"Two years…?" Izuku repeated the words, the meaning behind them incomprehensible. "Two years…" his throat felt dry, his head felt light, the ringing in his ears was getting louder. "The Battle Trial… Kacchan… That was two years ago…?" looking to the side, it was clear that his mortal companions weren't handing the news better than he was. Why would they?

Todoroki had turned white as a sheet, muttering the words "Todoroki scandal…?" to himself and probably racking his brain over what that could mean. Hagakure was taking it the best, in that she wasn't repeating a key phrase over and over to herself in a daze. Instead she was muttering, "My… My family… Are they… Oh god, mom always wanted to go abroad…"

Two years? But Izuku was too focused on his own disbelief to truly listen, But that's… I mean… But then what… he could barely feel his own body, unable to comprehend the reality before him. What am I supposed to do…? The reason he'd returned to the surface, the entire reason for them leaving the afterlife, was to return one of the pillars for Japan's peace as a nation, for one of the World's symbols of peace.

How do I return a pillar of peace, when that peace has crumbled into chaos?

"Do you know what this means…?" a voice asked, Izuku wasn't sure who. As he glanced in that direction, he realised it was Modeus. She was now remarkably close, heart-pupils filling her entire eyes, "It means you're technically 18!"

…

…

…

"For fuck's sake Modeus-"

"I'm sorry." Izuku interrupted Justice. His mouth twitched as what she'd just said, the meaning behind what she'd just said, but most importantly the context in which she'd said it, slowly began to settle in his mind. His initial disbelief was slowly beginning to pass, and Modeus had just provided a blatant target for his torrent of emotions.

"I've just found out that everything we've been working towards ever since we started was for nothing." he started in a calm, collected voice. "That we left Hell only to find out it's Hell on Earth. That everything I ever knew has been destroyed, anyone I ever knew could be dead, and that any hope I ever had of fixing things was a naive, idiotic fantasy. And you." he ground his teeth together, "Are more concerned about the fact that I'm chronologically LEGAL?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" as Modeus stepped back nervously, he turned his anger to the next nearest person, aka Justice, "And you! You said we were gone a few months!"

"I said ish-"

"HOW DOES ISH TURN INTO YEARS?!"

"Hey, we're lucky it's only two years. 90% of Earth- or, what, like 70% or something- kicking the bucket means the backlog must've gone up decades – probably a Century…" Justice groaned, "And we were almost done, too…"

"Oh, yeah, at least I'm only over a year late to fix anything!" he turned around, grabbing onto the front of the school gate to support himself. His legs threatened to buckle from shock and exhaustion. "Lucky me…!" he'd meant to shout, but the last words had come across as barely a loud mumble as he felt warm tears overtake the cold rain on his face.

Two years… he shook his head in disbelief, Guess that's what I get for thinking I could do anything… Almost had me going there! They'd crossed frozen wastelands and boiling savannahs, swam through cursed waters and rode through scorching hellfire, fought tooth and nail to get everyone here… And they'd been too late from the moment they started.

Izuku could hear laughter. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was one of his mortal companions, who he'd dragged up into this mess for no reason. He thought he was going to help the world… Instead, he was just going to get dragged back down to Hell, nothing achieved but pain and suffering. In fact, now there were numerous demons who knew who he was. Knew what One for All could do. Knew how powerful it was to the supernatural. If he'd just accepted his punishment and suffered like a good little sinner, things could've carried on like normal. At least he'd have the hope that the world would've kept spinning! Instead, he knew the world had gone to shit, it was all his fault, and-

Wait, Justice said OfA could be used to take over Hell… he could feel himself shaking, Am I going to somehow make Hell even worse?! But it sounds like it's run by a terrible demon already- wait, what if she takes this power and becomes even worse! With this, would they be able to rule with an even stronger iron fist?! Or- Or what if an even worse demon got it and took charge instead?! How are we supposed to stop that- his eyes shrank as his shaking became worse, Oh god… What if- What if the way to stop that is… Do I have to give this power to Justice? She's the only demon I could trust with something like this in any way… But to take the power, wouldn't she have to… he could feel the tears covering his face, I… But… Please, I don't want to die again-

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt something on his shoulder. A moment later, it was around his back, a gentle warmth soon pressing against his head. He could feel fingers gently moving through his hair, a soft feeling of comfort gradually seeping into him.

"Shhhh…" Cerberus whispered smoothly, "It's going to be ok…"

"B-But I d-don't, I- I can't-"

"It's going to be ok…" she repeated the words tenderly, the light hug she was giving becoming that tiny bit firmer. More comforting. Izuku didn't- couldn't- reply, so instead he tried to take a deep breath.

It was only at that moment that he realised how rapid and disorganised his breathing had become. How clenched his fingers were, drawing blood against the rusted metal. How rapid his heartbeat was, hammering in his chest and ears like an infernal drum. Instead of trying to reply, he simply tried to breathe, unbelievably grateful for the comfort Cerberus' form provided. As he started to get it under control, he felt another hand on his other shoulder.

"Hey." Justice started softly, "I know this looks… is, pretty bad."

"'Pretty'?" Izuku chuckled, before he was forced to take another deep breath for the effort.

"Ok, yeah, it's shit." Justice leaned back against the school gate, entering his field of view without intruding on his direct line of sight, "But I hope you realise that just because the world's gone to Hell, doesn't mean we can't pull it back out."

"Oh yeah?" Izuku smiled ruefully, "You have a time machine?"

"Damn," Justice snapped her fingers, "Must've left mine with Mal. But you know what we do have?" Izuku shook his head, and she adopted her signature smirk in turn, "An optimistic idiot with a bullshit Quirk, and news of a retired Number One…"

"Yeah, retired…" Izuku shook his head. How was that supposed to-

… Wait… his eyes widened at the implication. Retired…

"… Means alive…?"

"Kinda hard to retire if you're dead." Justice agreed.

"I thought it'd be easy." Cerberus innocently added to his anxiety.

"Yo, Grav-girl." Justice looked behind Izuku – probably to Uraraka, "You said All Might retired. Still alive: Yay or nay?"

"Um... yay?" she answered unsurely.

"I was hoping for an answer, not a question…" Justice prompted.

"Well, it's just-"

"Not a soul has borne witness to the past's saviour in many a' year." Tokoyami elaborated cryptically.

"… You mean no one's seen him in a while?" it seemed Todoroki was recovering, though his voice was still more frayed than his usual deadpan delivery.

"Indeed." Iida said, pausing for a moment before electing to continue plainly, "After the KTT, his public appearances were minimal at best. He was on some National broadcasts following the event, though beyond that…"

"But I think he's probably still alive." Monoma's assertion prompted Izuku to swivel around to the group, Cerberus letting go so he could do so.

"Why?" Hagakure asked the question with a struggle. Apparently she'd also recovered, and asked a question held by a number of the others, if their interested looks were anything to go by.

"Well, think about it. That bastard basically left All Might alive but crippled as a symbol of peace's downfall." did his injuries get that bad…? "Would he really just let him die peacefully?"

"That's…" Iida trailed off.

"You're right." Uraraka nodded, eyes focused as she considered the scenario, "Considering everything that he's done… If I was in his shoes, or maniacal boots or throne or whatever, I'd make it a point to show the old symbol of peace was dead."

"And gone not with a bang, but a whimper." Tokoyami nodded.

"Right. He might not want to make a massive deal out of it, but he'd probably still want it to be public knowledge." she smiled grimly, "Maybe he would want to make a show of it… 'I beat the Symbol of Peace, but he died weak and pathetic'."

"That…" Iida winced, "Does sound like something Japan's 'Demon Lord' would do…"

"May his judgement come soon and without mercy." Shiozaki added.

"Yeah, I think we could be seeing Judgement pretty damn soon if we're not careful…" Justice muttered under her breath.

"And I'm not sure she knows the meaning of mercy." Izuku said with a slight smile. Justice looked towards him in concern, "I'm ok…" he whispered towards her, "Thank you…" she nodded in acceptance, and he turned back towards Cerberus, "A-and you Cerberus. I don't- Without you I'm not sure-"

"You don't have to." she interrupted with a sincere smile, "'Cause you're not without me anymore. Right?"

"… Right." he smiled back.

I really am lucky to have met all of you… These high-ranking 'evil' demons were the only reasoning he was still functional at this point. That was probably a bad sign, but in a world like this Izuku wasn't sure there were any good ones left anyway. These de- these people, or sapient beings or whatever the correct term would be, had helped him, fought for him, been a friend to him at a time he'd had no-one else. Any reservations he'd had based on the reputation of so-called 'demons' were disappearing by the day.

... He still had to make sure Cerberus didn't eat anyone, though.

"While the thought All Might is unlikely to be dead is somewhat of a relief." Iida brought him back into the main conversation, "I fail to see how that is particularly relevant, given his condition…"

"No need to worry about that." Justice answered, "We just need to find the old man and give him a little something." she turned to the fence, "Now, come on. Maybe they've got some records in the school that could help us find him…"

"You're going to trespass on U.A. property?!" Iida exclaimed in shock.

"What, it's abandoned. Not like-"

"No." Izuku interrupted Justice. While her idea wasn't bad, he didn't think it was necessary, "We don't need to." he glanced back towards the photo of himself.

While the fact that said photo depicting himself deceased merely existing was mentally taxing, it made him realise something:

People cared that he was dead.

Was it obvious? Perhaps. But Izuku has spent a decade of his life with absolutely no one who would even notice he was gone existing outside of his mother, who he really needed to check up on because if anything happened to her-

One thing at a time… he winced at the thought. He wanted nothing more than to find her, to find out if she was still alright, but that was for his own desire. First, they had something important to take care of for everyone.

And second, part of him worried he couldn't cope with the answer.

"All Might was training m-Izuku for a long time before U.A." he was mainly talking to Justice, but as it was important to get this information to their undead group, it was hard to simply whisper. He figured there wasn't much harm in letting the others know about this, anyway.

"How do you-"

"For approximately ten months before the entrance exam, he was assisting Izuku in training his body for handling his Quirk." he interrupted Uraraka; knowing this information was basically harmless. Knowing how he knew it was far less so. As were the specifics of why this was happening and the Quirk itself. "He, um-" need a lie need a lie need a lie- "He… had a similar issue when his Quirk first appeared, so I suppose All Might felt a sort of empathy for the problems he was having? As such, it would make sense that he… Well, feels a sense of loss for Izuku, I guess?" technically not a complete lie.

"Yes. I would assume that the former Number One Hero does, in fact, feel a sense of loss regarding the student who he let die in his first teaching experience." Justice answered dryly.

"So anyway, as it's the anniversary of his death, it- well, it makes sense that he might be thinking about him, right?"

"… I'm not even dignifying that with an answer." Justice muttered with a shake of her head, "Go on."

"So, I was thinking, where would he go?"

"U.A.?" Justice guessed.

"Ground Beta?" Uraraka guessed more specifically.

"Midoryia's grave?" Monoma guessed.

Oh. I have a grave. I guess that makes sense-

"All good answers," Izuku decided to put that fact into the ever-growing 'things-I'll-have-to-deal-with-eventually' pile, "And honestly you might be right. But I was thinking, wouldn't he most likely be drawn to where he and Izuku spent the most time together?"

"Maybe…" Justice studied him, before the thought snapped into place, "The two of them had a specific training area, didn't they?"

"M-hm." he nodded.

"Well ok then." Justice smiled, "But we should probably still check a bit of the school to make sure he's not here first."

"Makes sense as we're already here." Todoroki agreed.

Justice took her glasses off and looked towards the school, "Maybe if I-" her eyes snapped open, a look of restrained panic leaping onto her face in an instant. Jumping in front of Izuku, she threw the glasses back on, "New plan, wherever this training spot is, go. Now."

"Wha-" Izuku spluttered, "But why-"

"Yeah." yet another familiar voice called out through the rain. But this wasn't one Izuku could put a face to. He'd heard it before, and fairly recently, but couldn't place it for the life of him. "Why are you in such a rush, Justice?" as he heard the click of heels walking through the rain, he fearfully realised where he'd heard that voice before.

"Is there somewhere you need to be?" a demon in high heels used a large book in her hand to cover a yawn, the other hand being occupied with an umbrella shielding her from the rain. "Because by my estimates, you should currently be a couple of Circles below six feet under." Pandemonica casually flicked through the book, and Justice tensed.

Izuku knew that he should be scared, terrified even, of the fact they could be caught and sent back to Hell. Startled by the revelation that even walking the Earth didn't protect them from the threats beneath. Somehow, he just knew this wouldn't end peacefully. That it would become Judgement all over again.

But he was already emotionally spent from what was quite possibly the most devastating 15 minutes of his brief existence. And that included… well, dying. Instead, he deeply sighed.

Here we go again…

Ochaco had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore.

First, some strangers show up on the anniversary of Midoriya's death, claiming to have known him. Next, one of them starts insulting him, and when she gave him a piece of her mind, he looked like Midoriya. He claimed it was just his Quirk mimicking someone she knew, but something about that explanation felt… off. Like she was more than just seeing him. Like she'd gotten a rare glimpse of something beyond that, discovered something that lay buried beneath the skin…

But she'd heard of weirder Quirks, so it was probably just a side effect.

Side effect or not, she'd still ended up feeling far more comfortable around their group than was normal after that. Like she could tell them her darkest secrets, and they wouldn't fault her for it… Which was good, considering she proceeded to tell them about the darkest day of her entire life.

Telling that story had felt… indescribable. Horrible, to relive that terrible day, yet almost therapeutic that she could tell it and then be back to the present, safe and sound. Vulnerable, to tell others of the things she'd done, the lengths she'd gone too, and yet a feeling beyond relief when they'd not reacted with disgust. But it was only after going over that wound that the first truly strange thing about this situation appeared:

These people knew nothing. As in, they did not know things which any functional human being should know. And not in a hyperbolic 'oh, you don't even know how to cook' way so much as 'people die when they are killed'. They didn't know anything about what had happened for two years. Anything. This went beyond not knowing the current prime minister, or being unable to recall major news stories that passed them by. This was on the level of not knowing they were in Japan, for crying out loud!

… Wait they do know we're in Japan right?!

But before they even had a chance to process these people being completely ignorant hermits, one of them had a bloody mental breakdown after finding all this out. As in, a full on, hyperventilating, unable to respond, can barely stand breakdown. Which, ok, if they're just learning this major information for the first time? Understandable. But how are they learning this major information for the first time?!

Ochaco was happy to play along with the what-happened-to-All-Might quiz to try and help calm the guy down, and she was pretty sure the others were following suit. Not that she wasn't curious about the topic herself, but if there wasn't the risk of setting them off again, she would've had some more pressing questions.

And yet those question would have to wait, owing to another surprise guest.

"Well, you know me." the woman going by the name 'Justice' replied light-heartedly to the new arrival', yet Ochaco could see her stance was ready for a fight, "Not really one for keeping to the schedule."

"Clearly." the newcomer eyed each person present with paradoxically tired yet calculating eyes, "And as always, I'm the one that has to put things back on track."

"U-uh-" 'Midoraiya'- seriously what the hell is that name- tried to interrupt, "Miss Pandemonica, I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk?"

"Sure." 'Pandemonica' replied flippantly, letting out a yawn after the word, "First conversation topic:" she nodded towards Ochaco and the others, "How much do they know?"

"Well-"

"Not a thing." Justice interrupted quickly, voice stern, "This lot were just helping us get our bearings. We didn't tell them anything."

Pandemonica raised an eyebrow lightly at her response, before scanning over Ochaco and the others a second time. Tiredness was briefly hidden behind piercing red eyes, and Ochaco could almost feel a physical force pressing down on her. Like this woman was looking beyond her surface, searching through the depths of her very being for something Ochaco could never dream of comprehending. But a tense moment later, those eyes returned to their standard tired state.

"… Very well." Justice breathed a sigh of relief at the intimidating woman's words, "Then I suggest you five run along."

"Eh?" Ochaco blinked, "I'm sorry, but…"

"'Tis a sacred eve for we dwellers of darkness." Tokoyami finished her thought in his own way.

"It's five thirty in the afternoon." Pandemonica deadpanned.

"That can count as evening."

"I'm sorry," Iida took over from Tokoyami's attempts to defend himself, "But it is rather important to us that we are able to commemorate this event in peace. Furthermore, this is public property; if you have business with one another then I suggest you find another locale."

"No, I'm sorry." another yawn, "It seems I'm not making myself clear. If you don't vacate the premises in the next 120 seconds, your lives are forfeit."

The words were delivered apathetically, without any sign of threat nor malicious intent. They were delivered simply, tiredly and with some amount of irritation, as though she were merely complaining about the weather or telling them to keep off the grass. Not threatening to kill them.

"… I'm sorry?" Iida repeated dumbly, understandably in the situation.

"Leave in the next 115 seconds or you're all going to die." she rubbed a hand over her face, trying to wake up from a groggy state, "Did that go in?"

None of their party could speak after the declaration.

"Oh." the would-be killer added in remembrance, "And if greenie over there tries to run away, that 110 seconds becomes 0." Ochaco glanced towards the boy in question who did seem to have green hair… If she really focused on it for long enough. How did his Quirk operate, exactly? Looks like someone deceased while in physical contact, sort-of-maybe looks like them a bit from a distance?

"I- I won't run." Midoraiya replied quickly.

"Good." Pandemonica sighed in a mixture of relief and apathy, "Makes my job easier."

"What…" Ochaco found herself with a voice at last, "Is your job, exactly?" at her question, the woman's eyes turned back to her, considered the question for a moment, before nodding slightly as if deciding it was acceptable to answer.

"Retrieve him." she gestured to Midoraiya, "Alive." an amused smile graced her lips, "Anyone else is fair game. Like you, in 100 seconds."

"M-May I ask why you've accepted this task?" Midoraiya asked nervously.

"Unlimited supply of coffee." Pandemonica gave the first genuine smile Ochaco had seen, "Forever. High quality. Guaranteed." she hummed in delight, "Can't wait…"

"That-"

"You're going to damn him for eternity for COFFEE?!"

"You're going to kidnap someone for COFFEE?!" 'Kiyofuji' and Monoma interrupted Midoraiya in shock- wait 'damn him for eternity' that's weirdly specific wording-

"Premium blends." Pandemonica was practically drooling at the thought, "Plus, expenses for the trip are covered. Oh, 80 seconds."

""""That- That's-"""" Monoma, Iida, Shiozaki and Kiyofuji had almost identical stuttering responses.

"A question." Tokoyami started, "What manner of nightmare shall befall this poor fellow should your vile machinations see completion?" he asked a very good question in a very bad way.

"My employer wants his Quirk." she answered with a light shrug, uncaring at Tokoyami's colourful vocabulary,"Something about harnessing it for greater power."

"… How-"

"Oh, I GET IT!" Monoma declared, an accusatory finger pointed at Pandemonica, "You're some kind of mercenary from I-Island, aren't you?!" Ochaco's eyes went wide at the statement.

That would… she soon found herself nodding along, That would make the most sense… Harnessing a Quirk for 'power'; not sending anyone from the League; freely permitting civilian casualties; some internal power struggle; fancy suits; it all adds up!

"You're going to kidnap this Izikiel Midoraiya fellow and whisk him off to that floating futuristic hellscape, aren't you?!"

"Hellscape?" of course Midoraiya didn't know about Wolfram's takedown.

"… Sure." Pandemonica shrugged after a long, owlish blink, completely unphased by Monoma's deductions, "Why not. Oh, 60 seconds, by the way."

"You should all go." Justice spoke up for the first time in a while, "You know why she's here, you know she's serious. And trust me when I say: she can and will kill you." Ochaco paled at the statement.

"It's true, I will." Pandemonica let go of the umbrella, only for it to remain floating with what seemed like a small red circle wrapped around the handle, keeping it in place. "In 50 seconds."

"So I suggest you all leave now." Justice urged them.

"Y-y-" Midoraiya stuttered, casting a glance over their group before his will resolved, "Yeah! This- This doesn't- If you get involved in this, you're going to get hurt!"

"This isn't your fight." Sozoragi stepped in-line with Justice, "It's ours."

"S-So get out of here!" Kiyofuji stepped in line- wait why did her form seem to flicker invisible for a second-

"Preferably in the next 40 seconds." Pandemonica stated, flipping through her book, "Or not. Five fresh souls sounds delectable to me."

Ochaco looked between the offending party and those already present. She couldn't claim to know the details of their situation, but she was starting to get a decent idea. Enough to know that this 'Midoraiya' was being hunted down by a group for his Quirk. Not because he'd done anything wrong, or even stumbled onto something he shouldn't have, but because he was born with something useful. Because he had something they wanted, and the only way to take it was to take him.

Ochaco looked beyond 'Pandemonica', to the dreary road leading downhill from U.A. To the sad path to safety, free from this squabble that she had absolutely no business in. Free to go back home, wrap up in a warm and cozy blanket with the family she loved, and try to forget this whole day ever happened. She'd already been caught in the crossfire of a fight that wasn't hers. She'd already seen a classmate pay the price that came with being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she was being given the chance to leave that place. All she had to do was walk away, and she'd be fine. All she had to do was abandon this complete stranger – one who'd blamed her friend for his own death, and she'd be safe.

"… Oi." cracking her knuckles and putting on a familiar air of faux confidence, Ochaco stepped into line between the dangerous woman and Midoraiya, "Can't say I know exactly what's going on, but I do know I'm not a fan of arrogant pieces of shit that do whatever the hell they want to whoever the hell they want." glancing back to the young man who's face she still had trouble focusing on, she continued, "I refuse to stand on the sidelines while someone gets hurt."

Never again.

She looked back to Pandemonica, "You wanna drag someone off to, what, be horribly experimented on? Not while I'm still standing."

"Don't worry." the flicker of a smirk registered on Pandemonica's face for the briefest of moments, "You won't be standing much longer. 20 seconds."

"Should you wish your ire upon these here, vile temptress," Tokoyami joined Uraraka, "You shall first face the wrath of darkness itself."

"That's me!" Dark Shadow added menacingly, his form creeping out to slowly loom over Tokoyami.

"I-" Iida stuttered, looking between the two groups before joining his former classmates in line, "I have abandoned the field twice now to seek out assistance. In truth, I know not whether it was truly for the good of my classmates, or my own cowardice…" he took a breath, "But whatever the reason, I shall not let it be a third! You shall not pass the new Ingenium!"

"… What happened to the old Ingenium?" Justice shushed Midoraiya's question.

"I failed to save many of the poor lambs I once knew." Shiozaki joined them, "But I refuse to lose any more! Not to the likes of you, demon!"

"Wait, she knows-" Kiyofuji slapped a hand over Sozoragi's mouth to get him to stop talking about something that was probably important. With their resolve set, the group looked towards the last person who had yet to make a decision.

"… You're all idiots." Monoma sighed with a slump, beginning to walk off. Leaving U.A. with a defeated gait. He glanced towards Pandemonica, "Do whatever the hell you want. I'm done with this heroism bullshit." Ochaco almost gaped at the boy. True, he had never been… well, nice, in any sense she could think of, but she'd always thought he had something resembling a sense of justice. That he'd be among the last to turn tail and run like this… Not that she could blame him, of course. They probably were all idiots.

"Noted." Pandemonica nodded tightly, "We've hit our time limit regardless. Oh, and by the way-?"

Just as Monoma had left her line of sight, green tentacles had shot out from his direction-

He's copied Shiozaki's Quirk!

Vines flew from his head, reaching towards Panedmonica's form in a flash of thorned green whips. Then, mere centimetres from her head, they suddenly… stopped. A small, spinning red circle held a storm of organic blades at bay with ease, just as a second still held the umbrella afloat. Pandemonica didn't give his effort so much as a glance. Instead, she leisurely drew a thermos of coffee in one hand from a sudden fwoosh of fire, and dug into her pocket with the other. As she slowly sipped the beverage, her smile morphed from exhaustedly smug to savagely wicked, while the hand emerging from her pocked produced an unsettling black coin.

"You're a terrible liar." she flipped the coin from her hand. It flew higher than Ochaco thought any human could manage, despite no apparent assistance from any other circle… Quirks? As the coin reached its apex over a dozen metres above her head, the sky around it took on an ominous red-brown tint. As it reached the discolouration in the air, the coin began to dissolve, splashing into the floating liquid-looking mixture like a raindrop in a puddle. An unsettling dark blood red painted the sky in every direction from the coin, a light scent of smouldering ash quickly filling the air. The intensity at the centre crawled outwards, one direction looking to arch over the U.A. building itself while the other slammed down on the ground near Pandemonica.

Within moments, the group was cast into shadow by the red creeping its way across the sky, even rain being blocked by the alien veil. Monoma flinched back from the opaque colour reaching the floor near him, forming an impenetrable wall between them and the road down the U.A. hill. At an order from Justice, the boy dashed over to join their main group, an action Pandemonica seemed content to allow.

"Don't suppose I can convince you to leg it?" Justice asked Midoraiya.

"Could I even escape… this." he gestured to the blood-red canopy above them, "If I wanted to?"

"Probably not." she sighed in turn, raising her fists into what looked like a boxing stance, "Stay and fight it is then." her expression raised into a smirk, "To be honest, even considering her home turf advantage and needing to play protector for these idiots," she nodded towards Ochaco and the others – rude! - "I don't see Pandemonica beating us."

"But then…" Midoraiya trailed off.

"Why would she do this?" Sozoragi finished his thought. Their group looked back at her nervously at the statement.

"Well, it's true that I may have trouble dealing with you alone." Pandemonica looked between them all with a small smile, "But I think you may have some internal squabbles to deal with after they learn about Izikiel."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Ohhhhhh shit." Justice interrupted Iida's question with a bit-out curse. Midoraiya, Kiyofuji and Sozoragi kept their eyes focused on her. "So," she coughed, suddenly keen to keep her focus off of her allies, "This thing she's casting is called a world sphere. It's a high-level ability, probably on loan from-"

"Justice." Midoraiya interrupted calmly.

"Right, not important, but basically it's designed to keep backup and curious eyes out, us in, boosts her abilities, and… Hampers our own abilities."

"'Hampers'?" Sozoragi repeated tightly.

"Such as…" she winced, "Dispelling low-level illusions…"

"Low-level-" Midoraiya's eyes widened, and his form began to flicker as the coin serving as the original point for the formation of the 'world sphere' began to dissipate – perhaps its construction was almost complete? "As in…"

"Our perception filters." Kiyofuji finished. As she did, Ochaco felt like she could finally see her: A fancy suit as per the others, multicoloured eyes, chartreuse fluffy hair, she could properly make out details she hadn't noticed before! Looking at the others-

…

…

…

"I thought-" Uraraka swallowed, "I thought you said your Quirk only worked while in physical contact."

"Right-" 'Midoraiya' started, "Well- That's- You see- The sphere-"

"T-Todoroki?!" Iida yelled in surprise, 'Sozoragi' suddenly bearing a striking resemblance to their former classmate. In the confusion, 'Kiyofuji' suddenly turned invisible-

"Wait is that Hagakure?!" Tokoyami exclaimed simply in shock.

"But- But-" Monoma had turned white as a sheet. Shiozaki began tapped her fingers to each shoulder, chest and forehead before uttering something Uraraka didn't catch.

"You're dead." Ochaco muttered the words louder than intended, eyes flicking between the photo she'd set up of her deceased classmate, and the apparently living article right in front of her eyes.

"I…" Midoriya began fiddling with his hair, apparently unable to come up with an answer.

"We got better."

Goddammit Todoroki…

Out of all the words and phrases running through Izuku's head as he struggled to think of a good way to explain the situation calmly, concisely and compassionately, 'we got better' had never even registered owing to how horrendously simplistic and honestly inaccurate it was.

"Well, sort of." Hagakure tried to correct him, "Like, we're still dead-"

"""""WHAT?!""""" ok yeah that probably wasn't the best clarification-

"See, now that's just perfect." glancing back, he found that Pandemonica was lightly chuckling as she dropped… something on the floor. A small,half-white half-orangey-brown cylinder, which dropped slowly – maybe it was a type of cardboard or paper? Izuku's attempts to deduce its identity proved pointless as it hit the floor and started smoking. "But please, don't mind me-"

Justice didn't give her a chance to monologue. She stormed forward, flying across the ground, closing the distance to Pandemonica in an instant-

*fwoosh* only to hit a pillar of flames which consumed the demon. A moment later and they'd flickered out, leaving Justice in place but with no sign of Pandemonica.

"Do you mind?" the demon huffed in irritation. Looking up, Izuku found Pandemonica floating at least half a dozen metres off the ground. A red magic circle glowed ominously behind her, while two more soon formed with the wave of her hands. Her umbrella had disappeared, maybe burnt up in the flames, while the book she was holding now floated before her with a fourth circle, opened and with the pages actively turning.

Ok, so she can teleport through fire; has melee-range telekinetic magic at minimum, with at least 4 independent 'spells' active at once- maybe 6 is the max? Or 66?; can create evil dome 'World Sphere' things from special coins; what else- his eyes snapped back to the object she'd dropped earlier, smoke spreading now near Justice.

"Whatever." Pandemonica huffed, "You're Zdrada's problem now." at her words, the smoke engulfed Justice like a wild beast, before swirling into a miniature storm.

"What-"

"Move back!" Cerberus urged them all closer to U.A.. One Cerberi tried to guide them, one stood between them and Pandemonica, and one stood between them and the smoke storm.

"But Justice-"

"Can take her, easy." Cerberus assured him with smile, before all three glanced towards Pandemonica with a confident grin, "And I can take her no problem. You all need to get out of here; Modeus-"

"You suggest we run?!" Iida tried to yell, but the insanity of the situation sucked a lot of energy from his voice.

"Oh." Pandemonica pulled one of the magical circles out of the air, pointing it at the group with her hand, "Don't worry, I won't allow you to do so." A pillar of white-hot flame erupted from the circle, roaring towards the group before a Cerberi leapt up and kicked it away, completely unharmed by the ordeal.

"You and what army?!"

The evil chuckle that served as a response to Cerberus' question gave Izuku a remarkably bad feeling.

The ground erupting around the perimeter of the dome with a single *snap* of Pandemonica's fingers reinforced that feeling.

The horde of skeletons which crawled from the erupting ground justified that feeling.

For once, Todoroki put Izuku's frustration into words he agreed with, absolutely and wholeheartedly:

"… You had to ask."

A/N:

Just for a change of pace, have a cliffhanger. I swear I don't do it on purpose; everything just sort of runs into everything else at the moment. Also it's an easy, cheap way to end a chapter.

Now, something I meant to mention in the last chapter as someone mentioned it: Apparently in the MHA manga, it's been confirmed what Uraraka's Quirk would be should it evolve, and spoiler alert but it's not what happened here a couple of chapters ago. Personally, I like to believe Quirks can evolve differently depending on the exact nature under which the Awakening takes place, but that's purely headcanon so we are now in canon-divergent territory. You know, because the confirmed existence of afterlives and everything going to shit was 100% canon otherwise.

Also, it's pretty rare that I respond to comments on FFN - not because of the comments themselves just because of how the site structure handles it - but this one is too perfect I have to include it:

Yay-man: '(...) WHERE IS MY HAREM COMEDY?!'

Gone. Reduced to atoms.

On a more minor note: Considering how everyone took the whole, uh, everyone's dead development, there's a few side-stories I'm gonna write at some point which relates to that a bit. I was planning on doing something like them anyway, but the discussions people had gave me some ideas and now I really like the idea. Unfortunately those stories will involve spoilers from the next arc (or possibly arc after next, depending on how exactly everything ends up structured once I've written it), so it's gonna be a while until those are out.

And with that I thank you again for reading; feel free to leave thoughts, ideas, notes, concrit, etc. etc., and I hope you have a great weekend!