It was day six of being stuck in Gravity Falls. Day six of being trapped in another world, unable to go home. Six days of not knowing what happened at the USJ, if everyone else was okay, what was going on in their world, or anything else at all. Shouto was getting tired of counting the days.

Today they would hopefully get the prize money. The other three were waiting anxiously by the door. Shouto almost didn't see the point. Sure, they could use some money while they were here, seeing as Stan wasn't paying them and mostly likely wouldn't pay for anything for them, but it wouldn't help them get home. Not that he was going to let Mina waste it on a hamster ball (seriously, what was with that?). It just - it was just frustrating that they couldn't do anything. That he couldn't do anything. His quirk was gone.

He could have made quick work of those wax statues. Or the lake monster, or the gnomes. Instead, he had barely been of use in any of those situations. All of the others had contributed more to help than he had. He had just stood in the parlor room while Mina had risked her life to defeat wax Holmes, been helpless on the boat while Izuku had figured out where to go to avoid the lake monster. Even on their second day in this town, Ochako had taken out most of the gnomes when trying to get Mina away from the creatures.

Sure, he could also fight hand to hand, but that wasn't the point. He had been trained for about as long as he could remember to use his powerful quirk above all else. He was made to have his quirk. That was the whole point of his existence. Without it, he was useless.

I was created by my old man to be a hero with a powerful quirk, one that could surpass even All Might. Without that, who am I? He had no idea, and it scared him.

Speaking of his old man, what was he thinking about, what with Shouto being missing right now? Shouto was sure he wanted him back as soon as possible. His father wouldn't want to lose his "masterpiece" after all. Maybe Shouto would stay here longer, out of spite. But no, he needed to get back, to keep up with his hero training, and so that Fuyumi wouldn't be left alone. He couldn't beat his father at his own game if he just stayed here, after all.

"Shouto, come down!" Izuku called up. "We did it! We won the money!" Shouto dragged himself out of his sitting position on the attic floor and went to go see.

They had in fact won the thousand dollars. After a bit of debate over what to do with it, they decided to split the money evenly, so that everyone had some in case of an emergency.

"Man, 250 isn't enough to get the hamster ball," Mina pouted. Shouto glared at her, and she looked away, throwing her arms up in the air. "Alright, alright! Geez, no need to be so hostile."

Soos walked in the room and grinned at all of them. "Wow, you dudes really did it! That's pretty awesome! You all have, like, a ton of money now."

Ochako winced. "Sorry Soos! You were on the monster hunt with us, we should split it with you as well." Soos held up his hands.

"Nah, dudes. You guys earned it. Besides, I have, like, a paying job and stuff." He sat down in an empty chair next to them. "You know, I was thinking about all that other world stuff you guys mentioned before, and I keep seeing this commercial for some magic guy. I'll point it out next time it comes on. We could check it out and stuff."

Shouto back nodded at him. "That sounds like a good idea. We should explore every angle." He had his doubts that it would amount to anything, but it couldn't hurt.

Could it?

"The tiger was badly injured in the explosion. But we repaired him…. With a fist!

Tigerfist will return shortly after these messages."

"Hey look!" Soos spoke up. "It's that commercial I was telling you about."

"Are you completely miserable?" A soft voice with a southern accent started to speak. A sobbing man on screen nodded yes. "Then you need to meet GIDEON. He's a psychic. So don't waste your time with other so called 'men of mystery'." The screen showed Stan coming out of the outhouse, with the word FRAUD stamped across it. "Learn about tomorrow tonight at Gideon's tent of telepathy."

Shouto shrugged. "He's almost certainly just a fraud like Stan. Probably a competitor. Also, when did he take that video of Stan? That can't be legal." Unless laws were different in this world, which, of course, they very well might be. Or laws were just different in Gravity Falls, which was also a definite possibility.

"I dunno," Izuku said. "I mean, you're probably right, and that video thing is weird, but like you said, it can't hurt. Besides, It looks interesting."

Ochako nodded in agreement. "Definitely! I'm curious. I wonder what this Gideon guy is like?"

"Well don't get too curious." They all turned to see Stan standing there, arms crossed, glaring at the TV. "Ever since that monster Gideon rolled into town I've had nothing but trouble. No one under my roof is going under his roof." He hung up his coat and stormed out.

Izuku turned to the rest of them. "You know, tents don't have roofs." Mina grinned.

"Looks like we've found ourselves a loophole!"

It was surprisingly crowded that night, people he had seen from all over town filling in, including those useless cops from yesterday. Then again, Shouto mused, the Mystery Shack was always surprisingly crowded. People in this town certainly liked their scams. The five took aisle seats near the middle and let their eyes wander around the tent.

"This is like a weird version of the Mystery Shack," Mina commented. She pointed at a repair man near the edge of the tent. "They even have their own Soos!" Soos seemed to be put off by that, squinting his eyes at the appropriately named 'Doos'.

"Hey, it's starting," Izuku shushed them. Shouto leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Let's see what this 'monster' looks like," he muttered under his breath. The curtain drew to reveal….a thirteen year old boy. That was Stan's competitor. A thirteen year old boy. One who apparently acted like he was still eight.

The night didn't get any less weird.

"Looks like Stan isn't the biggest fraud in this town," Shouto commented as they left. "No wonder he's jealous, this kid has him beat." And of course no one would realize it. This was Gravity Falls after all.

"Oh come on!" Mina elbowed him in the side. "Lighten up, he's just a kid. Besides, his dance number was cute!"

"As interesting as it was, I don't think he's going to help us get back to our world," Ochako said. "So we might as well stick to the con-man we already have instead of this new one." Izuku just shrugged.

"He seemed okay to me. Nicer than Stan, at least." Shouto thought of mentioning that many people were nicer than Stan, but decided not to. They decided to get back to the Shack before Stan realized where they went.

"I'm just saying, we'd totally have enough money for whatever else we needed afterwards! And who knows, it could save our lives someday! You don't know it won't!" They were sitting in the living room Mina taking up the whole couch and Shouto on a chair, Ochako and Izuku looking awkwardly between them.

Shouto felt irritation well up in him. "For the last time Mina, we're not getting the hamster ball." He couldn't believe she was still on about this. They were trapped in another world, and all she could think about was getting some dumb item? It was like she didn't even want to go home.

The doorbell rang, and Izuku shot up. "I'll get it!" The others looked after him, argument temporarily forgotten. Shouto heard him speaking with someone, but it was too muffled to tell who exactly it was.

"Who's at the door?" Stan called out from in the kitchen.

"No one!" Izuku called back. "I'm just going to be gone for a bit." Shouto frowned and Mina sat up straight.

"Who do you think that was?" She asked the two of them.

Ochako shrugged. "Dunno, I couldn't hear their voice clear enough." She glanced back towards the door, worry seeping into her expression. "Do you think he'll be alright? Who knows who that could have been."

Mina patted her on the back. "Izuku can take care of himself I think. I mean, it's not like he can go - go around breaking bones at the moment. He'll be fine. Probably."

Shouto rolled his eyes and leaned backwards, ignoring the crack in Mina's voice when she mentioned Izuku's quirk - or more accurately his lack thereof.. "Wow. Encouraging."

"Hey, don't give me that sass!"

It wasn't until a while later that Izuku finally confessed what was going on. "It's Gideon," He told them the next day, fiddling nervously with the pen in his hand. "Apparently I caught his eye the other day at the show and now he wants to hang out."

"Really?" Ochako asked. "Huh, I wonder why?"

"No idea." Izuku shrugged his shoulders. "He seems like a nice enough kid though. And I get the feeling that he gets pretty lonely a lot. I….know that feeling well. A-and like you said Mina, he's just a little kid. Hanging out with him can't hurt, right?"

Ochako shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, true. But still, something about him rubs me the wrong way. Sorry, I can't really explain it, it just does."

"Just be careful, okay?" Shouto said. Ochako seemed to have good instincts. She might be right about Gideon.

"A-Alright, I can do that," Izuku agreed. He shifted nervously in his chair. The more time Shouto spent around Izuku the more nervous habits he noticed the other boy had, besides just muttering. He seemed to be a perpetual ball of nerves. "But really guys, I think it will be okay."

Ochako sighed. "I hope you're right, Deku."

"...Izuku?" Mina was looking over her shoulder at the door with apprehension in her face and voice. "Are you alright? You….don't look so good. Everything okay?"

Shouto turned to see what she was worried about. Izuku looked exhausted, dark bags starting to form under dull eyes. His shoulders were slumped as he walked into the room, as though he was carrying sandbags on them. He made is way over to the fridge and grabbed a Pit-cola, slumping down into the chair next to Shouto as he opened it.

Ochako jumped up from her seat and ran around the table to her friend. "Deku! What's wrong, what happened? You've been acting weird the past couple days, and we're seriously starting to worry!"

Izuku sighed, staring into his drink without really seeing it. "It's….Gideon. I agreed to hang out with him because I could tell he was lonely, and I know how that feels like. Not to mention that he just seemed like a nice kid. But after that first day, things got weird." He set the drink on the table. "He keeps asking me to hang out with him again and again, even when I don't feel like it. But I just can't say no, because so many people are there when he asks! I don't want to embarrass him like that in front of everyone. But he's getting really uncomfortable to be around."

"So pick a time when you two aren't around anyone else and tell him you'd rather not hang out," Shouto said. Really, it seemed simple enough. Although once he thought about it, what did Izuku mean by 'weird' and 'uncomfortable'? How weird was weird? Was it something they needed to worry about? An uneasy feeling grew in his stomach.

Ochako seemed to have the same idea. "Izuku, if he's bothering you, you should stop hanging out with him! I know it's hard, and you feel bad for him, but you shouldn't sacrifice your own comfort for someone who's really clingy."

"You're better than that," Mina added. Izuku looked at them in surprise.

"But isn't that what heroes do? Put aside their own comfort for the sake of others?" Shouto looked away awkwardly. The words weren't directed at him, of course, but he couldn't totally shove away the guilt they gave him. He'd become a hero to get back at his father, but was that really a good enough reason? What that a heroic reason?

It doesn't matter, I've made up my mind. And he wasn't even talking to me anyway, this has nothing to do with my personal issues.

Ochako was shaking her head at Izuku. "Maybe, but not in this case. Gideon doesn't seem to be someone who needs help, at least not in that way. He doesn't need you to save him. You have your own life to live, Deku. Don't throw it away for others." A bit over the top, considering the low stakes scenario, but still. That feeling came back to Shouto again.

Dammit, this isn't about me! Why am I feeling like this?

But, maybe he could do something nice for Izuku. Something useful. Maybe do a little bit of good, even without his quirk. He cleared his throat, and the other three spun around, looking at him with open mouths. Was it really that weird that he wanted to talk? He wasn't nearly as outgoing as they were, but still.

"I can speak with him for you, if you'd like," He offered to Izuku. "That way you can get a breather, and he isn't embarrassed in front of anyone. It's a win-win."

"I-" Izuku opened his mouth, then closed it. He seemed to deliberate on what to say for a few minutes, before smiling brightly at Shouto. "That would be really nice. I'd feel a lot better that way. Thanks Shouto! He wanted to meet me at this fancy restaurant in town…." Shouto nodded and looked away. Really, he just wanted to feel useful, like he was doing something, anything. He tried to push down the guilt of that thought, to no avail.

Whatever. He'd confront it after he'd confronted Gideon.

The restaurant Izuku had mentioned was pretty plain looking, but compared to the rest of Gravity Falls it was downright fancy. Which of course wasn't saying much at all. Called 'The Club', it was literally shaped like a club from a deck of cards. The inside was red curtains lit by floor lamps, a zig-zag carpet, and small two person tables, with comfy leather seats. Actually now that Shouto thought about it, it really wasn't that bad.

Anyways, Gideon. He was sitting in the very back of the room, on the nicest looking chair in the room. Of course he would be, kids liked those kinds of things, didn't they?

Shouto glanced over at Mina, who'd decided to tag along with him, "for moral support." He was pretty sure it was her way of making sure he wasn't going to go and screw things up too badly with Gideon, which kind of hurt. Did the others seriously not trust him even a little bit?

(What had he done to earn their trust?) Why did he even care? The others were just obstacles in his way to becoming the best hero. He should have no reason to have any connection to them. So why was he feeling this way? It didn't make sense!

He was broken out of his thoughts when Mina nudged him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, earth to Shouto. You alright, you ready for this?"

Shouto looked at the pink girl's eyes. She looked earnest. Of course she did, she was one of those people that always looked earnest, and acted the part most of the time as well.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with." They walked over to the kid, whose face was buried in a rather large menu.

"Ahem. Gideon?" Said boy set his menu down in a sort of dramatic fashion. He was wearing the same thing as he had been the day they went to his 'Tent of Telepathy', the blue suit and little American flag pin. His hair was still styled in that ridiculous toupee.

"Oh hello! Mina and Shouto, was it? What can I do for you?" Shouto tried not to cringe at Gideon's easy use of his first name, internally reminding himself that they were in America, and things were different.

"Oh, hello Gideon!" Mina smiled at him. "Yeah, we went to your show a few days ago with Izuku. He, ah, can't come tonight, so we were sent to tell you-"

"He doesn't want to see you," Shouto broke in. He could feel Mina's eyes on him and tried to ignore that. Getting straight to the point was probably the best idea, Gideon seemed like the kind of guy who would keep coming back if they beat around the bush. Best to stick the message in his head so he couldn't get around it.

"It's just that…." Mina rubbed the back of her head and looked away. "Well, you've been sort of clingy, and it's been making him really uncomfortable. I understand that you want to hang out with your new friend, and he does like hanging out with you…."

"You've been pushing him too much, and he feels he can't say no to you in front of everyone, even though he wants to." Shouto finished.

Mina held up her hands as Gideon's eyes narrowed. "Look, he still likes being friends with you! But you need to give him some space. Everyone needs space at some point! I'm sure things will be fine if you just leave him be for a while."

"So…." Gideon seemed to be trying to process all of what they said, and not succeeding very well. "What you're saying is….you've gone and come between us?" One of his eyes seemed twitch.

"That isn't…." Shouto sighed. "Look. He wants you to lay off him. If you really like him, you'll give him the space he needs. Then you two can talk about it. That sound fine?"

"We're all cool, right?" Mina smiled at the white haired boy. "Like we said, don't worry! Izuku still wants to be your friend, he just needs some space."

Gideon just stared at them with his beady eyes, long enough for Shouto to star shifting uncomfortably. He was about to try and say something else when Gideon finally responded. "Of course! We're all cool, these things happen, yes they do. Now, off you two go, bye-bye."

"Right, see you later!" Mina gave a small wave and the two speed out of the restaurant, both relieved to get away from the strange kid. Shouto quickly closed the door behind them.

Mina turned to him. "So that went pretty well! I mean, Gideon's obviously not very happy, considering he was so eager to sho us away, but at least he'll leave Izuku alone for a while." She looked down. "I mean, telling him Izuku doesn't want to see him ever again because he's acting like a creep probably wouldn't have gone down nearly as well. Least Izuku can tell him how he feels in a better environment now." Shouto nodded along, but still felt uneasy. They reached the parking lot, where Izuku was pacing around anxiously.

He noticed them and ran "W-well? How did it go? Is everything okay now?"

"Yup, everything's a-okay!" Mina punched his shoulder lightly. Izuku's shoulders sagged and he let out a long sigh of relief, leaning up against on of the cars.

"Great, I was so worried, but I'm glad everything's okay." He smiled at them. "Seriously, thanks guys."

"Well, not perfect," Shouto amended. "Best we could do was get him to agree to leave you alone for a while, but when he talks to you again, hopefully you'll be in a place where you're more comfortable saying no."

"That…." He hesitated. "That's actually the best, I think." At their questioning faces, Izuku elaborated. "I was feeling really really guilty, making you guys go out and ask Gideon for me. Now I can still talk to him myself."

"Glad to be of service." Mina slung an arm around Izuku's shoulders. Shouto was just watching it happen at that point, so he almost jumped when he felt her other arm swing around him. He tried to focus on their surroundings so as not to bat her away. Thankfully, she let go after a few moments. "Alright, let's go home!"

The three walked back in companionable silence.

"Do you have a...three?" Ochako shuffled her cards.

"Sorry dude, go fish." She groaned good naturedly and drew another card.

The four students plus Soos were lazing around on the lawn outside the shack. Ochako, Izuku, Soos, and Mina were all playing go fish, a small bag of mini chocolate bars Soos had found earlier that day as the prize for whoever won.

Shouto was laying next to them, eyes closed, spread out on the grass and letting the summer sun beam down on his arms, legs, and face, like a warm shower of sunshine. He'd always liked the warmth of summer, but his enjoyment of the season was generally diminished by the fact that no school meant more time he had to spend at home with his father. While he did wonder about the implications of it being summer in Gravity Falls, and spring when they had last been in Japan, it was still nice to be able to really enjoy the season for once.

Inside the shack, the phone rang, loud enough that they could all hear it. Was Stan deaf enough that he had to make his phone ring that loud, or did it come that way? Who would make phones that loud? So many unanswerable questions.

"So….should we get that?" Soos wondered aloud.

Shouto sighed and pushed himself up to his feat. "I'll get it, since I'm not playing." So much for enjoying the moment. It was nice while it lasted. He trudged over to the shack and walked inside, eyeing the phone for a moment before answering it.

"Hello, Mr. Pines isn't here, can you call back later?"

"Um, actually, I'm calling for someone named Miss Mina." The voice on the other end of the phone was definitely an adult males, but it was also very high pitched and scratchy. And familiar. Shouto frowned, trying to place where he'd heard the guy before.

Oh, that was right! "Toby Determined, wasn't it? You were interviewing Stan - Mr. Pines - at the wax museum opening. Something about being the eighth wonder of the world?"

"That's me!" Toby affirmed. "I run the Gravity Falls Gossiper, so I have all the new scoops around town. I heard something Miss Mina mentioned she was looking for, so I was calling to see if she was still interested. Can - Can I talk to her?"

Shouto hesitated, turning the phone around in his hand. On the one hand, Mina would be pissed at him if he lied and hung up and she found out about it (why did he even care? He shouldn't-) On the other hand, this sounded sort of sketchy.

Eh, he was sure it was nothing. This was Gravity Falls, after all. Everything was a bit sketchy around the place. And even if he didn't need friends, which he didn't, it would be best to stay on everyone's good side for the duration of their stay in this town.

With that in mind, he told Toby "I'll get her, hang on," and walked back outside, to where the game was continuing.

"Mina," he called out. She turned around, fistfuls of cards in her hands. "Someone's on the phone asking for you. Said you were going around looking for something, and they found it.

Mina's face brightened. "Oh yeah, thanks! I'm so glad someone found it, this is gonna be awesome!" She set her cards down. "Sorry guys, I'm out. I was so far behind I wouldn't have won anyways, so it's all good really."

"You never know," Izuku commented, but he swept her cards back into the pile anyways. "Hope you get what you were looking for!"

"Thanks!" Mina followed Shouto back into the shack, and she picked up the phone off the counter. "Hi, yeah this is Mina….Really? You have it!? That's so awesome, thanks!...Where?...uh huh, got it, hang on." She grabbed a pen from behind the counter and started writing on her hand. "Got it! Thanks so much!" She hung up the phone and turned to Shouto with a bright grin.

"Good news!" She chirped.

Shouto raised an eyebrow. "You found a way for us to get home?"

"What? No." She waved him off. "If I had, I would have gotten everyone really quickly. No, I finally found it! A human-sized hamster ball for two-hundred and fifty dollars!"

"You - you really-" Shouto gaped at her, the words he wanted to say simply not coming to him. "You're serious? You've been going around asking where you could buy that hamster ball?"

"Yup!" She pumped a fist in the air. "You should know by now, if I want something bad, I'm gonna try and get it. Relax Shouto. It's my money anyways, remember? I can do whatever I want with it."

"That….is true." He conceded. "If really dumb. I'm coming along with you to get it though. Just in case it turns out to be something fishy."

"Okay, I'll admit it." Mina looked up at the spooky, empty, and very dark looking warehouse, situated on the edge of a very large cliff. "You were right, this is very fishy. Not a place where one would go to get hamster balls. You happy now?"

Not really. That did mean that someone had Toby tell Mina to go to this location for some unknown and probably sinister purpose. That in and of itself was a major problem. "Maybe we should just go back," he ventured.

"And not figure out who's possibly out to get us? Are you kidding?" Mina stuffed the bag of money she had brought back into her pocket and started walking towards the building. "We need to go! What if they try and trick us again?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Mina was right. Shouto followed her up the hill, to the old metal door to the building. After a moment's hesitation, possibly stealing her nerves, Mina flung open the door.

"Hello! Are you there! Whoever you are, come on out!" Her voice echoed around the warehouse as she walked further in. Shouto followed her inside.

A slam! Made them jump and spin around, the door had shut by itself behind them. Shouto stepped over to it and tried the handle. It was locked.

"Well," Mina smiled nervously. "That's not very good."

The lights in the warehouse turned on one by one, revealing boxes stacked to the brim with different blue shirts, dolls, and other miscellaneous items. At the end of the room was a lone swivel chair. The person in the chair spun around-

"Oh," Shouto sighed. "It's you."

"Gideon, what do you think your doing?" Mina stepped forward. "I know you're upset about Izuku, but what do you really think you'll accomplish by doing this?"

"An excellent question." Gideon smiled and stroked the stuffed doll of him he was holding, which was just making the situation even weirder. "Funny enough, I've got a question for you two as well. How long have you been in this town? A week? Two?" He leaned forward, a smirk upon his face. "Listen up kiddos. This town has secrets you couldn't even begin to comprehend!"

"Actually we've fought a few of them already," Mina said, naturally leaving out the part about how they themselves were most likely part of what Gideon considered "secrets". "But if this is really about Izuku, we told you-"

"You liars!" He snarled, standing up in his chair, pointing his finger at them. Shouto took an involuntary step back. He didn't get it; Gideon was just some preteen or young teenager in a world without quirks, so why was Shouto's heart beginning to race?

"You turned him against me!" Gideon continued. He jumped out of his chair and stormed towards them. "He was my best friend and you took him!" He grabbed onto the blue gemstone on his tie, which began to glow an ominous blue.

"Hey, that's not what - whoa!" Mina cut off mid sentence, rising off the ground and into the air, the faint blue glow now surrounding her. Shouto tried to grab her, but found himself lifting off of the ground as well.

Then he was flying backwards, as if thrown by someone heavy. The two of them crashed into some of the boxes, which opened, spilling out lots of little Gideon dolls. Gideon leaned over them, a twisted smile on his face.

"Reading minds isn't all I can do," he gloated.

Shouto looked at Mina, seeing the panic he was feeling reflected in her eyes. This shouldn't be possible; quirks didn't work here! How did he lift them up like it was nothing? Something wasn't adding up.

Wait a minute, Shouto frowned. That stone he has. That must be what gives him this ability. If that was the case, then all they needed to do was get it away from him. He looked back to Mina.

"The stone," He muttered.

She frowned. "What?"

"What are you two talking about? Don't ignore me!" He raised one of his hands. All around them, the merchandise inside the boxes floated upwards, then drifting over towards them.

"The stone is what's letting him do this," Shout whispered. "We need to get it away." Mina nodded, focusing on said object.

Gideon brought his arm down, and the objects started flying at them. Shouto dodged to the right, and Mina rolled to the left. Not a moment too soon, as the small objects hit the ground where they were and shattered.

Mina ran over to Shouto. "Keep him occupied, I'll grab the stone," she whispered. Shouto nodded, and they separated again just in time to avoid Gideon's flying projectiles.

So how to distract him. Hmmm…. "Izuku hates you, you know," He yelled towards the younger kid. Gideon's face contorted in fury. An entire shelf flew at him, and he rolled away just as it slammed down where he had been. "You creep him out. He only hung out with you because he felt pity for you. That's why he sent us to tell you he wanted to stop seeing you, he doesn't want to be around you any more than he has to."

"You LIAR!" On the plus side, all of the different objects Gideon was controlling were dropped. On the downside, Shouto felt himself lifted off of his feet again, hovering even higher up in the air than before. Then he nodded towards one of the last few boxes, and lamb shears tore out of it, floating up to Shouto. "Now I'll make sure you never lie again!" The shears snapped open and closed as they got closer and closer.

Then they dropped. So did Shouto, although years of training helped him roll with it, using the momentum to carry him forward and ending up on his feet. He looked up to find Mina holding the stone triumphantly over her head, Gideon grabbing at it in fury.

"My amulet!" He jumped for it again. "Give that back you-"

"GIDEON!" The doors to the warehouse swung open, and Izuku and Ochako charged inside, looking flustered. Mina and Gideon spun around to see the newcomers, the former careful the keep the amulet out of the latter's reach.

Izuku walked towards Gideon and stood to face him. Them being so close to each other only exaggerated the height and age difference of the two, Izuku's shadow covering the younger boy.

"Look, Gideon. I-I should have said it myself, I know that, but you were making me feel really uncomfortable these past few days. I know you were having fun, and it was nice being your friend, but I have to cut it off." He paused. "Also, I just saw you about to really hurt my friends, which is seriously not cool! If you want real friends, you need to clean up your act."

He stepped back, having apparently said his piece, and took a deep breath. Mina smiled and punched his shoulder lightly. "There you go, you said it!"

"No….no!" Gideon lunged at Mina in a desperate bid to get the amulet, knocking her and Izuku over. Mina yelped as she tumbled backwards.

"Shouto, catch!" Shouto blinked as the amulet flew over Gideon's head and towards him. He reached up and plucked it out of the air. Gideon snarled and charged at him, face filled with determination. Shouto quickly sidestepped the kid, watching him barrel past. Just as he caught his breath, Gideon snatched his arm and pulled, the kid's momentum sending them both crashing through the window and over the edge of the cliff.

Shouto could hear the other student's screams, but they quickly faded away as the warehouse shrank smaller and smaller about him, as he got closer and closer to the ground. The wind stung his eyes and filled his mouth, making it hard to breathe. The ground was coming up he was about to hit-

Then he slowed to a stop, close enough to the ground that see could see bugs crawling on the grass. He found himself slowly pulled into an upright position, and put down softly on the grass. A thump next to him told him the same had happened to Gideon.

He looked upwards. There, in the light of the moon, was Ochako, holding the amulet, and covered in the blue glow. Izuku and Mina were right behind her, floating in the sky. Ochako lowered the three of them slowly to the ground.

Izuku hit the ground and stormed over to Gideon, who was lying face down on the grass. "Listen Gideon," he snapped. "It's over. We're not friends. I don't like you, and I want you to leave me and my friends alone." He shared a brief nod with Ochako, who raised up the amulet again. The white haired boy was lifted into the air, and moved over to the other side of the clearing they had landed in.

Gideon struggled to his feet. "This isn't over," He warned. "This isn't the last you'll see of little old me." He walked backwards into the forest.

The four looked at each other in silence. After a moment, Mina let out a strangled little laugh. "So. That happened."

"It did. Certainly a bunch of fun. What just happened." Shouto agreed, stumbling over his words. His mind was still reeling from what had just happened. Mina blinked at him in surprise, then let out a small smile. He wasn't really sure what he said that was smile worthy, but he gave a small nod back.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Izuku asked him, voice laced with concern. "I mean, you did just fall from a really far height. Do you need to sit down or anything? I-I'm so so sorry this happened, I didn't mean to let it get this far."

"It's fine," Shouto reassured him. "I'm fine." In all honesty, he was pretty sure the only reason he wasn't completely freaking out at the moment was because he was still in shock and running on adrenaline. Once that wore off, he'd definitely be feeling something about what had just happened.

"It wasn't your fault," He said, because it really wasn't. "No one blames you for that."

"Not one bit," Ochako agreed. She held up the amulet. "So, what do we do with this thing? It'd be a shame to just destroy it, we could really use some power in this world."

"Fair point," Izuku pulled the journal out of his jacket. "Let's see if it's in here."

"How do you carry that thing around all the time?" Mina wondered, sounding more than a little impressed. Izuku chucked awkwardly.

"I'm pretty used to carrying around a lot of books." He flipped through the pages. "Let's see here. Amulet….amulet….aha! Found it!" He sat down on the ground, eyes skimming over the page. "Says here that that thing is cursed to corrupt the soul of whoever possesses it long enough."

"Okay, so that's a no for keeping it then." Ochako threw the stone onto the grass.

"No, wait! Here it says that we can undo the amulet's curse by following these bunch of steps." He held of the book for the rest of them to see. "If we do this, than we can keep it, and not have to worry about getting corrupted!"

"In that case," Mina added, "I think Ochako should hold onto it. She did save our lives with it, after all. And it matches up best with her quirk."

"Really?" Ochako asked. She picked up the amulet again, a large smile spreading across her face. "That….would be nice. Very nice. Thank you guys." She leaned forward and pulled Mina into a hug. "Thank you."

"Of course!" But Shouto could see the longing in Mina's eyes. It was the same that was most likely in his. Not for the amulet itself, but for the ability to use something at least somewhat like their quirk again. To have that part of themselves back, at least a little bit.

Izuku cleared his throat. Shouto noticed he didn't have that look of longing Shouto and Mina had. Hmm. "Right. So to clear this curse, first we're going to need a lot of enchanted mushrooms…."

The four were stretched out on the couch, relaxing their sore muscles, when Stan finally came walking in. He raised an eyebrow at them.

"Geez, what happened to you guys?" He hung up his coat on the rack.

"Gideon," they all sighed, in varying degrees of exasution.

"Gideon," Stan commiserated, grabbing a pit-cola and sitting on the large skull next to the sofa. "I was just passing him in the street. The little mutant "swore vengeance" on the whole house. That includes you four apparently." He snickered. "Guess he's gonna try and, what, nibble my ankles or something."

"Yeah….yeah!" Mina smirked. "What's he gonna do now without his amulet? He can't actually hurt us anymore. What's he gonna do, guess what number we're thinking of?"

"Mmmh Mmmh." Ochako floated her soda to her mouth, slurping contently. The amulet was currently attached to the necklace she had bought their second day in Gravity Falls, next to the charm that had originally come with it. Shouto unconsciously felt for the pin he had taken, currently on the jean jacket he'd been wearing.

A small smile played across Izuku's lips. The whole rest of the evening he'd been apologizing to Shouto, to the point where Shouto just nodded and waved him off. Not that he didn't appreciate it, but it was getting a bit annoying.

Stan laughed. "Yeah, bet he's planning our destruction right now. Hah!"

Shouto said nothing. He still felt out of it, shell shocked from his near brush with death. Not that that was all. This had been just another time where he'd been useless, the one who had to be saved, by Ochako this time around. All he'd done was walk into a trap and gotten pulled out of the window like an idiot. He really was useless without his quirk, wasn't he?

He clenched his fists against his sides. No more. He wasn't going to be useless anymore. He'd do whatever it took to get them back home to their own world. He'd do it no matter what! And if none of the other students cared enough to help him, he'd find another way.

It had been ten days since the four students of U.A High School had come to Gravity Falls.

And somewhere, something else was watching, ready to make their move just a bit earlier than before.

Thanks for your awesome reviews everyone! Sorry for the wait, I wasn't super fond of this chapter, and it took awhile to get to how it is now, which is at least better than my first draft.

I know in Journal 3, it says that the amulet Gideon wore was cursed, but I added in the part about being able to remove the curse, because I always planned for Ochako to get the amulet. So that's just an added part of this au.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and please review!