Izuku jolted awake with a scream, which was cut short by the realization he was back in his own home. He sat up, rubbing his head. Dimentio, Olly...was it all just a dream? It had felt so real. He got out of bed and headed into the kitchen.
Ochaco was already in there, wide awake and eating some toast. She sat up a bit straighter and had a certain sparkle in her eye when she saw Izuku.
"Good morning, Deku! Sleep well? You were still out when I woke up, so I let you sleep."
Izuku sat across from her, rubbing his head gently. "Did we beat Dimentio?"
She blinked. "Who?"
"Dimentio? The villain from another world? He combined his and our worlds together. Do you not know about that?"
"Dreaming about villains again? Deku, I think you're stressing yourself out. Are you sure you want to teach at UA with how much you already have to do?"
"I'm fine. I guess you're right. It probably was a dream. But it felt so real..."
She touched his hands gently. "How about this? On Saturday, when you don't have to teach, we should do something together. It should help you relax and get your mind off of all those villains. Does that sound nice?"
He couldn't focus on her words, he was busy with her hands. Usually, they were warm and loving. But now...they were cold and unfeeling.
"That...sounds great."
"I have to go to work now. I can't wait for Saturday!" She gently kissed his cheek. Even her lips were cold.
Izuku finished getting ready for the morning and headed off to UA. He watched the flowers and leaves blow in the gentle breeze as cars drove past on the crowded streets. He entered the school, receiving and giving "good mornings" to the teachers and students he passed. He went into his classroom and started setting up for the lesson. Ashi entered the classroom first, waving to Izuku.
"Morning, Ashi."
"Good morning." He sat down.
Izuku welcomed the rest of the students as they entered, then finally faced the class from the blackboard. Ashi sat in a seat Izuku swore was empty, Kana and Kieru were sitting in each other's spots, and there was a seat Izuku knows didn't used to be empty. The seat was distorted and clipping through the desk and ground.
"Okay class," Izuku said, trying to ignore the seat. He was probably tired, after all. "Today we'll be learning about...Uh..."
He was drawing a blank. Why was he drawing a blank? He spent the entire weekend preparing his lessons for the week. Today was Monday, so the lesson plan should be fresh on his mind. He rubbed his eyes.
He was back in bed, staring at the ceiling. Ochaco was asleep next to him. He got out of bed. He walked into the hall. It was still late at night.
Something was off, he could feel it now. But whenever he tried to figure it out, he mind would go blank. Ochaco would be able to talk to him and believe him, right? He decided to head back to bed for now.
He went back to the room and laid back down. He took a bit to fall asleep, but felt relieved when he did. He slowly dozed off, hugging Ochaco. She still felt so cold...
He woke again, left the room, and went to the kitchen. He started making breakfast for himself when Ochaco entered the kitchen.
"Feeling better? I know you've had a stressful week. But now is the day we can hang out, just the two of us."
"Wasn't it just Monday?"
"Don't worry, I thought the same thing. But I guess the days blur together when the week passes by fast like that."
"I guess you're right."
He couldn't think during breakfast, so he went for a walk after to clear his head. Something was wrong, but nothing was wrong at the same time. What was this feeling? And was there something he was supposed to remember? He remembered a grin...but that was it.
He looked at the bush next to him. The flowers were wood, dripping with blue paint. Izuku plucked one, the paint nearly running the entire way off. He rubbed the wooden flower with his thumb. The texture matched the look.
"Wood? But flowers aren't wood..." He looked to the man watering the flowers. "Hey uh...I think your flowers are fake. You don't need to water them."
The man faced him. "Oh, are they? These old eyes don't work they way they used to. I can fix that though, so don't worry about me, Izuku." The old man held the grin. The one Izuku remembered; with the two-toned eyes and magenta smile.
"Wh-"
Izuku staggered back, tripping on the curb and landing on his back. Except the impact was soft instead of a wave of pain. He was back in his bed for the third time. He sat up quickly. What was going on? He didn't even get a chance to speak to Ochaco yet. He ran out his room, to Ochaco in the kitchen.
"Ochaco, I think something's wrong."
"What do you mean?" She was preparing pancakes onto a plate.
"B-but...I always made you pancakes."
"I wanted to do you something nice for once. You do so much for me and I-"
"Ochaco, have you noticed things are off? I went to school and suddenly it's the weekend? I went for a walk and saw wooden flowers. And then this old man had a grin that I swear I can recognize and-and I don't know what's going on!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but that sounds like stress. How about we-"
"We've already been over this! I wanted to go on a date with you, but that was when I saw that man and that grin and..." He reached for her hand. "You're right, maybe I'm overthinking this."
She pulled her hand away. "I never said that, I just said you might be stressed. I believe you, but I think you should get some rest. It's best to calm down first, before tackling a problem."
"Can I have some breakfast first?"
She handed him the plate. "Here. Enjoy!"
Izuku grabbed the fork and grabbed a piece of the pancake. He bit into it. It felt gooey and uncooked. He choked, taking the fork back out his mouth. It dripped like paint onto the plate.
"Ochaco, are you feeling okay?"
"Yes, why?"
"I think you forgot to turn the stove on."
"What do you mean? I made those just for you, and I made sure they were done." She faced back to her pan. "Maybe I messed up the recipe?"
He reached for her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. You made a simple mistake. How about we stop by WcDonald's and grab something to eat instead?"
She flinched away from him. "Don't do that, Deku."
"Ochaco? Are you sure you're alright? You keep flinching away from me."
"Don't touch her, Deku." Her voice sounded off.
"Ochaco? If something's wrong, you can tell me about it." He reached for her once more.
"Don't touch my DOLLS!" The grin flashed in front of Izuku, angry and jagged.
Izuku staggered back, thrust into darkness, bumping into a wall. Ochaco stood alone in a single spotlight. Izuku walked to her.
"Ochaco, we need to get out of here. Come on, we can find a way out of whatever this is."
"Out of what, Izuku? Are you trying to escape reality? You might not like it, but that's how life is." She held up a plate of pancakes, slowly melting off the plate. "Why don't you want to eat my cooking? Do you not like it? Do you not like me anymore? What's wrong, Izuku? Why are you so scared?"
He backed from Ochaco. "Y-you're not Ochaco. She never called me Izuku, even when we married." The wall started pushing him towards her.
"Sit down and talk to me, Izuku. I want to know what's bothering you."
He tried to force the wall back. "Give me back Ochaco!"
"But Izuku, why don't you recognize your own wife?" Her face was blocked in darkness, only her mouth visible.
Her frown was magenta.
"That grin again..." He was stuck in front of her now.
"Just take the pancakes, Izuku. I put so much love into making these for you, why won't you accept my love?"
"Because you are not Ochaco!"
He smacked the plate from her hand. She walked towards him, twitchy and not like a human. Her ankles practically dragged on the ground, and she was flopping backwards a bit.
"Izuku, I love you. Why would you do this to me?" She reached a hand to him, the black over her eyes running down her face like tears.
He instinctively shoved her back, and she landed on the ground. She shattered like glass, pale white and wet glue between the pieces. Izuku stepped back, fear on his face. A laugh echoed around him.
"You just killed her! I spent so hard on that doll and for WHAT?!" Izuku recognized that voice, but where?
He covered his ears. It was too much. He wanted out. He wanted to be away from this mocking voice in his head. He needed to get out.
He had no idea why, but he was compelled to fully charge One-For-All. He did as such, not because he wanted to, but because he had no choice. He stuck the air with all his strength. The laughing stopped. The sky cracked. The echo of shattering glass sounded as the roof and walls crumbled around him.
There was a sigh, and slow clapping. "Well, well, well. Congratulations to Izuku!"
Light slowly filled his vision, a giant shadow blocking a good majority of the artificial sun.
"I never thought you would actually destroy my illusion. You truly are one-in-a-million, Izuku."
He remembered now. That voice, that grin, they belonged to Dimentio.
"How unfortunate for you, however, is the fact I almost had you fully under my control. You should take a look at yourself, Izuku. Once that mushroom wears off, you'll be mine forever."
"Mushroom? Why do you keep thinking I'll work for you? Get it through your thick skull, I will never work for you!"
Dimentio hummed happily. "But take a look at yourself, and things might just change~"
A mirror with a golden frame appeared in front of him. A decoration of the comedy mask hung on the top corner of the frame, clearly a part of the mirror itself. Izuku went to it, unsure of what else to do.
His reflection stared back at him, a wooden puppet on purple strings. His hair made of wool, his eyes simply painted on, his limbs connected from wooden balls. He touched his face unsure of what to trust. His wooden fingers clicked against his face as if it were only his skull that remained. Izuku screamed and shoved the mirror over. That, too, shattered.
"Izuku, Izuku, Izuku. You need to stop shoving my fragile creations to the ground!"
"What did you do?!"
"The same thing I did to your students, of course, and the same I do to your friends."
Dimentio leaned down to belittle Izuku, grinning down at him in his towering state.
"Do you want to see my other productions? I think you'd like Olly's!"
He held out his hand to Izuku, and a screen-like illusion appeared in his hand. Olly was sitting on his throne, talking to Olivia in hers. He smiled, Olivia too.
"None of them realize what's happening around them. None of them except for you."
"You captured other Pro Heroes, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. And I'm quite fond of my collection. Most of your friends put up quite the battle. Some were easy to take." He motioned a hand to another small stage, where Mineta, also a wooden doll, sat in the center of a spotlight. "Your purple friend is quite the perverted one, no? Mineta, I believe his name was?" Dimentio folded his arms again. "Give him dreams of women with large bosoms and he falls right into my will!" Dimentio brushed a hand against his hips and chest in a seductive manner. "I'd bet if I were a beautiful woman with large breasts, he'd obey my every word~"
"He might be a perv, but he still has decency."
"You defend him? He has no decency left to spare. I just told you that he believes those of the opposite sex to be nothing more than tools for him, and yet you still say he can treat others like a human? Speak to me again when you realize your fault."
"He's still a hero, and wants to be a hero. That's what I meant."
Dimentio lie himself halfway on Izuku's stage. "Oh, I see. But you cannot be a hero because you amount to nothing in the end, hm?" He kicked his feet in the air like a child. "But in my world, you can mean something. You can be worth everything, without needing to borrow from an old mentor of yours."
"You know about All Might?"
"I know about your Quirk, too. You see, this is my world. I'm in control over everything inside this room. Your actions, feelings, thoughts...and memories." He grabbed Izuku around the waist. "So anything you know, I do too." Dimentio happily walked to Izuku's students, still hanging on strings. "In my world, you can have an ability naturally. No more will you need to take from others in order to achieve your goals!"
Izuku wriggled in Dimentio's grasp. "You don't get it! To be a hero, you don't need a Quirk, you need to have a hero's determination to help people!"
"You're right, and that's the issue with this world. I see your memories, Izuku. You couldn't even go to this school without having a Quirk. You cannot be a real hero in this world without one. But in my world, my perfect world, you can! You can be a powerless hero! You can toss yourself into traffic for a child's life, without destroying the truck or the child!" He laughed. "You can freely sacrifice your life for some idiotic child, and everybody will mourn you for it! You see, powerless heroes are rare. I knew a Quirkless hero once. He was the only hero of that world. He was loved dearly, and sincerely, because he saved people. I only wish to bring that vision into this world."
"Why do you care about heroes so much? Heroes are supposed to stop people like you, who use people, and hurt people, for their own gain!"
Dimentio slammed Izuku into the wall, holding him in place. "You still don't get it? I am a hero, Izuku. I'm trying to help you! I'm going to make a perfect world! No pain, no suffering, no need for heroes or villains! Everyone will love me, because everyone will know what I've been through! Everybody will be like me, so of course nobody will ever want to hurt each other!"
"Why?"
"Why? WHY?! Izuku, you clearly have no competence! I have explained it, time and time again, but you still lack reasoning!" He gripped his hat, dropping Izuku on the ground. "Are you simply trying to mess with me, or do you really lack basic education?"
Izuku scrambled, as quick as he could, behind a table leg. He peeked around, seeing Dimentio look to his hand, then the floor. Izuku ducked back behind the leg.
"Izuku~" He called in a sing-song tone. "Where'd you go? I wasn't done speaking to you yet!"
Izuku was surprised that Dimentio made no sound as he walked, watching his footsteps stop in front of the table. Izuku glanced around, seeing a small pebble off to his left. He grabbed it and tossed it aside. Dimentio started off in the direction of the sound. Izuku hurried over to the stage he had been on before, hiding behind the wooden base.
Dimentio hummed to himself as he walked, stopping only to speak. "Izuku, I know this is hard to grasp, but you really must understand me. I only want to help. I've witnessed firsthand, throughout my entire life, the cruelness of an imperfect world. That's why I deem on making a perfected world, because I want to save others from the turmoil and pain that made me this way. Don't you want a better world, Izuku? Isn't that what heroes do? They save the world from corruption. They end world suffering. They bring world peace! Isn't that what you want, Izuku?!"
Izuku felt his heart pounding as Dimentio stopped walking. Dimentio was listening now, trying to see if he can hear where Izuku was. He even started floating, just a few inches from the ground, to avoid his bells making any noise.
"And once I finish getting my hands on the Chaos Heart's left half, I will be able to cleanse the rest of the universe! I'll be praised as the best hero in existence, Izuku! Don't you agree, Izuku?!"
Izuku tried to breathe quieter, so he was practically holding his breath. Dimentio was mad, and Izuku didn't want to risk being caught before he saved everyone else. He looked at the strings on his arms and legs. They went high above his head, but didn't extend at any point past the table or stages. He tugged at the one in his right arm. The strings weren't coming loose, but he did feel a slightly different tug after pulling at them for a bit. He looked back at his students. Kieru's leg twitched slightly.
Izuku watched her upper body vanish, her legs coming loose and landing on the ground. Dimentio didn't seem to notice. Her legs, where they should be connected to her body, held a light pink glow. Her disembodied legs walked over to Dimentio.
"Izuku, I know you couldn't have left. The door is too high to reach! And I know you won't wait until that mushroom wears off, because then I'll see you right away~"
Kieru's legs kicked Dimentio over, then ran over to the door.
Dimentio got up quickly. "WHAT?! How did you get out?!"
She kicked the door open and ran out into the hall.
"I can still see you, you piece of scum!" He chased after her.
Izuku left his hiding spot, going over to the door. He couldn't free them now, so he turned his focus to finding Olive. His wooden shoes clacked against the marble floors. He had no idea where Olive would be, but since Dimentio seemed bent on capturing people, he assumed Olive would be inside another room.
After walking for who knows how long, he finally came to an open room. Olive stepped out, a hand rested on the doorframe. He looked to Izuku, shocked. Without a word, he scooped Izuku into his hands and went back inside the room. He shut the door and placed Izuku on a small table.
"Midoriya? What are you doing? Why are you so small?"
"Dimentio fed me this weird mushroom, and I passed out. When I woke up, he'd trapped me in this crazy illusion! He was trying to turn me and other heroes into wooden puppets!"
"Allow me to try something?"
"S-sure."
Olive grabbed Izuku and threw him into the wall. Izuku felt pain surge through him as he slid down and landed on the ground. He was back to his original height now, but still in pain.
"Better? That mushroom is known as a Tiny Man. They're native to the Mushroom Kingdom. Eating one makes you small. Usually, they wear off, but Dimentio must have enchanted it to last a long time. I had to injure you to make it go away. Are you okay?"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah. I have a plan. We need to save everyone first."
"Midoriya, can I tell you something?"
"Huh? Sure."
Olive tapped his pointer fingers together. "Midoriya, I'm not human, or Origami Folk. I'm a robot, infused with AI. Fawful built me for Dimentio, but also gave me a directive. It's deadly, but I think it's the only way we can stop Dimentio. I don't want to hurt him if possible, but I think this is the only way."
"Do what you think you need to do," Izuku said confidently. "I'm sure you can decide that. I want to try and spare him if possible. He acts and speaks like he's been traumatized. I want to help him if I can."
Olive nodded once. "Yeah, that's what worries me. He has been traumatized, but he's gone too far down the rabbit hole to be saved now. I...think I'm going to let you try first. If all else fails, I'll follow my objective. It's...what I was made for, after all."
"Okay. But for now, I need to go back and save the rest of the students and heroes. Good luck, Olive." He waved him off as he left.
"Good luck, Midoriya."
Dimentio grabbed Kieru by the ankle. "How did you ever get out of there?"
She kicked him in the face a few times, knocking his mask crooked.
"Oh, stop it you!" He carried her with his magic. "Come on, I caught you. Release this ridiculous illusion."
The pink by her legs vanished and blood poured out onto the floor. Dimentio screamed and dropped her, slipping on the blood. The pink returned and the legs ran away.
Izuku entered the room and sighed. He still hasn't been able to remove his own strings, so how could he remove theirs? That didn't matter right now, first he had to save them from Dimentio's illusions first.
He found that trying to remove them from the stages would not work, and assumed Dimentio was the only one capable of doing that. His focus was taken off Mineta, who he was trying to help first because he was closest to the door, when Kieru's legs hurried back through the door and kicked it shut. They went back to where she used to hang and jumped up. Izuku gasped lightly when they remained in the air, then she became visible once more.
"Kieru?"
She kicked herself down from the roof, her strings falling to the floor around her. "Midoriya! I'm so glad you're safe. I was worried Dimentio got you too."
"Kieru, how did you do that?"
"Oh? Are you talking about how I got down? Well, I had all the free time in the world, so I spent that time practicing with my Quirk like you and the other teachers said. I found out that the pieces that aren't invisible, I can actually detach them and move them around freely. But I have to stay partly invisible for it to work, otherwise..."
"How'd you get out?"
"I guess something just felt...off? I figured out it was an illusion just before testing out my new Quirk ability on Dimentio. He fell for it, but I'm not sure how long he's going to stay out. I hope I was able to knock him out for a bit. He's going to be so p*ssed when he finds out I tricked him."
"That was pretty smart, Kieru!"
"But my Quirk is only really for support..."
"And what's the wrong in that? If all heroes were rushing straight into danger, they'd all be dead by now! It's nice to have support heroes as well as offensive heroes." Izuku clapped his hands together. "Oh! I wonder if we can help the others in here realize they're in an illusion! I figured out things were wrong, and even got Dimentio to break the illusion for a second when I wasn't doing what he wanted. If we can help them realize the world they're in is fake, they should be able to get free!"
"Then...what do we do?"
"Don't worry, I have an idea."
He slowly sat up, head throbbing and blood soaking into his clothes. He floated from the floor and took off his hat to check the back of his head. There was no blood, and no bruise. He put it back on and started back to the room.
"Why are things happening like this? How did Izuku get into my head? I'm not supposed to lose. This is my world, and my rules. So why, oh why is Izuku playing hard-to-get?"
He went back to the room and tried to open the door. He missed the knob. He tried again, finally grabbing the door. His vision was blurring together. He shook it off.
His hand slipped off the door. He was back in that accursed prison. No, it was somewhere else. An insane asylum. Padded walls and floors mocked him as slashes appeared on his hands. He covered his face with his scarred hands. He staggered, falling against the door. Laughing echoed in his mind. He recognized the voice, but only faint. It called him a monster, it wished him death. Dimentio brushed his hands under his mask, covering his face.
He got to his feet again and let out a shaky sigh. He had to keep going. He couldn't stop. He was so close to his goal. He just needed to do one last thing. He had to kill Izuku. He no longer cared how it would be done. He needed to end this, now. He couldn't take much more waiting. He opened the door.
"Izuku..."
Izuku turned quickly, facing Dimentio with fear.
"Izuku, I am done toying with you! You have gone too far, pushed me too far! You are going to pay dearly for what you have done. I am going to kill you, I know a million ways to kill you and know one of them will work. You will die right where you stand!"
A green crack appeared behind Dimentio's head. Something was wrong with him. He was not acting like he was before. The threat felt to genuine to be the Dimentio from before. Dimentio, despite being a mass murderer, loved to toy with people before killing them. Dimentio was approaching Izuku with a insane smile glued to his face, forcing Izuku to back himself into a corner.
The crack behind Dimentio seemed to be growing, and Izuku stood in front of Kieru to protect her. The cracks formed into squares, falling free from the sky.
"Dimentio, calm down. I want to try to help y-"
"HELP ME?! How could you help me when there's nothing wrong? Even so, if you did want to 'help' me, you should go back to the day I was born. I was a mistake since I was born, I've been this way as long as I can remember!"
"Dimentio, I-"
Reality practically shattered, tossing Izuku and Dimentio into a green world. The floor and roof was made of green blocks, and the walls decorated with a green wave pattern.
"Now that we are alone at last..." Dimentio practically whispered, but Izuku could still hear him clear as day. "Now I can finally end you in peace!"