"We're the ones who should apologize!" Lemillion told him, smiling at Chisaki, while I knelt and looked at the girl, bandages up and down her arms, shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"That fabulous mask you're got there, you must be with the Hassaikai! You guys are kind famous around here." Lemillion continued, playing the part of novice hero like an expert.
"Yeah. Don't mind the mask, I'm just sensitive to dust and grime." He paused and held a hand out as he spoke.
"I've never seen you two before. Newcomers to the hero business? You're both so young."
I laughed and held a hand to the back of my neck, holding the girl in my right arm.
"That's right, we're both noobs to the hero game. Nice mask, but you know the black plague has a cure now, right?" I joked, watching him get irritated.
Lemillion took over, punching my shoulder lightly.
"Come on, we still gotta make our rounds across the neighborhood before lunch. Let's go!"
The girl gripped my arm, crying softly now. "Don't go."
Well, that settled it. We couldn't leave now.
"Your daughter seems scared. You hit her or something?" I asked, looking at Chisaki with a smile as I slowly powered up, making sure to show no outer signs of what I was doing.
"Oh, no, of course not. She's just upset since I scolded her." The masked man replied, and I looked down at her arms.
"Really? These bandages, they aren't kind of thing you get from playing too roughly. For a kid her age to be trembling in fear, it's not normal."
"Don't assume to know what's normal for other people's households." He replied while looking down at me in contempt.
"Piss off, birdbrain." I told him, standing up straight and putting the girl on my shoulders.
"It figures that a hero would be sensitive to such subtleties. Very well." He turned towards the alley. "I'd rather not be overheard. Could you come this way?"
I'd probably blown the objective, but how could I walk away from someone who needed help?
Lemillion, and I followed him, only a few feet in when he started speaking again.
"I've actually been concerned about Eri lately. No matter what I say, she fights back."
"Because raising a child is so hard you've gotta hurt them." I replied, still getting creepazoid vibes from him.
"Yes, children are so difficult. What will they become? What can they become?" He asked, beginning to slip a glove off, a sense of pure bloodlust filling the area. Well, I didn't mind fighting for my life, to save another.
"I constantly find myself wondering about that."
The girl, Eri, jumped off my shoulders, running over next to the man.
"Oh...? Done throwing your temper tantrum?" He asked, and Eri nodded.
"Yes. It's always like this. Sorry for making you listen to our problems. Didn't mean to trouble you. Good luck with the job."
"No worries. Things happen. Before you leave, though, this is for your daughter." I told him, walking closer and making a flower before putting it in her white hair.
"There you go. Be good, okay?" I told her, watching her nod sadly.
As they walked away, I grit my teeth. Legally, I couldn't do anything to help. All I'd do is make everything harder for the other heroes.
"Come on. Still gotta patrol." I told Lemillion, turning away with a scowl.
"Izuku Midoriya?" At my name, I turned, hoping it was Chisaki so I could punch him. Instead, there stood a guy who looked like me, but more wild, and another who looked like me, but more tired and dirty.
"My name is Izuku Midoriya, and this is my partner, Izuku Midoriya. We're from time patrol, here to arrest you for your crimes against the timelines." The wild one told me, popping out metal claws from his knuckles and looking like he was ready for a fight.
"Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?" The dirty one asked under his breath.
"Uh, Lemillion, call in what just happened. I got this one." I told my blonde companion, who looked at the two other and raised an eyebrow.
"You sure?" He asked, looking concerned.
"Don't worry, I've got experience with the multiverse and my counterparts. Besides, if I'm going to cosmic jail, you still need to report what we saw." I told him, and he nodded, leaving the three of us.
"Okay, I know better than anyone else when I'm lying. What the hell do you really want?" I asked, and the one with claws started laughing, his claws retracting into his body.
"Okay, you caught me. I'm putting together a team of Midoriya from across the multiverse. There's a threat coming, one that's erasing us from existence. For the survival of all Midoriya, Deku, etc, etc. We need a powerhouse, and you're a power beyond even this guy, and he's pretty powerful." The clawed one told me, and I was kind of floored. Well shit, how could I turn him down?
"If you know me, you know I'd never turn down the opportunity to help people. I just need to charge my power ring, and I'll be ready. Which means I'll be back soon. Probably about forty-five minutes or so." I told them, lifting up and pushing my own powers to the limit, trying to get there as quickly as I could, making it to the batcave after around an hour or so. God, flying like this sucked. Without my ring, the elements didn't feel so nice. Ocean was nice, at least.
"Why are you here?" Bruce asked as I pulled my hood and face mask off.
"There's a threat coming to kill every version of myself in the multiverse, erasing me from existence. I'm joining the resistance. Anyway, I'm here for my ring, battery, and a super pill in case this is a trap of some kind." I told him, putting my hand on a scanner and waiting as a mechanical hiss informed me it work.
"And you believe this?" Bruce asked as I held out my ring and said my oath, filling my ring to full power before I grabbed it, storing it on my belt.
"Of course I did. If I didn't, what kind of hero would i be? Besides, I literally came here first, so you could keep an eye on me. If I'm wrong, and they're lying, then I need some backup." I told him, grabbing a snack from Damians supply. Kid was living with Brucie Wayne. He could afford me taking a bag of gummies.
"I'd expect nothing less. Take this. Flash uses it when he phases through the multiverse, so we know where he is. If you think things are going badly, I'll send help." He told me, offering a little black box that clipped to my belt.
"Great. While you're working, can you get me all the info you have on Kai Chisaki, leader of the Hassaikai. He's part of the yakuza, and I'm working a case with the Knighteye Agency and shits real now. There's a kid, a girl, maybe eight, definitely abused, but I couldn't do anything. I need all the information you have, so if the legal system fails, these hands won't." I told him, and he turned, looking at me.
"You need to work on your own detective and fighting skills. But I'll provide the information with Red Robin, in case you don't show up for the raid they're planning." He told me, as I rolled my eyes.
"How'd you know they're planning a raid? I didn't even know." I asked, and he turned with a smile so small, I almost missed it.
"I'm Batman, remember?"
"How could I forget?" I asked, looking at him for a moment before walking over and giving him a hug.
For a moment, his arms were awkwardly held out, not sure what to do, but he hugged me back eventually.
"Know something, Bruce? You're a good dad. It's better than I imagined when I found out you were Batman, at least." I told him with a smile and pulled away, Bruce taking my hand and slipping something in it.
"You take this only if you need it." He warned, the super pill sitting there before I stored it in a pouch on my belt.
"Emergencies only." I promised, using the ring to lift up, masking my face before I shot out of the exit of the cave, flying fast and hard with all the powers and quirks I had, pushing myself to get back to Japan quickly.
I really should have told them to stay put. They looked stupid, but no one would have questioned them. Now I had to search for them.
"Hey, down here!" The dirty one called from a roof, and I landed next to them and with a smile.
"Man, how'd you know where I was coming from?" I asked, figuring they'd been tracking me somehow.
"One of my quirks is a copy of Search. As soon as you got in range, we moved towards your flight path." The dirty one told me, and I squinted at him.
"Have we met?" I asked, taking off my hood and mask.
"Oh shit, you passed through my universe a couple of months ago. Man, things have gotten completely since then." The dirty one told me, and i realized we needed better ways to refer to one another.
"Yeah. Since then, I visited two other universes, helped liberate one from an evil Superman, helped stop an alien invasion in my universe, and got a job. What about you?" I asked, and he looked towards the streets below.
"Kacchan got kidnapped, my solo rescue ended with me accidentally killing one of the League of Villains, finding out All-For-One is my dad, getting the quirk All-For-One, and becoming a vigilante." He told me, and I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Dude, you're the strongest person in your universe. Sometimes, things happen. But don't forget, you're not alone. Your life has been insanely hard, but you have a purpose." I told him, and he shrugged before turning to the wild looking version of us.
"This is why you wanted me to come? Because I know this guy?" He asked, and the wild one laughed.
"Of course. That, and I wanted you to get a pep talk from him. But we should get back. This much Izuku without the protection the Watchers pocket dimension gives us is dangerous." He told us, pushing a button, and before I knew what was happening, every sensation I had went insane before returning to normal, and I threw up.
"You think it's bad for you? I've got enhanced senses already." The wild one informer me, and I decided to clear something up.
"If we're all Midoriya, how do we figure out who is who?" I asked, wiping my mouth and looking at them.
"Our hero names. I'm Atlas, this is Clawstrike, and you are?" The dirty one, Atlas told me, and I smiled, standing a little straighter, proud of my name.
"I'm the Emerald Knight." I told him, and Clawstrike lit up a cigar, looking admittedly pretty cool.
"Yeah, yeah, introductions can wait. You were the last one we needed for our strike team." Clawstrike spoke, waving for us to follow.
"Why was I last if I'm so strong?" I asked, and Clawstrike turned, walking backward.
"Because the amount of power Godeku needs to kill you far exceeds what he could collect while I collected the rest of our team. Even with your amazing strength and powers, we can't win without working together. Speaking of," He pushed a button, continuing to lead us down a hall and into an area with a couple of people who were waiting.
"Alright, people! It's time to fully assemble! All of us are here, so let's get right into the plan!" Clawstrike called, jumping up on a table and clapping his hands.
"Let's go ahead and get the questions I know you've had for a while now. Why you're here. You know Godeku is coming for us and for all of our counterparts. But why you specifically? I was chosen by Watcher to lead. Spider-Deku, you're here since you're part of the spider-verse and have experience with threats of this magnitude. Overlord of Hell Deku, you're here for your satanic powers and knowledge of the mystical world. Captain Greenbeard, you're here for your sea faring, swordskills, and cursed undead monkey. Sir Deku, you're here because of your magical sword. Nomu Deku, your quirks, size, and strength make you a force to be reckoned with. Atlas, you're here for your ability to steal quirks, as well as your control over One-For-All. Emerald Knight, your strength exceeds all of ours, your power ring gives you abilities to do incredible things, and your control over plant life will come in handy." He told us, but he hadn't mentioned one of us, a version of us with no real muscle or anything looking at Clawstrike, waiting for his reason to be here.
"Oh, Villain Deku. You're my secret weapon. Your physical strength is the lowest, but your mind is going to give us the edge."
Villain Deku turned, looking disgusted at us, and I noticed he was a little better looking. His muscle was there, just not as noticeable, like he had the ultimate sleeper build. But as he pushed past us, I couldn't feel an ounce of fear from him. He was a villain surrounded by heroes, and he was calm and confident, like he had nothing to worry about, covered head to toe in what looked like green and purple velvet, and he pulled out a metal rabbit mask before finally speaking?
"Let's be gone then. It is time for Godeku to meet... his Doom."
(This story will continue in Across All Realities, so it will be a while before I update The Emerald Knight. Thanks so much for all the love and support you've given me so far)