Ochako woke up slowly the next morning. Sure, the bedsheets and blankets weren't the most comfortable she had ever been in, (Far from it actually, yikes they were itchy) but they were warm, and she didn't want to leave them. The past few days had been so weird and stressful, they almost felt like one long bad dream.
Except it's not a dream. That's the problem.
She missed her parents. What were they thinking about right now? They had to be worried sick. They had encouraged her to chase after her own dreams instead of following the family business, and now she was trapped in another world because of it. Did they blame themselves? Hopefully not; it wasn't their fault, it was those dumb villains!
Her heart ached at the thought of them. She missed them so much. And UA, and Iida, and their other classmates. At least she had some people with her, so she wasn't completely alone. Speaking of which, she didn't seem to be the only one awake.
Reluctantly, Ochako sat up to find Todo- Shouto awake, head resting in his hands and looking contemplative. It was still weird to see him acting so casually. After that super powerful display he showed at the training exercise a few days ago (was it only a few days? It felt much longer), she had gotten the feeling he was a person she really didn't want to mess with. And yet here he was, laying around in a sleeping bag in an attic with the rest of them. It was kinda neat, actually! It made her realize he might be a lot more approachable then she'd first thought.
"So…" She began hesitantly.
He looked up. "What is it?" Crap, I don't have anything to say to him!
"Well, I mean, how're you holding up?" Ochako chuckled nervously. "I mean, it's been a pretty crazy few days and all. So, how're you doing? I know I'm freaking out it bit myself."
Shouto looked away. "I'm fine. We're heroes, we need to be prepared for any sort of situation." Ochako wasn't sure this counted as a "heroes" situation exactly. After all, she had never heard of people falling into alternate universes before. That sounded more like something out of a comic book than real life.
But it did happen to us. I can't ignore that. Maybe Shouto's looking at it the right way. I just need to relax, and think of it as just an obstacle to becoming a hero. She wished she could just be calm like he was.
The two sat in comfortable silence until Mina and Izuku woke up, then the four headed downstairs together. Stan made them all pancakes, grumbling about it the whole time. Although at this point, Ochako was pretty sure they all knew he was more bark than bite. At least when it came to personality, there was always the chance he did know more about their situation than he let on.
Izuku flipped through a magazine, and his face brightened. "Hey guys, check this out!" Mina leaned over.
"Human sized hamster balls? That is super cool! I want one!" Ochako perked up and leaned over, then deflated. Sure it looked awesome, but it was five hundred dollars! Izuku shook his head and pointed to the page next to it.
"No, the monster hunt! It says here you can get a thousand dollars if you win this photo contest. We could really use that money, and if there are gnomes in these woods, there's bound to be plenty more things we can take pictures of."
Ochako smiled at her friend. "That sounds like a great idea! Even if the money won't help us find a way home, we have nothing right now, and who knows when we might need it here." Izuku let out a nervous laugh and gave her an awkward smile. Ochako wished he would be more confident, he was full of awesome ideas.
"Sweet, we should do it!" Mina cheered. "And we can get the hamster ball and still have a ton of money left over."
Shouto frowned at her. "We are not wasting half our prize money for some hamster ball, and that's even if we win the contest. Don't you want to get home?"
Mina pouted. "Geeze Shouto, you're such a buzzkill." Shouto just looked away. Seriously, Ochako wondered about that guy.
"From what I've read in the journal, there's some pretty cool and mysterious stuff in this lake. We could get some good monster pictures. We could head down there after work today, see if we can find anything," Izuku suggested. The other three quickly agreed, but just as they were working out the details, Stan walked in the room.
"Shack's closed today kids, I'm heading out, do whatever you want, just don't burn the place down."
Ochako smiled at her friends. "Or we could go right now."
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Ochako asked her friend. The green haired boy chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.
"I mean, it should be. From what I can tell from the map and all, that is. Of course, after that wrong turn a few minutes ago, we might possibly be a little bit off course."
"We're totally lost, aren't we," Shouto deadpanned.
"No, we're here!" Mina pointed ahead, where a sign saying 'Fishing Season Opening Day' was clear to see. From what Ochako could tell, it looked like the whole town was out there. From a woman literally telling the fishes to get into her pan, to a very hairy redhead punching a fish into submission while his sons cheered. Maybe he was related to the werewolf mailman?
Izuku cleared his throat. "So, where should we start? I mean, it says here there's this cave behind a waterfall that looks pretty promising, so maybe we could try there?"
Before they could decide, Ochako heard a loud screech. "I seen it, I seen it again!" She looked towards where the sound was coming from. A short old man with a long beard (that had a band-aid on it? What was that about?) was scampering along, knocking over fishing poles and slapping sandwitches out of people's hands. "The Gravity Falls Gobblewonker! Come quick before it scrapdoodles away!" The four kids walked over as the man started doing a jig.
A guy with a hat came over and sprayed him like he was a stray animal. From what he said and how he acted, the man was his father and this happened a lot. But the old man shouted that he had proof this time, and the students followed him over to his destroyed boat. "It was the Gobblewonker that done did it. It had a looong neck like a G-raf! And wrinkly skin like - like this fellow over here!" He pointed at - wait, Stan is here? This is where he was going? "It comped my boat up to smitheroons, and scim-scammed over to Skuttlebutt island!" He pointed at a nearby island.
One of the cops leaned into his walkie-talkie. "Attention all units! We got ourselves a crazy old man." The two cops laughed, along with most of the onlookers, but Ochako made eye contact with her friends. They had their monster! Mina beamed. "Let's go find this thing! Monster hunt! Monster hunt!" Ochako laughed, and she a Izuku quickly joined in the cheering.
A honk made them all look over. Soos was riding over on his own boat, much larger than the others on the lake, with 'SS Cool Dude' written on the side. "You dudes say something about a monster hunt? Need a ride? You can totally use my boat."
Ochako smiled up at him gratefully. "Thanks Soos!" They climbed aboard the 'SS Cool Dude' and headed off.
As they went through the fog and neared the island, Mina cleared her throat to get their attention. "So, seeing as we're going on a monster hunt and all, I figured we'd need to be prepared. And what's the biggest issue on a monster hunt? Camera trouble! So before we left, I grabbed seventeen disposable cameras from the storeroom, so we won't run out."
Soos nodded approvingly. "Nice going! Also everyone be on the lookout. In a monster hunt, the side character usually died first." He paused. "Wait, am I a side character? Do you ever think about these things?"
Izuku patted his arm reassuringly. "All the time Soos, all the time." He looked towards the barrel of fish food Soos had stocked. "Seriously though, I hope this thing likes fish food. Otherwise we don't have any bait."
"I guess we'll find out," Shouto said. They hit the island and climbed out. Ochako held up their lantern light and squinted, trying to get a better look.
"Is this fog a normal part of this island? I mean, is it here all the time, or did we just pick a really inconvenient day?" She wondered aloud. The five began their trek through the woods.
"So, I've been meaning to ask," Soos started. "How did you dudes end up staying with and working for Mr. Pines anyways? When I asked him, he was all, 'they fell out of the sky, don't ask questions', except not exactly like that."
Mina laughed. "Well, he did tell the truth on that one! We're from another universe where we're training to be heroes! But these villains invaded the school and sent us to this world where our quirks - I mean powers don't work, and we ended up in Stan's house."
"Seriously? Dude, that's so cool! You guys are gonna be superheroes! I wonder if I went to your world, would I get cool powers too?"
Izuku looked contemplative. "That's actually a really good question. Maybe you would, who knows how that portal works when it comes to quirks. But I'm just surprised you believed us so fast. I - I mean, it's the truth, so I'm glad! But most people would think we were, you know, lying or crazy or something." Soos simply shrugged.
"Maybe. But I've seen some weird stuff around that no one else seems to notice much. Also I really like superheroes, so it's all cool. If you need help finding a way home, I'll totally lend a hand and stuff. Oh, and you gotta tell me about the superhero school sometime too. That sounds super awesome!" Ochako couldn't help but grin. Of all the people who could be working at Stan's Shack, she was glad it was someone like Soos. He seemed like an amazing guy.
Shouto, who was walking in front of them, put a hand back to silence them. "I hear something." Mina passed out cameras and they all crept forward. In front of them loomed a monster-like shape, and they charged, ready to take some pictures.
However, it wasn't what they were looking for. "Aww man!" Mina sighed. It's just some beavers on a broken boat."
"It's kinda weird how there's a broken boat in the exact shape of a monster though." Izuku pointed out. "I mean, what's up with that?" He frowned. "Still though, even if we took it at a distance that would make it look like a monster, that wouldn't be good enough to win the cash, and all this will have been for nothing."
Ochako punched him lightly in the arm. "Hey, don't worry there's still-" A rumble shook the water near them. "-hope?"
The thing that had to be the Gobblewonker rose with a roar, and swiped at her with its mouth. She barely jumped out of the way in time. "Guys run!" The five of them sprinted away, and the Gobblewonker gave chase, mowing down trees as it chased after them. Mina took out a camera and started taking pictures of it as they ran.
They made it to the other side of the island. "Hurry dudes! Get in the boat!" Soos called. They scrambled in. Mina was the farthest behind, and tripped over a root in her haste to get in the boat, the camera flying out of her hands. She made to go after it.
"Hang on, I can get-" Shouto grabbed her and dragged her back.
"Save it, it's not worth your life." Soos pulled the boat away from the island and they took off, the Gobblewonker close behind. They crashed through the same beavers as before, who had somehow made their way over. The Gobblewonker took a swipe at them and they ducked, but everything above the steering wheel was destroyed, and splinted wood rained down on them.
"Keep on the right side of the lake!" Izuku shouted to Soos over the noise of the engine. "We don't want to hit any of the people fishing!" He flipped through Journal 3. "This says there should be a passage behind that waterfall over there!"
Shouto called over him, "That'd be going down a narrow straight. If you're wrong we're done for, there would be nowhere to go."
"Just trust me!" Soos took his advice and headed towards the falls at top speed, crashing through the falls and hitting the sand behind with such force they all went tumbling out of it. Ochako pulled herself up, sore all over and probably covered in splinters.
Then the Gobblewonker came crashing in. A scream tore out of her throat, and Soos pulled them all closer, but…
"It's stuck!" Mina cried, looking up. Ochako followed her gaze, and sure enough, the monster was trapped in the hole, withering around and roaring. Some rocks fell around it as it struggled to break free. She breathed a sigh of relief. That was super close. "Picture time! I've still got nine that aren't cracked, lost, or filled with beaver photos." She passed one out for each of them, and they all took photos to their heart's content. Ochako's heart rate slowly calmed down, the adrenaline from the chase still running through her.
Shouto lowered his camera. "If the monster is blocking our only exit, then we're trapped in here."
Ochako felt her nerves rise up again, but Izuku had a solution. "Don't worry! The journal says there's a bunch of tunnels back here that lead up to the surface. If it was right about this cave, than it should be right about that too." Well that's a relief.
Then one of the rocks fell on the monster's head, and sparks sizzled around it. It lay down, as if deactivated. The students and Soos looked at each other curiously, before creeping forward with apprehension. Shouto knocked his fist against the Gobblewonker, and a metallic clang echoed around the cave. He climbed up, the others behind him. At the top was a hatch. But who would randomly pilot a mechanized monster?
The question was answered as Shouto moved forward and opened it up. "You, old man? You made this? Why?"
Sure enough, it was the old guy that had been calling about the monster from the start. He shifted around at the attention. "I - I…. I just wanted attention!"
Ochako frowned at him. "You wanted attention? That's why you built a giant monster and tried to kill us?"
"Or did you steal this thing too?" Mina's voice was harsher than usual.
"No siree, I a'built it myself! Learned to operate a stick shift with my beard too! Ya see, old folks like me don't get any attention from you youngsters! Even my own son won't let me visit him anymore. So I figured I'd catch his fancy with a fifteen ton aquatic robot! Wahahahahaha! Eh… in retrospect, it seems a bit contrived."
Oh wow, this guy was weird. Ochako wasn't even sure what to do with him. He wasn't really a real villain, and if he could build something like this, he could probably bust out of any jail around here. Not that those cops would even believe them if they even found a way to take him in.
"Well then… well then maybe you could just, um, get your robot out of the way?" Izuku asked him. He didn't seem to know what to do either.
"I suppose so! Welp, time to get back to work on mah death ray!" He popped back down into the robot, and they all stared after him.
"So I guess the pictures thing is a dud, huh." Izuku sighed, running his hands through the sand as they waited for the guy, Fiddleford apparently, to move his robot.
Ochako looked at the rest of them. "Not necessarily. I mean, they still look pretty real. I don't see why we can send them anyways. It's probably still way more realistic than anything other people will send in."
Soos nodded. "Fair point dude."
Mina perked up. "That's true! But we might want to get some pictures of other creatures, just in case they realize this one's a fake."
"We can send them under different names," Shouto added in. "That doubles our chance of winning."
Izuku didn't seem to happy with the idea of sending in fake monster pictures, but he reluctantly agreed. "Well then, according to the journal, there should be some glowing creatures called Geodites in these tunnels. We can go looking for them now." They got up and set off down the tunnels. Soon, they noticed some strange lights up ahead. Rounding the bend, before their eyes were a bunch of seriously adorable rock-like creatures with legs. They cautiously moved towards the group. A brave geodite walked right up to Ochako and patted her shoe curiously.
Ochako couldn't help it. She bent down and picked up the small thing. "She's so cute! Can we take her with us?"
"Absolutely!" Mina crowed, placing one on her shoulder. "I'm calling you Azzy and taking you home!" Shouto took photos with a different camera, ignoring the geodite clinging to his leg.
"No way. Stan probably won't allow it, and it isn't as though we can take them back to our world, which we'll hopefully be going to sooner rather than later. Let's just take the photos and get out of here. At least these things will light the way back."
Soos pulled the wrecked and sadly geoditeless boat back to the beach where they had started this whole adventure, pulling up to Stan, who seemed even more grumpy than usual. He looked up at them in surprise. "Kids? Soos? What are you doing here."
Izuku shrugged sheepishly. "We spent the day looking for a lake monster that turned out to be a robot. We've had a bit of a rough time." He hesitated, then added, "Got room for five more on that boat?"
Stan looked away. "Yeah yeah, whatever. I'm sure you had a great time. Why do you think I'd let you on my boat anyway?"
"You look lonely." Shouto pointed out.
"What? No way! I've had a great time, making friends, taking to my reflection. I even had a run in with the lake police. Guess I gotta wear this ankle bracelet now."
Ochako winced. "You sure you don't want us to come with? We're happy to."
Stan hesitated, then: "You kids ever see me thread a hook with my eyes closed?"
Mina grinned and they stepped into the boat. "Five bucks says you can't do it."
"You're on!" Ochako blinked. It was the first time she felt they had seen Stan genuinely smile.
Izuku grabbed the camera. "Everyone say fishing!"
It was definitely hard being in a new and unfamiliar world. But at least Ochako had people she knew were there for her.
Soos. That is all.
But seriously, for those who were wondering, the reason they didn't just take a photo of Mina is because 1) They just came from a world of quirks two days ago, she doesn't seem like photo material to them, and 2) because so far everyone in town has been treating her like she's normal, it doesn't really cross their minds that she might not be in this world, at least not yet. I hope that clears this up!
Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review!