Izuku growled, his zweihander ready for battle. He lunged forward, narrowly dodging a sword made of blue light careening straight towards him. He skidded across the ground, his iron boots creating marks on the concrete floor. Looking up, he saw the red giant wolf pounce towards him, maw wide open with its teeth glistening underneath the bright candle lights.

He sidestepped the attack, the red wolf's maw shutting tight with a loud snap. As it flew past him, Izuku raised his zweihander and slashed sidewards, his blade carving through flesh and fur. Blood seeped from the gnarly wound as the wolf whimpered from the pain, but it didn't look like it had lost the will to fight just yet.

Snarling, the wolf landed on the ground and turned, more glintstone swords appearing out of thin air, ready to skewer him a new asshole. Izuku hefted his zweihander on his shoulder, his other arm down on the ground mimicking the posture of that knight he fought with Blaidd.

The glintstone swords flew, and Izuku's body moved. He dodged one by rolling to the left, his head still near to the ground. Jumping up, he dodged another one, the glintstone sword piercing through the bricks underneath him, leaving a hole through the floor. He slammed the last sword against his zweihander, shattering it into motes of light.

Izuku whirled, only to find the wolf's maw looming inches from his face. Eyes wide, he brought his zweihander down in a desperate slash, carving deep into its snout. A pained whimper left its throat, but it didn't stop its attack.

Izuku braced himself for the pain, and when the wolf bit down, its giant teeth pierced through his armor, and then his flesh. He swallowed down a scream as a grunt left his lips, his blood seeping out the grievous wounds marred on his flesh. His grip against his zweihander tightened, the seal on his left hand glowing its ominous red as he let the power of the dragons course through him.

Above his head, the head of a spectral dragon formed, a roar echoing throughout the room as it displayed its glorious self. Looking down, its glowing eyes spelled murder as its maw gaped open. Soon after, a gout of flame washed down upon the giant wolf. This was enough to cause it to recoil and let go of Izuku, his battered and wounded body thrown to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The spectral dragon head vanished, and Izuku didn't waste time to moan about his agony. His hands rummaged through his pack and withdrew a flask of crimson tears and gulped down two sips. His wounds flared, pain momentarily searing through him as he gritted his teeth. Then, it was gone. Looking down, he saw his wounds closed, but his blood still marred his armor. He also grimaced a bit when he saw the state his armor was in.

This was going to be a pain to repair. Hopefully, Hewg wouldn't price this at a premium.

Looking up, he saw the wolf rampaging across the room as it howled, a part of its red fur singed black from the dragon fire. However, he also managed to cauterize the wound he gave it on the snout, so it wasn't bleeding anymore.

Hefting his sword up, he charged the wolf. He didn't want to give it time to recover, and the faster it dies, the less likely it would mean that Izuku would die and leave Katsuki alone for who knows how long. Izuku raised his sword the moment he got close and swung down. His blade sunk into flesh and the wolf howled even more as blood gushed out of the new wound.

Twisting it around, he withdrew his sword from the body of the wolf, creating a gaping wound across its side. Calling upon the power of the dragons, a spectral dragon arm appeared over his left and raked its claws against its flesh. It bled even more as the wolf tried to backpedal.

Pushing his advantage, Izuku readied his sword once more, only for it to be the last mistake of his life. For in the corner of his eyes, he saw the wolf holding a glintstone sword within its charred maw, eyes glowing with the fury of a thousand suns.

"Shi-" Izuku's words were cut off as the blade lopped his head off, his vision turning to black as his body dropped to the ground.

[][][]

Katsuki sat inside the room, a frown marring his face. It's been an hour since he's seen Izuku, and frankly, that worried him for a bit. He might've kicked the bucket and left him here for god knows how long, and that was something he wasn't too keen on experiencing any time soon.

Sadly, no matter how long he waited, the armored teen he was dependent on for the entire duration he was with didn't return. It sent a shiver down his spine, his stomach feeling heavy all of a sudden as the flickering flame of the campfire he had made crackled in his ears. He closed his eyes, his chest heaving up and down as he breathed in deeply and exhaled softly. Opening his eyes, he was met with the flickering flame… And a silhouette standing by the fire.

Instincts blaring out, he suddenly rose to his knees and prepared to fight, only for the figure to just stand there, eerily staring at the flame with nary a sound. Katsuki didn't back down, his experience in the Lands Between telling him that anything that moves could be hostile.

"Peace, traveller, from another world." The woman's voice echoed throughout the room. She raised her arms and Katsuki tensed for a bit, only for her hands to grasp the edges of her hood and pull it down, revealing brown hair that twisted and curled at the end. "As my companion has asked of me, I offer you a guiding hand through these perilous lands."

"... Your companion… Don't tell me…" Katsuki narrowed his eyes, his mind leading to the only person who could've sent this woman to him.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, he has been rendered… unavailable for an unforeseen amount of time." The woman said while she laid her single open eye on him.

"So, you mean he's dead." Katsuki huffed, already knowing what the woman meant. "Tell me his name, then."

"Are thou really that skeptical? Very well then." She closed her single eye and looked back at the fire. "His name is Izuku. Izuku Midoriya, or Midoriya Izuku when in your culture. Also, a native of your homeworld, Earth, more specifically, the country of Japan, which is surprising in and of itself."

Katsuki bit his lip, his heart pounding at the revelation. "... Fuck… Alright, how long will it take for him to come back?"

"As I have said, and you both no doubt has conversed with each other in the time it would've happened, from a few hours to a week. Maybe even more." She knelt before the flame, hands held out as she shook the chill from the air.

Katsuki glared at her hands. He could tell the woman wasn't shivering. Hell, she didn't even look bothered by the chilly atmosphere. He didn't know whether she was feigning the act, or just having a good poker face, but one thing was for sure, Katsuki didn't trust the tramp 100%. But if she was this privy to his secret, and in turn, Izuku, there must be some level of truthfulness in her words.

"... Fine." Katsuki slumped his shoulders, his posture slouching as he set his ass back on the floor right next to the flame. "So, what now?"

"That depends on what you want to do." The woman turned her gaze back on the ash blond. "But forgive me, I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Melina, companion of Izuku during his travels in the Lands Between."

"... Right." Katsuki rolled his eyes, only for his brain to halt for a moment. "Wait a sec. Didn't you say you were his companion? If so, why didn't I see you when I and Izuku were travelling?"

"It was because I haven't revealed myself to you." Melina prodded the fire with a stick she had procured from somewhere. "You may describe it as magic in your tongue, but I was always with him, ever since we met in Limgrave."

"Fuck… That means you were also in Japan, weren't you?" Katsuki glared at the brunette, but the woman didn't respond. That was telling enough for Katsuki and he dropped the question.

The two bathed in silence for a few minutes, the only audible thing in the entire room was the loud rustling of the lift right outside and the crackling of the fire. Katsuki tried to get his thoughts in order. Izuku was dead. He was alone, except he wasn't because of course Izuku had something up his sleeve. And now he was waiting for him to revive in who knows how long.

Normally, he would be stressed the fuck out right about now. His only guide to getting back gone and him alone against this world that would probably dumpster most of the heroes back in Japan, or even the entire fucking world. Hell, he didn't even think All Might would be able to survive most encounters in this world because of one thing.

Magic. Or sorcery in their terms.

Earth relied on genetics and natural evolution – even if sometimes Quirks didn't make sense and could even break physics because of course they would – but here, he couldn't make heads or tails about the magic that could be used here.

Case in point. Those sorcerer fuckers that used ethereal blades… Eh, maybe not ethereal blades, but the point still stands. Were they hard light projections? Lasers? Fire given form? He didn't know, and that was what set them apart from this world.

Clutching at his head, Katsuki breathed in deeply. Like his old hag used to tell him… Wait, no, she'd tell him to give the birdie to whatever was troubling him. And just the thought of it brought a wry smile to his lips.

He exhaled slowly, like his old man used to tell him, the mostly calm person of his parents. He repeated this for a solid few seconds, before he looked back at Melina, eyes blazing with determination as was his usual self.

"Can you teach me how to use magic?"

[][][]

Mitsuki was at her wits end. It's been more than a month since Katsuki's disappearance. Masaru did his best to call on every single favor he had for help finding their dumbass kid, but to no avail.

It all happened after the Sports Festival. She was gonna visit the kid after her job was done, but when the principal said he'd gone missing, she nearly castrated the fucking animal there and then. Thankfully, Masaru was able to calm and talk her out of doing something she would regret, but she still threatened to castrate Nezu in case he couldn't do his job properly and not find her son.

And look at where it got her. Her son was still nowhere in sight and her already short temper became even shorter from what had transpired. If that wasn't enough, the motherfucking rat kept on saying that they were trying their best, but she knew they knew something. There was no evidence, but deep in her guts, she could feel it.

She gripped the steering wheel tight, the tips of her fingers turning pale. Eyes widening, she slammed on the brakes and slammed her fist against the horn. The loud honk of her car echoed throughout the seats as she glared bloody murder at the car in front of her. She got a honk back in response and all it did was further enrage her already frayed mind.

Gritting her teeth, she tried calming down, letting the words of her yoga instructor run through her mind like a record. She needed to calm down, otherwise, she might just be implicated in a road rage murder, maybe even run over someone because of her already wrathful emotions.

She parked in a car lot that was nearby, most of the slots already filled due to the day workers. She turned the car off and just sat there, the silence of the insides already fueling her desire to simmer down.

Getting angry today of all days wouldn't be nice after all. Turning to the passenger seat, she eyed the bouquet of flowers and a box containing a bottle of liquor, her best friend's favorite during their younger years. Sighing, she bumped her head on the steering wheel, the audible thump rattling her ears as she felt her skull flare in slight pain.

Not that it mattered. She just needed some stimulation to get her mind off of things. Before meeting her best friend. She didn't want to worry her, even if she was somewhere beyond with her son no doubt geeking over some of the heroes.

After some more time had passed, she was calm enough that an incident wouldn't cause her to maim some poor sod trying to get by traffic. Turning on her car, she drove again, this time, keeping her eyes on the road and her mind set on the meeting before her.

The drive from the car park didn't last that long, only about five minutes before she parked in another car lot right next to her destination. Grabbing the bouquet of flowers and the bottle of liquor, she cradled them in her left arm and left her car. Looking up she saw the arc that greeted the visitors that wished them a pleasant day.

As if today would be in any way pleasant, fucking assholes.

She walked along the concrete path, passing other visitors who were also visiting some of their loved ones. She ignored them, and they in turn, ignored her. It wouldn't be polite to greet them anyway, what with them being here.

After a few minutes, she stopped in front of a gravestone. She set the bouquet down and opened the box of liquor.

"Hey, Inko. Been a while, huh…"

[][][]

"Another case of serial killings?" Tsukauchi frowned as he stared at the folder being handed to him by the chief of police stationed in Musutafu.

"Yes, and sadly, it's part of that case with the… animalistic villains." Just hearing that bit was enough to send Tsukauchi on edge. For the past month, there has been… for the lack of a better word… cannibalistic villains that looked more like animals than regular humans.

"Dear god. What happened this time?" Tsukauchi accepted the folder with a worried tone.

"Just look and see for yourself."

Tsukauchi stared at the folder. He then gave a curt nod to the chief of police before heading back to his office in this station for the duration of his investigation. Setting the folder down on his desk, he plopped his body on his chair and leaned his back against the backrest. He closed his eyes and stared at the folder, the piece of paper taunting him.

Clenching his fist, he reached one out and opened it up, revealing detailed documents of the crime scene, along with pictures taken by those who responded to the crime in progress. As per usual, they were a grizzly thing, with bodies of the victims laid strewn about like animals in the process of being eaten alive.

His eyes twitched. It was worrying that he was getting used to these sights, but he had to endure. Looks like he had to prepare another trip and interview some poor sod who happened to be near the scene.

He just hoped that they weren't traumatized by the strange and deadly occurrence.

[]

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A/N: Been very busy lately, what with MRC coming this Saturday. Teem meetings, strategy, planning... scrimming... yeah.

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