We're back again for more Academia Falls! I hope you enjoy!

Inside the bubble was an infinite space of white nothingness. As far as Mina could see, there was nothing there.

"Izuku!" She called out, looking around for any sign of fluffy green hair.

"What is this place anyway?" Wendy wondered. "It's not exactly what I expected, considering everything out there."

"Can… hear… hang…"

Shouto blinked at the strange voice that echoed through the void. "That sounds familiar."

"It does." It wasn't Izuku's voice, though. Nor was it the voice of anyone in Gravity Falls. Where had she heard it before?

"Just… more… we've got you!"

There was a pause, and then a strange tug, and then Mina was flying through a ton of lights, which cascaded all around her in crazy patterns. She desperately reached out for her friends, and then-

She was sitting in the nurse's office of UA, with Recovery Girl and All Might looking over her. Next to her, Shouto and Ochako, who somehow had brown hair again, were both sitting up, and Soos and Wendy seemed to be getting to their feet.

All of them, Mina noted, were wearing the outfits they'd been in right before Weirdmageddon started. Her weapons were gone.

Noticing they were awake, All Might(?) broke into a smile. "Thank goodness! We were so worried when only young Midoriya woke up. It's good to see that the rest of you are finally awake."

"As well as the two newcomers." Recovery girl made her way over to Soos and Wendy, clearly checking them over. Wendy kept an eye on the older woman, but also seemed distracted by the noticeable lack of cuts and bruises that she'd had just a moment ago. Mina looked over to Shouto, who seemed equally free of injuries. "We're so sorry about this, you two. It seems like you were caught up in the rift as well."

Shouto narrowed his eyes. "The… rift?"

All Might nodded. "About three days ago, you all and young Midoriya were sent back here through some kind of rift. He woke up immediately, but the rest of you have been unconscious since then."

A jolt of understanding went through Mina, and she immediately backed away. "Oh, that's Cipher's trap, isn't it? We think we're home?"

Wendy knocked Recovery Girl's hand away. "That's insidious as hell."

Both the adults, who definitely weren't the real adults, looked confused. "What do you mean? Cipher's trap?" All Might asked. Then understanding seemed to come across his face. "Young Midoriya did mention a Cipher. He said that the strange being has been hurting you all summer."

"He also mentioned that Cipher invades dreams, which might explain it," Recovery Girl noted. "You've been in a coma for three days - he must've manipulated your dreams, made you believe you were still in that town."

Ochako shook her head, looking down at the amulet on her neck, expression just as freaked out as Mina was feeling. "No. No, this is definitely the dream. We need to find Izuku and get out of here."

"You need to rest," Recovery Girl snapped back. "Might I remind you that you've been in a coma? You need time to recuperate. Not to mention you've missed almost three months of class, so Aizawa will be coming soon to get you all up to speed."

"But-!"

"I'm sure young Midoriya will come visit you as soon as he can," All Might promised. "Whatever you saw in those nightmares, I can promise you that you're safe now. I'm so sorry that we took so long to find you, but you're finally home."

"What about us, then?" Wendy snapped, gesturing to herself and Soos. "If you're insisting that this is all real, can't you just send us back to Gravity Falls?"

Both adults winced. "The portal closed right after you came here," Recovery Girl said softly. "I'm sorry."

"As soon as we can, we'll send you home," All Might promised. "Principal Nedzu is working on it right now. I'm sure he'll figure out a way. Until then, you're welcome to stay here at UA."

"Uh-huh." Neither she nor Soos looked convinced. Mina didn't blame them.

All Might left shortly after, but Recovery Girl insisted on going through check-ups with them. Mina kept waiting for something to happen, something that would prove they were still in Cipher's bubble, but everything seemed unnervingly normal.

Then again, she'd only been at UA for three days. Who knew if this was actually normal or not?

"Midoriya informed me that your quirks didn't work in that other world," Recovery Girl told them, as she finished checking up on Soos. "Don't worry, that seems to only be the case over there. Your quirks are working just fine now." She nodded at Ochako's amulet. "Although from what Midoriya tested, items from Gravity Falls don't work here."

Ochako looked at her suspiciously, before holding her amulet. Nothing happened. She let go and looked down at her hands, frowning at them, before putting all five fingers on a nearby clipboard. The clipboard floated into the air.

This was all…

This was all wrong, wasn't it? They'd dreamed of going home for months, of getting their quirks back, but this wasn't really it, was it? Mina released a small glob of acid, the kind she used to move on, not burn things, and watched as it hit the floor. Would her super strength not work here?

All of this still felt so wrong.

Shouto hadn't made any move to test his ice, or his normal fire. He just frowned at Recovery Girl, clear suspicion in his eyes, and said nothing.

"This is crazy," Wendy said, the moment Recovery Girl left the room. "We know this isn't real. We know we're still in Gravity Falls. We need to find Izuku, and then find a way out of here."

Ochako nodded, but she seemed conflicted. "This… this is fake, right? We didn't dream up Weirdmageddon, right?"

"We didn't," Shouto confirmed. He seemed to concentrate, and after a long moment, his hands lit up with blue fire.

All around them, the lights dimmed to a dark red. Blood trickled down the walls in streams. The door opened, and a large man made of squirming maggots with glowing yellow lights where the eyes should be loomed over them.

Then Shouto's fire went out. The light's flickered again, and Aizawa was standing in front of them, looking unimpressed.

"You're all finally awake, then?" The thing pretending to be their teacher asked. "Good. Let's talk about the three months you've missed."

Mina involuntarily flinched back as it drew closer. Soos was making a constipated face, and Ochako looked mildly sick.

The thing stopped, taking in all of their expressions. "What's wrong?"

"We don't care what we "missed", or what you have to say," Shouto snapped. "Get out."

It raised an eyebrow. "You're clearly still recovering from your comas. Still, you should remember to be more respectful. Spending all that time in America has clearly given you some issues you need to work through."

This isn't Aizawa. To be fair, the only thing Mina concretely remembered about Aizawa was when he tricked their class and pretended he was going to expel the lowest ranking student on their first day. Even with that, however, this seemed off. At least the fake All Might and Recovery Girl seemed a lot more like their real counterparts. Maybe it was because they saw this thing's true form, so it couldn't trick them as well?

"Just leave," Ochako said. "Please."

The thing hovered in the doorway, looking at all of them with piercing eyes. Was it just Mina's imagination, or could she see a yellow glow behind them? "For now. I'll be back later."

That definitely sounded like a threat.

The thing left, closing the door behind it, and they all let out a collective sigh.

"Well, at least we know for sure that we're still in Cipher's bubble," Mina tried optimistically. "Now we just need to find Izuku and get out of here."

"Why do you think Shouto's fire still works when nothing else does?" Ochako wondered.

Shouto looked down at his hands. "It's probably interfering with Cipher's magic, since it's the exact same thing. It's not strong enough to entirely break the illusion, but it seems that at the very least, it can tear it down for a moment."

"Maybe it also has to do with Izuku," Soos offered. "This bubble's made for him, after all. Maybe as long as he believes it's reality, then the illusion is held together?"

"That would make a lot of sense," Shouto agreed. "Then our best bet is to find Izuku and break the illusion for him."

Mina nodded her own agreement, but before she could respond, the door slammed open once again, and Cipher's versions of their classmates poured in.

"You're back!" Before Mina knew it, Kirishima had an arm around her shoulder and was beaming down at her. "Man, we were so worried! Thirteen and Aizawa fought off the villains, but then we couldn't find you guys anywhere. And you missed the sports festival!"

"Not that it would've gone any different if you had been there," Bakugou bragged. "I still would've beaten all of you and gotten first place. Even you, Icyhot!"

"Yeah," Mina agreed hollowly, ignoring their explosive classmate. "I guess we did miss that." It wasn't Kirishima. Mina knew that. Just as Ochako knew the Iida who was talking rapidly to her wasn't the real Iida, judging by her expression. But she hadn't seen him in so long…

It hurt, was all. Screw Cipher for all of this.

A few "classmates" were talking to an unimpressed Shouto, while more were asking questions to a cagey Wendy and nervous Soos.

"Alright everyone, back it up. They're overwhelmed and need more rest," Recovery Girl demanded. With lots of grumbling, the class moved back and allowed the nurse to shoo them out of the room. She then turned back to them. "Sorry dears, but you'll need to stay overnight for a while, just to make sure there weren't any unknown problems with how you got back here."

"Is Izuku staying as well?" Ochako wondered.

"Of course. He came through the same way. We need to keep an eye on all of you, for now. Shouldn't be more than a few weeks. Now, get some rest, you lot. You clearly need it."

"That's a good excuse for keeping all of us at the school," Wendy noted, once Recovery Girl was gone. "Especially if the bubble doesn't extend past it."

"It also means that Izuku is here at the school, somewhere," Shouto said. "Once it gets darker out, we should sneak out and find him."

The idea of sneaking around UA was still an incredibly weird thought, but this wasn't actually UA. Nothing they did in this school mattered, except finding Izuku.

Mina just had to keep that in mind.

They waited until Recovery Girl seemed asleep to make their move. Once the five of them had slipped out of the nurse's office, Ochako locked the door behind them, and they started down the long hallways of UA.

"Were do you think he's staying?" She whispered to the others. Were there any places that would make sense for him to stay, other than the nurse's office?

"It would have to be somewhere realistic, or the illusion would be damaged," Shouto mused. He frowned. "The teacher's lounge?"

"That's a good bet," Mina agreed.

"It might also be guarded, at least during the day," Wendy pointed out. "You know, by the fake teachers."

Ochako smiled grimly. "All the more reason to have Deku stay there." He'd be surrounded by his wardens and he wouldn't even know it. "Let's give it a shot."

Maybe it was because she knew this was all a trap by Cipher, but UA at night seemed a lot creepier than she remembered it being in the daytime. There was a persistent feeling of being watched through the massive windows, and all the dark corners felt like they were hiding monsters that could jump out at them at any moment.

Nothing happened, though. They just walked the halls, trying not to make too much noise, and Ochako shoved her nerves down.

She felt so exposed, without her power. It was stupid, because she temporarily had her quirk back, and that was supposed to be better, right? And her hair was brown and normal-length again, and all of that should be okay.

Except, if they ran into Not-Aizawa, he could erase her quirk. And she was far more used to using the amulet's power - her power - at this point. Which was probably a bad thing, but Ochako couldn't afford to dwell on it at the moment.

"Does Recovery Girl know you're out and about like this?"

The five of them spun around.

There, lurking in the shadows, was Not-Aizawa. His eyes were glowing red (with a hint of yellow), and he fixed them all with an unimpressed look.

"Sorry dude," Soos offered. "We're going to see Izuku."

Not-Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "You can see him tomorrow."

Surrounded by Cipher's creations made to look like their friends and teachers? Definitely not.

"We're going to see him now," Wendy emphasized, stepping forwards. Ochako readied herself. Aizawa may be able to erase her quirk, and she didn't have her power, but she could still fight, if it came to that.

Not-Aizawa stared them down for a long moment, before sighing. "Fine. You clearly won't relax until you've seen him. I'll take you to him."

Ochako shared a panicked glance with her friends. This was not the plan. And having this thing around might actually make things worse.

"It's fine, we can find him on our own-" Mina tried.

"I'm not letting my students wander the halls all by themselves. I'm taking you there."

"Soos and I aren't your students," Wendy pointed out harshly.

Not-Aizawa wasn't fazed. "My students and their two friends, then. Come on."

At least it seemed like they had the right idea. The thing led them right to the teacher's lounge. Not-Aizawa opened the door, and there was Izuku, sleeping on the couch, a blanket thrown over him. No one else seemed to be in the room. "There. Happy now?"

"Yes," Shouto said. Then he kneed Not-Aizawa right in the groin.

Despite being made of maggots, there was at least something human-like about Not-Aizawa, as he leaned over in pain. Ochako took the opportunity to place both hands on his chest and shove him upwards, into the air. Before he could regain his bearings, they ran inside the lounge, Mina locking the door behind them.

"This won't keep him out for long," she said.

Shouto nodded. "We'll have to be quick, then. Wendy, Soos, you two guard the door. We'll talk to Izuku."

"On it."

"You got it, dude." Both Wendy and Soos moved to one side of the door, and the three of them approached their sleeping friend.

Ochako shook him gently. "Deku, wake up."

"Hmm?" Izuku opened bleary eyes, rubbing them and sitting up. "What - oh!" His eyes widened as he realized it was them. "You're all awake! That's - finally! I was really starting to worry. I'm so glad-"

"We were never asleep," Shouto said bluntly. "Izuku, we're not home. This is a trick from Cipher."

Izuku stared back at them, not comprehending. "What? That's - no, that can't be right. I talked to Blendin, he used this rift thing to send us back home. Cipher had nothing to do with it." He frowned. "Are you guys okay?"

There was banging coming from the other side of the door. Wendy and Soos held it tightly shut.

Ochako shook her head. "You talked to Cipher, not Blendin. Or maybe you thought you talked to Blendin, but he was possessed. Deku, that rift opened the world up to Cipher's dimension. The apocalypse is happening out there."

Confusion and distress fought in Izuku's eyes. Ochako couldn't blame him. They'd known it was an illusion from the beginning, and even then, before seeing Not-Aizawa, Ochako had questioned whether it was real. Izuku thought they'd all gotten home. Realizing it was all just a sick trap would absolutely suck for him.

"Look, I can believe that there were coma-versions of the three of us before we arrived here. But Soos and Wendy?" Mina jerked a thumb towards the two, who were pressed up against the door. "Were they really here before today?"

"That's - of course they…" Izuku trailed off, before frowning deeply and hitting his head. "I think, wait no, that's not right… what's going on!?"

Shouto grabbed his hands, causing him to look up. "Watch," Shouto said simply, before letting go and lighting his hands up with fire.

Once again, everything flickered. What was previously a normal teachers lounge was now covered in a dark red hue. The couch they were sitting on had teeth, and the walls had dozens of yellow eyes looking down on them.

Izuku yelped, jumping off of the couch. Shouto's fire flickered out, and everything returned to normal. He looked at the three of them, then at Soos and Wendy, then down at the couch, then at the walls.

"Oh," he said, voice tiny. "Oh. I really messed up, didn't I?"

"It's okay," Ochako assured him, grabbing his hands, which were starting to shake. "Cipher tricks people. It's what he does."

"It is," Izuku agreed faintly, face pale. "Then, all this time, it was all fake. We're not home. It was a trick. And I fell for it." He looked absolutely devastated. Ochako gave him a hug, which he returned tightly.

"Well, you've figured it out now," Mina pointed out, once they separated. "So, let's get out of here, and stop Cipher for good."

Izuku nodded slowly, the determined look Ochako was used to finally appearing on his face. "Yeah. Let's do it."

The world shuddered.

Around them, the teacher's lounge switched back to the creepier version of itself, and stayed that way. The amulet around Ochako's neck disappeared, and she could see her hair turning white again. They were wearing their previous outfits, and Mina's grappling hook and gun were on her belt. Wendy's crossbow and quiver also reappeared.

Something large and heavy pounded angrily on the door.

Izuku narrowed his eyes, drawing his dagger. "We need to get out, now."

"You got it!" Mina ran over to the door, and Soos and Wendy backed away as she kicked it open. It flew right off its hinges, slamming into the maggot creature that had pretended to be Aizawa and sending it flying across the hall, smashing against the wall and scattering into a million tiny maggots. The six of them took the chance to run.

Around them, the walls bled heavily, eyes glaring down at them, and the building started to collapse on itself. Ochako focused, keeping debris from hitting them.

"Deku!" She turned at Bakugou's voice to see the fake versions of their classmates, all now with eyes that were nothing but glowing yellow, charging after them. Fake-Bakugou blasted his way towards them, face contorted in rage.

Wendy knocked an arrow and spun around, letting it fly. It hit its mark, catching Fake-Bakugou right in the forehead and sending him flying to the ground. Shouto twisted his back foot and sent up a wall of ice, separating them from their pursuers.

Fake-Iida was the only one who managed to get around it. The impersonator charged towards them, legs at full throttle. Ochako took a deep breath, before levitating him in the air and slamming him hard against the ceiling. Shouto put up another wall of ice between them, and Ochako let the fake fall, ignoring the twist in her stomach.

They finally found themselves at the front doors, bursting through to find a red sky, parts of which seemed to be melting, and the UA security system on full alert.

Behind them, Ochako could hear the sounds of angry screams, including the loud voice of Present Mic.

"What do we do now?" Mina asked, somewhat panicked. "How do we get out?"

"Maybe if we could get a ride over the security system?" Shouto concentrated, hands lit up with fire, and a second later, Waddles appeared in front of them.

Their pig stared at them for a moment, oinked, then switched into a bear and, right before their eyes, grew large enough for all of them to ride.

"I didn't know he could do that," Ochako managed, staring at their pet. "Shouto, did you-?"

Shouto shook his head, looking just as confused. "I was just thinking of summoning something to get us out of here. I didn't know it would be Waddles. Or that he could do this."

"We can think about that later. Less talking, more escaping." Wendy climbed onto Waddles' back, and after a moment, the rest of them followed her.

Mina grabbed a massive piece of debris, metal and sharp at the end, and followed them up. "Just in case," she explained. Ochako nodded and patted Waddles' head, and the pig-bear took off, pausing before the security system before leaping into the air and taking to the sky. They soared upwards, the edge of the bubble so close-

"Oh no you don't, young Midoriya!" An All Might with glowing eyes was suddenly there, blocking their path, fist aimed to smash them down.

Izuku shut his eyes tightly, before opening them and staring down the fake version of his mentor. "You're not All Might," he said softly. "Sorry, but I need to stop you if I'm going to get back to him." He pulled his fist back, which lit up with a familiar glow.

Just as the fake All Might closed in on them, Izuku let his smash fly. The hit connected, and Fake-All Might was sent flying downwards, splattering onto the ground below.

Izuku let out a sob, before wiping his eyes and taking the metal lance from Mina. They reached the edge of the bubble, and he held it out in front of them.

The metal touched the bubble, and it popped. Little sparks fizzed all around them as they looked out at the Weirdmageddon Ochako knew was no illusion.

Waddles settled down on a cliff edge, and the six of them got off. He then shrunk down and jumped into Mina's arms, snoozing happily there.

There was a long pause as they all looked at each other. Then, unanimously, everyone hugged Izuku tightly as he sobbed.

"It's going to be okay," Ochako promised softly. "We've got you."

Okay was maybe a bad term for it. Ochako was sure she wasn't the only one who had those fake versions of their classmates burned in her brain now. But they were alive, and, finally, they were all together again.

"Yeah." Eventually Izuku wiped his eyes and smiled at them. "I'm - I'm so sorry. Cipher tricked me, I thought he was Blendin and he said the rift might help us get home, and it was in Shouto's backpack and I never should have handed it over for a second, I should've realized-"

"It's okay," Shouto interrupted. "You didn't know. The mission Ford and I were on was to find adhesive that could seal the rift. We were going to tell you right after it was finished, but at the time, you couldn't have known. So it's okay."

Izuku looked out on the mess that was Weirdmageddon, taking in for the first time what the rest of them had gotten used to. "I did all this," he whispered. "It's all my fault."

"It's not." Mina shot back. "It's not, and we'll say it until you believe it. It's Cipher's fault. It's always been Cipher's fault."

"Ford said Cipher still has a weakness left," Shouto told them. "He was captured, but if we can rescue him, we can take down Cipher and save the universe. It isn't over yet."

A weakness, huh? That was one of the best things Ochako had heard since this mess started. Hope blossomed in her chest.

"Let's all get back to the shack," She said. "Everyone else is waiting for us there. Then we can plan our next steps in taking Cipher down."

Izuku wiped away his last few tears, and nodded, determined. "Right. Let's do it!"

Figuring out what Izuku's bubble might look like took a bit of time, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that the only way to trick Izuku into staying was to make him think he was genuinely home, and there was nothing he needed to escape from. That's also why not everything was perfect in the bubble, even at first glance. It needed to be more realistic than that.

Of course, you can bet this is gonna mess these kids up even more because of all that.

To that one asker, as long as you specifically credit me, you can absolutely translate this into another language! Thank you for asking.

I hope you all enjoyed, and please don't forget to leave a review! They make writing these chapters go much faster, since I know people are enjoying them.