Lighters

by Fezzgator

Out on a job for the mayor, Michiru is pulled away from her world and dumped in one that, at least on the surface, is paradise. Along with a cranky chimera who hates monsters, a girl who barely talks and a group of misfits displaced from across time and space Michiru will try to find her place. Plus crossovers with Slayers!, Xenogears, Final Fantasy 6, Escaflowne and more!

22. Chapter 22

"I hate parties." Zelgadis spat while Hina stood before the three exhausted lighters, smiling with pride and self-satisfaction.

There were several gasps followed by silence as Hina continued to stand there, her smile still plastered on her face, though it was now clearly strained, her eye begining to twitch. "What…did you just say?" Hina eked out, her mouth struggling to retain even a hint of positivity.

Zelgadis, annoyed and tired, either choose not to see or somehow was completely unaware of just how thin the ice he was standing on really was. Crossing his arms and rolling his eyes, he repeated himself defiantly "I hate parties, and this one, especially, is poorly timed. This is almost literally the last thing I could have wanted."

The zombified idol singer Sakura dropped her cup from shock and everyone else in the room aside from the blue-skinned chimera knew he had just made a terrible, terrible mistake.

"I'll fucking kill you!" Hina screamed, a wave of unseen telekinetic energy exploding forward as Mob stepped forward to physically retrain Hina too late. Emeralda had already leapt forward to tackle Zelgadis out of the way while Michiru threw herself to the side to avoid what she, too, knew was coming. The psychic attack missed its target, blowing open the front door, knocking it off one of its hinges and utterly destroying the pot of a poor Philodendron plant sitting on a table just to the side.

Terra joined Mob in restraining the enraged party planner, freeing Mob to hold back any further telekinetic outbursts with his own power. Hitomi, who had been setting up snacks in the kitchen, came forward as well to calm Hina down.

Off to the side, Ranma, in her female form, cringed at the exchange, and leaned over to Sadou and said "That…brings back some painful memories."

Side-eyeing the sex-changing martial artist, the sometimes demon frowned and quipped back "So, you were an idiot is what your telling me."

"Yeah, pretty much." The pig-tailed master replied without missing a beat, crossing her arms.

"Not surprising." Sadou answered back, taking a sip of his punch while Ranma glared at him.

Shinra noted that the plume of dark mist emanating from Celty's neck had briefly formed into an explanation point when Hina blasted the door open and grinned despite himself. "Aren't you supposed to be the super cool underground hero? How did that startle you?"

The plume briefly shot out a larger puff of mist, like an exploding volcano before Celty angrily shot back "Hey, I can't be on the clock all the time! I can get startled just like anyone else, ok!"

Back on the ground, Zelgadis had managed to sit back up, his eyes wide as he looked over at the hard breathing Hina. Terra and Hitomi were saying something to her too softly for him to hear so he turned to look up at Emeralda, who had already risen and said, still shell-shocked "Thanks, Emeralda. That…was close."

The tan girl nodded before she turned to see Michiru had gotten back to her feet as well though the tanuki girl was looking less than pleased and glared down at the chimera. "Thanks, Zel." She deadpanned.

His face burning with embarrassment, Zelgadis started to object "Look, I was just-"

"About to tell Hina thank you for all the work she did, right Zelgadis?" Hitomi finished, her tone carrying a hint of warning in her voice while she patted the upset blue-haired girl in her arms.

"Y-yes, that's exactly what I was about to say." Zelgadis agreed before the insulted telekinetic's eyes settled on him expectedly. "I…I mean..." the chimera started as he struggled to summon the words. Every eye in the room seemed to bore into him when he finally managed to say "This is a wonderful thing to do for us, and it must have been exhausting. Thank you Hina." even sounding fairly sincere. He added under his breath "though not as exhausting as today has been…"

Mercifully for the sorcerer-swordsmen, that added comment seemed to go unheard by most, though Michiru had to stifle a smirk. Hina seemed to accept the apology, visibly relaxing which signaled for Mob and Hitomi to loosen their hold on her as well. "Hmph! You should be grateful! I know you just had a hard day but it was the only time I could get all these jerks here on the same day, so shut up and have fun!" With that, the bluette stalked off to stuff her face with snacks.

After he watched Hina walk off, Zelgadis finally got a chance to really take it all in. Indeed every other person they had met since coming here who was also displaced appeared to be in the room, except for two. When Hitomi, Ranma, Celty and Sadou came up to properly congratulate the trio, the rock-encrusted young man felt the need to ask "I can't help but notice a couple of faces missing. Where is that winged guy who got us out of Yokohama? And What about Sanada? I thought for sure he, of all people would be here."

It was the headless underground hero Celty who spoke first. Looking at her while a voice emanated from a device on her neck was a bit disconcerting to all three of the newest lighters, despite all they had seen in their lives. Still, all listened when Celty said, "Oh, Brooklyn's still asleep. He'll be around as soon as the sun sets."

Michiru raised an eyebrow at that "Wait, is he that much of a night owl?"

Chucking while the plume of mist from her neck seemed to bubble playfully, Celty answered "No, no. He's very excited actually! It's just that, he's a gargoyle and in the world Brooklyn is from, gargoyles literally turn to stone when the sun raises. He's actually in the gym if you want to see him, he flew in last night."

"Fascinating…" Emeralda muttered.

"Uh, no, that's ok. I kinda feel like we'd be intruding on something private." Michiru replied, waving her hands, Emeralda and Zelgadis nodding in agreement.

Celty's shoulders relaxed a bit and her mist seemed to thin out and get wavy. Michiru couldn't help but think the dullahan would be smiling if she had a head. That suspicion was more or less confirmed when the headless hero spoke again "He would appreciate that sentiment. Jun was right about you three. I think we'll work well together."

That last sentence caught the attention of the trio, Zelgadis being first to respond "Wait, what do you mean, work together?"

"She's referring to your internships." Hitomi answered, bringing everyone's attention to her "Jun told you about it, I'm sure. Usually, students have already had work studies and competed in the sports festival to get offers and make connections. Aside from meeting the few heroes that have served as your escorts, you three don't really have that."

"That's right." Celty continued. "Me and Brooklyn don't normally take on students but not only do I owe you for saving me from being taken by All for One but now that he's behind bars, it's up to us to find the one who brought us here all here."

"And just what are we looking for?" Emeralda inquired.

"A Nomu." Celty answered, the slight electric edge of her voice box adding a slightly sinister edge to the word.

"What the hell is a Nomu?" Michiru asked, missing the tone, clearly confused.

"Ah, sorry. Jun would be better at answering that question." Hitomi said apologetically. "They're a kind of artificial human, made to withstand holding more than one quirk in their body, since usually a person only has one in this world. All for One made one that could pull people from other worlds using Jun's quirk."

"Yes, I do recall him saying something like that the first day. Though honestly, so much happened then, it was easy to forget that detail." Zelgadis replied, mildly annoyed at himself for the oversight.

Michiru smirked. Going out into the city to find some weirdo, that was the kind of thing she was used to back home with Shirou. After everything they'd been through, being stuck on this campus, now she could finally get out there and do something. "When do we start?" Michiru asked, sounding very eager.

"Hey, hey. I'm as eager to get back home as the next demon, but tonight, we're here to welcome you and celebrate passing that test!" Sadou said, stepping into the circle the group had formed.

"How did you even know we'd pass?" Zelgadis asked, incredulous.

"And how did Terra get back before we did? She took the test too." Michiru added.

"Oh, 1-B's test site was much closer to UA than yours was." Hitomi answered matter-of-factly.

"Figures." Zelgadis deadpanned. "Probably Aizawa's doing, that we'd take the one further away."

"As for you passing, well, let's just say all signs pointed to you three making it." Hitomi said, smiling.

Rolling his eyes before throwing his hands up in defeat, Zelgadis said "Fine! Whatever, let's just have this damn party and get it over with." Not a moment later a chill went down his spine and he looked over to see Hina glaring at him. Zelgadis had the good grace to sheepishly look away.

"So, we doing anything special or are we just hangin' out?" Michiru asked, ignoring her friend being cowed beside her.

"Well, normally there's a big welcome speech from Sanada-sensei, we all introduce ourselves and give some friendly advice based on our own experiences and the like and help to give you options." Ranma explained, glad to finally have something to add to the conversation.

"But since you three have been around the block a few times already and set a path for yourselves, we'll skip most of that and go to my new favorite tradition of these parties!" Sadou added, pointing to a karaoke machine and light set-up.

Michiru cringed at the sight, causing Emeralda to worriedly inquire "What is it? It just looks like a sound system."

"Oh, don't worry!" Ranma jovially reassured. "We're not forcing anyone to sing, though I do have a pretty nice signing voice like this. No, it's our very own idol, Sakura, who'll put on a little show us, that's all. Then we'll do a little introduction for each of us."

Michiru immediately looked relieved at hearing that. By now, Zelgadis had recovered enough composure to ask something else that hadn't been answered. "You still haven't told us where Sanada is. Sounds like he's usually here. What was so important that he'd miss this, since lighters are oh so important to him."

Hitomi frowned at the sarcastic tone the last part of Zelgadis' question took but answered anyway, though not without hesitation. "He and Toshinori, that is All Might, they had a special trip to take."

"Special trip?" Emeralda intoned quietly.

"We…didn't want to distract you before the exam but yes, Jun and All Might went to see him today." Hitomi finished, having a hard time making eye contact with the three new provisional heroes.

"Wait." Michiru began, her eyes wide as she and the other two realized just who Hitomi was referring to. "Jun went to see All for One!? And you didn't tell us!"

"See, that's exactly why she didn't tell you." Celty cut in, calm but firm. "The odds that bastard will give up anything are slim to none, so you knowing would have just caused you to worry. Sanada-sensei will do his best. Just try to remember, it's personal for him, too."

"I do get the impression that quirks are very important in this world. Losing it was probably pretty hard for him." Zelgadis reasoned, trying to keep his calm after Michiru got shut down so quickly.

The four veteran lighters looked at each other for a long moment.

"What? What is it?" Michiru asked worriedly.

"He…he hasn't told you yet?" Hitomi asked, a hushed concern in her voice.

"About what?" Emeralda answered back, her stoic demeanor beginning to show concern as well.

"About what All for One took from him." Hitomi said, a hurt and worried look on her face. "Jun doesn't care that he lost his quirk, he didn't need it to teach. No, what he lost was so much more precious to him than his quirk…"

(X)

Earlier that afternoon, The Special Prison for Villain Criminals: Tartarus

After a long and…thorough inspection of their persons, the skeletal form of the once mighty hero of peace, All Might, adorned in the oversized "Golden Age" costume that used to strain to contain his heroic physique made his way to his nemesis' cell. The once great hero was joined by his old friend, much more plainly clothed, just a simple blue long-shelved shirt and pants to go along with the crisp white scarf that flowed behind him. "Jun, I know we've talked about this before but this is our last chance before we see him. It is imperative you keep your cool with him. If you want to keep even a sliver of hope that we might get anything out of him, then you can't let him provoke you."

Stone-faced as he walked, the former rescue hero didn't look over at his companion while he replied "No one is more aware of what we have to lose than I do, Toshinori. I will do my part and wait for the right time. I swear."

Not as reassured as he would've liked by the younger silver-haired man's assurance, Toshinori nodded all the same as the two of them came to the last door. The voice of a prison guard came over the intercom "This is it gentlemen. Once I release the last lock, the door will open. All Might, like we discussed, you will enter first. Proceed around the corner and sit in the chair provided before we raise the cell barrier."

"We understand." Toshinori answered firmly.

With that, the audible sounds of pressure releasing filled the corridor before the heavily reinforced door rose above them, revealing a room that went from the gunmetal of the hallway they had transversed to the stark white walls of the great villain All for One's cell. Toshinori gave Jun one last long look before he stepped forward, walking the ten feet it took before the corridor opened to reveal the rest of the cell. Turning, Toshinori kept walking until he came to the single metal chair set in front of what appeared to be another thick metal wall.

Once he was seated, the metal wall lifted slowly to reveal the most dangerous man alive, the symbol of fear, All for One. Anyone laying eyes on the great villain in that moment though could be forgiven for thinking they were in fact viewing the broken remains of an experiment gone horribly wrong, however. All for One was wrapped in what appeared to a straight jacket, itself locked securely by retraining straps keeping the villain pressed firmly to his chair. A breathing apparatus was strapped to his mouth and nose to keep him alive along with IVs pumping fluid to keep him alive. Beyond that was the discerning featureless remains of the man's face. Flesh covered where All for One's eyes used to be and without hair, only the bare nubs of what used to be his ears remained on the master of evil's head beyond his mouth.

At first, neither of the old nemesis said a thing and Toshinori began to wonder if All for One had lost his ability to detect his presence. That hope was dispelled when the monster that had destroyed countless lives spoke, his sickeningly smooth, charismatic voice dripping with glee to have his guest as he said "The second semester must be starting soon. Or has it already begun? I assumed you would devote yourself to teaching now. And yet you've come to visit me."

Toshinori's beaty eyes narrowed, a frown creeping onto his thin face. He knew that his nemesis was at least in part acting so pleased because the bastard was trying to get under his skin. As much as he wanted to reach through that glass and smash the other man's face in, Toshinori refused to be baited. Keeping his tone even, he replied "I'm here so we can get a few things straight, All For One."

The caged villain seemed to ignore Toshinori's answer when he spoke again "Do you know how stifling this place is All Might? If I so much as try to scratch an itch by rubbing my body against this chair then every gun muzzle in my cell block suddenly points at me. My brain waves are constantly being monitored along with my vital signs. One thought about activating my quirk, and I'll likely be put down like a rabid dog. Imprisoned deep underground, smothered by layers of hi-tech security. Not even a bit of stimulation for my mind."

Toshinori couldn't tell if the monster cloaked as a man was bragging or begging for sympathy. What was clear was that the madman was relishing this chance to talk and have someone listen.

All for One continued, "The World likens this place to something out of a Greek myth, calling it Tartarus, the name of the underworld prison where kings and titans are punished. Escaping would be a struggle, even for me."

And, there it was, the backhanded aggrandizement of a narcissistic madman. Still, as much for his own benefit as anything, Toshinori replied "You're trapped here. You'll never go free."

Much to the former number one hero's unexpressed horror, All for One laughed as if a child had said something delightfully ignorant "I'll let you believe that. So, what now? Let's hear what you have to say. Where's Gran Torino? I see you came in costume. Please don't tell me you're still trying to be a hero with that feeble body."

Toshinori's suspicions were right. This bastard was bored and lonely and the skeletal blonde was almost compelled to say nothing at all, not wanting to give this man any satisfaction at all. But then, even being here was doing that. So instead Toshinori said simply "Your chatty."

Almost as if he were reading Toshinori's mind, All for One answered "Don't feel flattered. I just haven't had anyone to talk to in awhile."

That was it, Toshinori was done, saying "I want answers." he demanded, his voice raising ever so slightly, something he regretted immediately. Evening his tone again, he continued "Tell me where Tomura Shigaraki is hiding right now."

All for One clearly picked up on the change, answering with a hint of glee in his voice "Haven't the slightest. Unlike your bird, mine left the nest and makes his own decisions."

Less than pleased by the implication, Toshinori leaned forward slightly, again centering himself to stay focused on the task at hand before saying, "What were you trying to achieve? What are you hoping for now? Your body should of died a long time ago, yet you preserved it. You devote your time to exploiting and controlling people, toying with innocent lives for no reason. Why?"

For once, All for One seemed annoyed, perhaps even disappointed before he replied "Of course you came here with a tired topic. Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn't be satisfied. There are some people who'll never understand each other. We are the same. Though you'd never admit it. Just as you longed to become the hero of justice, I longed to be an all-powerful devil. It's that simple. I had an ideal, and the power to see it enacted."

A voice cut in before the form or Jun appeared the around the corner, saying calmly "He's stringing you along, All Might. Speak in broad enough terms and any two can be alike. You two are night and day." The statement broke All for One's long discourse, which briefly put a frown on the caged villain's face.

"You're right, of course, Sanada-san. My apologies." Toshinori said, finally able to tear his eyes away from the monster on the other side of the glass.

Jun came to stand to Toshinori's left; arms held behind his back. After all these years, the silver-haired former hero now stood face to face with the man that had ruined his life once, along with too many others to count. So many emotions were swirling around inside him they practically cancelled each other out, allowing Jun to find a kind of chaotic calm. Staring down the incarcerated master of evil, Jun continued, "Back to All Might's question. You may have answered as to your motivations, but I couldn't help but notice you didn't answer the special goal you have in mind. Now did you?"

"Come now, Luminaire. We haven't seen each other in a decade and you try to ruin my fun with semantics? How droll. Tell me, how are your little surrogates doing? The latest batch impressed me with their brazenness if not their choice to play hero despite the gift I granted them." All for One started, disappointed his conversation with his nemesis had been interrupted but still glad to be talking.

Barely a few sentences out of the bastard's mouth and already Jun was finding himself pressed to keep his cool. Still, he refused to raise to this man's provocations. "By now, they should just be finishing up getting their provisional hero licenses, actually. It's curious, your interest in them. For someone who claims to be doing all in his power to become the greatest of villains, randomly pulling people from other worlds doesn't really seem to fall within reaching that goal, now does it?"

"Ever the caring father, aren't you Luminaire?" All for One started, his smile widening as he spoke "But let's face it, they will never replace your dear wife and darling son, now will they? All the lectures and kind words in the world can never bring them back, after all."

Now it was Toshinori's turn to run distraction, whipping his arm out in front of his silver-haired junior just when Jun, his face bristling in anger, tried to take a step forward. "Sanada! Remain calm!"

Jun took a deep breath and steadied himself while All for One smirked at him from across the glass. The symbol of fear spoke again, triumph in his voice "Oh? Was it something I said? Then let's move on. I'm curious how those four are handling the changes going on in the world around them. How are things going out there, by the way?"

The voice of the prison guard came over the speaker "We're keeping knowledge of the outside world away from him. Please don't tell him anything."

Wordlessly nodding, Jun decided to focus on a detail in the villain's question. "You said four. Don't you mean three?"

"You insult me, Luminaire. You didn't think I bought that purple-haired one's little death scene, did you? I kept my eye on that one since that little dust up at Police headquarters the morning after their arrival."

"That was you? You let all those villains go?" Toshinori breathlessly asked.

"Ah, but that's the beautiful part, isn't it? I'm flattered you would think I orchestrated that little stunt but I had other plans worthy of my time in that moment." All for One elaborated.

"Your time is almost up, All Might, Luminaire." Came the guard once more over the intercom.

"Oh, but I have so much more to say." All for One playfully whined.

"But then, if it wasn't you…" Toshinori openly wondered.

"It was Xellos." Jun realized, stunning the former number one hero.

"But, why?" The skeletal blonde couldn't help but ask.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, as they say. "When we realized Xellos was still alive, it was something Zelgadis told me. Xellos is basically a personification of chaos. He revels in it. He may have had a plan or he could of done it just for fun."

"Ah, now you're getting it, Luminaire. I always thought you were a bit more clever than the average hero scum." All for One cut in, his smirk never leaving his face. He continued, unprompted "You want to know why I started bringing people here? Alright, I think you've earned a little piece, my dear Luminaire. I had a question, simple as that. Was there anything else out there? Once I had a proof of concept, I kept hoping to find others out there who see the universe as I do. Kindred spirits you might call them. Little did I know it would take ten years to finally get one."

"You sick son of a bitch" Jun spat, glaring at the clearly gleeful All for One.

"Sick you say? Out to attack what you don't understand, good hero? Please. The truth is, I hardly need you to tell me what is going on out there. Your little wayward lighter finds himself in a vacuum left by the loss of the world's great hero and he will be drawn to my Tomura. My legacy will continue to lay low while others test the waters, probing at the weakness left by the rot you've endeavored to keep hidden for so long, All Might."

Toshinori clenched his fist before he stood up, fully aware his nemesis was right. It was Jun, however, who spoke first. "Please." He drawled, "All Might isn't immortal. One way, or another, he was always going to have to stop protecting the world. Which meant there was always going to be transition and transitions are often painful. What matters is you'll have no hand in that change. Enjoy the rest of your miserable life in this void, All for One."

Toshinori realized his friend was right. All for One was just trying to play on his empathy, again. While Jun turned and started walking away, the blonde former symbol of peace lingered on his nemesis. All for One tried one last time to goad him, saying, "Luminaire is just bitter I ended his worthless families' life, that's all. We still have so much more to discuss, you and I, All Might."

"No, I don't think we do, All for One. You may think me weak, broken. That you've won by pitting my mentor's grandson against me. But here I stand, alive and surrounded by my friends and a world of people striving to keep the peace I fought for, for so long. What do you have? Nothing but yourself for company for the rest of your days. How very sad. Goodbye, All for One."

Turning and walking away, the master of evil took the last few moments before the doors to his cell closed again to heave one last parting shot, "Yes, keep believing in that little fantasy, All Might. It will be that much sweeter when you see it all crumble before your eyes."

(X)

"His family was murdered?!" Michiru repeated, shock and dismay clear in her voice.

Hitomi nodded "All for One had kidnapped them to bring Jun to him."

"That's…deplorable…" Michiru replied, head down.

"I assume he wanted Sanada-sensei's quirk?" Emeralda asked, her usual cool demeanor replaced with a pained expression.

"Yep. And you can imagine someone who can instantly teleport away can be tricky to pin down." Celty added.

Even Zelgadis, the most skeptical of Jun, looked angry when he finally spoke "Then how did his family die if they had been kidnapped to lure Sanada?"

"After Jun had willingly submitted to giving up his quirk, All for One killed them anyway. It…broke him." Hitomi solemnly explained. "The man I met in my cell was a much different man than the one you know today."

"Wait, your cell?" Michiru asked, picking up on that little detail after recovering from the gut punch that was hearing of Jun's family.

"Geez, you really have been kept in the dark! Sorry about that." Ranma piped in, earning a glare from the counselor.

"It's a long story" Hitomi continued, returning her attention to the three newest lighters, "Let's just say it took some convincing at first to get the government to believe people from other worlds were actually being brought here. I'd rather not dwell on those early days, honestly. For now, let's celebrate!"

After such heartbreaking news, the trio had a hard time getting into a celebrating mood but after sitting down to some cake and drinks, they were able to relax before Sakura took to the stage and sang for the group.

The red-headed zombie was halfway through her fourth song when it was interrupted by a shattering sound followed by a loud, animalistic roar. Without missing a beat while the song continued to play in the background, Sakura beamed and called out "It sounds like Brooklyn-kun is finally up! We can finally do introductions!"

Everyone turned when the door from the education wing swung open just as Sakura turned the karaoke machine off. In came the leather clad, white-haired and orange skinned gargoyle, still looking abit groggy before he called out "Geez, Sakura, would it kill you to play something less poppy? I know you can do heavy metal!"

The former member of Franchouchou stuck out her tongue in a pout and countered, "Just because I can, doesn't mean I like it! It's a karaoke machine, you want heavy metal, you can come up and sing it yourself, hmph!" the idol finished, crossing her arms and looking away.

Unfazed by Sakura's refusal, the gargoyle waved his hand when he approached "Pass. Sorry I'm late, I realize not everyone is as tied to nightfall as I am. How you kids been holding up since Kamino?"

"Peachy." Zelgadis sarcastically drawled, earning a smirk from the beaked underground hero but another glare from Hina.

"We're provisional heroes now, so that's something!" Michiru added, trying to counter her dour friend with as much energy as her exhausted body could muster.

"Things have been…complicated." Emeralda added, which was putting it mildly.

"All right!" Sakura cut in, drawing attention back to her. "Same as always, everyone, each lighter will step up and introduce themselves, though Hina-chan, Terra-san, Mob-kun and Shinra-kun don't have to since you all live together already. I'll go first!"

Mob looked markedly relieved for the exemption but Shinra looked determined to speak while Sakura danced about before striking a pose. Brooklyn audibly groaned and several other lighters smiles grew strained before Hitomi gentled called out "Sakura, sweetie, it's already been a long day for our guests of honor. It might be best to be more…succinct?"

Slightly hurt by the soft rebuke, Sakura's briefly dampened features lit back up after a moment, forcing a smile back on like the professional idol she was. "Right! Sorry! My name is Sakura Minamoto and back home I was careless and ran in front of a truck and got killed!" Those that had heard the story before just shook their heads at the incredulity of it while Michiru, Zelgadis and even Emeralda stared on slake-jawed.

Sakura cheerfully continued, "But it's ok! Because some years later I was brought back to save Saga prefecture with my bandmates! We were doing a great job too before I got dropped here three years ago! Now I get to be a solo idol and thanks to quirks, I don't even have to hide that I'm undead! I, um, had a bit of trouble coming to terms with the idea I'd never see my family and maybe my bandmates again, but I got through it! Trust Jun and Hitomi, you guys, they'll take care of you, I promise!" Sakura finished, striking one last pose as she winked in a small act of defiance.

Brooklyn shot up to the karaoke machine and almost yanked the microphone from the still posing idol, who offered a cheeky smile while she stepped away. "Yeah, let me just get this out of the way. Name's Brooklyn. In my world, I was frozen asleep for a thousand years by a dumbass human wizard apprentice and awoken by a rich jackass human whose too smart for his own good. I was second in command of my clan, protecting New York City before this happened five years ago, thanks to another asshole human. It's the gargoyle way to protect their home and all who dwell in it and that meant becoming a hero, so I did. That being said, I wouldn't have gotten there without another human. Thanks Hitomi. Now that All for One is rotting in prison, I'll make sure we all get home!"

Several in the group cheered the orange gargoyle's promise, especially the more recent arrivals. The ones who had been here longest showed notably less enthusiasm, having heard a similar declaration for years now.

Ranma was next to take the mic, her somber expression dampening the other lighters mood from the excitement a moment earlier. "Hiya. The name's Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." Then, a very self-assured grin forced its way onto the red-head's face before she continued, "I was the best martial artist of my generation back home! There was no challenge I couldn't rise to! I was going to be a man amongst men!"

Several in the crowd rolled their eyes at the bravado where others smirked at the silliness of the confidence. Everyone's expression grew more serious though when the pig-tailed sex-changer next uttered a much softer "But…then I got this curse." She said, motioning with her free hand to her body "I found out my pops engaged me to countless women. It was a crazy time in my life, and that was before I got yanked over here, nine years ago."

"I…had a hard time accepting things." Ranma said as he looked right at Hitomi and smiled. "Not as hard a time as Hitomi had but still I had a lot to get through before I could move on living. You may be wondering why I've been a girl this whole party." The master martial artist continued, his attention now squaring on the three newest lighters. "It's because I learned that this is a part of who I am. There is nothing wrong with being like this. I'm not weird or a freak because I'm a girl sometimes. I guess what I'm saying, and what any of the rest of us will say is that it's important to open up to someone about how you're feeling because whether you want to admit it or not, you're feeling a lot. Hitomi can help you, you just have to let her."

It was a heartfelt piece of advice/confession that surprised veteran and new lighter alike. Hitomi looked absolutely moved, as did Terra. Celty held her hands tight to her chest in admiration, her mist taking on a light and fluttery quality. Mob and even Hina were smiling proudly at their teacher. Sadou looked impressed though Brooklyn looked annoyed his thunder had been stolen. Ranma looked ready to step down when she stopped herself and spoke again "I will say, I wish we had thought to say that this was the result of someone else's quirk instead of it being mine. That way I wouldn't have to hide my flashier techniques. Still very happy having my own dojo, though! Thanks everyone."

Michiru and Zelgadis sat in silence during the martial artist's impromptu advice turned confession. Both had resisted talking to the counselor to this point for various reasons and both were starting to feel pressure since the third lighter in a row had told them to seek her help. Leaning in close, Michiru whispered to the chimera "This is starting to feel more like a support group or intervention, you know?"

"I have no idea what either of those things are." Zelgadis deadpanned, whispering as well. "Regardless, I think I get what you're saying. They really want us to talk to her. I don't even know what I would say. They already know we want to get home. What else is there to even talk about?"

"It is much more than just talking." Emeralda cut in, seeming to appear behind the two softy speaking friends and causing them to start at the interruption.

"Damnit Emmy! What have I told you about doing that?" Michiru quietly admonished, her fur briefly standing on end.

"But Michiru, I was already beside you when you started talking to each other. I would hardly call that sneaking up." Emeralda reasonably explained.

Before things could escalate, Zelgadis waved the two off as he said "Let's stay on track here you two. Emeralda, you make it sound like you've actually done it…"

For a moment, the stoic nanomachine girl looked pensive before she answered "I have. After our…exchange that night, she came to me and we spoke for a bit before she used her power to allow me to show her what I couldn't bring myself to say. It was an unusual experience, but it gave me the courage to tell you about me, Michiru."

A flash of guilt played across the tanuki girl's face before settling on a more empathic expression before Michiru said "I…I see. I'll have to thank Hitomi for that."

"Well, that's nice." Zelgadis added sarcastically, "But once again, I still don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm still pretty annoyed you two spilled that info to that mumbling 1-A kid, honestly."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?!" Sadou said, his voice carrying though the karaoke's speakers, startling the trio before the former demonic king continued "Did you just say that you told a UA student about yourself?"

When the three looked around they realized pretty much everyone in the room had been listening in. "What?" Celty said, standing over the three behind the couch they were sharing "You're in a room surrounded by people. You didn't think you were actually being discreet, did you?"

Zelgadis and Michiru each looked pretty annoyed at being spied on as well as being so careless but Emeralda was blushing heavily. It didn't make matters any better when Brooklyn leaned in close to the greenette and asked "What, exactly, did you tell this student?"

"Hey, back off!" Michiru barked, pulling her flustered friend back. "She didn't say anything about being from another world, if that's what your worried about!"

A look of relief came over most of the people in the room before Hitomi stepped forward and gently said "That's good to hear Michiru. I shouldn't have to remind you how dangerous that information is. That being said, it seems like now is as good a time as any for Emeralda to share that information with the rest of you so they can have a better sense of who you are and so we know what you shared with this…"

"Boy." Emeralda answered for the brunette, the word cracking on her throat as the shame of her mistake threatened to overwhelm her. The tan girl managed to compose herself quickly though before she further added "It was Izuku Midoriya. He overheard me as I talked to Michiru during the provisional license exam."

Hitomi nodded, remembering the freckled young man that had already built a reputation for helping others at great personal cost to himself, seemingly reflected in his quirk that often left his body broken. Izuku seemed nice enough to her but how well he could keep a secret she didn't know. Offering a reassuring smile, Hitomi walked up to the karaoke, took the mic from Ranma and offered it to the tan girl and said, "Its ok, sweetie. I know it's hard but of all the people in this world or any other, the people in this room will understand, I promise."

With a slight nudge and a smile from Michiru, Emeralda crept up and took the offered microphone. Turning back to look at all those eyes waiting patiently, a sinking feeling made itself known in her chest. It felt as though a hand was creeping up from deep inside to grab her throat. The greenette's mouth moved but nothing came out. She realized she was afraid again. Why? She had had no trouble with that two-faced student at the exam. But now? With people she knew and about to talk about herself, the cold and calculating warrior she projected herself as was wilting. Why was this so damn hard?

The others must have realized she was having trouble because when Emeralda looked back out at the other lighters she could see concern creeping onto their faces. And that only made her feel worse. Closing her eyes, Emeralda started to breathe hard as she remembered all the times she shied away from this sort of thing with her unit back home. How she let them down even though she was sure they hated her. How she could never be the perfect- "EMMY!"

When her eyes shot open, Emeralda's amber orbs locked on her tanuki friend, who had her clawed hands bawled into fists, determination on her face as she called again "You've got this Emmy! Just look at me, like you were telling me all over again!"

That wouldn't work. Emeralda couldn't bring herself to put the others in the room out of her mind. But…but having a friend like that call out to her, to encourage her, that mattered. The room suddenly felt a lot smaller and realizing two of the people here had already heard this made her feel more reassured when Emeralda locked eyes with the tanuki girl and nodded. What would Emeralda have done without her, she didn't know. What she did know was now she could share with everyone what she was, and so she began to speak.

(X)

The celebration had been on in the 1-A dorms for a while now, as the newly licensed provisional heroes shared the good news with their family and friends. Everyone was too tired to cook but they all pitched in what snacks they each hand horded in their rooms for an impromptu low-key party.

Not everyone was up for revelry though. In addition to the two that hadn't passed, Izuku didn't really have the heart for it like the rest of his classmates. Sure, he was there in body but the freckled boy was clearly not there in spirit. He had spent most of the time in a corner, by himself and when most any other classmate approached him, he'd be caught spacing out and only gave the most basic of responses when he did engage them.

Except Tenya. When the bi-speckled uptight class rep had come to inquire if anything was wrong, Izuku had asked him to go into detail about what had happened with Michiru during the first part of the exam. What he had heard did not ease his mood at all. Not only was he burdened with the implications of the knowledge he had stumbled into with Emeralda but now he was back to thinking about something he had never even fathomed before a few days ago: heteromorphic discrimination.

Izuku had always wanted to be a hero. To save everyone with a smile on his face, just like All Might. He had thought he knew what that meant. Defeating villains, rescuing victims. Being a symbol to rally the spirits of people. Now, though, Izuku was coming to realize the world was much more complicated than he had grown up believing.

Glancing over at Mina and Fumikage, he had to wonder how they had been treated. Sure, Izuku had grown up quirkless but in a world where quirks were everything, the green-haired young man had believed what others said about him because it was true. He had been useless. Besides, anyone could be quirkless, no matter where you were born and most people didn't use their quirks once they grew up and got regular jobs anyway, right? So really, it didn't matter what your quirk was if you were a computer engineer or store clerk, right? That was, unless it was heteromorphic. That was something you could never escape.

Izuku was so absorbed in thought, he entirely missed that Katsuki had came up beside him and tried several times to get his attention. Finally, the fiery dirty blonde grabbed Izuku by the front of his shirt and pulled him up to his face and snarled "I'm talking to you, Deku! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Kachan? What are you doing here? I thought you hated parties?" Izuku replied, full of confusion while Katsuki bore into him with murderous eyes.

Scoffing as he let Izuku go, the explosive student answered with a growl "Come with me. I got something I want to talk about."

Remembering his promised meeting with the trio of lighters, Izuku was hesitant to agree and it showed on his face while he struggled to decide. "But…Kachan, I'm supposed to be somewhere soon. I don't want to be late!"

Narrowing his already beady eyes, Katsuki spat out "What did you say, nerd? Come on, you're coming with me!" With that, whether he wanted to or not, Izuku was dragged away from the party and the dorms altogether.

(X)

"…and that's why my eye has healed." Emeralda finished answering Brooklyn's question after she had explained for the second time that day what exactly she was.

Despite the reassurance she had received from Hitomi, Emeralda was still surprised by the response she got from her audience. At worst were those whom the idea went over their heads, like Zelgadis, Sakura and Shinra to outright support, like Terra, Celty and Ranma. Though in Ranma's case Emeralda suspected her master didn't really understand either but was trying to be supportive of her shy student.

With Brooklyn's question answered, Sadou sought to return things to the point of the confession. "So, Emeralda, all this Izuku Midoriya knows is that you were made, right?"

Stepping away from the karaoke machine and, in her mind the center of attention, the tan girl nodded before she added "And we agreed to speak to him again this evening, actually, in the hopes of getting him to promise to keep it quiet."

"Really?" The former demon king replied, his expression shiftinmg to one of deep thought.

"Hitomi, you know anything about the kid that would help?" Celty asked the counselor.

"I've met him, of course, and he seems like a well-meaning student. I'm told he idolizes All Might, like so many his age do but he's had a tendency to go against orders if it meant helping someone." The brunette original lighter answered.

"I like him already." Brooklyn commented.

"Well, we did spend a lot of time with him and his classmates the last few weeks." Michiru offered, "And he's definitely a hero worshipper. He takes tons of notes and mumbles to himself but…." Brief flashes of her talk on the beach with the young provisional hero came through her mind before Michiru continued "I'm sure he's a good guy and will keep Emmy's secret."

"Still," Sadou replied "It'll probably be best if you give him a cover story." Then, looking briefly over at Ranma, who gave him a confused look, Sadou continued "You can just tell him you were made using someone's quirk. If he wants details, just dodge. Gotta love these quirks, you can pretty much just wave your hands and say a quirk did it, I love it!" The last comment drew an annoyed glare from the red-headed martial artist, which Sadou seemed to completely ignore.

Michiru looked over at Emeralda to see her friend's reaction to the demon lord of McGonld's suggestion. The tan girl's shrug was less than encouraging. When Michiru's shoulders sagged, Emeralda quickly added "I don't feel I know enough about quirks to say if the idea is a good one but it couldn't hurt to try."

Zelgadis nodded as well before everyone's attention was brought back to the karaoke machine where Shinra had grabbed the mic and called out "If we got that squared away, can I go next? It's my first time and I'm not missing it!"

The other lighters looked to the trio, expecting the guests of honor to make the call. Zelgadis rolled his eyes and Emeralda looked to Michiru with a confused look. With a strained smile, the tanuki girl waved the black-haired pyro-kinetic on before they sat back down.

So it was that the introductions continued with Shinra, former member of Fire Force Company Eight and his fierce determination to get home and save his brother. Hearing about a world where people could just catch fire and die randomly didn't sound like a fun time to Michiru but then again, it wasn't home to her either.

Hina and Mobb both declined to speak, one out of shyness and the other didn't feel like she had anything to add.

Terra talked about being the only one in her world who was half human, half esper and about the devastation wrought there. She talked about her friends and how much she hoped they were getting by and about just how very different this world was to her own.

Celty, the other professional hero among the group, was too old to remember how old she actually was. Her world apparently had a wide assortment of supernatural elements but otherwise didn't seem to terribly different from this one to her. She had a head, apparently, but was still in search of it when she was taken. All of that seemed fine to Michiru but it got cringy once the subject of her beloved Shinra (absolutely not to be confused with the fire-wielder in the room). The dullahan went on and on about how great her boyfriend was and how much she couldn't wait to get back to him.

Brooklyn must have seen Michiru's face (or he was just use to people reacting a certain way when his partner got like this) because the orange gargoyle came over to reassure her. Brooklyn made it clear she wasn't always like this, and in fact only really got so emotional about her lost love at these get-togethers. Most of the time the headless underground hero was professional and efficient, news that made Zelgadis and Emeralda far less worried as well.

Sadou was an…interesting one. On the surface, he was an outgoing and nice guy but he apparently had been born a demon, who had been gifted knowledge that he leveraged to form and lead a demon army that came close to conquering the human realm of his world. Then he had been defeated and retreated to another world entirely, where the lack of magic forced him into a human form and a human life. He had been well on his way to recovering his former glory when he had been taken, leaving two subordinates, a far too interested human girl and the hero who had defeated him behind.

Then it was the last two new lighters turn to go, with Zelgadis up first. Michiru wasn't surprised when the prickly chimera was curt and to the point. An orphan betrayed by the only family he had left, Zelgadis described his body as if it was as a curse, and he had spent a great deal of time afterward looking for a way to reverse it. Barely any mention was made of the people he had traveled with though only mentioning a princess, a supremely talented but painfully stupid swordmen and a selfish and brazen sorceress. At the end, though, Michiru was surprised when the sorcerer-swordsmen finished by thanking her and Emeralda for making this whole experience "tolerable."

Then it was her turn. Going last and having sat through everyone else, Michiru was sure she knew what she wanted to say all the way up until it was time to say it. Suddenly she felt like an idiot and instead of starting with where Zelgadis had left off, by thanking the other two in turn, she just blurted out "HI! I'm Michiru Kagemori and I'm a beastman!" Michiru cursed her own nerves internally and decided to hell with it, whatever came out of her mouth would just have to be it. She continued, "Well…that's not entirely true. I wasn't born like this." With a brief flash of lights Michiru appeared to be a normal human before she continued, "For most of my life, this is how I was. Like Ranma and Zelgadis and Sakura, I was born a normal human. But…" then, just as quickly, Michiru was back to her tanuki self, "After an accident I looked like this."

"In my world, there is a second species, we call beastmen, who can shift into an animal-like form and they are often treated just the same…as animals. Hunted, even killed for no reason at all." There were several gasps from her audience before Michiru continued "What happened to me shouldn't even be possible but it did, so I ran to the only place safe for me, Anima City. I found friends there and helped save them all, though I found out that I could shift into all sorts of animals, something only me and my friend Nezuna could do. Before I was taken, I helped a sourpuss of a wolf protect the city. I even had a cure if I wanted it, but I kept putting it off, and now, when I was so close to seeing my parents again, I'm impossibly far away. But like Zelgadis said, I've made friends here too and as hard as it's been, I'm glad Emmy and Zel were here to be there with me. For me. Even if I haven't always shown how much I appreciate them. Thanks guys."

As she finished speaking, Michiru made sure to be looking at her two friends, a warm smile on her face and the hint of tears glistening in her eyes. Her speech brought the others to their feet in supportive applause and Michiru bowed slightly in acknowledgement before she handed the mic off to Hitomi, who had come up.

"Thank you Michiru, I hope you will consider talking to me at some point. It sounds like you've been through a lot." Hitomi offered, speaking low when the two passed one another.

"We'll see. Seems like you helped Emmy out. Thanks for that." Michiru replied as she stepped away to re-join Zelgadis and Emeralda.

Looking more serious, Hitomi spoke into the mic, "I know I say it every year but remember, we don't belong in this world. We're here and enjoying these comforts at the pleasure of the people of this world. Anything we do reflects on all of us. The Hero Safety Commission can have us kicked out of here and our lives ruined with little effort so keep that in mind. That means no more sneaking off you three." Hitomi finished, looking at the three newest lighters.

The trio nodded, each with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look to them with all the others staring at them. Zelgadis inwardly couldn't help but wonder if that applied to Xellos as well, out there doing who knows what. Still, the point was made and the party moved to the last thing planned, a martial arts display by Ranma and his students, namely Mobb and Hina. Emeralda gladly accepted when the pig-tailed red-head offered for her to join. So it was that the rest of the lighters were treated to another, notably even spar between master and student.

Still, in the end, Ranma came out on top and time was drawing near for the meeting with Izuku. So the three headed out, leaving the rest of the lighters to clean and crash there for the night except Brooklyn, who chose to go out on patrol. As the trio left, Sadou called out "Remember, a quirk did it!"

Grabbing Emmy, Zelgadis cast his Raywing spell and took off, Michiru flying right beside for their rendezvous with the bearer of One for All.

(X)

As the trio made their way to Training Area Beta, Zelgadis couldn't help but think that Michiru had been right. Emeralda was heavier than she looked. Knowing now she was some sort of artificial human probably helped explain it but the idea of cell theory was still pretty new to him so he hadn't yet truly grasped what the tan girl had explained to them earlier.

At first the three discussed and agreed that Michiru and Emeralda would handle the talking and had settled on their story, a slightly more detailed version of what Sadou had suggested. With that decided, they grew silent and the rock-encrusted sorcerer was left to think. The day had been…eventful and he knew that although Michiru had come out of her depressive state, the root cause was still very much out there, whatever it was, and needed to be addressed. At the moment though, something specific the tanuki girl had said in between rounds of the exam was on his mind. Glancing at the smiling tanuki girl briefly, Zelgadis whispered to the tan girl clinging to him as softly as flight would allow "Hey."

"Yes, Zelgadis?" Emeralda answered, her amber eyes alert but calm, as usual.

"Do…other girls ogle me?" the chimera asked just barely loud enough to hear. If Emeralda could see his face, she'd note how red it was, but he had turned it away when he asked to avoid any further embarrassment.

A single light green eyebrow raised on the otherwise neutral face of the nanomachine girl while she stared at Zelgadis. The lack of response began to eat at the suddenly insecure swordsmen who blurted out, annoyance in his voice "Forget it! Just imagine I didn't say anything."

"No, I am sorry, I didn't mean to cause you discomfort, Zelgadis. It's just that…I am unsure I am best suited to answer your question." Emeralda answered, her expression turning to confusion.

Recovering some of his composure at his passenger's response, Zelgadis countered with much more confidence "Actually, I regard you as very rational and would trust your opinion over just about anyone else in this crazy world."

Emeralda's eyes widened. As much time as the three of them had spent with each other, Michiru was the one the tan girl interacted with the most, by virtue of the tanuki girl's far more outgoing nature, if nothing else. Her and Zelgadis rarely talked alone and she often wondered if he had any positive opinion of her at all, sure his words during the introductions earlier were meant more for Michiru than herself. It was absolutely shocking to hear such praise come out of the man's mouth and Emeralda couldn't help but look away while she considered them. Finally, she turned back and managed to say "Thank you Zelgadis. That means a great deal."

That being said, Emeralda knew he likely wouldn't like the answer. Not being one to lie however, the greenette foraged ahead and said, "As you wish. It is as you suspect. I have observed in our various trips outside the school and even here at UA, many women take a moment to look at you." Zelgadis' face seemed to scrunch up at her words but she was asked a question and she felt she should answer it fully. She continued "In addition, I have overheard several in 1-A express that they have found you attractive. I can repeat some of the comments they have made if you'd like?"

"NO, NO! That's fine! I got an answer and even if I don't like it, I appreciate you giving me an honest response, Emeralda." After he spoke, Zelgadis again looked over at the winged tanuki clearly enjoying her flight beside them, his expression contemplative. Emeralda couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking but didn't feel she had any right to ask.

The conversation hadn't gone unnoticed by Michiru though and when she realized the two were done talking, bearing a mischievous smirk, called out "What are you two talking about? Zel, you didn't just realize how cute Emmy is did you?"

Much to the tanuki girl's disappointment, Zelgadis scowled at her, though she thought she saw the hint of a blush on his face when he replied, "If talking to a girl was all it took to assume we were romantically involved, than I can only imagine what 1-A thinks of the three of us."

Though the chimera's retort was dripping with sarcasm, it went right over Emeralda's head, looking confused as she did. When Michiru laughed and made a comment about Zelgadis being a player, the tan girl looked between the two of them and asked "What would he be playing? I wasn't aware Zelgadis played any sports."

Waving her hand playfully after she and Zelgadis briefly stared at each other, Michiru nervously laughed and she answered "Oh poor innocent Emmy. I'll explain later, ok?"

The nanomachine girl's face squinched while she tried to piece together what she was missing, a sight that Michiru found utterly adorable. The winged tanuki girl was about to say as much when her ears picked up what sounded like explosions when they approached the training ground. "Guys! Something's happening up ahead, it sounds like a fight down there!"

As they got closer, Emeralda and Zelgadis could hear it too. After weeks of training, the sound of the explosions had became a familiar one to the trio and when they landed on a rooftop to observe what was going on, their unspoken suspicions were confirmed. Down below, Katsuki was trying to assault Izuku, who was doing his best to avoid the attacks.

As loud as the blonde bomber's explosions were, the roar of Katsuki's rage filled taunts were easy enough for the lighter trio to hear from on the roof. "DAMNIT NERD! I SAID FIGHT ME!"

"No, Kachan!" Izuku pleaded, his voice not really as rancorous but still audible "There's no reason for me to fight you! Calm down!"

Ignoring Izuku, Katsuki kept on the freckled boy, charging at him again through the air to try and catch Izuku flat-footed while the pathic loser finished his begging. "Oh, I get it! You just think you're better than me now that you have All Might's quirk, don't you? DIE!"

Having mastered even just a fraction of All for One's power, Izuku was still fast enough to evade the attack, though it meant he fell backward. Katsuki seemed to predict that move, however and exploded forward, appearing just above Izuku, who appeared to be flailing as he fell on his back.

Just as Katsuki raised his hand to deliver a fiery blow to Izuku's chest, he felt the wind getting knocked out of him when he felt Izuku's foot smash into him. Izuku had also predicted his childhood friend's follow up and while he fell backwards, flung his leg upward, the limb crackling with One for All's power.

The blow sent Katsuki flying up and back in a long arc while Izuku hit the ground. As the dark green-haired boy shot up, Katsuki landed hard on the ground twenty feet away. As much as Izuku hoped his friend would stay down, the fiery blonde got to his feet immediately, his eyes bloodshot, adding to their intensity while he glared at his rival. "See, Deku, you can fight after all! Now, FIGHT ME! SHOW ME YOUR WORTHY OF THAT POWER!"

Izuku clenched his fists, green lightning dancing about them and running up his arms as he tensed for another attack before he called back "No, Kachan! I-I don't have anything to prove to you! I know I need to get stronger, I don't need you to show me that. But there's so much more to being a hero than just strength! Your failure today is proof enough of that!"

Holding his side where he'd been kicked, Katsuki fumed as he readied to attack again. "Those idiots don't know what a REAL hero is, behind their stupid desks all day. Don't you dare think you're anything but a loser just because you got that little card, Deku!"

Up on the rooftop, Michiru was just about done with this. "This is insane. We need to break this up, you two with me?"

Zelgadis, who had no love loss for the arrogant explosion wielder, smirked before he said "Do you really need to ask? I'm going to enjoy taking that asshole down another peg."

"Agreed," was all Emeralda said while she glared down at the insecure blonde.

Back on the ground, Katsuki snarled as he braced for another attack. Propelling himself forward as fast as his quirk would allow, he was sure he could at least match the nerd's speed. Izuku stood, deep in thought about the various ways his friend was about to come at him. The freckled boy was surprised to see Katsuki had opted for a straight forward charge but was ready to dodge away at the last moment once again with another counter ready.

When Katsuki closed the gap to within a few feet, he shifted his right hand forward for a blast to the face as an opening salvo of a furry of attacks he had planned. Only, it never got any further. Just as he was unleashing his attack, a blur of light green landed in front of him, his explosion landing on solid metal.

"DAMNIT! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE!" Katsuki raged with Emeralda standing between Izuku and him, her two arms shifted and fused into a massive shield that easily tanked the blast.

The raging teen never got an answer since he was suddenly bum rushed by Michiru, her enlarged arms providing an extra boast, smashing Katsuki into the shield. "What the fu-AHHH!" Katsuki screamed as he was then struck by a magical bolt of lightning delivered by Zelgadis who then floated down to the ground.

Katsuki crumpled to the ground, unconscious, leaving Izuku standing there dumbly while his childhood friend lay prone on the ground. "Umm…thanks, I guess?" Izuku muttered having realized quickly who had broken up the fight.

"You ok?" Michiru asked, having returned to normal, as had Emeralda. The trio turned to face their now former classmate.

"Yeah…sorry about that. I tried to tell him I was going to meet you guys but he insisted he wanted to talk. I should have known he'd want to fight me." Izuku explained nervously.

"Don't mention it, it was our pleasure, trust me." Zelgadis answered before he turned and faced the downed bomber. With the others watching on, the sorcerer-swordsmen put his hands out and a moment later, Katsuki appeared to be encased in a sphere of wind.

"Wow, I love your quirk, Zelgadis! You'll have to tell me more about it sometime!" Izuku beamed, now entirely enraptured by the sight.

Zelgadis merely rolled his eyes as he cast another spell, causing a blast of wind to send the sphere barreling away and out of sight. The chimera turned back to face the freckled kid before Michiru said "Yeah, about quirks. What's this he said about you having All Might's quirk?"

At first Izuku wore a horrified expression when his childhood friend was blown away, his compliment all but forgotten. Then on hearing Michiru's question, Izuku looked down and laughed nervously while he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, you, uh, heard that did you? I guess that's only fair that it happened to me after I eavesdropped on you, huh?"

"The irony isn't lost on us." The chimera dryly answered.

"Does this mean there are others who can give and take quirks besides All for One?" Emeralda asked, causing Izuku to wave his hands frantically.

"No, no! It's nothing like that! Well, this quirk is tied to him but no! All Might's quirk, it gets passed down from one user to the next, adding the previous users' powers to it as it goes, though neither I nor All Might added anything." Izuku quickly explained.

Michiru furrowed her brow at that, then it hit her. "Wait a minute! You told me you were quirkless growing up and were a late bloomer. But what really happened was…"

"I inherited it from All Might, yeah." Izuku finished before adding "Actually, after our talk on the beach, I looked up your hometown since what you said about quirks was so odd to me. You said no one else had heteromorphic quirks in your hometown but I saw plenty of evidence on social media that there was. Why did you lie? Was it because of the CRC?"

At the mention of the hate group, Michiru stiffened, her fur standing on end again while she fought to control her suddenly raising anger. Quickly, the tanuki girl shot back "Everything I told you was true! I had people out hunting me, trying to kill me…"

Sounding apologetic, Izuku replied "I don't doubt that Kagemori-san. It just seemed weird to me, you know? Plus, what I overheard today, I feel like I'm missing something and I was hoping you'd tell me what it is."

The three lighters looked at each other. Clearly this boy had been connecting more dots than they could have known and the silence that followed spoke to their apprehension about following through with their plan. Finally, Zelgadis rolled his eyes and looked away, saying nothing. Michiru and Emeralda took that as the go ahead so the two nodded to each other and Emeralda started, sticking with the more truthful part, being the worse liar of the two "What you heard this morning is true. I was built in a tube, as artificial as you are real, Midoriya."

Michiru spoke next, not giving Izuku the chance to interject or think further, though not without shooting Emeralda a glare for putting herself down "Apparently, she's the result of a researcher's quirk that lets him animate objects he touches. He decided he wanted to see if he could do this with enough individual nanomachines to make a whole person."

Izuku's face looked like a mix of fascination and horror while he let that sink in. After a moment he said "You're telling me someone out there has made a whole person and that somehow didn't get out to the public? That sounds almost…impossible to believe."

Michiru motioned to retort when another voice cut in from the shadows. A nasally, annoying voice that none of them expected to hear any time soon "That's because it is impossible, Midoriya-san, was it?"

Zelgadis' eyes flared open before he let out a low, disbelieving "Noooo…it can't be."

Stepping out of the shadow of an alleyway and wearing the sharp purple suit Jun had bought him weeks ago, Xellos waved to the assembled UA students as if meeting them on a stroll before he spoke again "Sorry I missed the party, but I thought it would be so much more fun to swing by like this!"

Izuku knew the face of the purple-haired lighter from Kamino but last he heard, this man had died and he watched on with surprise and more than a little worry when he saw the other's reactions. Emeralda, the stoic and cool member of the trio looked positively ashen, as if she'd seen a ghost. Michiru looked much more angry, her arms beginning to swell out to massive proportions. Zelgadis, though, was absolutely livid, shaking with rage.

"XELLOS! You son-of-a-"

"Now, now, Mr. Zelgadis. No need to raise your blood-pressure. So what if I faked my own death? It's not like I harmed anyone, now did I?"

"You put a fucking hit out on Terra, you mazuku piece of shit! Are you that afraid of her that you had to send some hired idiots to do it for you?" Zelgadis raged.

Entirely unfazed by the vitriol directed at him, the purple-haired lighter smiled before he said "Oh? Figured that out already? Well, she woke up, didn't she?"

"Wait, are you saying you sent those goons to cause her to wake up from her coma?" Michiru guessed, disgust clear in her voice.

"Or her magic really does pose the only real threat to me. Who's to say?" the mazuku replied, shrugging his shoulders.

That seemed to confuse the tanuki girl, leaving her dumbstruck by how easily her former comrade would turn on a dime. Finally, Emeralda spoke, her composure seemingly returned "You faked your death for a reason. What have you been doing?"

"I want to say something about how little you've changed Kasim-san but the fact that you told this fine young man half the truth means you've changed at least a little bit. Good for you!" Xellos replied, offering a light capping to punctuate his condescending tone while he completely ignored her question.

When Emeralda didn't rise to the bait, he feigned a pout before saying "Oh your no fun, Miss Emeralda. Ok, fine. I've shackled up with a group of people I believe are referred to as yakuza, the Shie Hassaikai. Lovely people."

"The yakuza? Are you kidding me?" said Michiru.

"What the hell are the yakuza?" Zelgadis angrily asked.

"Organized criminals! Responsible for black market sales and drugs. Racketeering. Stuff like that." Michiru quickly answered, fully aware Zelgadis' anger was directed at Xellos and not her.

Izuku finally reasserted his presence when he nervously added "But…the yakuza are all but extinct, aren't they? With quirks and All Might, they were mostly wiped out!"

"Why yes, that's right young man!" Xellos beamed, "I think that's why I get along with them so well. We have so much in common, once great members of a proud organization driven to the shadows, a shell of what they once were. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Zelgadis?"

Gritting out a reply through his clenched teeth, Zelgadis said "Damnit Xellos, if you have something to say, just say it!"

The purple-suited mazuku frowned, disappointment clear on his face. Izuku kept wondering if this Xellos had tried to kill Branford-san, then why hadn't the other three tried to take him down? After all, they had taken down Kachan so easily. The freckled boy was brought back to the moment when Xellos spoke again, "Always straight to the point, Mr. Zelgadis. Fine, I suppose I should get on with it."

"All this time you have been trying to find a way home. To try and get All for One to reveal where he is hiding his means of bringing us here as if it could be reversed to send us back." Xellos began.

The more he talked, the more confused Izuku got. The weirdly menacing man in front of them seemed to be making less and less sense as he spoke. And yet, Izuku felt like he was at the tip of understanding. Emeralda broke in with "It sounds like that is a goal you do not share, Xellos."

"Indeed!" Xellos beamed, "You are a sharp one, Kasim-san! Very good!" When Emeralda only narrowed her eyes in response, Xellos' smile grew larger when he spoke again "I like it here. So much order, so much peace. A mazuku is meant to bring chaos, after all and without shinzuku, or little girls wielding the Lord of Nightmare's power running around, I am untouchable here."

If Michiru could pale, she would have in that moment. On realizing what the purple-eyed monster in front of her was saying, her eyes widened before she spoke "You…you're going to try and destroy the Nomu…"

"Michiru! Quiet!" Zelgadis snapped.

"Oh? Is that what they're calling it then?" Xellos said, his nearly closed eyes widening, revealing his purple irises, a sight that shouldn't of but definitely put a chill down everyone's spine. "That is…excellent information, Kagemori-san, thank you! For that, I will confirm that yes, where you are trying to get home, I very much wish to stay! I know if you find this Nomu first, you'll try and send me back and that just won't do!"

"You wouldn't!" Michiru almost pleaded.

"He would, the piece of shit…" Zelgadis confirmed grimly.

"No…" Emeralda whispered, her eyes burning and her lips quivering with barely contained rage before she took a meaningful step toward the mazuku and screamed "NOO!"

But as the tan nanomachine girl moved to lunge forward on what was undoubtedly a pointless act of anger, Xellos simply wagged his finger with one hand and stepped aside before he said in a singsong voice "Oh, no, no, you mustn't, not in front of the children!" and there, in the space just vacated by the mazuku was a young girl of perhaps six with pale blue hair that ran to her lower back, red eyes and a small spiral horn protruding from the crown of the right side of her forehead.

Whatever Emeralda had been planning was brought up short at the sight of the young girl, who was wearing a simple two-piece set of ragged pajamas with bandages on her arms and legs and looked pretty sleepy. Horror rested on the provisional hero's faces while the girl looked around confused before she meekly said "Is it time already, Xell-chan?"

Bending down and patting the cute girl on the head, Xellos sweetly replied "It is. Sorry to ask you to stay up so late."

The girl beamed a smile "No! It was fun, me and Lina-chan stayed up talking while we waited! Are these the friends you wanted me to meet?"

"They are! Good girl!" Xellos replied before he stood back up. "This cute little girl is Eri. She's the granddaughter of the head of the group I've joined. She's very important to the current leader of the Shie Hassaikai, you see and he has seen fit to have me watch over her. We've become fast friends, haven't we Eri-chan?"

The three lighters and one hero-in-training could only watch on as the girl nodded enthusiastically and said "Yeah…everyone else they've had watch me always treated me like a burden, but not Xell-chan! He's been so nice!"

"You're the absolute worst…" Zelgadis growled.

"On the contrary, Mr. Zelgadis, if you knew what was being done to this poor sweet girl, you may reconsider your opinion. I have, in fact, promised to save Eri. Isn't that right, sweety?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Eri nodded happily.

"Before I send you back home, Eri, let me introduce you. The grumpy guy with the rocky face, that's Zelgadis. You remember me telling you about him?"

"The guy that never smiles!" Eri answered sweetly.

While Zelgadis proved the point by frowning deeply, Xellos replied "Good girl! Now the furry one is Michiru and the tan serious one is Emeralda. I don't really know the last one aside his name, Izuku, though."

Eri waved at each in turn before she said "You two are so pretty, just like Xell-chan said! I can't wait to see you again! Good night."

And with that, she was gone, as though she had never been there at all. With the girl no longer around, the others felt much more free to speak, Zelgadis saying "You, one of the mightiest of the mazuku would hide behind a little girl. You sick bastard."

"Oh? Is that what I'm doing? I just wanted to demonstrate that there is someone out there in this world who depends on me, that's all. I wonder if you could say the same, Mr. Zelgadis?"

"Her arms were bandaged" Emeralda keenly pointed out, "If you are protecting her, it would appear you are doing a poor job."

Xellos shrugged "I'm mostly lending her moral support at the moment, it's true. My current employer still has a use for her I'm afraid and I'm not in a position to do anything about that part just yet."

"Then…you should have left her here for us to save her!" Izuku demanded, his voice full of righteous indignation.

Xellos offered a patronizing smile to the freckled boy before he turned to the lighter trio "He doesn't know, does he? He has no idea what is at stake here for us. Not very hero-like to keep lying to your little classmate, now is it?"

Izuku's determined expression turned to confusion as he, too, looked over at his now former classmates, all the pieces of what the others had been saying to each other now coming back to the fore of his mind. "Wha…what does he mean?" Izuku stumbled out.

Nearly doubled over with laughter, Xellos squeezed out "Oh, oh my! This, this is priceless! I get to be the one to tell him, not one of his trusted 'friends'?"

"No, don't do it, Xellos!" Michiru called.

Zelgadis moved to cast a spell, not on Xellos but on Izuku. He had just started the incantation when Xellos turned dead serious and said "You try to put him to sleep, Mr. Zelgadis and I will kill him. Can't have you deprive me of this moment!"

"What? Tell me what? What's so important that he'd threaten to kill me? Guys?" Izuku pleaded, getting nothing but guilty expressions from the three lighters.

"Has it never occurred to you, Midoriya-san, that something has been off with the whole lighter program? Ever get the impression something wasn't quite right with, say, these three?"

Izuku again looked at the trio, their conversation earlier again coming to his mind, among other little details. Zelgadis feebly called to him "Don't listen to him, Midoriya! He is nothing but a liar and a schemer, always out to entertain himself!"

Feigning injury over the chimera's insults, Xellos cut in "That is harsh, Mr. Zelgadis! I can entertain myself with the truth too! Especially with something as juicy as this. The reason these three seem off, and why your school has been housing lighters at all is because otherwise they would have nowhere else to go, being in a world not their own, after all."

Izuku's eyes widened, and his lips tightened as those words sunk in. That couldn't be true, could it? Looking for anything in the eyes of the trio to his side, Izuku found nothing but regret, resignation and shame. Finally, Michiru spoke, her voice a reflection of everything Izuku saw in their faces "Its…true, Izuku. Me, Emmy, Zel. All us lighters, we weren't rescued from whatever smuggling ring they tell the media. We…we're each from different worlds entirely."

"Well, except Mr. Zelgadis and me! We've been buds for a lot longer back home!" Xellos cheerily added, causing the chimera to glare at him with all the hate and malice he could muster, knowing full well the monster was literally eating it up.

Izuku seemed to completely ignore the flippant comment from the purple-suited instigator, his face a mix of shock and betrayal. He felt dizzy, as an oppressive weight seemed to press on him and he fell backwards, landing hard on his butt. Michiru rushed over to him and asked if he was ok but he just stared off, unresponsive to the urgent cries from the tanuki girl.

"Oh, it seems I broke his little mind. It can be easy to forget how simple you humans can really be." Xellos commented dismissively.

Emeralda desperately wanted to charge the 'man' who she had at one time agonized over for allowing him to die protecting her. With the little girl gone again, she was sure she could take off his head, even if she knew it wouldn't kill him. It'd make her feel a lot better though. Zelgadis, however, had his arm out in front of the nanomachine girl to signal for her to remain calm and not risk throwing her life away.

Impotent to do anything meaningful in the face of a being far stronger than him, Zelgadis gritted his teeth and did all he was able, as he called out "Why even bother with the yakuza? With no one to oppose you realistically in this world, you could do almost anything, right?"

Though Xellos had very often been tight-lipped about anything he was up to in the past, given how much he had revealed to them now, Zelgadis had at least some reasonable hope that the mazuku would actually answer his question. He should have known better. The question had barely left his mouth when he watched the purple-haired monster lean forward in his most annoying pose, his hand up to his face and a finger up as he coyly replied, "Now that, is a secret!"

Zelgadis almost comically frowned, somehow surprised and yet resigned all at the same time.

"Please let me kill him." Emeralda whispered and Zelgadis had to wonder if she was even really asking him, such was the vitriol with which she asked it.

When Xellos spoke again, the three lighters brought their attention to their tormentor once more "Before I go, I thought I'd gift you one more interesting piece of information. You know, in celebration of you three getting your hero licenses."

The three watched on wearily, without saying a word, Izuku finally regaining his bearings as he watched on as well. "The reason my current master keeps the sweet little girl is because she has a most interesting quirk. It seems she has the ability to rewind anything biological to a previous state of being. A most useful skill, wouldn't you say Mr. Zelgadis, Kagemori-san?"

Zelgadis' eyes exploded open, immediately aware what Xellos was implying and as the mazuku smiled and bowed, the chimera boiled over with rage. When Xellos disappeared, Zelgadis let out a blood curling scream before he fell to his knees and pounded his fists into the ground.

Michiru watched on still knelt beside Izuku, who was looking at the tanuki girl, unsure of what to make of what was going on. Michiru had a weird expression on her face, like she wasn't sure if she was sympathizing with Zelgadis or holding back her own scream.

This left Emeralda to lean down, unsure of what to make of her friend's outburst and with trepidation in her voice, asked "Zelgadis…I don't understand. Why are you so angry?"

"He knew…he knew that girl could cure me and he dangled her in front of us like the bastard he is!" Zelgadis snarled. "So help me, I will find her. And I will get my body back!"

(X)

And so it is our heroes now don't just have to find their way home but to do it before it is taken away from them by one of their own. That's assuming Zelgadis doesn't go on an obsessive rampage to get his hands on Eri, that is. I realize this chapter would have likely been better served as 2 to give everything time to breathe but what can I say? I have too much to say, not enough time to say it and no editor to reign me in. So for better or worse, I hope you like what I've been able to produce.

I consider this chapter to be the soft end of the second arc of this story as we transition to the Raid Arc. Two of our main trio have begun looking at themselves and now it'll be Zelgadis' turn. All three still have a long way to go, both Emeralda and Michiru have only just begun their journey but theirs will be much longer. Zelgadis, he will get the bulk of his development in this coming arc and it will not be pretty for the cankerous chimera.

I will, of course, continue as best I can. This month was bereft of any emergencies or disasters but it was very busy but I devoted every free moment I could to this story. Still, its still rougher than I would like. I hope you can forgive me. Next month looks to be calmer but I'll need it to rest so the next chapter will be closer to normal length I'm afraid.

This month also didn't see any reviews so I don't have anything to comment on and share with you aside from offering my profound thanks for any that have seen fit to spend some time with me and my silly little story. I am considering commissioning some fanart to replace my poorly made cover as well and if anyone has someone they recommend, please let me know.

Thank you as always, stay safe and I'll see you next month!