"Enter."

The golden doors to the throne room groan open to reveal Heimdall striding in, flanked by two guards. The gatekeeper walks to the base of the throne and kneels, along with the men beside him.

Odin stamps his spear on the ground, letting the ringing reverberate through the room. The guards behind Heimdall and the others around the room are quick to leave the two alone. "Rise, old friend," Odin commands.

When the gatekeeper does, the king of Asgard continues. "It has been a few centuries since you've deemed it prudent to leave your post to seek an audience with me. I hope your reasoning is well founded."

Golden eyes that can see well past the room they're in stare into Odin. "Gorr is alive."

It takes a few seconds for the words to sink in. "You are certain?"

"Omnipotence City is no more. Zeus is dead. This can be no other than Gorr."

He takes a few moments to steady himself and gather his thoughts. "While this news is troubling, he would be a fool to lay siege to Asgard."

"Gorr does not head for Asgard," Heimdall corrects. "He heads for Midgard."

Odin is silent again for a long while. "Are they still there?"

"I have seen them," Heimdall confirms. "Thor, Loki, and their children all reside there. I have no confirmation, but I believe Gorr knows this as well."

For a man of his age it should be surprising, but Heimdall knows better as Odin is on his feet in a moment's notice, making to walk past him. "Tell the men to arm themselves! Have all of the realm's defenses put on standby immediately."

Odin stands before him now. "Bring them home." Heimdall doesn't need to ask who he refers to. "I do not care where in Midgard they are or who can observe them. Use the Bifrost and bring my children and grandchildren home. Now!"

"If that is your command, I will obey." Heimdall hesitates. "If I may speak freely?"

"Do so quickly."

"Thor is not one to sit idly by while other gods are killed. A trait, I am afraid, that has been passed to his son and nephew." Heimdall pauses to make sure he has not overstepped with his king. "If we were to bring them here, they would not stay. And with access to Loki's secret passageways, I could not stop them from leaving."

"So you suggest I do nothing?" Odin questions dangerously.

"Never." Heimdall is quick to amend his words. "If you allow me, I could know the instant Gorr attacks, and with the Bifrost, I could transport a great many of our forces-"

"I see." Odin raises his voice, cutting him off. "So your suggestion is to turn Midgard into a battlefield?"

"It would take no less to bring Gorr down. However, that is more of a backup plan. If you allowed the use of our greatest weapon…"

"Letting the Power Stone leave Asgard is out of the question," Odin immediately shuts him down. "The devastation it could bring on a universal scale, should it fall into the wrong hands, dwarfs any destruction brought on by Gorr."

"Even if disregarding it should cost the lives of your family?"

Odin straightens to his full height. "Do not forget your place, Gatekeeper. And do not mistake my intentions as being unperturbed with my family's death."

"I apologize profusely." Heimdall bows. "But your majesty…without the stone, how do you propose we continue?"

The old king sighs, looking just a little older.

"You're all probably wondering why I've gathered you here today." Izuku paces back and forth, hands behind his back, wearing a typical army general outfit. "Well, the answer is simple. Training!"

He spins on his heels, facing his two companions. "It won't be easy. I'm going to have to break you down to build you back up. You'll sweat. You'll cry. You will hate me. But listen up because I'm only going to say this once. I'm doing what's best for you!"

Izuku pretends to sniffle. "I won't lie. I see myself in the both of you. Isolated and not knowing how great friendship can be. But I had some very persistent people push themselves into my life whether I wanted them to or not, and darn it, I'm better for it! So I will be doing the same for you! Another!-"

"Izuku!" He cringes as his mom walks into the living room. "I'm sorry to interrupt you all playing army guys-"

"We're not playing!" Izuku defends. "Prank Bootcamp is serious stuff!"

"Prank? You told me you were gonna help me get into the hero course over the phone," Shinso deadpans before grabbing at the army outfit Izuku used his powers to put on him. "Can you get me out of this?"

"Do not talk back to your commanding officer!"

Shinso just stares. "…Are you always this weird?"

"Absolutely!"

The brainwasher looks like he wants to say more, but after looking back and forth between Izuku and Todoroki, who of course was in an army outfit as well, he gives up, mumbling something about the things he does to be a hero.

"Well, I have to get going to work, so you boys have fun." Inko takes off Izuku's helmet and kisses his head. "Remember, you have school tomorrow so no going to war."

Izuku stuffs the helmet back on his head harshly, hurting himself in the process. "Ouch!…and Ferrix Pizza has it coming for getting my order wrong. Does anyone actually eat black olives on their pizza?!"

"I do." It was the second thing Todoroki had said since coming over.

Izuku can't help but look at him in betrayal. "We need to bring back the guillotine."

"Have fun, soldier boys!" Inko tells them, gathering her purse and keys.

"Again, this is serious business, mom!"

"I'm sorry, Commander Izuku." Inko places a hand over her heart as she reaches the door. "I guess I should take the cookies I left in the microwave to work with me?"

"I said we're serious, not senile! Leave the cookies! And it's General!" Inko laughs at her son's antics before leaving the three boys alone.

"They're oatmeal raisins. I hope you guys don't mind," Izuku apologizes.

"Those are my favorite." Count three things Todoroki has said.

"I knew there was hope for you."

"While this is all…something," Shinso laments. "I didn't come over for dress up. I came here for help getting into the hero course, and if you're gonna dick around, I can just leave."

"This is for help!" Izuku tells him hurriedly. "I had to learn this lesson recently…and it hurt…so I'm here to teach you. Both of you! The art of working together to achieve a goal!"

"Still sounds like a waste of time." Shinso crosses his arms, looking annoyed at the uniform still on him. "No one's gonna wanna work with the guy with a villainous quirk, and I can just get people to do whatever I want anyway."

"Nuh-uh!" Izuku wags his finger at him. "I'm here to prove to you that, like me, not everyone sees your quirk like that! Todoroki, tell him!"

The scarred boy blinks slowly before tilting his head, as if just realizing he's being talked to. "I don't care about your quirk."

"See?!"

"I don't care about you at all," Todoroki finishes.

Izuku facepalms while Shinso gives him a look. "Okay…but he doesn't hate you for your quirk! Progress!" Shinso glares harder. "Tell me how I'm wrong."

"We'll see about that." Shinso turns to Todoroki. "If you don't care, answer my question. How'd he get you, out of all people, to come here?"

Todoroki blinks at him.

"This is what I'm thinking." Izuku readjusts himself in the chair, the morning sun shining brightly through the window. "We keep it simple to start."

Todoroki nods, having just walked back into his room holding two mugs of tea, which he had offered to make once Izuku had come over. He hands one of the mugs to Izuku and sits on his bed across from the greenette, taking a careful sip. Izuku does the same.

"Wow, that's good. Thank you." Izuku takes another sip, doing everything he can to not partake in an old Asgardian tradition of what to do when you like a beverage. "We get your feet wet on pranking your dad, and when you feel comfortable, we move on to the bigger stuff."

"I see." It seems no matter what conversation they were having, Todoroki's intense stare would be the same. "I presume we will be aided by your alien abilities."

Izuku raises his hand and makes a sideways cutting motion. "You, uh, you don't need to say alien abilities. Just powers or whatever works."

"Apologies."

"No, you're fine!" Izuku exclaims in a whisper so as to not wake the rest of the house up. "But you were right. I got a couple of ideas."

Todoroki hums, taking another sip but says nothing so Izuku finishes with, "any questions?"

"I did have one initially." Todoroki leans back. "How did you get inside my home?"

"…"

"Is that really important right now?" Izuku shakes his head.

"I suppose not." Todoroki shrugs. "Endeavor will awaken shortly. May I ask you something extraterrestrial related instead?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Thank you." He leans forward, clasping both hands on his mug. "How many, if any, abductions have you been a part of?"

This was going to go on for a while, wasn't it?

"So, he just appeared in your house this morning and instead of calling the cops, you offered him tea instead?" Shinso asks incredulously.

"I was led to believe offering beverages to guests was an important part of being a good host," Todoroki says with the utmost seriousness.

"Oh, jeez! You're right!" Izuku runs to the fridge. "Did you guys want some soda?" When they agree, Izuku invites them over to the kitchen island table and slides some Josta sodas over to each of them.

"So, that's how you're gonna help me?" Shinso takes a sip of his soda. "By helping you guys prank Endeavor? And that's how he got you here?"

"No." Todoroki shakes his head. "He agreed to answer more questions about his alien physiology."

"Oh, yeah!" Izuku waves while grabbing the cookies out of the microwave. "Forgot to tell you, I'm an alien."

Shinso promptly pinches himself. Then one more time for good measure. "You are certifiably fucking insane."

"Probably." Izuku puts the plate of cookies down in between them, grabbing one. "How's it make you feel, knowing the crazy kid got into the hero course and you didn't?"

Shinso gapes at him, while Todoroki slowly reaches over to grab a cookie. Izuku pushes the plate toward him to help. "Apparently, you can be an asshole too," the purple-haired boy finally says.

He wants to say it takes one to know one but Izuku doesn't think he knows Shinso well enough for that…yet.

All in good time.

"Never said I couldn't." Izuku grabs a cookie for himself. "Look, believe me about being an alien or not, think I'm crazy or not, I don't care. I'm the president of class 1-A, and your best shot of getting into the class." Izuku takes a bite, savoring the sweetness. "I'd like it if we can be friends, but I won't force it. Either way, I think you can be a good hero."

Shinso scoffs. "Because of my quirk?"

"Because of your welcoming and can-do attitude!" Izuku laughs at Shinso's taken-aback look. "Sorry, couldn't resist. It's because of the festival. You've got a long way to go, especially physically, but you wouldn't have made it as far as you did if you didn't put in at least some work."

The purple-haired boy hums, taking another sip. "Thanks, I guess. It'd mean a lot more coming from someone who isn't crazy though."

"Name them. I can turn into whoever and tell you that you can be a hero, if it helps," Izuku challenges.

"Look." Shinso places his soda down roughly. "I will admit, I appreciate you helping me, but that doesn't change anything. I'm in this to become a hero, not to make friends. And if you're willing to let me use you to help me achieve that goal, I'm not going to say no."

Izuku smirks. "I heard something similar from Todoroki once. It just sounds to me like you can use a little bit of mischief in your life." That, or Izuku can throw Eri at him later. Either works honestly.

"Call it whatever you want." Shinso shakes his head, glancing around the room. "You said you wanted me to work with more heroes. I'm not complaining, but I'm surprised the rest of your group isn't here."

"You got lucky in that aspect I guess." Izuku finishes his cookie and grabs another one. "Denki is with Tokage. Tsu and Tenko are spending the day together. After what happened to Ingenium, I don't think Iida would be in the mood for this. And Uraraka-" Izuku's face suddenly becomes beet red. "We-um, we saw each other last night…"

"Are you getting sick?" Todoroki tilts his head. "Or perhaps you have not become accustomed to the germs on Earth fully yet? The research film I watched last night suggested that might happen."

"Nope!" Izuku squeaks, taking a long sip of soda. "Nothing like that!" Nothing indeed. And his mom could've woken him up instead of covering them with a blanket! At least Uraraka still thanked him for everything, like telling her who he really is, before she left. Or ran out might be a better description.

'Doesn't help that it was the best sleep you've ever had, does it?' A voice in his head unhelpfully adds. A voice that suspiciously sounds like Thirteen.

Doesn't help he's right either.

Ugh.

At least since she was willing to talk to him before leaving; Izuku thinks they're okay.

"You slept with him?!!!"

"No! Mina, I-" Ochako groans, falling back into her bed, holding her phone close to her face. "I meant literally! We fell asleep next to each other! Not, not…not that!!" She yells covering her face. For obvious reasons, she left Deku's place kinda fast this morning and because of that, still had his gloves she had to return. At least they were still keeping her from floating herself.

"So when you say you fell asleep next to him…"

Why won't her stupid face stop glowing? "We fell asleep on the couch…holding each other-" Ochako is quick to move the phone away so Mina's squeal won't hurt her ears.

"GIVE. ME. MORE!"

"There's not much to tell!" She moves the phone back to her. "It was just a nice night. We were talking, and he said some sweet things thatmademewanttokisshim-"

"EXCUSE-"

"But I just hugged him instead!! And then we watched the two Alien movies!"

"HOLD ON-"

Ochako presses on. "And then Deku put on some old movie called The Prestige, but we were both tired and the room was kinda hot, so I leaned closer to Deku because he's sorta cold, you know? It was really comfy and next thing I know, I'm waking up after having slept on him the whole night."

The brunette pauses to breathe, giving Mina the chance to finally get her two cents in. "Don't think you can talk fast and get away with that first thing you said, Ochako! Would you rather be interrogated over the phone, or in person?"

"…over the phone…" Ochako grumbles, slamming her pillow on her face to cover her scream of frustration.

"So, first things first. How did you sleep?"

After the attempt to smother herself goes nowhere, Ochako half-heartedly answers, "it was some of the best sleep I've ever had…"

"Oh my!-"

It was going to be a long day.

"I've got sleep to not catch up on, so can we hurry this up?"

Shinso's words bring Izuku back. "Right! My plan!"

"Yeah," he drawls. "And I know what you said at the festival but uh-" for the first time since he'd arrived, Shinso looks unsure. "I'm not exactly comfortable brainwashing people for a prank."

"Don't let my dad hear you say something like that," Izuku jokes. Well, sorta jokes. More like a half-joke.

For the first time, Shinso and Todoroki seem to agree on something, if the looks they give him are any indication. Okay, the look from Shinso he means. Todoroki is more of a slight head tilt, but the minutely raised eyebrow is something.

"What?" Izuku lowers the cookie he was about to take a bite from.

"Please tell me I of all people don't have to explain why brainwashing people as a joke is a bad thing?" Shinso almost begs.

"Does brainwashing come naturally to your subset of alien species, or does it have to be learned?" Where did Todoroki get that notebook from? Is this what it feels like when he does that to other people?

Izuku points to Shinso. "Can we at least agree it can be good depending on the person?" He points to Todoroki. "No. My dad is good at it, but I haven't been able to do it yet."

"No," Shinso replies, appalled.

"How would I know if you were currently brainwashing me?" Todoroki taps his pencil to his chin.

"Fine. No brainwashing," Izuku appeases Shinso. "And Todoroki, you wouldn't know I was brainwashing you. I'd basically trap you in a pleasant memory to keep your mind occupied."

"Ah." Todoroki writes down the information. "Then I'm afraid you'd have a difficult time brainwashing me."

"Mood."

Not ideally what Izuku would want Todoroki and Shinso to bond over, but he'll take his wins where he can get them.

"Really? No brainwashing for pranks?" Izuku persists. "You didn't have any siblings growing up to mess with your quirk or anything?"

"Only child," Shinso answers lamely.

"Oh, same."

"Are you?" Izuku almost jumps at how hard Todoroki is analyzing him right now. "If your father is truly Loki, as you claim, then you should have several siblings. Sleipnir, Jormungandr, Fenrir-"

"We don't exactly keep in touch," Izuku says quickly before turning back to Shinso. "Alright, I'm done with the brainwashing. Will you help if I promise there won't be any of that?"

Shinso sighs. "If I do this, you'll put in a good word for me with Eraserhead?"

"Yes!" Izuku cheers, pushing the plate of cookies over to him. "Have a cookie to seal our deal!"

Tired eyes dart from the plate to the greenette offering them. "I hate Oatmeal Raisin."

Izuku stares. "Who's the insane one now?"

"Thank you, Mirio." Mirai takes the book from his intern and sits back at his desk, quickly flipping through it to the page he wants.

"Of course, sir!" Mirio salutes happily, backingup to stand next to Bubble Girl on the other side of Sir Nighteye's office. "You actually saved me. I was reading this book on anti-gravity when you called me and I just couldn't put it down!"

"Yes, I-" Nighteye snorts, putting the back of his hand up to his nose. "That was very good. Well done." Mirio beams. "Bubble Girl, I have a new assignment for you."

The sidekick steps forward while Mirai flips the book over to her. "I hit a wall on some research I've been working on, and I have come up with a new theory." Bubble Girl looks at the book with interest.

"Based on a vision I saw a year ago," Mirai starts, sitting back at his desk to type on his computer. "I have been looking for a potential murderer. I couldn't see the man. I could only identify his tall stature and that he wore an outfit with specialized horns on his head."

Mirai clicks through a few articles, zooming in on pictures from the sports festival. "I have scoured police records to find a villain matching the description, but the few I found that came close didn't check out. So I had a thought."

All Might's former sidekick straightens his glasses and bores his gaze into the others. "What if the person I saw was not a villain, but a hero?"

"That's horrible to consider…" Mirai is proud that Mirio is able to keep the smile on his face, even if it shrunk a bit.

"But makes the most sense," Bubble Girl nods along with her boss. "But if you think it's a hero then why do you have…" she waves at the book.

"Bubble Girl is right. The smartest villains don't hide in the shadows because they know that's where we would look." Mirai hits print on the webpage on his computer screen. "The horns I saw in my vision were unique, and these are the only ones that are close to an exact match."

"Right…" Bubble Girl begins hesitantly. "So what's with the book of myths, and why am I looking at a picture of Loki?" She laughs. "You're not saying you saw Loki in your vision, are you? That'd be your best joke yet, sir!"

"Don't be preposterous." Mirai shakes his head. "While I admit there is a good set-up, the pay-off to such a joke is underwhelming at best." He heads over to his printer. "I am saying a hero may be using the aesthetic of the Norse myth as part of their image. Bubble Girl, I want you to search as many hero databases as you can to see if you can find anything."

"Yes, sir!"

"Can I help you search?" Mirio offers Bubble Girl. "Two heads are better than one!"

"That won't be necessary. We already have a lead." Mirai hands his student intern the paper he printed. It was a picture from one of the social media websites that tracks hero's day to day lives. On it, was a muscular blond man laughing with a similar looking boy in the halls of the Sports Festival Arena.

"That is the American hero, Thor." Nighteye points to the man. "He obviously uses the aesthetic of the God of Thunder for his image, given his quirk, I imagine. I could not find any heroes named after Loki, but it's possible he's an underground hero. They tend to have their identities removed from official lists for safety reasons."

Mirai moves his finger to the boy. "That is Denki Kaminari of class 1-A. Through him, I want you to see if you could set up a meeting between me and the hero, Mirio. Perhaps due to similar themes, he could point us in the right direction."

"You can count on me, sir! But uh-" Mirio clears his throat, waiting. Mirai signals for him that it's okay to continue. "Couldn't we just contact his agency?"

Sir Nighteye pushes his glasses up and takes a long breath. "It took some doing, but I was eventually able to get into contact with a member of the Avengers hero team and spoke to him about Thor's contact info. Apparently, he does not have a phone or computer."

"We won't let you down." At Bubble Girl's words, Nighteye nods and they both know the conversation is over. The two employees exit their boss' office, and after they walk a bit away, Bubble Girl speaks up again. "Oh! Hey, I can take care of that for you," she tells Mirio, holding her hand out for the paper with Thor's picture.

"Are you sure?" Mirio asks unsure.

"Yeah." Bubble Girl scratches the side of her head. "Truth is, I've hit the tickle machine a few more times than normal lately and I wanna make sure I'm still on Sir's good side."

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about!" Mirio gives her a thumbs up. "But if it helps…" he holds out the paper and Bubble Girl takes it.

"Thanks! I'll see you later!"

"See you!"

Enji Todoroki opens the door to his agency's break room and stops at the sight of his son, sitting at one of the tables, drinking a cup of coffee. "Shoto? I didn't expect you to be here today?"

The boy nods.

He huffs. "Good. You know not to waste time off from school. I assume you've come to your senses and want me to train you in the use of your fire."

A shrug this time, before another sip of the coffee.

"Hm. Finish up and come to my office," Enji orders. He fills his own mug of coffee and leaves his son in the room, before heading right to his office. Like the last time he opened a door, he's surprised to see Shoto sitting on his couch. Enji looks back down the hall. He came straight here, when did the boy?…

"Hello, father," he says simply. "I am ready to begin my training when you are."

Forgetting all about what just happened, Enji grins. "Excellent. Go down to the training rooms. I will meet you there, once I inform Burnin I will be unavailable for some time."

Again, Enji leaves his son in the room and heads to one of the rooms his sidekicks like to congregate in. In a dizzying sense of deja vu, he enters to find Shoto has somehow beaten him again and is speaking to a laughing Burnin.

How did he-

"Boss! You never told me the kid had such a great sense of humor!"

"Shoto!" Enji ignores her. "I thought I told you to go to the training rooms!"

His son inclines his head, scrunching his face in confusion. "You did? When?"

"Just now! Back at my office!"

"Uh, boss." Burnin scratches the back of her head. "I've been talking with the kid for like, ten minutes now…" that's not possible.

"But…you-" Enji's flames flare. "Enough of this! Head down to the training rooms now, Shoto!!" He slams the door behind him and walks down the hall, fuming.

Those fumes fizzle out when he turns the corner and at the end of the hall, he sees Shoto walking by, drinking coffee.

"SHOTOOOO!" Enji tears down the hall as his son disappears around the corner but when he does-

The hall is empty save for a janitor who looks up at him confusedly. What-

"Father." Endeavor whirls around to find Shoto, without any coffee, staring up at him. "Is everything alright?"

Enji sighs, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Shoto. I just- I just don't believe I got enough sleep last night."

"Boss?" His eyes snap open and to his horror, he finds Burnin looking up at him. "Why did you call me Shoto?"

"I…"

What is happening?! He knows he was just speaking to Shoto! It's not possible he mistaked him! It couldn't be!

Enji stomps away to the elevators instead, his mind racing. He turns the last corner and presses the button to call the lift, when Burnin walks by. From the opposite end of the hallway he just left her at.

"Hey, boss! The kid went to find you, did he?"

"I am not to be disturbed," is all Enji says, not thinking about how she could have possibly gotten there. He steps into the elevator and exhales as the doors close.

Less than a minute later, they open again to a hall with various doors leading to different training rooms. He pushes open the door to the first one and if his building wasn't fireproof, he might've set the room on fire.

Because instead of entering the bare training room as he expected, Enji just walked into his office again, complete with Shoto still sitting on his couch. "Father? I was just about to head downstairs, why are you back?"

"Shoto-"

"I'll be on my way then," his son cuts him off, walking past him and out the door.

"Shoto!" Enji rips the door back open as soon as it closes behind the boy, but his son is nowhere to be found. "Shoto!"

Enji looks behind him and his office is gone, replaced by the training room once again.

What? When did- why- he- but that's- and Burnin- coffee- the halls- and-

…

"SHOTOOOOOOO!"