Doctor Ujiko impatiently waited for the last of the video file to save itself onto the flash drive. Part of him itched to chase after the Midoriya brat, to find out how he had mimicked All for One's ability with a piece of fruit, of all things, but he knew he had a limited window of time. Once the DeLorean returned to U.A., even Kurogiri wouldn't be able to warp him to it.
"It's exactly as you said," Ujiko said as he watched the blip creep across a map of Japan. "For all the intelligence his Quirk gives him, deep down, he's still just a rat."
The computer let out a soft beep. Ujiko went through the trouble of digitally closing the drive before removing it. Tucking it into his coat pocket, Ujiko turned to the rows of gestation tubes housing his life's work.
"It feels so wasteful to use you all for this," he told the Nomu, "But I suppose my past self will simply make you anew."
With a few keystrokes, he sent a dose of Trigger running through each of them. The drug would make the Nomu deteriorate in a matter of minutes, thanks to the compounding effect it had on each Quirk, but minutes were all he needed.
Ujiko had a syringe for the Nomu in his lap. He tapped out the bubbles, pressed the needle into its jugular and gently pushed the Trigger into his bloodstream.
"Now Johnny, be a good boy and help me with my errands, will you?"
Black tar engulfed him and the Nomu. Ujiko watched the lab melt away, and a sea of rooftops and streets took its place. The Nomu crouched, hiding themselves while they waited for their target to approach.
A nondescript eighteen wheeler with branding for a kimchi manufacturer rumbled down the road. Ujiko double checked the GPS, then confirmed with a Nomu that their prize was waiting inside. When the truck stopped for a light, the doctor said, "Kill them."
A Nomu leapt. They landed on the truck's windshield, crumpling the entire front end and the two people in the front seat. The bodies melted into a shimmering liquid and evaporated away.
Another Nomu peeled off the back doors like a can of sardines. Gunshots rang out and pelted the Nomu, but it simply shrugged off the bullets as it waded inside. It swatted its hands, and more Ectoplasm clones vanished.
"Using assets he knew wouldn't be of use against All for One, as he expected," Doctor Ujiko noted. "Watch the ground. Kill anyone that approaches. And carefully, very carefully, carry the DeLorean out of the truck and set it, gently, on the street.
Ujiko mused that he should have been a little more specific with his orders, as half the Nomu proceeded to stare directly at the ground as though mesmerized by the meandering lines of worker ants. The other half bore the DeLorean upon their shoulders as though they carried an emperor to their final resting place. Ujiko impatiently tapped his foot while he waited for the Nomu to carry out the laborious process of inching out the time machine as though it were made of damp toilet paper.
So caught up in his thoughts, Ujiko missed the moment reinforcements arrived. Credit where credit was due - with himself, obviously - the Nomu leapt into action. Crust's shield turned into powder the instant a Nomu's fist made contact with it, and it was only a timely kick from Mirko knocking Crust aside that let the hero escape with a mangled arm instead of a pulverized ribcage.
Other top professionals arrived on the scene. Endeavor hosed the Nomu down with fire, Edgeshot bobbed and wove around attacks as he sliced at exposed tendons and eyeballs, and Yoroi Musha calmly gave ground as he traded blows with a Nomu covered in steel spikes.
"Keep the Nomu busy!" Mirko leapt over a charging Nomu and fixed her glare on Ujiko. "I'll take down their boss."
"Actually," Best Jeanist said as he struggled to pin a Nomu down with denim. "Perhaps I would be better suited to handling him. I don't have the raw power for confronting these monsters head-on."
Ujiko used the moment of distraction to call out, " Nomu, spread through the city. Kill everyone that tries to run or hide, and run away from anyone who attacks you."
Most of his specimens instantly bolted, leaving only an honor guard for himself and the DeLorean. Realizing that they don't have the forces in the area to contain the impending disaster and apprehend the doctor, Mirko spat out a curse and said, "You're lucky I don't feel like breaking an old man's legs or I'd make sure you stayed put until I get back here."
A few heroes lingered in the background, but they were mere support, keeping watch from nearby buildings. Ujiko could have them pasted in seconds, but killing them wasn't worth the effort, not when every second was another second Midoriya could hear about the theft and come crashing down like a literal bolt of lightning from a clear sky.
The keys were still in the ignition. Ujiko groused at all the hours spent learning to hotwire a centuries old car as he powered it on and inspected the adjustments made to the dashboard. All for One had gone so far as to dissect the movie to make as accurate a replica as possible, and though a few concessions were made to availability of parts and practical design, it resembled the practice set closely enough that Ujiko had no trouble adjusting the date. Ten years, just before All Might made his debut in Japan and toppled his master's empire.
Ujiko rubbed his hands together and said, "It's incredible how much potential this has. I could go back in time and teach myself. Make all the right investments, unveil miraculous cures and advancements decades before their time, become richer than Mansa Musa and more respected than Einstein. But, with such fame and fortune comes far too much attention for my liking. Better to serve such a man, to reap all the rewards with none of the drawbacks."
Once his winged Nomu squeezed itself into the passenger seat, Ujiko pressed the clutch and put the car in gear. He had no idea where All for One had found a car with a manual transmission in this day and age, never mind the teenager who made this machine, and he could go the entire rest of his life without hearing the engine sputter and protest because he had the RPM a little too low when he shifted up. Still, he swung the DeLorean out into the road, and within short order, got into the sixties. He frowned at how slowly the speed rose, until he realized the units were American.
"Ugh. Don't tell me the time's in American units too." Laughing at his own joke, Ujiko pressed the pedal to the floor, gripping the wheel in a white-kunckle death grip as the DeLorean tore down the empty road. Amazing what terrorizing the area with biological monstrosities would do for the local traffic.
Flashing red and blue lights caught his eye on an adjacent building. As he rose over a hill, a full police barricade, complete with tire spikes and rows of cop cars blocking his way. Ujiko checked the speedometer and grinned.
"What was it they said? To boldly go, where no man has gone before? No, that doesn't sound right. Wasn't it-"
Lightning enveloped the car, and for a split second, Ujiko's heart plummeted past his feet and straight into hell. Then he realized that he wasn't being beaten into homo sapien slurry. The lightning meant it was working.
"Time for some wibbly wobbly, timey wimey - no, that's not it either!"
With that last pronouncement, the DeLorean, and Ujiko with it, vanished in twin streaks of flaming tire tracks.
Ujiko gasped for breath as the uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a straw faded away, replaced with a sense of vertigo. Ujiko glanced out the window and saw nothing but ocean from horizon to horizon. Leaning further out, he saw a small speck of land steadily growing larger beneath him.
"Slow our descent and make sure we land on that island," Ujiko told the Nomu.
Ujiko nearly fell out of the car as the Nomu's departure made it roll with the passenger door open. He caught himself with the seatbelt he had forgotten to put on, then strapped himself in as he felt the car slowing down.
"I can't tell if the safety mechanism of teleporting miles into the air is brilliant or stupid. She could've at least put a parachute on this stupid car."
Ujiko checked his phone and frowned when he didn't get a signal. They had gone out of their way to get a SIM card that was active ten years ago, only to find one of the few forsaken corners of the world that had somehow slipped the satellite net. Even the built-in GPS was drawing a blank.
He took a closer look at the growing island. Aside from a modest stone fortress jutting above the treetops and the lone dock jutting from the northern side, it looked untamed and uninhabited. Ujiko squinted and made out the blocky shapes of sails and wooden ships docked at the fort.
"Wooden ships? I didn't enter the time incorrectly, did I?" Ujiko inspected the console and scowled. "Maybe the units are American after all. Blast. Well, no matter. If it truly is before the dawn of Quirks, all I need to do is have my Nomu commandeer a vessel, make for a real track of land, and try again."
As the DeLorean descended, Ujiko heard shouting from below. The doctor shrugged, uncaring of how they might respond. No Nomu of his would be beaten by something so mundane as a cannon. If anything, giving them time to prepare would only prove that resisting him would be futile.
The car lurched as its undercarriage scraped against a treetop. Branches snapped as the vehicle plowed its way to solid ground. Once the DeLorean landed, Ujiko leisurely stepped out, checked Johnny's vitals, and told the Nomu atop the car, "Protect myself and the DeLorean, and kill anyone that tries to harm either."
The Nomu spread its wings like a protective mantle and stepped forward. Its eyes swiveled independently, scanning the environment, until both honed in on the faintest bit of movement in the undergrowth.
A lone man strode forward. His white coat caught on a branch, and with an irritated tsk, he carefully untangled himself. Ujiko examined his yellow striped suit, tanned skin, and tinted sunglasses for clues for what era he had stumbled upon and rapidly concluded it must be relatively close to the dawn of Quirks.
"Well this is unexpected," the man drawled. "You wouldn't happen to know a certain Midoriya, would you?"
Ujiko stiffened. Midoriya having come here was an unexpected wrinkle, and he wasn't sure how to play it. He could try pretending to be allies of his, but he had no way of knowing what this stranger knew, or what explanation he would accept. Conversely, this could be some enemy of his, and while Ujiko might find common ground with a fellow villain, they could just as easily stab him in the back for the time machine.
But at the same time, if they knew Midoriya, they almost certainly knew about his Quirk. That, and the man's nonchalant reaction to the work of genius towering over him rang alarm bells in his head. He couldn't trust that he would win a fight, and he didn't know which response would work in his favor.
"That's not a name I'm familiar with, I'm afraid," Ujiko answered instead. "I've gotten a tad bit lost. Could you tell me exactly who you are, and where I am?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "People call me Kizaru. Where you are is classified. Luckily for you, I would be happy to have you and your… companions escorted wherever you wish to go. Of course, that machine of yours will have to stay behind. I'm afraid none of my boats have enough room."
Ujiko was no expert on wooden vessels, or any form of seafaring for that matter, but he knew bullshit when he heard it. Smiling his best obsequious smile, he said, "That is rather unfortunate. Very well. I will leave it in your care and return for it once I acquire a more suitable vessel."
Kizaru blinked at him in surprise. "Of course. I will make sure it is taken care of in your absence."
Once Kizaru turned his back on Ujiko, the doctor smirked to himself. The man's clearly knew of the machine's value and had no intentions on ever having it returned to him, but evidently, the doctor's acting skills had lulled him into a false sense of security. He cursed himself for not thinking of ways to give his Nomu silent signals, but luckily, he made sure they all had enhanced hearing out of principle, if only to make sure they always heard orders.
Whispering under his breath, Ujiko said, "Kill him."
The Nomu had only just shifted its stance to lunge forward when a beam of light speared the Nomu through the neck. Ignoring the fatal injury, the Nomu charged on, only for Kizaru to lash out with a bigger beam. Missing its head, Ujiko's Nomu crashed down at Kizaru's feet.
Ujiko's heart raced, and he frantically recalculated the situation. That was a Quirk, which meant the time machine had likely taken him to the correct time, which meant this island had wooden ships and no GPS for likely Quirk-related reasons. Investigating the island could come later, his first priority was escaping.
Hiding the Nomu behind his back, Ujiko whispered, "Johnny. 35.1 North, 135.7 East. Bring the car."
The Nomu obediently regurgitated its black sludge. A beam plunged behind the doctor, slashing his coat and reducing Johnny into a glob of meat paste.
Ujiko made a run for the DeLorean, but Kizaru teleported in front of him. Hoisting him up by the collar, Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses and said, "You really don't know who I am, do you? I suppose you might not be acquainted with Midoriya after all."
Ujiko felt one last flash of hope. The man was clearly Midoriya's enemy, if he could just-
The thought cut off as Kizaru's grip tightened. He said something, but the words were lost in the frantic thumping of his heart, the burning in his lungs, and the unbearable sense of pressure crushing his spine like a hydraulic press.
The last thing Ujiko heard before everything went dark was a loud, wet snap.
"You're going to tell me exactly where you got this machine and how to use it," Kizaru told the doctor as he applied the lightest bit of pressure. Just enough to make it abundantly clear to the man wriggling in his grasp that silence would not be tolerated. Silence was all he was going to get, however, as that lightest bit of pressure snapped the man's spine. With an incredulous expression on his face, the Admiral gently shook the doctor. His head ragdolled at angles no living creature should manage. He slapped his face a few times for good measure, but the doctor didn't even twitch.
With a put-upon sigh, Kizaru dumped the body on the ground and turned to the Marines rapidly filing out of the undergrowth. "Load the machine onto our fastest ship. Carefully. I'd hate for anyone higher up the chain of command to take personal offense to any mishaps."
More than a few Marines gulped at the prospect as they gingerly hefted the machine into the air. While they got it loaded up, Kizaru beamed himself straight back to Marineford to report on it personally. It was bad enough the Marines had used a transponder snail to call it in, and he couldn't give Dragon or anyone else more chances to catch wind of their newest acquisition.
"It matches the picture we got from Enies Lobby," Kizaru reported.
Sengoku nodded curtly. "Good. About time I had good news to report. Escort the ship to Vegapunk, and kill anyone that comes snooping around. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
As he beamed himself back onto the ship, Kizaru watched the Marines strap it down and pile padding all over it. ""Why do I get the feeling that this will make even more work for me?"
Vegapunk stared at the machine before him, all too aware of the expectant eyes upon him. He hadn't known what to expect of the missing piece, the device capable of piercing the boundaries between worlds.
He hadn't expected it to be a time machine.
This wasn't the work of someone with regrets, someone who so fervently wished to undo some past tragedy or mistake that they would gamble the existence of the universe on it. The sleek exterior, weather-worn yet bearing the remnants of detailed paint and shine. The interior, with ramshackle parts for aesthetic reasons and methodical, orderly internals. It was the work of someone who looked upon the impossible and dared to think otherwise, brilliant yet reckless, who did it because they could.
He could almost imagine the inventor standing at his side, commenting on how they spliced wires together to handle the insane amperage pumped through its circuits, or lamenting that they couldn't find the right adhesive that fit the aesthetic and could hold up to the strain time travel put upon the chassis and was forced to slap one kind on top of another. He could see layers of the project, messier components off to the sides, while the very heart had cables neatly bundled together and solder applied without the slightest bit of metallic smear. The inventor had grown with their project.
"Well?" Jaygarcian Saturn, the Elder holding Vegapunk's metaphorical leash asked. "How soon can you replicate their work?"
Not even a 'can it be done?', as if snapping the bedrock of the universe were a trifling matter. Vegapunk schooled his face into the focused, selectively aware scientist persona and said, "Replicate it? I can't imagine why you would want me to."
As the Elder bristled in anger, Vegapunk smoothly added, "I can improve upon it."
That stopped the Elder short. "How so?"
"These, for a start." Vegapunk kicked one of the DeLorean's tires. "I imagine the other world has much more land and better roads, designed to handle the velocity required for the machine's activation. I daresay there isn't a single stretch of flat ground long enough for the job in this entire world.
"We could make some easily enough."
"Yes, but why bother? We could accomplish the same feat by swinging it in a circle fast enough."
He could envision it already. A shaft, running through the ship's central mast, spinning freely inside of it as a revised temporal engine sped to its activation velocity. The tricky part would be making sure the rest of the ship and its crew constituted as being inside the vehicle.
"We have thousands of workers to throw at making that surface, and only one of you. Delays will not be tolerated."
There was a delicious sort of irony in them being worried about deadlines when they had all the time in the world at their beck and call. If only they knew.
"Simply spinning the device around would take far less time and effort on my part than recreating the engine. I also imagine you would rather transport hundreds of Marines at once instead of five."
The Elder raised an eyebrow, as if admonishing him for his impertinence. "Very well. I trust that there won't be any setbacks from your alterations. The Celestial Dragons are most eager to bring this wayward land into the fold."
As if a civilization capable of mass-producing the components in the machine were simply lost children needing a guiding hand. Vegapunk would snort if it wouldn't draw the Elder's ire.
"Rest assured, I'll have the first prototype ready within a month."
"A week."
Vegapunk let an affronted look slip onto his face. "I could do that, but I'd have to overheat my equipment and skip all the safety checks. Do you really want to trust the life of an Admiral to a rushed job?"
The Elder's face twisted. "It is not your place to decide such matters."
Vegapunk simply waited. After a while, the Elder huffed and said, "Three weeks. No later."
"Acceptable."
"Then I will leave you to it."
Oh, if only he was truly left to it. He could make himself his own time machine, go back to the lost century, and learn from their greatest scholars and inventors. Or he could hop into the other reality and learn from theirs. Tethered as he was to his island, it was but a pipe dream, but in the back of his mind, he drafted plans in case an opportunity arose.
As he rummaged around inside the guts of the DeLorean, he pulled out a miniature truck.
"Huh. It works with one so small? What a shame the World Government built thousands of the bigger ones."
Izuku slammed his fist onto Nezu's desk. "What do you mean, it's gone?"
Nezu sent the shattered desk a baleful glare and sighed. "All for One knew where the machine was. I couldn't risk him coming for it, so I had it moved to a temporary location until his death. I had pro heroes escorting it back, but evidently, All for One kept a significant amount of his forces in reserve."
Izuku paced around the room. "It might not be too late to fix it. If Mei can get a new one made, we could go back even earlier and stop All for One from rising to power in the first place. No, if we change that, who knows what butterfly effects that could have? We'd need to figure out the specific date he went back. Surely it had to be sometime before All Might fought him, but that still leaves centuries."
While Izuku muttered worriedly to himself, Mei strode into the room, smelling of detonated explosives and coffee. "Hey hamster guy, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes. I was wondering if your sabotage worked."
"Hmm? Oh, you mean the truck? Yeah, it was still in there."
Izuku gaped at her. "You put a truck in the time machine?"
"Yeah, a little one. I figured if it worked with a monster truck, it should work with any kind of truck, right? So I put a toy truck in the hood."
Izuku's brain blue-screened. Then he burst out into belly-busting laughter. "Oh wow, that's perfect!"
"You don't believe the doctor will cause any trouble there, do you?" Nezu asked.
"Hah! They wouldn't last ten minutes in that world."
A/N: Yeah, that's a bit of an oopsie out of them. But in their defense, the odds that Ujiko actually finds land, let alone a Marine-occupied island, by randomly dropping in Fortnite-style is pretty darn slim. Not to mention they shouldn't even be able to replicate that technology anyways. Darn Vegapunk. Odds are somehow better that he'd get eaten by a T-Rex five minutes in and the DeLorean would be lost to time.
I'm going to be replacing the fence around the house next weekend. And boy howdy, is that going to be fun. Especially the two posts embedded in the sidewalk. But hey, the fence is leaning in some places and not up to code besides. Got a whole week of vacation to deal with that headache.
Kishinokurobi: "I will also note that I love the "actually maybe I will just outlive him" part. I have a friend who played an immortal that was very prone to that strategy. Get destroyed by facts and logic? Wait 70 years and piss on their grave."
Bardothren: I imagine One for All has done that to a lot of people over his prolonged lifetime.
Naruto30: "Wonder if tomura will still become a problem here? Also, if the rumble fruit consumed AFO in entirety, does it mean Izuku could technically wield AFO if he could separate it from the fruit?"
Bardothren: no and no. Tomura got taken in during the aftermath of Izuku's kidnapping after he drove off AfO then beat the stuffing out of the rest of the League. As for AfO the Quirk, there will be no Quirk-stealing shenanigans from Izuku.
AxtheAxolotol318: "Izuku: I hope the marines don't show up here and try to arrest me
Marines: knock knock the world government is here
Izuku and Mei: fuck"
Bardothren: funny you mention that…
That's it for now. Next time, I'll either have a new fence or a yard that looks like it has very angry groundhogs.