ignored her. "I believe I've calculated where Vilgax is creating his army. It turns out he really is arrogant enough to put all his eggs into one basket, because all my scans indicate that they're being made on one planet, in one universe."

Midoriya jumped to his feet. "Where is it?"

"Earth-989." Luthor looked down at the small device that projected his holograms. "Hyper-industrialized, but the pollutants wiped out all life on the planet so quickly that the humans there never realized what was killing them. If you want to create an army of monsters, this would be a good place to go."

"You're quite right," Paradox said as he stepped out of the shadows. "And the timing couldn't be better. At this moment, the vast majority of Vilgax's army is destroying other universes, and the next batch hasn't been created yet. This is the perfect opportunity for a small team to infiltrate the factory and cause serious damage—or perhaps even destroy it entirely."

"Then Julie and I can go," Midoriya said, but Paradox shook his head.

"Actually, you should include Mr. Luthor as well; to be frank, the technologies you may encounter are beyond what either you or Ms. Yamamoto can understand. Luthor may find a technical solution to this problem that doesn't involve simply smashing everything."

"But…" Midoriya glanced at the old man. "Can you even fight?"

Luthor smirked, and snapped his fingers. A nearby box opened up, and pieces of machinery flew out; they assembled around Luthor's body, until he was surrounded by a hulking exoskeleton. The outer plates were green, while the thinner sections were purple; the only part of him that was exposed was his head, but it was somewhat protected by a thick collar and hood.

"I think I can manage," he said.

Despite knowing that Luthor was a terrible person, and Julie had little experience, Midoriya grinned. "So, what are we waiting for?"

Sorry for the delay for this chapter. I got really excited for my new story, Mass Effect: Legacy, and kinda just focused on that. Then I got covid. Then my chimney was full of thousands of bees, and I got stung. While sick with covid. Then my dogs got skunked. Then my mom got covid, and I had to take care of her. Basically, the last few weeks have sucked.

Franchises visited the by champions: The Owl House

I'd like to thank Imperium42 for his permission to cameo his story, Entropy, at the beginning of this chapter. I love that story, it's the best deconstruction of Hero society I've ever read, and it shows just how close canon Midoriya could have come to becoming a bad guy.

So, yeah, quite a bit happened here. The heroes (and Luthor) now know that there is a way to stop Vilgax, by collecting three things. They just don't know how the pieces fit together yet. The first one might have been fairly easy to get, but the other two might be more of a challenge.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon, as both an eBook and physical copy. Sales are greatly appreciated!

If you want to support me in other ways, I also have a P-atreon account (link in my profile). If enough of you donate, I'll be able to quit one of my three jobs and spend more time writing. Heck, if all of you donate just a little, I'll be able to afford my own place to live! And then I can write fan fiction every day!

Speaking of donations, I'd like to thank the following patrons:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, killroy225, Lokthar, Hakuryuken

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Ben Stueckle

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll, Adam Costello

Next Chapter: Jen and Kevin go to secure the second piece of the puzzle, while Midoriya leaps at the chance to help countless worlds.

Plus Muffin!