"Of all the reckless, idiotic, downright stupid things you could've done while under our care, this has to be the worst you could've come up with! I should have you thrown out right now!" Apocalypse Bakugo shouted at his younger part, his rage matching that of himself as an adolescent. "Whatever vendetta you have with Shigaraki, it doesn't exist here! Get it through that thick fucking skull of yours that no one here is the enemy!"
Bakugo Prime just watched with shame coating his face. The confrontation had gone poorly. He'd waited for a clear moment to strike, and he'd seen his window. Shigaraki was sitting alone, minding his own business when Bakugo strolled over. This version of the gray haired man looked a little better than his version, all things considered. The neck scars were still there, but his face had recovered nicely. Only a single scar on the lip blemished his otherwise untarnished mug.
Bakugo didn't care about that, however. He walked right up to him, causing Shigaraki to look at him, and punched him without warning. Now the villain of his universe wouldn't take this lying down. The villain of his world would strike back with anger and hatred. So when this Shigaraki just stared at him in disbelief, Bakugo was left confused. And that confusion quickly turned to anger. He jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground and started undoing his face, each punch smashing against the confused man's face. Bakugo had gotten four or five good licks in before the people of the shelter managed to pull him off.
They quickly hauled him off to the office they used for processing, and locked him inside. Then he had to answer to his older self, who started off the berating with his own punch. Now here he was, Bakugo the defeated, Bakugo the foolish, Bakugo the one with an ice pack to his cheek, Bakugo Prime.
"You are lucky Shigaraki is a nice guy, and is willing to put this behind us." Apocalypse Bakugo growled.
"Nice guy? Nice guy!? That asshole ruined my friends life! He deserves so much worse than a-" He was stopped when he saw his older self grab him by the shirt and lift him so that their eyes met.
"Shigaraki has saved more lives in this world than anyone here besides All Might himself. Whatever vision you have of him doesn't exist here. Whatever stipulation you have of that man is from your universe. You. Need. To. Behave." He hissed dangerously at the wide eyed younger him. "Your lucky I'm talking to you and not Momo. She would not be nearly as gentle as I've been."
"You're going to stay here while I organize this mess you've made, and you better hope Shigaraki doesn't reconsider. For your sake." He said before slamming the door shut, a click of the lock nailing that the berating was over, for now.
Bakugo rubbed the dried blood from his nose. That punch had hurt like hell. It was like Izuku had hit him with a 5% Detroit Smash. His thoughts were on Izuku again. Great. He reached into his pocket and pulled out that green gem he'd taken from the freaky skull in the last world. His last thread to him, seemingly forever. Life sure felt hopeless right now. He rubbed his index finger over the grooves of the gem absently, hanging his head low. He felt something drip down his cheek. Was he..? He was crying.
This whole thing was his fault. The reason he was here. The reason him and Izuku were probably never going to see each other again. He should've never left UA and went looking for him. The older him was right, he was stupid, ignorant, a selfish asshole. "Izuku..." He absently muttered as his feelings overwhelmed him. He sobbed freely in the cramped little office they were using as a holding cell. To his surprise, a hand touched his shoulder in a comforting manner, soothing his pain.
"Oh Kacchan, don't cry." The familiar voice of Izuku called to him. His eyes went wide as he realized who was standing behind him. His body locked up, and he couldn't move. "I'll take you to him, but only if you help me out first."
"Let's all calm down, that isn't what I meant." Gauntlet Izuku spoke, calm as ever. "The threat isn't me specifically, it's a version of me."
The other two Izuku's slowly sank back to their seats. This guy had been unnerving them since the moment he showed up, and the other two could tell this guy was suspicious. But, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, they would hear him out.
"Good, now, as I was saying, there is a version of us out there that is far more dangerous than you could possibly imagine." Gauntlet Izuku continued. "He looks just like us, talks just like us, can even behave just like us, but you must understand that he is so much more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. As stated previously, I went looking for other versions of us who could help, so imagine my surprise when there were two of you in one universe."
"Hang on," Izuku Prime spoke, "If you did meet with Kaleido, then you understand that he's deranged. I didn't come here because I wanted to, I came because I was forced. Even if what you're saying is true, that doesn't change the fact that I'm not supposed to be here. Have you considered that Kaleido is manipulating you?"
"Hah, no, but it wouldn't matter anyways. Thanks to my powers granted to me by this gauntlet, no lie could get past me." Gauntlet Izuku spoke. "As I was saying, This version of us is psychopathic, a violent and vindictive boy who fancies himself a god. He might be as powerful as one, but he can't tear down the barriers between the worlds, he needs something more to do that. A device of sorts. One like yours." He pointed his gloved hand to the watch on the table.
"Not one of the universes has a way to get through, except yours. This universe is on the cusp of breaking through, and you have Hatsume Mei to thank for that." He said, gesturing to her. "As impressive as this is, one wrong step could lead to him escaping, and we can't have that. Human curiosity, as wonderful as it is, is flawed. So I only need a simple favor from you: stop development on your device. Then everything will be as it should be." He said.
"We still have a problem, Izuku Prime needs to get home, and he needs to find Bakugo." Hunter Izuku spoke up. "We can't just strand them both in the multiverse, there has to be another way."
Gauntlet Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose with his non-gloved hand. "Of course there's always a catch. Unfortunately, I can't afford my entire universe for one Bakugo's life. I might be able to send you home, but I'm not risking any more than that." He said, a bit of irritation leaking through his voice.
"I can't just leave him. No. I wont leave him." Izuku Prime spoke firm. His steely gaze met the gauntlet wielder's annoyed expression. The two stayed locked in this battle of wills for several moments, neither willing to give up their stances.
Finally, Apotheosis sighed. "Fine. I'll do it myself." Without warning he flashwarped to Mei in a blue burst. Then, with a touch of the gauntlet, she was sent floating into the portal. The two Izuku's sprung into action, ready to fight the gloved man. Without his technology to support him, Hunter Izuku had to rely solely on his quirk, which unfortunately was never as strong after the quirk eraser incident a few years ago. This was not enough to stop Apotheosis, only getting to swing at him twice before he was flung away with an invisible blast of force.
Izuku Prime fared a bit better, able to summon Blackwhip and reached for the gauntlet. He gave a good yank, hoping to get the glove off. When that instead resulted in him pulling Apotheosis forward, he used this to his advantage by sending a kick to the chest. The gauntlet wielded flashwarped away right before the hit could impact. He disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the portal, giving a parting wave with the non-gloved hand.
"Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. Rest assured, no harm will come to her, and when the threat is passed, she will be returned." He said, closing the portal. Hunter Izuku was just a second too late as he dove at the spot the portal was.
Then the room was silent. No more fighting, no more talking. Then Hunter Izuku punched the ground in rage. He got up, and looked at his younger counterpart. Prime Izuku looked scared, as if Hunter Izuku was emanating a murderous aura. The older one took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. When he opened them again, the rage was gone, and resolve took its place.
"If he wanted to stop us, he should've taken me as well." Hunter Izuku said. "Come with me, I'm going to get this device working and then we're gonna stomp that gloved jerk into the ground." Without another word, Hunter Izuku grabbed the watch off the table and left for the workshop, leaving Prime Izuku alone in the room.
He wasn't going to stand idly by as someone else needed help. Getting home could wait, he needed to save Mei first.
Bakugo didn't know when the last time he took a breath was. He was frozen with fear. Moving seemed like it was impossible right now. Not with him here.
Izuku had been pacing the room for several minutes now. He seemed deep in thought, though it was anyone's guess what he wanted. He looked so much like the Izuku he knew back in middle school, down to the scrawny figure and wide eyes. Though, this Izuku did not share those bright green eyes, and instead a sickening yellow took their place. His eyes looked kind of like Mina's in a way, though instead of black sclera, it was more like it was absent altogether, as if the irises shifted around in empty voids. Finally, the terrifying fake stopped his pacing around the room, and craned his neck almost unnaturally to face Bakugo.
"So... you want to go home, do you?" He said. His voice was wrong. It sounded like someone was imitating Izuku, but had something stuck in their throat. "I can take you there, you know. I can do anything." He his creepy closed lip smile opened to reveal sickly yellow teeth, only adding to the fear in Bakugo's heart. "If you wanted to leave, all you had to do was call me. Better late than never, I suppose."
Bakugo opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find his voice. He tried again, but no words would come out.
"Oh relax, Kacchan. Don't you think I would've killed you already if I wanted to? Clearly, I don't intend to that, at least not now anyways." Izuku spoke some more, turning his head back away from the trembling boy. "After all, you are my ticket out of this place." He begun pacing again, that unnerving smile never leaving his face. "I'm still more in shock at the idea of another you existing, to be honest. Nothing has surprised me like that in quite some time."
"I'm sure you're curious why I'm doing any of this. You're probably thinking: what does this freaky Deku want with me? Well, its not what I want with you, its what I want from you. You hold the key to my freedom. The key to me finally fulfilling my purpose in this life. For so long I have torn this world apart, thinking it was all I was meant to do. But there are only so many people you can ruin before you begin to wonder why? Why destroy everything in sight? Well, unfortunately I arrived to that mystery too late, and now only a handful remain in my world. Ones I'd rather watch struggle uselessly than simply do away with."
"But now, now everything is different. I'm not meant to destroy everything in this world. I'm meant to destroy everything in every world! The answer was so simple, I'm honestly a little angry that it didn't occur to me sooner. You probably have no idea how you got here, but I do. In the brief moments that you drifted to my world, I sent one of me to go see where you came from. Imagine my surprise when I discover there is a world where inter dimensional travel exists. Of course, someone with that extraordinary powerful must be hard to come by, but maybe they made something that could help them do it. Perhaps a gemstone given immense power."
Bakugo looked down to the stone he'd been clutching. "The stone in one of a pair. You need both for the power to work. Luckily for me, my copy took care of retrieving the other, before he met his bitter end." Izuku produced the green stone from his... skin and held it in his spindly fingers. "Now we can complete the set, and I can set to work fulfilling my purpose. Of course, what kind of person would ask for something for free. Obviously, you want go home, and I am prepared to fulfill that. All you need to do is give me that gemstone." He reached a sickly hand out, ready for the gem to be placed in his palm. "So, what's gonna be, Kacchan."
Bakugo's mind was racing a million miles a minute. He shouldn't do this. No, he can't do this. Giving Izuku the gem means doom for all worlds. What kind of hero would doom all life everywhere just to see his friend again. There had to be something he could do. But what can you do against a concept of death given personification. Heroes had to make sacrifices, but they weren't trained to make pointless ones. If he refuse, Izuku would just kill him and take the stone anyways. Now was his only chance to bargain.
"I... I'lll... I'll d-do it, but under o-one more condition. I n-need you to promise me th-that my universe... will stay safe. You wont touch it." He managed to stammer out. He tried to steel himself as best he could, and a mask of determination was the best he could muster. His orange eyes stare at those horrific yellow ones, and he stood his ground.
"...That can be arranged. It will take lifetimes to get to every universe. Yours will be the last visited, and it will only been torn asunder long after life on earth has been extinguished by its natural forces." Izuku spoke, that grin never leaving. "So, do we have a deal?" Bakugo shakily brought the gemstone to his hands.
I have to do something. Somehow, I have to stop him. I will save the multiverse, somehow. I will be the hero they need. He placed the gemstone in Izuku's hand. "Deal."
Horrifying cackling entered the room as soon as the gemstone was in Izuku's hands. He tore open a wall, letting the dim sunlight enter the room as the wall was shattered. Doomed souls and zombified people roaming the streets all turned to face the commotion. A large tear was opening in the air, and on the other side lay a rendition of the same world basked in moonlight. It was an exact one to one of this world, only more alive. People on the streets of that world stared in wonder, before backing away from the massive tear.
A smaller portal opened to the right, this one for Bakugo to go home. Izuku turned to Bakugo, manic joy painted across his monstrous face. "Oh, thank you Bakugo. You've given me more than I've ever been able to accomplish. You are free to live your life. I'll see you at the end. I've got a new world to end." And with that, he floated up to the sky, to face his work in this world.
Suddenly, the door to the office flew open, with Apocalypse Bakugo leading the charge. He grabbed Bakugo Prime. "What did you do!?" He screamed. "What is going on!?" He stared in terror at Izuku floating in the sky, and the massive portal behind him. "Oh no..."
"DOOMED SOULS, TODAY IS THE DAY YOUR BURDEN IS LIFTED!" Izuku shouted, his voice booming throughout the city. "TODAY, YOUR MISERY WILL SPREAD TO THOSE YET UNTAINTED! TODAY, YOU FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE! COME WITH ME, AND TOGETHER, WE WILL MARCH TOWARDS THE END! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" And with his rant reaching a seemingly coming to an end, he hovered through the portal, ready to wreak chaos on the next world. Doomed souls followed him through the portal, unable to resist his command.
And then it was just Bakugo and the survivors. He looked at them, and then back to the portal waiting for him. Apocalypse Bakugo looked at him with righteous anger and stormed right up to his smaller self, ready to give him the beating of a lifetime. He stopped when he saw the boys expression. There wasn't fear behind those eyes, there wasn't even a shred. There was determination.
"I know I haven't given you any reason to trust me. Hell, I beat up one of your own out of anger alone." Bakugo Prime looked down, clenching his fist. "But right now that doesn't matter. None of this matters. What matters right now is that there's a world in trouble, and I can save it. This whole journey, I haven't been able to do anything. But I can do something right now. You all know better than anyone how that monster works. You know how he thinks, and how he operates. Most importantly, you all know how to avoid him, and rescue those he wants to kill."
"That universe is in trouble, and its my fault that it is. But I don't intend to sit idly and do nothing. The man who sent me here was in my universe, so he must still be there. With his help, I can fix this, but I can't do it without you. Izuku took all his monsters with him, which means right now, this universe is the only one safe from his wrath. I need as many of you that can help to get them out and bring them here. I know you have no reason to trust me, so don't. You don't have to, you don't even need to, but if you still want to be heroes, than you don't have a choice." He finished, staring into his old selfs eyes.
Apocalypse Bakugo stood there for a couple moments, before a smirk crossed his face. "Well then, if we don't have a choice..." He began to give orders to his men. "Mirio, Twice, Aizawa, Shigaraki, you four are in charge of the rescue efforts. Get them off the streets and in our shelters. Don't think about the logistics, just do what you have to. I know most of you never intended to be heroes, but right now, that doesn't matter. Get beds and food, as much as you can. We're trying to rescue an entire universe here, so give it all you got. Momo, we're going with the boy."
"What? But who will manage the shelter?" She stammered out.
"Eric's been training under you for years. She can handle this, I'm sure of it." He said. With a nod from her, he turned back to Bakugo Prime.
The two exchanged a nod and headed for the portal back home. Uncertainty was in over abundance in these past few moments, but on thing was certain. They had a bad guy to catch.