The Ascendance of Humanity

by chibikaty

Izuku Midoriya's father gifts him with a virtual reality headset for his birthday. In VR, Izuku can become the hero he's always wanted to be and help people, even if they're only NPCs. Going on fantastical adventures with his father is a welcomed reprieve from bullying and odd news reports about missing people. At least he doesn't have to worry about such things in the game…right?

Author's Note: For anyone who follows me on Archive of Our Own, this is an older story that should be already familiar, a collab with RianMoeru for a discord event. Since RianMoeru's profile has been deleted, I'm posting it here to preserve it. Whether you've read it before or not, I hope you enjoy.

---

"Happy birthday, Izuku." Hisashi Midoriya's warm voice echoed from the phone, a little bit crackly. The phone connection wasn't great all the way from America, or so his father always said. Izuku's research had suggested that most long distance calls weren't so shaky, but questioning his father's work was taboo in the Midoriya house. Maybe Hisashi worked in a secretive laboratory underground. That would be cool. Izuku liked to imagine that his father had some super-important work that kept him from his family.

"Thanks for calling, Dad," Izuku said, sitting on the living room couch and kicking his legs. "I know you're busy." It had been many years since his father had been able to take time off to come home for his son's birthday. Though honestly, maybe Izuku was just in a bad mood because he'd been bullied at school today. Izuku had hoped that Katsuki would let him off for his birthday, but apparently not. His lunch had been blown up, including the sugar birthday cookie his mother had baked for him.

"Thirteen years old, what a milestone! Your first teenage birthday. You deserve a special present." A chuckle came from the phone. "I asked your mother to wrap your gift and set it on the coffee table. Can you see it?"

Half-standing up, Izuku looked at the coffee table. "What is it?" Izuku stared at the perfectly wrapped present. It was too large and square to have books, and not flat enough for a computer. The gift had been wrapped with bright green paper and a sparkly green bow.

"Open it and find out." His father chuckled. "I think you'll like it."

Smiling to himself, and wishing his father was there to see it, Izuku began tearing the paper off the present. It was…a game system? But one he had never seen before. And he didn't see any games that came with it, either.

"Well?" his father asked from the other end of the line, a touch of eager impatience in his voice. "What do you think?"

"I love it," Izuku said, more from politeness than sincerity. "Uh, what is it? Some new system from America? I'm sorry, I've never seen anything like this before."

"A prototype my company has been developing for the last several years," Hisashi answered. "Once it's set up, you place on the headset and the game opens up before you. It's a marvel of technology—you can see, hear and feel everything within the game, as though you were really there."

"Immersive virtual reality?" Izuku gasped. It sounded like something from one of his comic books. Now he felt a thrill of real excitement for his gift. "Thank you, Dad!"

"Try it on right now," Hisashi said. "I have an extra birthday surprise for you waiting in the game."

"Okay!" Izuku said excitedly, standing up and picking up the box. He groaned under the weight, having not quite expected it to be so heavy. Drawn by his grunts, Inko poked her head into the living room.

"Let me help," his mother offered, and the two of them managed to carry the box into his bedroom without too much issue. They both exhaled when they placed it down onto the floor. Izuku impatiently opened it up and pulled out the hardware and headset.

The instruction manual was thick and had five different languages. Between Izuku and Inko and his father aiding them through the phone, they were able to connect the parts and plug the headset into an outlet by his bed. Following the instructions, Izuku lay down on his bed. Unlike lower tech virtual reality headsets, with this one Izuku's game self would move based on his thoughts. Thus it was better for Izuku to be lying down so that he didn't accidentally walk into a wall.

"Have fun," Inko said as she helped Izuku tighten the headset over his eyes. Izuku's world went black.

Three dots played across the screen in a loading pattern. Then Izuku opened his eyes to a beautiful fantasy world. Lush green grass spread across the ground. In front of him was a pavilion with four pillars in a circle. Moss ran up the marble. A statue of a goddess holding a sword and scales stood in the middle of the pavilion. Numerous, delicate looking butterflies decorated her form. Izuku blinked and looked closer, finding the statue was identical to his mother. And he wondered what she would think about the low-cut, flowing dress.

More moss-covered rocks stood next to the pavilion with twisted pine trees. The sky overhead was slightly purplish, a hint that this was a fantasy setting. Izuku had never before seen virtual reality this realistic. He could smell the pine sap coming off the trees and feel a breeze rustling his bangs. Since when could virtual reality even imitate scents and sensations?

Izuku raised a hand. His hand in the game followed the motion. It looked exactly like his hand in the real world down to a scar from an old explosion. His clothes had changed into an ancient samurai costume complete with a sword belt. He hoped the instructions had been accurate and he wasn't moving his body in the real world. He took a step forward. His body moved. He did not feel like he was lying on a bed. This was amazingly cool!

"Hello, son." A voice spoke up suddenly, startling Izuku and causing him to jump in place when a hand landed on his shoulder. It felt warm to the touch. His heart raced as he whipped his head around, and found his green eyes meeting with bright red ones. White curls draped over the newcomer's forehead and a smile tugged at his lips.

"D-Dad?" Izuku stammered in disbelief, staring up at his always impossibly tall father.

"Happy birthday, Izuku," Hisashi greeted, enveloping Izuku in a warm, tight embrace that felt as real as could be.

Tears filled Izuku's eyes. This was truly the best birthday ever. Finally, he could hug his father.

"Sorry I wasn't able to be there in person," his father apologized. "But I've been working on this day and night so that you and I can spend time together, even when I can't make it home."

Izuku smiled. "Thank you, Dad." This was almost as good as meeting his father in-person.

"We each possess two of the first prototypes," Hisashi said. "For now, we have this world all to ourselves."

"So…it's going to be a multiplayer game then?" Izuku asked curiously, staring out past the pavilion and towards the sprawling landscape beyond them. There were rolling hills leading up to a mountain with a snowy white peak.

"Eventually. For right now, it's just me, you, and the NPCs." Hisashi smiled. "Would you like to learn more about how this game works? I can show you all the secrets, the hidden quests, and the best loot."

Izuku clapped his hands. (He was a little surprised how real the impact felt.) "Thank you, Dad!" Truthfully, Izuku did not care much about winning at the game. He just wanted an excuse to spend time with his father.

"But first, you need to pick your starting class," Hisashi told him.

"Oh, right. Uh, how do I do that?" Izuku wondered aloud, looking about for an NPC to talk to, but finding none.

"Simply open up the menu by thinking about it," his father explained. "You'll see the tutorial on the right hand side of your vision, and it'll explain everything from there."

Izuku felt a little silly, but he thought, Menu. And the virtual world responded. A glowing blue wheel appeared on his right side, with options to open his inventory, open a world map, or customize his character. Izuku touched the latter option.

"This is so cool," Izuku muttered, practically bouncing on his feet as he read over the classes. New players would start at a base class that would develop and evolve over time based on the player's actions and growths, with branching paths detailing the requirements needed to obtain them, the classes beyond them obscured.

Izuku gnawed on his lower lip. "It's so difficult to decide…"

Hisashi winked. "Did you know the Adventurer class can evolve into a Hero class?"

Izuku's hand shot out faster than if he was grabbing a piece of All Might merchandise to select the Adventurer class.

Hisashi laughed, though his voice held a slightly melancholy note. "I knew you'd pick that class. I created it just for you. In this world, you can become a hero in a completely safe environment. Nothing can hurt you."

Izuku had every intention of becoming a hero in the real world too, but he refrained from saying so. His father disapproved of heroes in general, always complaining about how careless they were and how they were a bunch of glory hounds that the public mindlessly worshiped. Izuku disagreed, but it wasn't an argument he wanted to dredge up again. Not on his birthday, of all days. It hurt a little that neither of his parents seemed to take his hero dream seriously, probably because he was quirkless. He knew they were only being concerned for his well being, but still…

At least in this virtual world, Izuku could finally have cool powers, and he was eager to try them out. "Are there any quests nearby? How do I get started playing?"

Hisashi said, "First, let me show you how to fight. Adventurers come equipped with a samurai sword."

Izuku hadn't even noticed. He looked down, and there was a sword with a beaded hilt strapped to his waist. Carefully, Izuku drew the sword. The wavy blade gleamed in the sunlight. It did not feel too heavy–maybe he was stronger in the game.

"Oh," Izuku hummed, observing the sword. He reached out to touch the blade, finding it cold to the touch.

Izuku pressed the blade a bit harder, curious if it would draw blood. Nothing happened. Izuku asked, "Can I feel pain in this game?"

A small, slightly mean smile covered Hisashi's face. "Neither of us can feel pain here. This is our paradise, for me and my family. Of course I'd never let anything harm you, ducky."

"Does that mean there isn't player on player damage?" Izuku asked, wanting to know more of the game's mechanics. "I can't, like, accidentally hurt your character, can I?"

"Players can fight other players. But when I'm done showing you the secrets of this game, you'll be too strong for anyone to hurt you. If you want, you could even loot other characters."

"That wouldn't really be fair though…" Izuku murmured, biting at his lip. "I don't want to beat people and take their stuff. Wouldn't that be bullying?" It didn't seem like behavior fitting the hero class.

Indulgently, Hisashi said, "You can play however you like. This world exists for you. You'll be strong enough to rule over this world."

Jeez, Dad was always so dramatic. No wonder his favorite movie was Star Wars and his favorite character was Darth Vader. "I don't know how mom puts up with you sometimes." Izuku gave his father a dry look.

Hisashi placed a hand over his heart, a pained look on his face and a gasp leaving him. "Oh how you wound me, my son. Such harsh words towards your father!"

"This really isn't helping your case," Izuku said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll show you how to wound people literally. Wave your sword," Hisashi instructed.

Stepping backward, away from his father, Izuku slashed the blade through the air. It left a trail of green sparks.

Hisashi hummed in satisfaction. "You're already a natural. Now, at level one, you only have one ability, Empowered Slash. Try concentrating, to produce more of those sparks."

Izuku swung his blade again. This time, a line of green fire sliced the air. "Cool!" Izuku cried. This felt like having his own quirk.

"You're only getting started with what you can do in the game," Hisashi said. "But to unlock more abilities, you need experience points. You can obtain those by completing quests and defeating monsters. Or even killing other players."

"The only player here is you, Dad."

"True." Hisashi raised his hands, acknowledging the argument lost. "For your first quest, I recommend defeating a few slimes. Something easy to get you accustomed to the combat system."

Izuku shrugged. That sounded reasonable. "Where can I find them?"

"Follow me." Hisashi led them down a dirt path toward one of the hills. This hill had green grass, but the flowers were unnaturally large. Tulips towered over Izuku's head. They had a sweet smell, and when he reached out to touch the petals, he found they were delicate and soft.

Izuku carried his sword in front, staying on guard.

At the top of the hill, Hisashi pointed at a monster, a green slime that came up to his waist. "There is your first enemy."

Izuku swallowed. This world felt so real that his throat was dry. He'd never tried attacking another creature before, but the gelatinous blob didn't inspire any sympathy. It was just a game.

The slime made Izuku's decision for him. Raising its eye stalks, it roared and charged toward him.

Izuku slashed down with his sword. Green sparks flew through the air, but he'd moved too soon and failed to hit the slime. Izuku slashed again, imagining even more fire.

The blade cut the slime in half. Green flames ate into the grass and burned it away. The slime collapsed.

"Excellent!" his father praised proudly, a beaming smile on his face. "You're doing very well, son."

"It's only the first enemy," Izuku said sheepishly, though inwardly the praise made his heart feel a little lighter. A tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks.

"Nonsense," Hisashi tutted as Izuku went to pick up the loot left behind, in the form of green blobs of goo.

As soon as Izuku touched the blobs, they vanished. "Huh?"

"They went into your inventory, ducky," Hisashi explained.

Izuku pulled up his menu and clicked on inventory. He saw a line of empty spaces with the slime goo in the first slot.

Hisashi said, "If you touch the picture, then the goo will appear in your hand. No one wants to play an adventure where they're loaded down carrying dead monster body parts."

"Very true." Izuku laughed.

Hisashi said, "Next I'll take you to town. I'm going to show you a secret side quest for the slime loot. Walking is boring. How about I teleport us? Only high level players can do that."

"I'd like to take my time and see what the rest of the world looks like," Izuku insisted. He was brand new to the game after all. No point in trying to rush through everything.

"You just want to spend more time with your old man," Hisashi said, sounding very smug about it.

"Hey!" Izuku huffed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Admit it!" Hisashi teased, placing a hand on his head and ruffling his hair.

"…How about I tell mom about that goddess statue back there?" Izuku said, pointing to the pavilion behind them, his brow twitching. "No, that didn't escape my notice!"

"Well can you blame me?" his father huffed, crossing his arms like a petulant child. "It isn't my fault that she's so divine. I have to show my appreciation somehow. Your mother is a goddess in human form—"

Izuku did not want to know more about his parents' relationship, cutting him off with a loud, awkward cough. "Come on, let's go."

Hisashi led Izuku down the hill and into a forest. The trees overhead were thick, blocking out the sun. They emerged into a clearing. A tall Tori gate announced the entrance to town. The village had half a dozen homes in traditional Japanese feudal style, with thatched roofs, sliding doors, and wooden walls.

"It would take most players several tries to find this quest," Hisashi bragged as he approached a house and knocked.

A young woman with blond hair opened the door. Her eyes widened upon seeing Hisashi, an expression of fear.

Izuku stepped forward. "We're heroes. Well. Technically I'm an adventurer but…anyway! There's nothing to be scared of. We're here to help you." He looked at his father. "Uh, what are we here to help with?"

Hisashi fixed the young lady with a piercing stare. "Her father is sick. Only slime goo can cure him."

The woman twisted her hands on her apron. "I need a brave hero to retrieve the medicine for me."

Izuku flashed a bright smile, "I already have that!" He opened his menu. It took him a few tries to tap on the goo in his eagerness. "Here! This is what you need to make the medicine, right?"

"Oh, thank you!" she said, taking the monster parts from Izuku, her expression becoming one of great relief. "With this I can cure my father's wounds. Please, come in! I can't possibly allow you to leave without a reward."

The woman led Izuku to a chest. The sword inside had a jet black scabbard decorated with golden leaves in lacquered wood. The guard showed two black koi fish. As traditional for samurai swords, the handle had been wrapped with silk to form a pattern with triangles of shark skin visible underneath. The top was crowned by a flat golden dragon. "This sword is a family treasure."

"Oh, then I can't possibly take it," Izuku said.

Hisashi nudged his son. "This is a game, ducky."

"Right." Izuku flushed, feeling silly. It was easy to forget when everything here was so realistic. He reached out and took the blade, which then vanished into his inventory as soon as his hands wrapped around the hilt. "T-Thank you." he offered shyly. To Izuku's shock, glowing letters appeared in the air: The Katana of Courage, Level Fifty. Whoa, that sounded important. Wouldn't it be strange for a level one player to have a level fifty weapon? The sword had a very long list of magical attributes. Definitely it seemed strange he'd gotten this for killing one slime. "…Is this really okay to take?"

The NPC nodded. "Of course. My father no longer needs it now that the war is over, and it's better off in hands that would actually use it. I only wish there was more I could offer you to aid you on your journey."

"T-This is more than enough," Izuku insisted, eyes wide and shaking his head. A ringing noise sounded in the air. Izuku jumped.

Hisashi said, "That means you leveled up, ducky. Congratulations!"

"Oh," Izuku said blankly, looking towards the woman. He fidgeted awkwardly under her gaze, and Izuku cursed himself for being as inept at social interaction with an NPC as he was with real people. "Um. Thank you again! We'll take our leave now. I hope the medicine helps!"

The woman firmly shut the door behind them. She seemed happy to have them gone. Izuku hoped she hadn't minded handing over the sword–what was he thinking? He had to keep reminding himself this was a game. NPCs didn't have feelings. Her face had been very expressive, though. Izuku had to give full credit to the game designers. It couldn't be easy to create an artificial intelligence that could respond to speech on the fly. In fact, Izuku had never heard of a chatbot this good. His father's company had done impressive work.

Izuku decided he should tell his dad so. Hisashi loved praise. Clearing his throat, Izuku said, "That was amazing, Dad. I didn't realize you were working on something so exciting and unique. You've pushed technology forward by decades. There are so many ways this could be used to help people! People with paraplegia could get a new lease on life."

"It was all for you," Hisashi hummed, practically glowing from Izuku's words. Izuku felt his heart swell at the thought that his father would put so much time and effort into something just for him. Hisashi said, "Now, you should get home. It must be close to dinnertime and I can't have you miss your mother's katsudon."

Izuku no longer felt terrible about his father not being there for dinner, not when Hisashi had done all this for his birthday. Besides, Izuku was hungry after getting his lunch blown up at school.

"Oh, uh, how do I close out the game?" Izuku asked. Did he just take the headset off?

"Just press log out, then remove the headset. Easiest thing in the world," Hisashi explained. "See you soon?"

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded eagerly, a smile growing on his face. "Same time tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course. I'll see you then, alright? Try not to get too far ahead of me." His father winked before Izuku brought up the menu. Izuku removed the headset, the same smile still tugging at his lips and the giddy feeling inside him near overwhelming. This had been the best birthday ever.

That evening, after a delicious dinner and a strawberry birthday cake, Izuku turned on the television. He always liked to listen to the latest news about heroes.

Only one story was all over the news: Star and Stripe's sister and father had vanished under mysterious circumstances. Every hero in America was going nuts looking for them. Naturally, people assumed this was targeted at America's top hero. Even All Might had flown over to the United States to help with the search.

Oh, no! Poor Star and Stripe! She must be frantic with worry. Izuku hoped she would find her family soon. Surely with All Might on the job, it was a foregone conclusion.

Seeing the picture of a young blond woman on the screen, Izuku realized that Star and Stripe's sister looked just like the NPC from his quest today. Was it a coincidence, or had Hisashi modeled his NPCs after people in real life? Either way, Izuku should mention it to his father so his father could change the design. Given the current tragedy, it would probably look insensitive.

---

The days passed by too quickly and not soon enough for Izuku, spending his school hours looking forward to getting home to play the game his father had gifted him, minutes seeming to drag on for hours, and hours were an eternity. He tried to focus on his studies, but the excitement of spending time in the game, of spending time with his father, made him too eager for classes to end. Even Kacchan's harsh words and shoving him around wasn't enough to wipe the smile from Izuku's face when his bully questioned what had made him so happy.

The next day became two, that then became a week, and eventually a whole month had passed with Izuku hardly noticing. He spent a good portion of his free time within the virtual world his father created (after finishing his homework). Hisashi couldn't be there every night, to his son's dismay, but he always made certain to spend time with him there most nights, when he wasn't busy with work.

Hisashi frequently joined Izuku on various quests to obtain the hero class. Izuku hadn't been able to spend this much time with his father in years. They went to the deepest parts of the forest to defeat the Great Wolf. They stopped a bandit who looked strangely like Captain Hero from that old comic his father liked. In a castle underground, they fought a vampire to retrieve a rare potion that had doubled all of Izuku's stats. They traveled up a mountain to slay a dragon together. Hisashi let Izuku handle most of the fighting while staying in the back and casting spells as needed. Hisashi was too powerful, making it too easy to win. Also, Hisashi said that Izuku needed the experience points more. In just a few weeks, Izuku had leveled up nearly a hundred times. He didn't know if that was normal because he wasn't sure about the level cap of the game.

As much as Izuku enjoyed the grand quests, he'd always liked the parts of the games that focused on helping people. After Izuku had gotten distracted in the middle of an orc slaying quest to find some mushrooms for an elderly witch, Hisashi sighed and took him around the village to pick up some quests from NPCs. The woman from Izuku's very first quest had an older sister now who looked like Star and Stripe. Izuku had asked his father about that, fearing it would look extremely insensitive after Star and Stripe had vanished a couple weeks ago. However, Hisashi had explained that he'd created the NPCs with permission from their family as a tribute to missing and dead people.

Personally, Izuku thought he'd be creeped out to see someone who looked like a deceased relative in a game. But who was he to judge how other people processed their grief? Maybe he was overthinking it. Being immortalized in a game allowed their memory to be preserved. It wasn't the first time he had heard of a game having easter eggs or references to people in the real world as a way to honor them.

The next round of quests had been particularly fun as Izuku had helped the two sisters find ingredients for their magic store. Unlike how nervous the NPCs had been the first time, now they were cheerful. Izuku had mentioned to Hisashi that the first NPC he'd met had seemed scared and that might be off-putting to new players. Hisashi had done something and now all the NPCs were very welcoming to players, greeting them like heroes. The older sister had a boisterously friendly personality and the younger one was shy and sweet-tempered. Their personalities must have been based off their real world counterparts too. The quests helping people didn't gain as much in experience points, but then Hisashi gave Izuku a potion that increased how much experience he got and he started leveling up as fast as before. The sisters worked together to arm Izuku with hundreds of different potions. Izuku's inventory never filled up, which seemed strange until his father winked and said it was the perks of being the boss' son.

If Izuku had any complaints, it was that his fights had gotten a bit too easy. When Izuku pointed that out, his father laughed and said he would find some harder monsters. That was the benefit of beta testers–figuring out how to balance the game. Izuku felt proud he could help his father out with his work. Surely this game would be a big success. The technology was revolutionary. Nothing like it had ever been released before.

"So how close are you to your hero class?" Hisashi asked curiously as they sat around a campfire, sitting atop the soft as silk fur rugs they had obtained from the Great Wolf. Izuku held his hands closer to the fire, feeling its warmth licking at his palms. Above the fire was a pot on a stand, bubbling away as their stew cooked. It smelled so good it made his mouth water, and he knew it would taste just as good. He didn't need to eat in the game, but it was nice to just relax and pretend to have dinner with his father. Sometimes he swore it made him feel full even outside the game.

"Hm…" Izuku hummed in thought, bringing up his status menu and observing it. He had gone through several class changes since he first started, but he had yet to reach the hero class. Right now, he was so close but he still had a few prerequisites in order to reach it. He needed to help a thousand people before he could change class, after which he needed a crest from the Church of the Goddess that would initiate the change. "Almost," he said after a moment, finding it hard to hide his excitement from his father. "Just one life I need to save." Izuku glanced at the requirements again, finding a fairly long list that he had already mostly filled out, along with a requisite level of three hundred. "…It seems like a really difficult class to get to."

"Hero class is a rare and powerful one," Hisashi said. "I made the class so only you could reach it."

Izuku flushed, flattered that his father would go so far for him but he wondered if he really deserved it. "O-other people can be heroes too, I can share."

"Other people aren't my son." His father chuckled, reaching over to muss the curls of his hair. At Izuku's disapproving look, he only laughed more. "Let's get you to hero class first, hm? Then I can see about making adjustments in the future. Maybe it'll be an expansion pack, since the game is set to release in a few days."

"A-Already?" Izuku stammered out.

"Mhm," Hisashi hummed as he poured a bowl of stew for each of them, handing Izuku his own piping hot one, and one to the side. "I think we've got most of the bugs fixed and the game is working perfectly. Any glitches and issues have been resolved, in no small part due to your help."

Izuku had been able to help. Not just an NPC, but in the real world, for his father. After so long being told that he was useless by his teachers and classmates, the warm feeling made his ears burn. He took a sip of his stew in the hopes of hiding his blush.

Hisashi said, "I want your character to be perfect before the game opens, so let's save one last person and then get you over to the church."

Izuku stood up. "Where can I find a quest?"

"Oh, there's no need for that." Hisashi snapped his fingers, and a black portal appeared in the air. An NPC stumbled out of the portal. He looked a lot like Salaam, a hero who had recently vanished from Egypt. Hisashi tossed a spear at the NPC's heart.

"DAD!" Izuku shrieked, leaping forward and knocking down the spear. "What are you doing?!"

"No time for that now, son," Hisashi huffed impatiently. "Look at your status!"

Sure enough, Izuku had registered one last life saved. The hero class lit up brightly. Only the crest remained.

"But, Dad, that feels like cheating," Izuku mumbled. "You didn't need to scare that guy. Are you all right?" he asked the blank-faced man.

Hisashi rolled his shoulder and shrugged. "They're only NPCs." Waving his hand in front of Salaam's face, Hisashi said, "See? He's not even aware of us." The NPC did not move or react.

"Still, you shouldn't do that!" Izuku chided him sternly. "Can you just…send him back to where he was please? His AI probably doesn't know what to do after you took him away from his location!"

"Easy enough." His father shrugged, snapping his fingers again. Another black portal swirled into being. With a light shove from Hisashi, Salaam disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two of them once again alone. "Now, let's be off shall we? It's time for you to be a hero!"

Izuku couldn't help the smile those words brought to his face, or how his heart swelled at hearing his father say them. It may have just been a game, but it meant the world to Izuku.

"Can you warp us there?" Izuku asked hopefully, feeling a touch impatient now.

"Of course." Hisashi had a beaming smile on his face and eyes soft as he summoned another portal. Izuku stumbled in his rush to gather all of their things and put the fire out before all but racing through the black void, his father following behind him.

Izuku entered a brightly lit place made of polished marble. He could smell incense burning from shrines at the feet of the goddess statue, with candelabra crafted from gold sitting atop them. Above the goddess' head was a magnificent stained glass window, pouring sunlight into the cathedral, making it appear as though the goddess were the embodiment of light itself. Once again the goddess had an uncanny resemblance to his mother. His dad had only gotten a little more subtle about that, using a veil to disguise her face.

Izuku's eyes landed on the clergyman behind the shrine, who was smiling kindly when his gaze fell on Izuku. He only just managed to restrain himself from racing forward.

"Hold on, Izuku." Hisashi chuckled behind him. "We still need to wait for your mother. I think she would want to be here to see this."

"Oh, right!" Izuku had almost forgotten that his mother had said she would be logging in tonight as well. She didn't play the game nearly as much as Izuku himself, and seemed to care little about the actual mechanics of the game, but she enjoyed spending time with them as a family.

Not that she had needed to learn the game to level up and get equipment. Upon loading the game, his mother had been granted the unique class "Goddess of Love." It was the max level, and had a large range of spells and abilities that only the goddess could use.

The look she had given his father when she'd first seen the statue had been so scorching, Izuku had been certain his father would blow away into the wind as ashes. But Hisashi hadn't even seemed to notice, his eyes brimming with pure happiness at the sight of her. In his stupor, he'd never expected the holy flames to consume him at a snap of her fingers. Izuku had winced when the fires calmed down, his father's clothes and hair smoldering and blackened, but the grin plastered onto his face never fell, even when his mother crossed her arms and gave him 'the look'. Izuku had quickly distracted himself with some quests and left his parents alone to 'talk', ignoring his mother's scolding words that drifted all the way across the field.

Thankfully, she had forgiven him afterwards, becoming more at ease the longer she played. And now they had time together as a family with all three of them at least once a week.

Izuku fidgeted in place as he waited for his mother to arrive at the church, the minutes dragging on and on. His whole face lit up when he heard the familiar chimes of someone logging in. His mother's form materialized.

"Hey Mom!" Izuku greeted cheerfully, despite knowing she was still in the other room of their house.

"It's good to see you, dear." Hisashi gave her a welcoming hug that she returned.

"This realism of this game still amazes me." Inko turned to Izuku with a smile. "I couldn't miss your big day becoming a hero. You've worked so hard for this!"

Izuku felt a small pang to think that he might never be able to become a hero in the real world. Were his parents secretly looking at this as compensation for their pitiful quirkless child? He pushed away the unkind thought. His father had gone to all the trouble of creating a class just for him. It had been done out of love. This moment should not be spoiled by thoughts of the cruel real world.

Stepping up to the altar, Izuku said, "I'm ready."

The clergyman bowed to his mother. "Divine goddess, we are honored." Turning to Izuku, he cleared his throat. "Brave hero, tales of your deeds have spread across the land." Then he launched into a long speech detailing all of Izuku's quests. Izuku flushed. The man was carrying on as if he'd saved the world, even though it was only a game. The dragon had been three times as large to hear the priest tell the tale. Come to think of it, didn't this NPC look a lot like some police detective who'd been on the news as a missing person? The media had been making a fuss about it because his sister was a famous writer/publicist. Perhaps he was another tribute? The detective had only gone missing a little while ago so it was too early to give him up as dead. Maybe this time it was just a coincidence. Not every NPC in the game could be a tribute to someone, that would be weird.

The clergyman concluded, "You have been deemed worthy of one of the highest honors of the game: the hero class. Goddess, please lend me your power."

"Oh, my." Inko looked around. "What should I do?"

Hisashi said, "Step up to the altar and put your hand down."

Inko obeyed his instructions. As soon as she touched the polished marble, a crest formed in the air. It looked like a pair of interlocked rings. One ring was shaped like a golden flower vine with small diamonds on the leaves and petals. A large sapphire bloomed from the middle. The other ring seemed plainer, likely a man's ring because of the greater size. But the ring looked made of pure platinum. The shimmering band was engraved with a wavy pattern.

"Hisashi," Inko said in a quiet voice, leveling Hisashi with a flat stare, an eye twitching. "Are those our wedding rings?"

"Yes!" Hisashi beamed, looking absolutely delighted that she'd noticed. "Beautiful, isn't it? I couldn't imagine something more holy than the symbol of our love."

Inko placed the tips of her fingers against her forehead, taking the moment for a slow, deep breath, and Izuku could see her willing for patience. "Are you planning to show this to complete strangers around the world? What if they realize where you got the image?"

Hisashi blinked. "They'll know how much I adore you?"

Izuku snorted, laughing at his parents' faces. Although like all children he preferred not to see too much PDA, it warmed his heart to know that they were both so much in love after all these years. The game had let his parents spend more time together, too. It had been a great boon for their family separated by living apart for so long.

The clergyman did not seem perturbed by a couple's argument. In the same serious way, he told Izuku, "Step forward and place your hand on the crest, hero."

When Izuku touched the glowing symbol, it transferred to his hand where it gleamed like a tattoo, then vanished.

Several notifications popped up around Izuku. His stats, his mana, and his armor class had all maxed out. He'd hit the level up cap. He had dozens of new skills. He couldn't even read the messages fast enough.

Blinding light shot up from the altar. The clergyman slammed down his staff as he decried, "The hero has been christened."

Inko hugged Izuku. "Congratulations, sweetie."

"Whoa." Izuku felt like he might happy cry. He'd worked so hard for this. "I can't wait to see everything I can do."

Hisashi smiled, a dark expression almost more befitting a demon. "You can do anything you want from now on, my dear son. You're invincible."

"Hmm?" Izuku looked up. "Surely that's an overstatement. The class can't be that powerful, right?"

"Heroes always win." Hisashi laughed as if it were a private joke.

"Like All Might," Izuku mused. All Might always saved the day, no matter what.

"Exactly." Hisashi mussed his son's hair. "Someday I'll create an All Might NPC for you in the game. It's difficult, but I've been working hard knowing how much you love him."

Izuku nodded. "It must be difficult to get permission to use All Might's image when he's such a famous hero. His brand is very valuable."

"Oh you have no idea," Hisashi said. "Don't worry though. I'll get him eventually."

---

"…if anyone has any information regarding the family, the police urge you to come forward." Izuku heard sound coming from a TV as he walked past a storefront on his way home, a picture on screen of a family of six and a corgi held in arms of a gangly teenager. Izuku felt his heart twist at the news of an entire family gone missing with no leads for the police or the heroes to follow. Didn't that seem to happen a lot lately? The announcer on TV continued, "The number one hero All Might has become personally involved in the case of the missing Shimura family, believing it connected to a string of mysterious disappearances."

That was a relief at least, Izuku thought with a soft sigh. All Might would find them. Right? All Might always won, just like his father had said.

"In other news, the latest console by an overseas developer has finally hit the stores," the news anchor suddenly switched the topic, the image shifting to the very same system that was waiting for Izuku back at home. "Several stores have already begun to sell out—"

A smile chased away Izuku's worry. Finally, his father's product was being released! His dad must be so excited. Izuku knew his father had worked hard on this project. Why, sometimes it had seemed like his father was doing it all single-handedly. The only person his father ever mentioned helping him was some mysterious doctor. No wonder he worked so much overtime.

Today would be the very first day that Izuku could meet other players in the game. Perhaps as a more senior player he could help out the new ones and show them where to find quests.

He might even be able to make a friend…

In his eagerness, Izuku nearly ran home. He had homework to do, but Kacchan kept blowing up his homework anyway. He decided to go straight into the game.

Laying on his bed and placing the headset on, Izuku struggled to calm his heartbeat as he loaded the virtual world. For the very first time, when Izuku materialized on the hill next to a familiar shrine, the space was crowded with other people. The newbies all wore the same identical outfit when they started: a plain brown tunic and boots. In contrast, Izuku wore the shining spidersteel armor of the Vampire King which he'd won in battle. The armor came with a red silk cloak that let him turn invisible and black spiked boots that made him immune to undead attacks. The black helmet had a red jewel in the center that exuded wisps of smoke shaped like a crown. It looked a bit dark, but his father had assured him that it was a proper regal hero look. Then Hisashi had taken half a dozen pictures.

"This is so cool!" Izuku could hear a few people say over the buzz of chatter.

"Right?! It looks so real!"

"Hey, who's that?" someone else asked. "Look at that armor he's got on! Think he's a GM?"

Standing next to the shrine, a loud voice asked, "Does that goddess look like shitty Deku's mom? Weird."

"Kacchan?" Izuku asked automatically. Then he flushed bright red. Oh no, of all the people for him to run into on the very first day. This world was Izuku's escape from the real world. He wanted to make friends with kids his own age but he didn't want to run into any of his classmates. Why did people look like their real selves inside the game? Izuku should talk to his father about a disguise feature. He'd bet a lot of people would want that.

"Hah?" Came Kacchan's gruff voice, and sure enough a spiky head of blond hair turned to face him. Red eyes narrowed at the sight of him, brows pinched in confusion. "Deku?" he asked in disbelief as his eyes roved over Izuku's equipment. "The hell?" he muttered, eye twitching irritably. "Why did you get better gear than the rest of us?"

Maybe there was a chance that Izuku could be friends with Katsuki inside the game. Maybe they could set aside their differences from the real world if Katsuki wasn't worried about looking cool in front of the rest of the school. Chuckling awkwardly, Izuku said, "I was a beta tester for this game. My dad worked on the project. Um, would you like some help finding your first quest? I've been through all the beginners' quests."

The word "help" made Katsuki react like a red flag waved before a bull. Recoiling, Katsuki growled, "So you cheated and now you think you're better than me?"

"W-What? No!" Izuku shook his head, the stirrings of panic welling up inside him. "I just told you, my dad made the game! I was a beta tester and—"

"So your dead-beat dad gave you all the best stats and equipment right off the bat, huh?" Kacchan sneered. "Even in a game you're too weak to level up like the rest of us."

"My dad isn't a dead-beat!" Izuku defended heatedly. "And I wasn't given this stuff! I earned it! I became a hero on my own!"

The word "hero" infuriated Katsuki even more, his entire face turning scarlet as his hands balled into fists. He screamed, "It doesn't matter how much you cheated! I can still beat you!" Raising his fist, Katsuki flew at Izuku and threw a punch at his head.

The fist bounced off Izuku's level 500 resistance to physical attacks. Katsuki had been moving too fast to stop his momentum. His entire body smooshed up against Izuku's reflection shield like a bug against the windshield. His eyes bulged. Then Katsuki flopped down to the ground, boneless.

Shocked whispers rose from the people watching. Izuku flinched. Katsuki got even meaner when he'd been embarrassed in front of a crowd. Leaning down, Izuku asked, "Err, are you all right? There shouldn't be any pain inside the game." Though from the strangled cries coming from Katsuki's mouth, he definitely sounded like he was in pain. How strange. "If you're actually hurting then we should contact help."

"The fuck was that?!" Kacchan hissed angrily, clutching at his head. Izuku winced when he saw that the knuckles were bruised and…and bleeding? He could swear he even saw a broken finger or two. Although Katsuki sounded as angry as ever, his voice had gotten weaker and strained. He looked like he was barely clinging to consciousness.

"J-Just hold still Kacchan, I know a healing spell!" Izuku's fingers glowed with magic that washed over Katsuki with a gentle light. The bones of his hand settled back into place, the broken skin mending and the bruises fading away. "There," Izuku said after he was done, stepping away with a concerned look towards Kacchan. "Are…are you okay?"

"I didn't ask for your help!" Kacchan snapped as he got back to his feet. "You just healed me because you're afraid I'll report you for cheating!"

"It's not cheating! Anyone can use physical resistance," Izuku cried. "I could even show you how, once you're at a higher level."

Katsuki hissed, "I couldn't even touch you! That's clearly a cheat!"

"It's the difference in our levels." To Izuku's astonishment, Katsuki tried to punch him again. This time, Izuku dodged. He didn't want a repeat. It looked like there was no avoiding this fight, and Izuku didn't like beating up someone helpless, so he ran away.

"Think what that guy said is true?" he heard another player whisper to someone else as he ran down the hill.

"Get real," someone else said, and he could practically feel the eyeroll. "What are the odds that his dad actually made the game? Dude is clearly a hacker."

By the time Izuku reached the bottom of the hill, leaving Katsuki in the dust, his heart had sunk. So much for making friends in the game.

Still. It was just the first day. There would be other chances, when more players arrived and Katsuki was long gone, busy with the beginner's questlines. Right now he'd stick to the higher leveled areas and wait until then. Hopefully his dad would log in soon and they could do some quests together.

Unfortunately, Hisashi didn't show up in the game. He sent a message saying that he was too busy with his work. Izuku understood. Launch day must be the busiest time.

Instead, Izuku met a new NPC in the forest: a teenage boy who rode around on an armored corgi. They had great fun on a quest to slay orcs together. The boy used a lot of gamer slang instead of sounding like an NPC–was this a new gimmick to make NPCs more realistic? The encounter calmed Izuku's nerves. At least if kids his own age didn't want to play with him then he could play with NPCs.

---

"Shitty Deku," Katsuki muttered under his breath for what must have been the hundredth time in the last hour, wiping the residue of goo off his blade after he killed a slime.

Katsuki had been looking forward to playing this game all year. Finally, he'd be able to taste real battle! Everyone at his school was too weak to stand up to him. He needed proper opponents for training.

And then to find not only find Deku as soon as he loaded into the game, but for him to be so stupidly overpowered? There was no way he could have legitimately reached such a high level even if he had beta-tested the game like he claimed. He must have cheated, hacked the game somehow!

Katsuki had logged a complaint as soon as shitty Deku had left. There had been no immediate response, so Katsuki had logged half a dozen more complaints in between fighting slime monsters.

Finally, a request for a message popped up on the screen. Katsuki pressed accept. The image of a giant man with curly white hair appeared glowing in the air like a hologram. He wore a business suit and he sat in a fancy office with a huge cherry wood corner desk. Katsuki squinted. "Are you someone important?"

The man smiled frostily. "Very important. I came as soon as I heard that you had a complaint about Izuku Midoriya."

"About time," Katsuki groused irritably. "I don't know what kind of shitty programming you have, but that loser has max level and the best equipment, on day one of release. Deku must have hacked into the game's files."

"Deku? What does that mean?" The man's smile turned even meaner, baring his teeth.

"It's a nickname. Whatever. That doesn't matter. What are you going to do about the cheating? Are you going to ban him from the game?"

The man laughed, a not-very-nice sound. "Have you been enjoying my game so far, Katsuki Bakugo?"

Katsuki didn't like how the man said his name, with disdain. "The hell does that have anything to do with it? We were talking about shitty Deku."

"I thought since you were enjoying my game so much, you might want to stay here even longer. I could offer you a special package deal as compensation for your trouble."

Katsuki scowled. "Huh? The fuck does that mean?"

The man clicked his tongue. "What language. It's not appropriate for child players. We'll have to fix that with a little reprogramming."

The air around Katsuki began to hum. The sound was so high-pitched it felt painful. He grabbed his head. "Ow! Make that stop!"

"And don't worry about Izuku," the man said, the blue screen to his right streaming with numbers and letters. "I'll be sure to fix the…issue. Just relax, and enjoy your time in the game. I promise you'll never want to leave."

Katsuki's entire world went black.

---

Right after Izuku logged out of the game, he received a call from his father. He picked it up right away. "Dad?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't play with you today, Izuku," Hisashi said.

"Oh, please don't worry about it! I know you must be very busy."

There was a pause. Hisashi asked, "Izuku, have you had any problems with bullying at your school?"

"I mean…no more than anyone else does I guess?" Izuku murmured, taken off guard by the question. He knew he had more than his share due to his quirklessness, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. No need to worry his parents over it.

"So you are bullied," his father surmised, a disapproving frown in his voice. "Who is it?"

"It…" Izuku started, but the words died in his throat. "…it's really not a big deal, Dad. The other kids like to joke around, that's all."

"Joke around and call you useless?" Hisashi asked sharply.

"How did you know about that?" Izuku swallowed, realizing he'd given too much away.

"Ducky, why wouldn't you tell me about this?"

Izuku's shoulders rose. Defensively, he snapped, "You're always away at work!"

"That doesn't mean I don't care," Hisashi said. Guilt bit into Izuku at the soft, saddened tone in his voice.

Izuku mumbled, "I was afraid you'd think that I'm pathetic. You and mom both think that I can't become a hero because I'm quirkless. Maybe you'd think the other kids were right to mock me…and rip up my notebooks trying to stop me…"

"Your mother and I would never think that, Izuku," Hisashi said firmly. "I wanted to create a world for you where you could become a hero. That's the purpose of this entire game. I developed the game all for you, Izuku."

Izuku swallowed, sincerely touched. "Thank you, Dad."

"I love you more than anything in the whole wide world, ducky. You're more valuable to me than the entire world, as you'll soon see. I've created a world for you that exists for your sake. Nothing can hurt you here. You can have anything you want."

Izuku couldn't find the words to speak, his throat thick with emotions and eyes brimming with tears.

"I'll be handling this bullying issue as well," his father reassured him. Izuku knew it was likely just a platitude, because kids didn't stop bullying just because an adult told them to stop, but it was a touching sentiment. "I'll see you soon, alright Ducky?"

"Y-Yeah," Izuku managed to say with a shuddering breath.

"I promise, things will get better. Goodnight, son."

"Night Dad," Izuku said in return, a click telling him that his father had ended the call.

Just as Izuku hung up the phone, his mother rushed into the room. Her shoulders sagged in relief when she saw Izuku. Her eyes overflowing with tears, she pulled him into a hug.

"Mom, what's wrong? Did something bad happen?" Izuku asked. If he hadn't just been on the phone with his father then he would have worried that his dad had been in an accident.

Inko wept so hard she couldn't speak. After a few moments, she got ahold of herself. "I'm so relieved…that you're safe…"

"Mom, please, what happened?" Anxiety burned hot in his chest, clawing at his insides uneasily.

Inko couldn't meet his eyes. "Izuku, everyone in your class has vanished."

---

The next few hours passed in a blur. Every single last person in Izuku's middle school class, including his teacher, had disappeared without leaving a note or a sign of a struggle. No one knew why or what had happened to them. Some of the children had vanished from their rooms and their parents swore they'd never left the house. Katsuki had been playing the virtual reality game, his headset left fallen on his bed. Two other kids had vanished on the street in full view of a camera.

A police officer came by to interview Izuku. He didn't know anything, so the interview didn't take too long. The officer seemed confused about what questions to even ask. He told Inko that they had no leads on the disappearances. The police were under a lot of strain lately. Dozens of prominent heroes had vanished. Crime rates had surged in response. Under most circumstances, this case would be a horrific tragedy that would draw attention across the entire nation. At the moment, it was only one strange incident among many crises.

The incident had frightened his mother enough that she refused to let him leave the house for days, constantly peeking in on him in his bedroom to make sure he was still there. Izuku could hardly blame her, considering.

His whole class. Everyone was just…gone. His teachers, the people he saw everyday…even Kacchan. Kacchan had gone missing. Kacchan who was so strong and brazen. Izuku didn't know what to think, what to feel other than overwhelming stress and anxiety and fear.

A hero would do something to help his classmates. But Izuku had no idea where to even begin. There was no motive behind the disappearances, no evidence. The one time Izuku had mentioned his desire to help look to his mother, it had sent her into a panic. She was terrified of losing him. Inko had yet to enroll him in another class. She did not think that Aldera was safe. Hisashi had suggested home-schooling for a while and Inko had eagerly jumped on the idea.

Hisashi told Izuku that the best thing he could do to help his mother would be to stay home to ease the stress on her nerves. It made Izuku feel uncomfortable, but his father had a point. His mom had been crying a lot. She felt so much better when he stayed at home, and Izuku had an entire game world to explore instead.

With everything that had been going on, he hadn't even considered logging in, even for a few minutes. It felt insensitive, considering the circumstances. But the bitter realization was that there was nothing he could do to help with the current situation, and so all he could do for now was to try and take his mind off things, even if only for a little bit.

This time, Izuku decided to join the game in the forest instead of the shrine. He didn't want another repeat of that time everyone had thought he was a cheater. Perhaps killing a few slimes would be an easy quest to make him relax. The potion-making sisters could always use more ingredients.

Hopefully he might see that NPC with the corgi again. The memory of the teen riding atop it never failed to make him smile. He hadn't even known dogs could have armor before then.

But instead, Izuku heard the sounds of fighting. Thinking that it might be a newbie player in trouble, he ran to help out. But he could immediately tell this was an NPC by the villager's clothing and the green box over the head of the boy.

"Goddamn slimes!" the boy shrieked. "Get away from me!" He waved his hands as if trying to produce explosions, but nothing happened. He had blond hair and red eyes.

"K…Kacchan?" Izuku whispered in disbelief, drawing that red-eyed gaze over to him. And it was. It was Kacchan! "W-Where have you been?!" Izuku demanded, tears in his eyes. "Your mom's been worried sick a-and—"

"Deku?" Kacchan spoke in mild alarm. His distraction allowed a slime to jump onto his arm, teeth biting. Izuku panicked when he saw it drew blood. "Agh! Dammit!" he shrieked, waving his arm around and trying to push it off with his other hand.

Quickly, Izuku summoned up a poisonous gas that only affected monsters. The slimes shriveled up and vanished, dropping loot. Izuku rushed over to Katsuki, a healing spell already alighting the tips of his fingers and working swiftly to vanish the bite wounds.

Katsuki looked up. "Thank you for helping me, hero!" The smile on his face was completely unnatural. It looked like someone had copied and pasted it onto Kacchan's face.

Izuku recoiled, "K-Kacchan? Are you mocking me?"

"No, why would I mock a hero–? Aargh!" Katsuki reeled backward, clutching his head. "You damn nerd! Why are you here?"

"Why am I here?" Izuku choked out a confused laugh. "You're the one who shouldn't be here. You've been missing for nearly a week. What happened to you? I last saw you…in this game…" Izuku's voice trailed off as he developed an unpleasant suspicion.

"D-Deku—" Kacchan tried to say, his voice stuttering and glitching, his face seeming to freeze over. His red eyes flashed with blue streams of code. "Dek–de-d-d-d-d…"

Izuku frantically cast healing, but it didn't do anything.

"C-can't…" Kacchan struggled to say through gritted teeth. "Reported-d. Everything…f-f-fuz-zy." He continued on, voice lilting and dropping in a terrifying way. "The pro-pro-pro g-gramer. S-s-stuck. Stuck. Stuck—-!" Kacchan's voice became increasingly frantic, becoming higher and higher pitched before he stopped speaking entirely, seeming to freeze in place.

Izuku had to get help for Kacchan…was this even Kacchan? What was going on? Izuku pressed his help button, then had a better idea and called his father. His dad didn't pick up.

The horrible smile returned to Katsuki's face, a single tear trailing down his cheek. His hair flattened down like it had been gelled into a prim and proper hairstyle. In a bright voice, he said, "Thank you for saving me, hero!"

Izuku wanted to vomit. This was wrong, so wrong. Like a coward, he turned and fled from the fake Katsuki.

What…what was going on? What even was that?! It…surely it couldn't actually be Kacchan, could it? There was no way!

With shaking hands, Izuku called his father again.

This time, Hisashi picked up. "Sorry, ducky, I'm busy. I saw you calling a couple times, is it urgent? How are your mother's nerves?"

Izuku's throat felt choked with tears. "D-dad, I saw Kacchan. In the game."

"Yes?" his father asked, urging him to continue on.

"It was…an NPC? But then he started to act like the real Kacchan, then he glitched…it was horrible…"

"Ah," Hisashi hummed thoughtfully. "I'm sorry about that, son. I'll be sure to fix the issue as soon as possible."

"Fix?" Izuku's hands clenched. "Dad, what WAS that thing? Surely that wasn't…the real Kacchan…"

"Of course not, ducky. That was an NPC created as a tribute to your missing classmate, what's his name."

Izuku flinched. "That was not a tribute! It was a nightmare!"

Hisashi said, "I got permission from the family, of course."

"If Kacchan's family saw that thing then they would be horrified!"

"Oh. So you didn't like him?"

"Dad, you're missing the point!" Izuku insisted. "What happened?" He still had trouble believing the NPC story. "It…it seemed so real…"

"If you didn't like him, then I'll get rid of him." The coldness in Hisashi's tone chilled Izuku to the bone.

"No!" Izuku said quickly, feeling unsettled. "No, please. Just…if you're going to make it a tribute to Kacchan, then at least have him act like Kacchan. Not like…like that."

"Oh very well," his father huffed. "I suppose I can make a few more adjustments."

Izuku gulped down his words before they left his mouth. He wanted to tell his father that he would rather never see whatever-the-hell that had been again. But some instinct kept him from speaking. He felt like he'd be hurting Kacchan if he got rid of that thing–which was ridiculous–it was only an NPC glitching. "Dad?" Izuku asked quietly. "How do you make NPCs? They're very lifelike."

"It's quite a process," his father said. "Transmogrifying a special code from scans of people in real life into a server to program, and adjusting it to perform the preferred behaviors, routines, and express personality traits. It was quite challenging at first, but I've managed to streamline the process into an effortless procedure. It would all be too complicated to explain to a layman."

That felt like just an excuse to Izuku. "Try me. Could you send over some documents about it?"

"It's confidential company information, ducky. I would lose my job for sharing it with you."

"Right. Sorry." Izuku felt stupid. "It's just…no one is getting hurt, are they?"

"Of course not." His father laughed boisterously. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I'm not sure. Sorry for bothering you. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Izuku didn't laugh in return. He hung up.

Izuku headed into town. He was searching for something, but he didn't entirely know what. He wandered down the main street where NPCs had set up stands for buying and selling items.

When Izuku saw what he'd been looking for, he knew it right away. A girl with black pigtails minded a weapons stall. Izuku knew her face. She was KimiKoga, a girl from his class. One who had gone missing.

She'd always been a quiet girl. She'd never bullied Izuku, but she'd never defended him either. She kept her head down and mostly in a book. Izuku figured she was probably scared of being a target herself, with her extremely weak quirk that let her change the color of her fingernails.

And yet here she was, in the game, as though she were any other NPC. As though she hadn't disappeared from the world at all.

"Kimi?" Izuku called out quietly.

"How may I help you, sir?" she responded. "I have the finest weapons and arms if you care to peruse my wares."

"What are you doing here?" Izuku asked.

"I'm looking after the stand for my father."

"The weapons stall owner never had a daughter before."

She stared at him blankly, as if not sure how to answer him now that he'd challenged her cover story. Nervously, she touched her fingernails together. That was the exact same gesture that Kimi used in class whenever she changed the color of her nails.

Izuku stumbled backward. His heart raced. Even in the virtual world, he felt light-headed. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This was horribly wrong.

"Do you…do you know who I am?" Izuku dared to ask over the lump in his throat.

"Izuku Midoriya," she answered reflexively. "The quirkless—q-qui-irk-k—"

Oh, no. Not this again. Please, no. Izuku stepped backward. "I'm sorry. Forget I asked."

Blankness took over Kimi's face. "You're the hero of this land. It's such an honor to meet you."

Far from being a hero, Izuku turned and fled from this twisted replica of his missing classmate.

Part of Izuku didn't want to see more, but he had to know. He had to find out if there were any more people he recognized here. He ran down the street, searching.

But hers and Kacchan's were not the only faces he saw from his class. All over town he spotted them, working in various shops or giving out a quest. He even spotted one of his teachers serving ale in the local tavern. All of them greeted him with the same general enthusiasm as the other NPCs, but with just a little bit of prodding he found their little ticks and traits that were too lifelike to be so easy replicated.

Izuku could have tried to convince himself that two of his classmates' families had agreed to give permission to create a tribute NPC in the game. BUT ALL OF THEM?!

Izuku could have also tried to convince himself that his father had no idea about whatever strange shenanigans were going on inside the game, except he remembered his father's smug tone of voice while asking if he wanted Katsuki Bakugo to be deleted. No matter what his teachers might say, Izuku was not stupid. Shortly after he'd spoken to his father about bullying, his entire class had disappeared and then reappeared inside the game as NPCs. Izuku could add two and two together and get four.

But how? How could his father transport people into a video game? Most of his class hadn't even gotten a headset yet. Katsuki's body had vanished from his bedroom along with his mind.

Now that Izuku was using his brain, he started wondering about the missing heroes popping up inside the game. The police officer who'd looked just like the clergyman. Star and Stripe and her family…Izuku felt ill. He had no idea what he could possibly do against a villain who could defeat the likes of Star and Stripe. What had his father gotten his family into? How could Izuku save everyone?

All Might! Surely All Might could fix this situation, as All Might had saved Japan so many times in the past. If only Izuku could find a way to meet All Might, then the hero would take over from there.

A quirkless nobody just had to get into contact with the number one hero. Somehow.

His stomach churned. The idea that his father was capable of this…

It didn't matter. Izuku still had to do the right thing and help everyone. Determinedly, Izuku logged out.

It was not easy to meet All Might, or Izuku would have obtained an autograph ages ago. If he went to the police and reported that people were vanishing into a video game, he'd be dismissed as a crackpot kid. Izuku decided to check the news and see if All Might's last location was reported. Maybe Izuku could find All Might and speak to him in person.

When Izuku woke up in his room, he didn't even bother to put away his virtual reality equipment. Leaving it strewn across his bed, he sprinted downstairs and turned on the TV.

The words BREAKING NEWS spread across the bottom of the screen in bright red. The news announcer normally looked polished and professional, but today her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Staring at the screen, she said, "This is not a prank. Reports from around the world say that people are disappearing whenever they use technology. Watch."

A video played across the screen of a middle-aged woman being sucked into her cell phone. Her body dissolved into pixels, and then the pixels were absorbed through the speaker. Another video showed several office workers being pulled into their computers.

The news announcer said, "This is believed to be a villain's quirk. The heroes have issued a public safety announcement that everyone is to turn off all technology in their homes. We have to trust that the heroes will protect us yet again." Her eyes begged for someone to reassure her, to make her believe it would be all right. "This is not a drill. I'm risking my own life to bring you this news. For your own safety, turn off all technology, including this television, right now—"

The woman screamed as her body dispersed into thousands of tiny particles that were then sucked forward, pixels covering the front of the screen. Izuku realized that she'd been sucked into the same camera that was recording the live show.

"Oh god…" Izuku gasped, a hand clasped over his mouth from the sheer horror of what he had seen. He grabbed the remote and switched off the television. That…had that actually happened?! People turning into…into data? Before disappearing entirely? "Oh god."

He was going to be sick.

Izuku didn't even make it to the trash can in time as the sick spilled from his mouth, heaving into the floor.

He heaved until his stomach was empty, leaving him a shaky, trembling mess when he finally stopped and rose off the floor. He rolled up the rug and took it to the trash can outside. His mother would be upset, she loved that rug. Wait…his mother…

Inko opened the door. "Izuku! Did you see the news? It was on the radio while I was cooking."

"Turn it off! Turn everything off!" Izuku shouted. He ran back inside, then deadbolted the front door.

Inko gulped. "I didn't know if I should believe it, but I turned off the radio anyway."

"Good." Izuku's shoulders sagged. "I saw a news anchor disappear on live TV, Mom. It's real. And–" Izuku stopped. He didn't know how to tell his mother that his father might be involved. No, MUST be involved.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Maybe it's the police here to tell us that they caught the villain." Inko ran for the door.

"No, don't open it." Izuku followed, but too late.

"Oh thank goodness," he heard his mother say, her arms wrapping around a tall figure. Broad arms wrapped around her in turn, a hand stroking up and down her back soothingly.

"What is it dear? Are you alright?" Hisashi asked in a calm, comforting tone.

Izuku's fear turned into a cold anger. Rubbing his foul-tasting mouth, he marched over. "Dad, what have you done?"

Hisashi smiled. "Come sit down in the living room, ducky, and I'll tell you all about it."

Izuku had no choice but to obey. He sat down in an armchair across from his father, his hands clenched on his knees. On the sofa, Inko clung to Hisashi for reassurance.

Hisashi began, "Once upon a time, I had a sickly younger brother. He was very weak and quirkless, but he wanted to be a hero. You remind me a lot of him, Izuku. In order to protect my brother, I locked him away from the world."

His father sounded so matter-of-fact about it that it took Izuku a moment to understand. "You imprisoned your own brother? Why?"

"Because he was too reckless and would have gotten himself killed." Hisashi shrugged as if this was a normal way to deal with troublesome family members.

Inko covered her mouth with her hand. "Dear, is this a joke?"

"No, I'm quite serious."

"Wouldn't that be illegal…?" Inko asked dumbly.

"I'm a villain named All for One. I have the power to give and take quirks, so I have many more besides fire breath. I've been running a criminal empire since the dawn of the age of quirks. But you still love me, don't you?" Hisashi smiled.

Inko's eyes glazed over. She said, "I love you no matter what, Hisashi. I forgive you for anything you've done in the past."

"Mom, are you serious?!" Izuku shouted. He could barely wrap his mind around shocking revelation after shocking revelation. "It's his fault that all this is happening!"

"You'll understand when you're older, sweetie," his mother answered simply, curling against his father's side. Izuku stared at her incredulously, a cold sensation settling in his gut. He remembered the strange way his classmates had reacted to him.

Hisashi continued, "I locked my brother up in the most safe place I could imagine, a bank vault. My brother came to hate me for locking him away from the sun. He stopped eating. I told myself that anything was better than him being dead. But even my greatest defenses didn't stop vile thieves from breaking in and taking him away. He died. All my efforts were for nothing."

"Oh, poor Hisashi." Inko petted her husband's hair. Izuku was quite certain now there was something wrong. No amount of love could explain this reaction.

"What did you do to her?" Izuku demanded. "What did you do to my mom?!"

"We're not at that part of the story yet." Hisashi smiled smugly. Izuku was rapidly coming to hate that smile. "After my brother died, I fell into despair. I nearly died myself."

It was on the tip of Izuku's tongue to say "Good riddance" even with what that would have done to his own existence.

Hisashi said, "After you were born, Izuku, I realized I could never lose another family member again. It would destroy me. But my brother hated me for locking him up, so I couldn't bring myself to do that to you. I realized that I'd been wrong to hurt the people I loved in order to protect them from the world."

"You're saying that like it's a genius revelation." Izuku gaped. "It took you years to figure out that you shouldn't hurt people you love?"

"More like decades. I'm very old." Hisashi shrugged. "Instead, I decided to lock away the entire world in order to make it safe for you." He spoke calmly, as if he didn't understand he was mad.

"Oh honey," Inko huffed beside Hisashi. "Is this really necessary? The whole world…"

"All to keep you and our son safe, love," Hisashi explained gently, thumbing the back of her hand. "In the virtual world, I can reprogram every last person so that they are incapable of harming my family. Only then will you two be perfectly safe, forever. Oh, and I can finally achieve my childhood dream of ruling the world."

"Your…childhood dream…?" Izuku rocked back and forth, feeling the edges of hysteria nipping at his mind. "You took over the entire world because it was your childhood dream?"

Hisashi shrugged. "I believe in dreaming big. And now I can give the whole world to the both of you without worry."

"Hisashi, that's so thoughtful," Inko said dreamily.

"Mom is acting like an NPC." Izuku leapt to his feet, a hand balling into a fist. "You reprogrammed her!"

"I would never change my family. I love you as you are." Hisashi smiled. "Except for one small change. Inko Midoriya will always love and forgive Hisashi Midoriya no matter what."

In an oddly cheerful tone, Inko said, "I should be angry at you for messing with my head, but I forgive you."

"You're manipulating her! She would never accept this otherwise!" Izuku accused furiously.

Hisashi tilted his head as if confused. "I know she'd never accept this. That's why I added the order." Lunging, Izuku punched at his father. Hisashi easily caught the fist, then pulled his child into a hug. "It's better this way. See how happy your mother is."

"Mom won't stay manipulated by you forever." Izuku glared at his father, struggling to pull away. "She'll turn on you when she sees the extent of your crimes, no matter what you've done to her."

Hisashi smiled. "Shall we test that theory? Would you like to take a walk outside?"

Izuku struggled but couldn't break out of his father's grip. He suspected he had no choice.

"That sounds lovely," Inko said in agreement, standing up with her hand clasped around his father's own. "A nice walk, like we used to do. Do you think we could visit the park? We used to picnic there every Sunday."

"Anything you'd like my dear," Hisashi said. "Come along, Izuku. Let's go see the sights, shall we?"

Izuku seethed as he was dragged along behind his father, even when he dug his heels in and tried to fight back. But he might as well have been trying to pull against a brick wall for all the good it did him.

As they walked down the street, Hisashi held Inko's hand on his right and Izuku's hand on his left. Izuku had never before realized that his father was so strong. Perhaps it was a quirk? His father had said something about multiple quirks. It was all too much for Izuku to take in.

A man on the corner checked his phone, mumbling, "Why isn't the bus here yet?"

"Stop!" Izuku shouted. But it was too late. The man was sucked into his screen, leaving the phone to clatter on the street.

Screaming came from a house down the block. Someone else must have been abducted. The screaming stopped, making Izuku believe the other person had been captured too.

"Why….why isn't it happening to us?" Izuku dared to ask his father as they passed several TV screens in a store window.

"A safety measure of course," his father answered. "The virus doesn't affect the members of my family."

"You think of everything, don't you?" Inko leaned into his side.

Glaring, Izuku growled, "All Might will stop you! He always stops every villain!"

Hisashi laughed. "Oh, yes, All Might has been a thorn in my side for many years. He has something that belongs to me, the last remnant of my little brother. I've hated him since before he even became a hero, because he comes from that lineage of thieves. But since you wanted him so badly, I still decided to grab him. It wasn't easy. His reflexes are too fast to be caught in my usual trap. However, after I took the Shimura family hostage, I could easily force him to come to me. They're the family of his dead teacher."

"You what?!" Izuku screeched in horror. "You can't—"

"I already have." Hisashi waved him off casually. "He's waiting for you in the game."

"I don't believe you!" Izuku screamed. "All Might must have a plan! He never loses!"

Leaning down to look his son in the eye, Hisashi crooned, "Would you like to see All Might?"

Transfixed, Izuku nodded.

"Then be a good boy, and I'll let you see All Might later. No fighting, yelling or trying to save people, alright? Remember that I can reprogram anyone within the game–or erase them." His father squeezed his hand in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but was anything but. Those red eyes gazed about the streets before them. "It won't be long now, I believe. All that will be left is to round up the stragglers."

"Please stop," Izuku begged, his voice full of tears. "Please. Stop."

Inko frowned. "What's wrong, sweetie?" She sincerely did not seem to know. She hugged her son. Izuku choked on a sob, wrapping his arms around her for what little comfort it offered.

"It's all a little much for him right now, that's all," Hisashi explained to her. "He'll understand in time."

Izuku resisted the urge to say something rude partly because of his promise and partly for his mother's sake. It was hard to see her like this. Izuku wondered why his father hadn't altered his own mind yet. There had been plenty of opportunities. The thought terrified him.

What…What if Hisashi already had? Would Izuku even know about it?

Surely not, surely then Izuku would be as tame and pliant as his mother. But the fear had seized his heart. Was the very fact that he was wondering if he was under control proof that he wasn't? Or would his father leave behind a bit of resistance just to enjoy winning? Hisashi plainly was having fun.

Izuku had to know. Glaring at his father, he demanded, "Why haven't you reprogrammed me, too?"

Hisashi beamed. "I don't need to force you to love me, just not to leave me. You're my blood related family. You'll never be able to stop loving me. I've always wanted a family member to join my side willingly. In time, you'll see you have no other choice now."

Izuku stared, seeing a veiled threat in those words. His father had said he didn't need to program Izuku to love him, with no mention of other types of brainwashing. Perhaps that would be the penalty if Izuku didn't go along with his father.

"Cheer up sweetie," his mother consoled him with a warm, bright smile. "We're together again, as a family. You should be happy!"

Izuku could not speak in reply. One wrong word could turn him into a mindless puppet too.

Hisashi led them to a park, usually bustling with children playing on the jungle gym and the swings. Now it was empty. Izuku did not like to think about what had happened to the children.

"Oh dear," Inko said worriedly when they came to a stop in a place with lush, green grass and open space. "We forgot to bring what we needed for the picnic."

"Not to worry," Hisashi said, prying out his phone from inside his suit with a smug smile. Holding out his phone, Hisashi materialized a checkered red picnic cloth and a wicker basket from the screen. "I can bring items from the virtual world into the real world, love. It's easy. You can have anything your heart desires."

Smiling, Inko sat down, smoothing the cloth out. "You're a genius," she praised, and Hisashi practically glowed from the words.

Izuku hesitated, but he had little choice but to sit too. He had to behave if he wanted to see All Might. As a jab, Izuku said, "It's a shame that there's no one else here. All your friends are gone, Mom." He desperately hoped for a normal reaction from her.

"Oh, you're right," Inko mused, taking out her phone from her purse, checking through her speed dial. "We should invite Mitsuki and Masaru, dear. We used to eat together all the time. What do you think?"

"That's not possible, love," Hisashi said, and Inko's face fell a little in response. "Mitsuki and Masaru aren't in any state to be joining us right now."

"Why not?" she asked with a huff, placing the phone back into her purse.

"They're code, floating inside a datahub now and waiting to be processed. I'm afraid they aren't aware of much of anything at the moment."

"Oh honey, was that really necessary?" Inko sighed. "Couldn't you just bring them out, like you did with the picnic?"

Hisashi shook his head. "No, unfortunately. It seems they were looking at the same image on one of their phones when they were digitized. They were so close together, at the exact same time and into the exact same device, that their coding became intertwined. Now it's impossible to tell exactly who is who anymore."

"It's what?" Izuku shrieked. "That can happen?"

Hisashi said, "They've essentially merged into a new person, a combination of the personality traits of Mitsuki and Masaru, but also someone new. Perhaps between the two of them, one too aggressive and one too passive, they will make a halfway decent parent able to control their brute of a son."

Izuku half-leapt up and waved his hands as a plea for silence. He'd never told his mother about the bullying because he didn't want her to lose a friend. Hisashi merely smirked and shrugged, dropping the topic. Izuku desperately wondered if this had been an accident or a punishment, but he couldn't ask in front of his mother.

Inko frowned. "Can't you do something to fix this, dear? It seems rather careless. I forgive you, of course. But honey…Mitsuki was my best friend…" she said softly, looking down. "She's just…gone?"

"There's nothing that can be done," Hisashi answered smoothly. (Izuku still was not sure if he believed it.) "But there's no need to feel sad, my goddess. Mitsuki and Masaru still exist, just as a new person, and now they'll be a part of each other forever. From a certain point of view, it's very romantic, don't you think?"

Izuku exploded, "This is insane! Mom, can't you see that?"

"Hm…I never thought of it that way," Inko mused. She tilted her head curiously towards Hisashi. "Is that what you intend for me and you?"

"But that would mean I'd never get to look at your beautiful face ever again," Hisashi chuckled, taking hold of her hand and running his thumb across the back of it. "Don't worry though. You'll be stuck with me forever."

Izuku muttered, "Dad is far too arrogant to let anyone else influence his actions."

"You've been very sulky today," Inko said, a tad reprovingly. "We should enjoy this delicious food your father got us." She pulled out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the basket.

Hisashi mouthed, "All Might." Izuku swallowed the retort he wanted to make, settling back down onto the blanket. Begrudgingly he took a sandwich, biting into it aggressively.

His mother and father chatted to one another as they ate, Izuku sitting in relative silence as time passed. It was hard to ignore the silence around them. The lack of cars driving by and honking, no chatter and buzz of the streets…

So he was unprepared when someone crept up on them, giving him a start when a voice spoke up.

"Excuse me?" A sweaty man stepped out from behind the bushes, looking shaky and terrified. "You're…using a phone? Does that mean the heroes finally caught the villain who caused this? They saved the day?" Hope lit up in his eyes.

Izuku leapt up to his feet. "Dad, don't–"

Hisashi spoke louder. "Oh, yes, technology is safe now. See?" He held out his phone.

Izuku leapt onto his father's arm and dragged it down. But it didn't budge an inch. The man looked at the screen. "Oh thank goodness," he muttered, his eyes roving across the screen, relief on his face as he read through the headline on the news. Only to fall into a frown as he read further. "Wait, this says—Aaah!" escaped his lips before his body broke into particles, the pixels then sucked into the device until there was nothing left of him.

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!" Izuku screamed. He was horrified by his father's total lack of hesitation or remorse. He'd gotten an inkling by now that his father was a sociopath, but it was one thing to suspect and another to see zero emotion on his father's face as he hurt people.

Inko's voice rose. "Izuku Midoriya! How could you grab your father like that? You're grounded."

Izuku stared. "Mom. Dad just…and you…and I'm grounded?"

Calmly, Inko munched on her sandwich. "I don't see why you got so annoyed when that man only wanted a bit of information, Hisashi. But Izuku, that's no excuse for grabbing your father and trying to make him drop his phone. You could have cracked the screen. Both of you boys, behave. I want to enjoy a nice picnic."

"Yes, dear," Hisashi said, looking amused rather than chastened.

Tears burned in Izuku's eyes, his hands curled into fists and shaking. The rest of his sandwich remained uneaten as his parents finished their meal, the horror of the situation filling him.

"We should do this more often," Inko said after they were finished.

Please. No. Izuku could barely bear this one lunch. This could not possibly be his life from now on. He wanted to believe that All Might would save everyone. Would All Might even rescue Izuku, the villain's son? Izuku didn't want to think about it. His father had crossed the moral line so far it was only a spot in the horizon. If the world turned back to normal then people would hate Izuku and Inko. But that wasn't important. Just as long as All Might saved the world one last time, Izuku wouldn't care what happened to himself.

"I agree, love," Hisashi said. "There's one last thing I need to do before we leave however." He removed a glass cylinder from his jacket. Izuku looked at it, confused. Inside a laboratory tube, a small silver butterfly sat so still that Izuku could not tell if it was alive or dead.

"That's…a butterfly?" Izuku blinked. It looked vaguely familiar too.

"It is." Hisashi nodded with a too pleased smile, pressing on an indent on the side of the vial. The glass containing the insect withdrew, and the creature gave a tiny flap of its wings. "Beautiful, isn't it? They're wonderful little collectors."

Izuku swallowed nervously, almost afraid to ask. "Why did you put it in a vial? What's it for?"

"I'll tell you after we meet All Might," Hisashi said, the butterfly taking flight from the vial and landing briefly on Hisashi's hand. Hisashi stared at it with a small, unpleasant smirk, before shaking his hand. Izuku could only watch as it flew off, his eyes following its path before his father's voice caused him to break off his gaze. "Now, I do believe we have the number one hero waiting for us. Best not to keep him waiting, yes?"

It was almost funny that Izuku had longed to meet All Might for years. He had a room overflowing with merchandise that he wanted autographed. But now he felt nothing except cold fear. "You promised."

Hisashi turned to Inko. "Are you coming?"

Inko shook her head. "I'll meet the new Mitsuki and Masaru. I'm looking forward to getting to know this new person."

"As you'd like, dear." Hisashi shrugged.

Izuku felt ashamed of how relieved he felt to part from his mother. He could barely tolerate seeing her right now. If she spoke in that chirpy voice one more time then he might scream.

Hisashi took them back home, and they put on their virtual reality helmets. Hisashi told them that they still needed the equipment as long as their bodies weren't digitized. Apparently being his family had spared them that fate.

Izuku felt no enthusiasm as the helmet went over his head and his world darkened. Once the virtual world had been his sanctuary from the real world. Now he wished the game had never existed. What a joke, playing a hero in the game while interacting with all the innocent people his father had captured to use as toys for him. Hisashi had claimed to have taken control over the world to make it safe for his family. Even if intellectually Izuku knew it wasn't his fault, he still felt responsible for the tragedy that had befallen the world. He nearly wished that he would be digitized too so he didn't need to feel so guilty. But that would mean giving up his last chance to help. All Might must be able to do something.

This time, they emerged into an underground hallway lit by torches. The air smelled stale and smoke tickled his eyes. Izuku did not recognize this place. The demon designs on the torch holders seemed deliberately ominous.

"Where is he?" Izuku demanded as he looked around and saw no sign of All Might. "You said he was in the game!" Izuku frowned. "What is this area?"

"My, what an impatient son I have," Hisashi tutted disapprovingly, but he still kept that infuriating smile as he ruffled Izuku's hair. "Must be something you inherited from me," he said, chuckling when Izuku smacked his hand away. "Follow me. He's right down here."

Hisashi led Izuku to a black door at the end of the hallway. It had a keyhole, but when Hisashi touched the doorknob, it glowed and turned. The room inside was made of solid stone. It was completely dark until Hisashi opened the door and let in light. There was no bed or other furniture. A skinny, frail man crouched in the corner.

Izuku gasped at the sight, rushing to the prisoner's side with his hands glowing with a healing spell. It washed over the emaciated man, but it seemed to have no effect.

"Sir, are you all right?" Izuku stepped closer. "Where is All Might?"

"This is All Might, as he truly is when not using his stolen quirk," Hisashi said. "See?" He yanked up the blond man by his hair. The man did not react, seeming frozen. He had two hair tufts.

"I don't believe you," Izuku snarled.

"I'll show you." Hisashi snapped his fingers. The man came to life, blue eyes blazing.

"All for One, damn you!" That voice was familiar to Izuku from many TV shows–All Might's voice. All Might headbutted Hisashi, then grabbed him by the neck and strangled him.

A black, spiky sword materialized in Hisashi's hands and cut All Might in two. There was only a brief hint of blood, then the number one hero dissolved into pixels. He reappeared huddling back in the corner.

Hisashi laughed. "I never get tired of doing that." He snapped his fingers again, and All Might once again sprang up. This time, Hisashi unleashed a blast of fire from his hands and incinerated the hero. From the screaming, All Might could definitely feel pain.

"STOP!" Izuku begged, throwing himself in front of the hero as he rematerialized once more. "Just…Just stop! Why are you doing this?!"

"Not to worry Izuku," Hisashi consoled his son. "It's far from the first time he's died. He should be used to it by now. But if it bothers you so much, I could always delete him."

"NO!" Izuku screamed, shielding All Might as best he could with his body.

"Oh? Are you certain?" Hisashi pressed, raising an eyebrow. "You're clearly upset."

Angry tears burned in Izuku's eyes. "N-No! I don't want him deleted!"

"Why not? Your precious hero can do nothing now to save anyone." Hisashi's teeth gleamed in a malicious smile. "Aren't you disappointed? Isn't he worthless now?"

"You…you got him just for me, didn't you?" Izuku bit out, trying to think of something, anything to keep All Might alive. "What kind of father gives his son a gift just to rip it away from him?"

Hisashi's eyes softened. "You're right, of course. I wouldn't want my son to feel as though I cheated him out of his present. And it would be a waste, considering how much time and effort it took to collect him."

Tears prickled behind Izuku's eyes. "Please don't torture All Might like this. Can't you just…" Izuku stopped. He'd almost asked his father to rewrite All Might's mind like he'd done with the other NPCs who had clearly used to be heroes. But wouldn't that also be a different kind of horrific fate? Which was better? If All Might forgot then that would be the end of hope for humanity. But what could All Might even do now except be tortured? Izuku didn't know what to say. He chewed his lip for a minute, thinking hard before he hit upon an idea. "I…I want him to join my party. S-So we can have adventures, just like I used to pretend when I was little."

"Hm…" Hisashi pondered the request for an uncomfortably long moment. "I suppose I can allow that. He won't be allowed to level up of course, but you can take him with you on your journeys as you please. If he dies I can just bring him back again."

"Thank you." Izuku took deep, gulping breaths, trying not to cry. He was afraid of upsetting his father by not seeming grateful enough for the gift. When had it come to this, that he was afraid of his own father? If Izuku didn't act obedient enough, then would his personality be rewritten too?

A nagging voice in the back of his mind whispered, What if it already happened? What if I just haven't noticed how I've changed? Mom doesn't see anything wrong with her. Izuku didn't think that giving in and begging a villain was like himself. But he didn't know. He couldn't see anything else he could have done. He'd like to draw one of his many swords from his inventory and chop off his father's head, except he knew it wouldn't last. Part of him still loved his father and wanted everything to go back to normal: was that his own weakness or the brainwashing? How would he ever again know what thought in his head was his own?

Izuku didn't know. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. He just wanted to protect people however he could.

Hisashi said, "I have something else to show you, something far more important than the blond buffoon. You can play with your toy later. Come with me."

"What is it?" Izuku asked, despite dreading the answer.

"It's a surprise." Hisashi vibrated with a maniac energy even stronger than before. "Follow me."

All Might had been located in the dungeon, and this time Hisashi led Izuku to the highest tower of what must be a castle. The tower held a bedroom. The circular room had a pointed ceiling. One walk-in closet led to clothing, another to a miniature library. The blue bed in the middle was surrounded by a curtain. A white-haired man sat before an oak desk with his back turned. Izuku tried to figure out if this was another hero but he did not recognize this person at all.

"Say hello, Yoichi," Hisashi said as he gestured towards the thin man. "This is my brother, Izuku. Your Uncle."

"Hello," Yoichi responded as he turned around, a small, kind smile on his face. He had the same green eyes as Izuku's own. "You must be my nephew. It's nice to finally meet you."

"You…created a fake brother for yourself?" Izuku asked, confused.

Hisashi frowned. "Don't be rude. Yoichi isn't fake."

"You said your brother was dead. Is this a different brother?" Izuku glared. "Is he a part of your evil business?"

Throwing back his head, Hisashi laughed. "Oh, I wish! Yoichi died a century ago due to foolishly opposing me and running off with my enemies."

"Um…" Izuku stared at his uncle. He looked 1. Alive; 2. Completely unbothered by someone talking about his death in front of him. Either he was also under mind control or was he an NPC, a real one not one created from a living person. "This is the brother you imprisoned in a vault?"

"The very same." Hisashi nodded, seeming very pleased with himself. "Except now I've found a much more secure vault for him. No one will ever take him away from me again."

Izuku hesitated, afraid to ask with his father in his current volatile state. "But…my uncle is dead. You told me so yourself."

Hisashi's eyes blazed with an unholy light. "All Might stole my brother's quirk. People leave behind a remnant of themselves in their quirks. A quirk ghost, I like to call them. Once I obtained One for All in my digital world, I obtained my brother's old memories and I could finally resurrect him."

Meekly, Yoichi said, "I'm very grateful, big brother."

"Of course you are." Hisashi patted Yoichi's head. "You'll always be grateful to me now, as you should be." Yoichi leaned into the touch with a smile.

Izuku wasn't sure if he believed it. It seemed more likely his father was deluding himself into believing this NPC was actually the real Yoichi than that he was talking to a dead person.

Yoichi held out his arms. "Come, give me a hug, Izuku. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I-I'm good." Izuku shook his head, holding his hands up in refusal.

Hisashi snapped, "Don't be rude."

Yoichi smiled. "I don't mind. I always disliked it when you forced me to hug you, big brother. Let him be. Some people aren't huggers."

"But you don't mind my hugs now." Hisashi put his arms around Yoichi. There was a triumphant, possessive look in his eyes.

"Of course not! After all, you saved me." Yoichi's tone was adoring, even worshipful.

"Now, come over and give your Uncle a hug, Izuku," Hisashi said again, this time sounding more like an order than a request.

Izuku gritted his teeth and joined a group hug with a dead man.

Hisashi said, "Let's go, Izuku. There's one more thing I want to show you."

Yoichi ruffled Izuku's hair. "It was lovely to meet you, kid. You should come back here soon. I can't leave this room." He did not sound bothered by this.

Izuku had an urge to laugh hysterically. This was all mad. One wrong step, and his father would program him to stay in one room and never leave unless Hisashi wanted to visit? The thought alone was terrifying, but he also briefly wondered if it was kinder to be blissfully ignorant than fully aware of the living hell he was now in.

"What else is there?" Izuku asked, barely able to stifle the delirium in his voice. His father glanced back at him with mild concern. Izuku didn't acknowledge it.

Hisashi asked, "Don't you want to see how this virtual world is maintained?"

Now that his father mentioned it, Izuku did wonder. If everyone got sucked into virtual reality, then who maintained the computers outside? Wouldn't the whole system collapse soon and leave everyone dead? If people's bodies were destroyed then they had nowhere to go back to. Presumably his father would have considered that, but Hisashi seemed so unstable that Izuku wasn't counting on it. His father had transformed into a stranger overnight.

"Yeah," Izuku slowly managed to say, his mouth feeling incredibly dry. If he knew more about the server and the technology behind it, maybe he could find a way to free everyone. "Where is it?" Izuku asked. "Something as complex as this must take up a lot of processing power and space."

"Indeed," Hisashi said. "Something of this scale doesn't happen overnight. There was a reason I was so busy for the last several years. Well. Since you were born, really."

Oh, just lovely, Izuku's father had neglected his family because he was plotting world domination. At least Hisashi had the grace to look a tad sheepish about it. Mild guilt over not being there for his son appeared to be about all he was capable of. Izuku's hysteria rose up, wild and fast. He feared to show it. What if it got programmed out of him?

"Sorry it took so long, ducky. For not being there as much as I'd like," Hisashi apologized, reaching a hand to pet his son's hair. "But I had to make sure you and your mother would be safe."

"Should have just spent the time with your family," Izuku muttered so quietly it was barely audible to his own ears, feeling as though his vision were tunneling and his mind detaching from his body.

Hisashi continued, "I knew you and your mother would be in danger until I captured the last of those foolish heroes. Can you imagine what they might do to you for being related to me?" He shook his head as if he sincerely believed that the heroes were the bad guys. Izuku clamped his lips down to stop a scream.

Even still, he couldn't help how morbid curiosity burned within him. So many people had disappeared before all of this had happened.

"How did you even do it?" The question spilled from Izuku's lips before he could fully stop it. "How is it possible that you managed to capture so many heroes without anyone stopping you?"

"It would be simpler to show you than to explain," Hisashi said. Dread pooled in the pit of Izuku's stomach at the thought. "First, I'll show you the main server. But remember ducky; don't touch anything. That's one of our rules."

"Okay," Izuku answered numbly.

"Good." Hisashi said, sounding pleased. "Now log out and remove your headset. It's time for a father son work day. I've always wanted to show you around my 'company'."

Hisashi was smiling. Izuku was not.

For some reason, when Izuku logged out, he did not appear back in his bedroom. Instead, he sprang into existence in a laboratory. His heart raced for a moment, trying to handle the disorientation. He'd already had some idea his father could do this–Hisashi had easily made the picnic blanket and basket materialize in the real world, therefore he could move around items freely from the virtual to the real world. But it was unnerving for Izuku to remember that he was basically only a collection of pixels now.

Izuku was sitting in a comfy chair, looking over a massive room with white walls and high ceilings. The room was full of computers, giant silver processors packed floor to ceiling. Every half dozen processors had a monitor. The beings that sat in front of the computers were plainly not human–they had thick rotting skin like corpses. The sound of so many machines made the entire room hum. Heat radiated so strongly off the computers that it nearly knocked him backward. The humanoid monsters worked tirelessly, typing at the computers.

Izuku had a brief, mad desire to destroy this place. He could go to the nearest computer and start smashing. But that would kill everyone trapped in the virtual world. And of course his father would stop him.

"What…What is this place?" Izuku stammered, looking out from the glass window that allowed him to peer into a second room that was filled with cylindrical objects alight with a softly glowing blue light. They lined the floors in neat rows, with space between them to allow someone to walk through them. They went from the floor to the ceiling and from just a glimpse he could see that they went deeper in.

In the center of it all, however, was the most eye-catching piece. It was massive, and easily the size of an entire building, with many cables and cords leading up to it, pulsing with energy.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Hisashi asked from his side. "It's the culmination of over a decade of tireless work."

Impressive was one word for it. Izuku would have used "terrifying" or even "hateful." The murderous energy itched in him again to rip this place to pieces. Only for his rage to sputter out, futile.

"You still haven't explained what it is," Izuku whispered, curling in on himself in the chair. "Or what those dead things are."

"The structure in the center is the main server." Hisashi pointed to the one Izuku had just been looking at, with all the cabling. "Where the virtual world is contained, essentially."

"The things," Izuku insisted, sweat racing down his forehead.

"Oh, the ones below it? Those are datahubs," Hisashi explained.

"No I meant the monsters!" Izuku half-screamed.

"Oh, you mean my Nomu," Hisashi said. "Yes, they do look a bit unnerving."

Unnerving was one word for it.

Hisashi explained, "I need someone to maintain the servers after everyone was digitized. If the virtual world went down, then humanity would be wiped out." He spoke so casually it was difficult to tell if this was a threat. "My Nomu are created from corpses. They can work tirelessly without sleep or food. For the more complicated tasks, I have people from the virtual world pilot their bodies. I reprogrammed a million computer technicians to maintain the facility at all times. I altered their brains so they don't need any rest. They simply work out bugs in the virtual world nonstop."

Izuku had no idea what part of that was most horrifying. The monsters made from corpses? Or the part where Hisashi had apparently reprogrammed a portion of the people in the digital world to be nothing except slaves? On second thought it was definitely the slaves! Those were living people!

"Can't you do something else?" Izuku asked weakly. "Do you have to force people to work for you? Can't you at least let them be happy in the digital world?" The words tasted like ashes in his mouth. He wanted to scream at his father but he had no power so he could only beg.

"Someone must maintain the servers." Hisashi didn't even pretend to sound sorry about it.

"But they can still have freedom!" Izuku insisted desperately. "They can still work for you and have their own personalities and breaks from working."

Hisashi raised an eyebrow. "I could have people work in shifts, so that they have some time to explore the virtual world. But of course that would require me to reprogram more people to work for me."

Izuku froze. This felt like a test. Was it more unethical to enslave a smaller number of people or a larger number under better working conditions? Of course everyone in this virtual world was Hisashi's slave whether they knew it or not. Izuku simply couldn't get over the people forced to do nothing except work nonstop.

"Just…please. Let people be themselves and have some free will at least, even if you program them to be loyal to you." Izuku swallowed. "Maybe you could have people work shifts that only last as long as nighttime would, so that they have the equivalent of daytime for freetime. No one needs sleep now." He knew he was making a deal with the devil but this seemed like the best he could get.

Hisashi paused, considering. Izuku's throat felt horribly dry. After a moment, Hisashi smiled. "Anything for my adorable ducky. This world exists for you, after all."

Izuku exhaled. He realized he had to say it. "Thank you." With just a few words, he'd decided the fates of millions of people. He'd helped some of them, but he'd also drawn more people in to be forced to work for his father. He wanted to throw up.

"These aren't the only Nomus in my employ of course," Hisashi said. "Someone needs to maintain the rest of the world after all."

Izuku didn't want to continue the topic with the Nomu, deciding to steer the conversation elsewhere. He swallowed thickly, and asked, "W-Where are you keeping everyone? Surely they have to be kept somewhere."

"Right below you, ducky." Hisashi pointed below, to the smaller cylinders that took up the near entirety of floor space. "As I was saying before, those are datahubs. Each one contains roughly a million minds, all stored as code and connected to the main server, allowing them access to the virtual world. It's partly why this all took so long—it's not easy creating the space for nearly eight billion people, after all."

Smashing one of those computers would mean massacring a million people. Izuku stuck his hands behind his back.

"Where are you getting the power for all this?" Izuku asked, fear eating at him. If the power flickered for even a moment, would everyone in the hubs be lost?

"Several sources," Hisashi answered vaguely. "It wouldn't do to simply have one, after all. I always have a backup plan, and backups for my backups. Don't worry about them losing power, son."

Izuku could only nod, the words hardly easing his concerns. Don't worry about the extinction of humanity, Izuku! That might be the most insane thing his father had said all day, and Izuku had just come from meeting his uncle's corpse.

"Ah, but I promised to show you how I captured all the heroes who you admire so much." There was a mocking edge to Hisashi's voice.

Izuku didn't like that tone, not one bit. But he needed to know. Maybe, just maybe, there would be some small chance that he could figure out a way to stop his father if he understood how All for One had won.

"Follow me." Hisashi gestured. "I have an appointment with a doctor."

Hisashi led Izuku down the hallway of computers and into another laboratory room. Wires and tubes were hooked up all around the room in a jumbled mess, so Izuku had to step over them. The silver counter in the back had a microscope and an array of petri dishes. On the computer screen, there were dozens of videos of different places in the laboratory, monitoring Nomu activity. A bald man with a mustache stood in the middle of the room, bending over a glass box containing a silver butterfly. Izuku recognized the same butterfly his father had shown him at the picnic.

"Master." The man looked up, and Izuku could only stare at the person he recognized as his former doctor. The very same one that had been the first person to crush his dreams when diagnosing him as quirkless. "How may I help you?"

Izuku clapped his hands over his mouth to prevent hysterical sobs or giggles. Even his old pediatrician worked for All for One? How much of his life had been a lie?

"Doctor Garaki." Hisashi inclined his head a little with a smile. "My son finds himself rather curious about our work and how the heroes were captured. I'm busy at the moment, so please take the time to explain the process."

Izuku did not even have the energy to be surprised that on top of pretending to be qualified to give medical care to children, the doctor had been using a fake name. It was hardly the greatest crime he'd seen in the last five minutes.

"I'm always delighted to explain my masterpiece work." The doctor's bushy mustache twitched slightly, and Izuku saw a pleased, manic glint behind the man's goggles. He stiffened when his father patted him on the shoulder before nudging him forward, then stepped away to busy himself with something else.

Garaki turned around, several screens lighting up before him. On them were displayed the same kind of butterfly in the case, observed from every angle. Close up, Izuku saw that they appeared to be metallic, rather than organic, with countless tiny moving parts.

"It all begins with these," Garaki explained. "I created these lovely creatures and designed them to be able to download others into their forms, simply by landing on them and transferring the virus directly. Later, they return to the facility to upload the person they've captured. In this way, we can continue to capture even the last remaining people who were not near technology during the initial upload."

Izuku felt sick. The butterflies attacked people and digitized them? Then when Hisashi had released a butterfly at the picnic…he'd unleashed another monster to hunt down the few surviving humans. Izuku hadn't even tried to stop him. Not that Izuku would have been able to do anything anyway. Wrong, wrong, wrong, everything about this situation was wrong.

As Garaki spoke, Hisashi moved behind him, going to the console and typing something in. He hummed under his breath, plainly not listening.

"Rather ingenious, if I do say so myself." Garaki sounded immensely pleased with himself. "No one would ever suspect something as harmless as a butterfly to be capable of such feats. We began with civilians, then moved on to a few lesser known heroes to test its effectiveness. Once it was proven to work flawlessly, we targeted the more notable heroes."

"That's how we grabbed Star and Stripe's sister," Hisashi called from the console. "She had security around her 24/7, but no one would ever suspect an innocent butterfly." As Hisashi spoke, the wings of the butterfly in the glass case trembled.

"It was more rudimentary in the beginning than it is now," Garaki continued. "At first it only sought out individuals it was specifically programmed to capture. Later, its range became more widespread. Now they are designed to seek out any and all individuals not protected from their sensors. If they cannot reach their intended target, they self-replicate until they capture it."

The butterfly twitched again, then one wing snapped off. Izuku gasped. The butterfly regrew its wing, and the severed wing regenerated into a second butterfly. Both new butterflies broke in two, creating four butterflies. In seconds, the glass box was packed full of butterflies. Their wings beat helplessly against the glass. Izuku stared. Was that supposed to happen? Was it a problem? Should he point it out to someone? Izuku clamped down on his natural helpfulness. He had no interest in saving anyone in this room–perhaps including himself.

Casually, Hisashi reached into the box (his hand going through using a quirk) and removed a single butterfly. Cupping the butterfly in his hand, he walked over to Dr. Garaki.

Garaki said, "Based on my calculations I believe that at this point there are only a few humans remaining in the most isolated parts of the world. We haven't yet been able to reach those on the space station, but I expect they will probably die with no one to help them return to Earth–" He turned around. His voice abruptly cut off as he saw Hisashi holding out the butterfly.

"Master?" Garaki blinked, staring as though dumbfounded by the sight, before a slow realization dawned on him. "But…Master. I have been nothing but loyal to you. I've dedicated the last one hundred and fifty years to diligently serving you."

"Thank you for your service," Hisashi said. "But my family will not be perfectly safe until every single person in the world is under my complete control."

"But you promised me immortality," Garaki murmured, seeming to be in shock. "You promised—"

The butterfly landed on Garaki's shoulder, then he had no shoulder as it dissolved into pixels. His entire body went away in a matter of seconds, his mouth hanging open as he vanished. Izuku made a small sound.

"I am a man of my word, Doctor," Hisash said, holding up the butterfly that was now sitting innocently on his finger, wings glowing a vibrant blue. "You shall have your immortality—though perhaps not in the way you envisioned."

Humming pleasantly, Hisashi placed the butterfly back in the box. Turning around, he smiled at Izuku. "See how far I would go in order to protect you? I would allow no one to exist who might have the smallest ability to threaten you. I've made this world completely safe for you." Gently, Hisashi patted Izuku's head. "I regret that I wasn't there more when you were young. I regret that I let the bullying slip beneath my notice." Something dark briefly contorted his features. "But now, we'll have all the time in the world together."

Izuku felt sick. It had never even occurred to him to help Dr. Garaki. Perhaps that was because the man was a villain, but Izuku had always been the type of person who would help anyone. Now a voice in his head said that he needed to pick his battles, that he couldn't save everyone. That wasn't like Izuku at all. Had he changed because of these dire circumstances? Or had his father rewritten something in his head, slipping in some strange code without Izuku ever knowing?

Or did Izuku merely want to believe that he'd been mind-controlled because then he'd be free of all responsibility for not doing more to stop his father? Was he a bad person?

If Hisashi had tampered with Izuku's mind, then Izuku would never even know…

"I-I want to go home," Izuku hiccuped, hands fisted, fingers clutching at his pants. "I don't w-want to be here anymore."

"Of course, son," Hisashi conceded without argument. "It's been quite a day, after all. You should go and relax. Or walk around to clear your head, either in the real world or the virtual world. It all belongs to you now, after all."

Wordlessly, Izuku nodded. He took in gulping breaths, trying very hard not to cry. He was afraid of how his father might react if he started crying. The best case would be an entirely unwanted hug forced on him, and the worst case would be getting his code adjusted to make him a bit happier…

Izuku could not bear to imagine taking a walk around the empty real world, passing all the broken items and seeing the places where people should be.

"I'll just. Just take a walk in the virtual world," he eventually muttered.

"Sounds good, ducky," Hisashi said. "I'll join you later."

Please don't, Izuku thought as he was led back the way they came, towards the chair with the headset laying on it.

When Izuku slipped on his headset, he reappeared back on the same hill where he'd first entered the virtual world. That moment felt like a lifetime ago. His mother's statue beamed at him.

Izuku walked down the hill into town. It was bustling with people, adventurers buying gear for quests from the street vendors. People were happy and smiling. Izuku spotted a blond boy he didn't know, with a black lightning-shaped streak on his left fringe. The boy leapt up and down as he slashed a blade through the air. The blade left streaks of lightning. "Perfect for me! I'll take it!" he cried.

At the armor stall, a girl with earjacks was trying on a new breastplate. "Not a bad fit," she said. "At least this game has gear for female warriors that isn't super revealing." A brief look of confusion crossed her face. "I mean, at least this town has great gear."

At a bread stall, a boy with a raven's head was leaning over the baguettes. Apparently people with mutations still had them in the virtual world. The boy had a strange shadow, moving around picking up a bag of croissants instead of staying at his feet.

A girl with light pink skin and darker pink hair ran past, her yellow horns waving in the breeze. She held up a huge rabbit by its feet. "Look what I just caught! Where can I sell it?"

Izuku felt ill. He had not wanted to see the empty real world, but he did not want to see this cheerful virtual world either. Everything was wrong. These kids had been mind-controlled. Watching people act cheerful and normal creeped him out. Izuku had a strong sensation like he ought to do something, even though he knew he could not. It left him feeling queasy and guilty.

In Izuku's distraction, he tripped over the curb.

"Whoops!" A bit of air magic caught him, from a mage girl with a round face and a bob. She smiled at him as she set him back on his feet. "That could have been a nasty tumble! How are you?"

"Thanks," Izuku mumbled, running away from her. He was in no mood to make small talk with people who did not know that he was a villain's son, a monster, that this was all his fault because his father had done it for him.

Instead, Izuku went into the forest. Perhaps there he could get a moment alone.

But the forest was also crowded with adventurers. Two brothers with engines for legs shot past him, chasing after a slime. A girl with frog-like features swam in the lake. In the distance, there was a massive boom as a boy with red hair chopped through a hill with his sword. "Manly!" he screamed.

Izuku headed for a deeper part of the forest. On his way, he passed a boy with half-red, half-white hair. The boy had a scar on the left side of his face, but the scar flickered out of existence. Then it returned. Then it flickered out of existence. After a brief glitch, the scar was gone. The boy had a bow and arrow in his hands, watching the sky. In this part of the forest, he was probably hunting for bird demons.

Activating one of his many abilities, Izuku shot past the players crowding the forest and up the mountain. Most lower level players couldn't get past the monsters here. When he was in the deepest part of the forest, he finally sighed and sat down on a boulder in front of a small blue-green pool.

Opening his inventory, Izuku took out an incense burner that chased off monsters. He was in no mood for a battle.

After Izuku pulled out the burner, he paused. There was something new in his inventory: a smiling face with familiar yellow hair tufts. The item was labeled "All Might."

Curiosity had always been Izuku's curse, making him venture dangerously close to hero fights as a child. He was in no state for yet another shock. But he had to know. He pressed the item.

"All Might?" Izuku whispered as the skeletal man came into being before him. The number one hero wheezed, as though struggling for air, bright blue eyes looking around wildly.

"W-Where–Who—" All Might began, before those burning eyes landed on Izuku and Izuku flinched.

"It's okay!" Izuku tried to reassure him, despite knowing it was anything but. "I-It's okay! You aren't going to be hurt!"

"Who are you?" All Might demanded. "Where is he?!"

"He's not here–not yet!" Izuku spoke quickly, whipping his head around in the fear that his father was listening in on their every word. "Please, listen!" he insisted, desperate. "I don't have much time. I'm trying to keep you safe from my father but—"

"Your father?" All Might repeated, sounding incredulous and furious at the same time.

"I-I know. I know how it must seem, but I'm not like him, I swear! I just want to help—" Izuku flinched away from the look in his hero's eyes. It would have been better if All Might had looked at Izuku with hatred. Izuku believed that he deserved hatred. Instead, All Might looked scared. That was all wrong. The number one hero shouldn't look scared. If even All Might couldn't smile any longer, then all hope was lost.

Izuku had been counting on All Might to save him, but now he saw how unfair and impossible that would be. All Might couldn't even protect himself under current circumstances. Then…was it time to give up?

The sound of someone logging in had Izuku recalling All Might back into his inventory in an instant, shifting nervously as he closed it out. Turning around, sure enough he was greeted with his father's visage.

"Izuku?" Hisashi observed his surroundings. "What brings you all the way out here? I thought you wanted to take a walk around the town."

"Just. Wanted some time to myself, that's all." Izuku hunched his shoulders, looking down and away. He had always been nervous and not very sociable with others, so hopefully his father would buy it. "M-Maybe later."

Fortunately Hisashi did not challenge Izuku's excuse. With a broad smile, Hisashi asked, "Would you like to go on a quest with your old man? Ah, it's been a while since we've had time to play together. I've been so busy with the game's release." He spoke casually of taking over the world. "But now I have an eternity of time for you, ducky."

Izuku swallowed. He felt like he had no choice. If he didn't at least pretend to go along with his father, then he'd be mind-controlled to be happy like everyone else in this game. "S-sounds good."

As Izuku and Hisashi left together, Izuku wondered if he might have already been reprogrammed. Because he couldn't even imagine fighting back against his father.

---

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: Uno Reverse on the Vault Time Tag

Hisashi: My little brother told me not to vault family members, so I vaulted the rest of the world instead. Clearly I can learn from my mistakes.

Yoichi: Don't pin this one on me!

Izuku: I still feel very vaulted, actually.

#

Omake: Presenting AI Yoichi

Hisashi: This is my perfectly obedient little brother who always loved me and longed to join my side.

Real Yoichi: LIES!

Hisashi: I swear I heard the sound of very familiar disobedience.

#

Omake: If Inko Had Her Right Mind

Hisashi: Dear, you look angry. I'm spending more time with our son like you keep asking.

Inko: Did you take over the world and trap everyone in a virtual reality setting as an alternative to coming home occasionally?!

Hisashi: I'm an overachiever.

Inko: You're about to be overdone when I get my hands on my frying pan.

#

Omake: Later

Hisashi: Don't you want to see the other special class I made exclusively for you besides hero?

Izuku: Is it the miserable failure class?

Hisashi: No, silly, it's the prince class!

Izuku: Does that come with any real power in this world?

Hisashi: It makes you the most protected person in existence.

Izuku: It's useless and decorative, yet still doesn't make me hate myself as much as the hero class. I suppose you're the king?

Hisashi: Oh, even better! I'm the Demon King! HAHAHAHA LITTLE BROTHER, YOU ALWAYS TOLD ME I COULDN'T BECOME A DEMON KING WHEN I GREW UP BUT LOOK AT ME NOW! I HAVE FULFILLED MY CHILDHOOD DREAM. NEENER-NEENER.

Izuku: My world was taken over by this failure of Japanese metal healthcare. How pathetic.

Hisashi: I want to start hearing some applause or I'll reprogram your personality.

#

Omake: The Counterattack

Hisashi: I took over the world to become a demon king, but the second most important reason was so that now my son can't spend my money on All Might merchandise.

Izuku: …It's been ten days without any new merch…withdrawal symptoms are setting in…entering villain mode…

Hisashi: Hmm, I don't remember adding that but it sounds awesome OH DEAR GOD MY FACE HE BIT OFF MY FACE.