A man is lying in bed with a teddy bear under his arm and a pizza and Stitch plush sitting beside his phone on the nightstand. The alarm goes off, shocking the man awake.
"Ah! YouTube time. Um, okay," he picks the phone up turning off the alarm. "You guys watch this title sequence and I will sleep in a couple more seconds. Snooze!" The last word was said with an intensity.
That confused everyone. What did this have to do with heroes of other universes? This was just a man getting out of bed in the morning.
Music plays while what looks like a mix of fire and lightning sparks in the center of the screen before taking shape to say 'THOMAS SANDERS".
"Okay," Mina grins. "I like that intro."
Izuku tilts his head, "I'm guessing that's his name; Thomas Sanders."
"Indeed," Glow nods.
Thomas appears, moving his hands to the side in a greeting, "What is up everyone?! Man, those extra seconds really worked magic."
Bakugou snorts. "Sure," he mutters.
"So, being online as much as I am," he begins. "I tend to overshare everything about myself."
"Understandable," Kaminari shrugs.
At this point, the adults in the room were questioning if this was how the teenagers were going to act the entire time.
The screen flashes and he reappears wearing a mask and holding playbills from multiple plays. "You may know of my love of theatre."
It flashes to him wearing a pink shirt with a yellow star in the middle and holding a cup labelled 'Steven Universe'. "My enthusiasm for cartoons."
It flashes again to him wearing a red shirt with a pizza logo. "And of course, my passion for pizza."
"All very great options," many agree with the man.
"But even though I talk about these things a lot, I get questions from people all the time asking very in-depth, thought-provoking questions about myself that are actually really difficult for me to answer accurately."
Thomas looks questioning with wide eyes, "Do I really know myself as well as I should?" He asks. "On top of that, I get messages from people who are also having trouble figuring themselves out."
That's when it clicks with the heroes and heroes-in-training. He's a hero because he talks about things that everyone experiences and helps them through it.
"Personal identity," Thomas puts his hands together. "Is something I think everyone struggles with at one time or another." He gets excited, "So, I figured, why not go on this adventure together?"
"I need to have a sit down with myself, figure myself out and maybe come to a better understanding that we all could learn from. Let's do this!" He points to the screen with a serious face.
"That's a great idea!" Uraraka exclaims. She, like many others, was excited to see how this goes.
In front of the stairs, Thomas pops up from the floor wearing glasses, a black shirt and a light blue necktie, "Hello there, class!"
A few jump, not expecting it to take this type of turn. What was Thomas doing, exactly? And who was the class he was referring to?
It flashes back to Thomas in front of the couch, "There is no class here."
"Yes, there is."
The way he looked at them let them know they were the class he was referring to.
"Whatever." Thomas shakes his head. "This is my intellectual side." It shows him again, waving. "Every fact I've ever learned."
"Oh," Iida perks up. "So, it is different aspects of his person being presented to us and they are going to answer the questions?"
Tsuyu nods with a finger on her lips, "I believe so, Iida."
"An interesting take on something like this," Hawks smiles. "I like it."
"Believe it or not, I was quite the nerd in school." Logic informs, crossing his arms.
Thomas holds back a laugh and grins instead, "I'm pretty sure that's a surprise to no one."
"Damn, he just roasted himself," Present Mic blinks.
Aizawa sighs, "I think that's the point. Make fun of yourself in a lighthearted way to get a laugh from others."
In front of the TV, Thomas appears again. This time wearing a prince outfit. "Greetings, wonderful citizens! And you nerds!" He nods to Logic who gives him a greeting back.
Thomas points to where the 'prince' is standing, "This is my fanciful side, all my dreams, my hopes and my creativity."
Aoyama gasps, "He looks like a prince, I love it!"
Mina nods along, completely agreeing with the blonde. "He doesn't look like Prince Charming with that get-up."
"Not to mention," Creativity begins. "Your love of Disney songs." He takes a breath getting ready to sing. "Do you want to build a snowman?" He sings with passion.
"Nope, not right now," Thomas says seriously while pointing to the Prince.
Logic looks confused, "Why that song?"
Most don't recognize the song, but they do recognize Disney. They assume the song is from a pre-quirk-era Disney movie.
"Huh," Izuku speaks drawing attention to himself. "I wasn't expecting a Frozen reference today."
"Frozen?" Shoto asks. It sounded like a movie he would like, after all, he uses ice more than fire even now.
In front of the curtains pops up another Thomas. This time wearing glasses, a sky blue shirt and a gray ascot tied around his neck. "What's going on, kiddos?"
Thomas looks both happy and exhausted to see this side, "And finally, this is my moral side. My sense of right and wrong that I've learned ever since I was a kid from my own parental units."
That made sense to everyone, your parents usually teach you that before you can talk. But to Hawks, he never got that. He was taught extremely loose morals, and he regrets that it still sometimes shows in his hero work.
Morality smiles, pointing to Thomas, "I also represent your unabashed love of dad jokes."
The screen flashes to Thomas, Logic, and Creativity saying, "Dad jokes," at the same time as Morality.
Well, if Hawks needed a cheering-up, he got it with this character. Morality, as they are now calling him, seems to embody joy and excitement. That makes him an easy favourite among the room's occupants, but that also causes concern to grow for Izuku. He knows how easy it is to get caught up in the good times and keep a smile on your face to avoid the negativity constantly trying to push you down. Izuku hopes that it isn't like that for Morality, but wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be true. He just hoped that if that time came, his classmates wouldn't look at him differently.
Morality looks around as if he didn't realize he was in a room with everyone. "Whoa! Is there four people in here or is it just me?" He grins while adjusting his glasses.
"Ah, I got it." Prince doesn't seem too impressed and Logic simply groans, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"That was a thinker," Thomas states. "I like it."
"I did, too," Kaminari grins.
"So, what are we all doing here?" Logic asks, exasperated.
"Well, people know me from all the vines that I make," Thomas starts. "But I don't think people really know me know me."
"Vines?"
"A pre-quirk-era app that was used to store short 6-second long videos made by its users," Glow responds for the first time since the showing began.
Vlad jumps, "In all honesty, I forgot you were there." The being only gives a smile in return, not taking offence.
"Well, maybe they would if you'd post YouTube videos more often." Prince mumbles. Logic and Morality gasp, not having expected that response.
"Damn," Kaminari exclaims. "Shots fired!"
"Whoop! There it is!"
"Okay. All right. That's fair." Thomas has his arms crossed, not impressed with his sides. "But I don't even know if I know me." He uncrosses his arms to motion to himself. "There's some things that I think even I need to figure out about my own identity."
"Understandable," Midnight sighs softly. "It makes sense that you won't always know what you feel you should about yourself."
"Like, okay. Relationships." Thomas points in the direction of Prince and Morality when saying that.
"Relationships?" Mina, Aoyama, and Midnight grin. They want to know if Thomas is dating anyone or interested in someone. They don't realize the way he said it shows he isn't in a relationship.
"Ah! Romance," Prince is excited now.
"Yes. But where do I stand in those regards?" Thomas asks.
Prince looks to the ceiling, "I have a pretty ideal vision of love. There's someone out there for me. One true love."
"That's sweet," Mina gushes. "I want a love like that."
Logic butts in, "But, you tend to overthink things, rule out possibilities with logic, dream up obstacles with each new connection you make." He counts off on his fingers.
Thomas points to Logic, "And that's when the anxiety kicks in. Maybe that's why I haven't found a person for me yet."
Izuku shakes his head, "Anxiety can be annoying but you should never overlook when it acts up. Sometimes it can simply be a warning sign." He didn't speak loud enough for anyone to hear, but he will repeat himself soon enough. He knows he'll end up having to.
"But that's okay!" Morality speaks, looking at everyone. "The important thing to keep in mind is, nobody's perfect. Everyone comes with their own flaws."
"Including me."
"Yes. Someone will accept us flaws and all. Until that day I shall learn to love," Prince pauses. "Myself."
Snickers ring through the theatre. They know it's true, but the way he said it was so dramatic.
Thomas points to Prince, "Yes. That's definitely important. Flaws and all. Speaking of which—"
Logic cuts in with his hand raised, "Um, are we bringing up flaws now? Because if so, get ready to take a lot of notes." Thomas questions if this should be said on the internet. "Okay? Here we go. You procrastinate a lot."
"I wasn't expecting him to go off like that, but okay."
"You can be a bit selfish with your food and your other belongings," Morality picks up.
Prince continues, "You're definitely not the most adventurous person."
Thomas holds out his arms, "Okay? Maybe this was a bad idea if I'm supposed to be learning to love myself."
"Ah, but remember, everyone has flaws," Logic addresses.
Bakugou scoffed, so softly that no one heard him. He didn't have flaws. He ignored the many ones he did have for the sole reason that addressing them would cause more problems for him than he needed at this point.
"At the same time, focus on your good attributes," Morality grins.
In the most dramatic voice Prince could muster, "You value your relationships with your friends above all else."
"You believe there's good in everyone," Morality continues.
"And when you set your sights on doing something, you put all of your energy into it to make it the best it possibly can be," Logic finishes.
"Those are all great things to focus on," Uraraka grins. She didn't like the idea of discussing someone's flaws, but talking about their good attributes with it made it better.
Thomas seems embarrassed, "Well, that's very nice of you guys."
Morality smiles softly, "Well, it's important to be nice to ourselves and cut ourselves some slack every once in a while."
"Wouldn't want to be our own villain, would we?" Prince questions.
"Good advice," Nedzu nods, taking a sip of his tea. Again, Glow did not know where he acquired the cup let alone the tea but they didn't want to ask.
"Okay, true," Thomas points to Prince. "What else do we need to figure out?"
"Biggest fear?" Logic asks.
"Spiders," Morality shivers.
"Rejection," Prince almost bites his nails at the thought.
"What exactly is at the bottom of the ocean?" Logic inquires.
"Nope! Nope!" Thomas puts a stop to that train of thought quickly. "We are not talking about fears. I am well aware of those. I am talking about what I need to figure out about myself."
Everyone shivered at their fears being stated or new ones being gifted to them like a Christmas present.
"Well, what do you wish to look for in a relationship?" Prince asks, moving his head a lot. "What are you hoping to gain from having another person in your life?"
Thomas has an intense look, "Um, I don't know. Someone who's a nice compliment to me. Someone who wants a long stable relationship. Someone who indulges in the same sense of humour. And someone who can binge-watch cartoons with me." Thomas grins at the end, loving the idea.
"Awe," many gush. "That's sweet."
"With everything you've learned," Logic begins his inquiry. "What do you wish to do with your education?"
"Ooh, I am not sure," Thomas admits. "I'd love to figure out ways to help the environment. Science was always my strong point and I love chemistry."
"That's a great idea," Kota signs to Tokoyami who speaks out loud for him.
Morality steps up to the plate to give his insightful question, "What positive impacts do you inevitably hope to bring to this world?"
Thomas is surprised, "Wow, that was a surprisingly deep, and poignant question."
Morality interrupts by pointing to Logic, "Hey! We have the same glasses!"
Logic looks broken but responds, "Yep."
"Okay. Well, I think just being able to put out silly, lighthearted content into the world is kind of a good start. It makes me really happy to do that."
"Well, there you go. A good foundation." Logic was proud of that answer.
"Agreed, it is a good foundation. I wonder what he will do after this," Nedzu cackles, spilling all the tea from his cup. The people sitting next to him try to move out of the splash zone only to find that the tea disappears before hitting anything. Aizawa looks at Glow who's hand is glowing blue and red.
"Yeah, true. These are good things to be in touch with and I'm sure there are some of you out there who have other, very different, maybe even more difficult questions about yourself, maybe about your gender or your sexuality." Thomas is getting ready to wrap things up.
"Yes," Prince cuts in. "Who may be your love or do you want love at all?"
"What do you want your future to be?" Logic questions. "Or even, what do you wanna do tomorrow?"
"And where do babies come from?" Morality asks with seriousness.
"Huh?"
"You serious?" Prince can't believe he doesn't know.
"What-you're a father!" Logic exclaims.
"I know it's got something to do with storks. Um, but after that, I uh–"
"Oh, gods."
Thomas stops him, "Okay, well only he's confused about that. But yes, figuring out your own identity can take a long time. You may know yourself at an early age, or you may still be figuring yourself out well into adulthood."
"But there's no time limit for these questions," Logic comes in with reassurance.
"Getting to know yourself can be quite the awesome adventure and hopefully it's an adventure that never ends," Prince is excited.
Izuku is glad to hear this. He thought he was doing something wrong by not knowing himself and mimicking All Might. To hear that he didn't have to know himself just yet made him smile.
"And no matter what, no one knows you better than yourself," Morality states. "Am I right, Tony?" He looks to Thomas.
"Not my name," Thomas says.
"Then what is it?"
"Okay," Thomas cuts that line of questioning off. "That was a very enlightening experience, but I think that's enough for one night." he runs a hand through his hair, moving it out of his eyes. "It's a little weird to be talking to myself so much. Right, Sacagawea?"
A hamster is shown sleeping with Thomas doing a voiceover in a high, squeaky voice, "I'm your pet hamster and I'm pretty sure this is even weirder."
Kota shakes his head, he might talk to his animals but his quirk lets him hear their answers. Thomas doesn't have that, so yes, this is a little weird.
"True," Thomas admits. "You're right. You're always right." He whispers the last part. "I hope you guys enjoyed this little journey into my identity. Say goodbye, everyone."
"Class dismissed!" Logic sinks out of frame.
"Goodbye!" Creativity sings as he lowers himself out of frame.
"Let me know when this gets put up on the YouTubes," Morality sinks like the other two.
"Oh, that hurt," Kaminari groaned.
"Will do," Thomas nods to him before he's completely gone, then turns back to the camera. "And until next time, take it easy, guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!"
Many smiles popped up upon hearing that. The fact he was addressing more than just males and females helped give them the understanding to help them figure themselves out.
Prince appears again by his TV, "Say, you know what would be un, fellas? If we did one of those four-point harmony song videos like John Cozart or Todrick Hall."
"Um, no," Logic cuts him down. "You know you would just end up embarrassing yourself."
Thomas looks uncomfortable, "Well, I don't know about that."
Morality walks in, "Hey, I am down to do that! Sign me up," he chuckles.
Prince shakes his head, "Yeah. You know what? You're right."
"On second thought, it was a bad idea."
Morality shakes his head, "Okay, well you kiddos give your old dad a like and subscribe. That's right, I'm learning how to do promos. Got a couple more, you know, old tricks up my sleeve. I'm learning. I'm learning. Woo! You know what, that just tired me out," he laughs. "I'm gonna take a nap. Take a nap for about two hours. Take a nap."
"Well," Glow begins. "What did you think so far?"
"I liked it. It was helping people even without doing what we do," Uraraka states. Izuku nodded, he didn't want to admit to his class and the Pros of his insecurities and problems. Not yet, at least. Maybe some other time.
Hawks was another person who didn't want to speak, but he knew they could potentially find out anyway. "I agree, the way he went about addressing the subject was interesting and I can't wait to see his take on other subjects."
Glow nods with a smile, "Well, the title of the next episode is called 'Way Too Adult'."
That worries some of the adults in the room, but many don't have the same thought process as them. They can't wait to see the next episode! They didn't think they'd enjoy this so much.