Chapter Text
Izuku closed the door tight behind him as a wave of sea air hit his face. Looking around, he saw the most pristine beach he had ever laid his eyes on. Light and dark sand were laced together, reminding him a bit of swirled ice cream. The waves rolled onto the shore, leaving behind just the right amount of rainbow sea foam to compliment the image. The foam popped, turning into bubbles before floating away into the sky. Said sky was a crisp blue, but there were wisps of yellow and purple as well. The clouds had a soft pink hue to them, while others were the purest shade of white out there. Every color felt bolder and brighter, as if they were more alive. Finally, the air around him was just bursting at the seams with energy.
Izuku stretched out his arms, letting everything sink in. He was really here; this was really Wonderland. All he needed to do was walk further down the beach or into the forest and he'd finally see all of Shiro's stories come to life. Anything he could dream of was practically at his fingertips.
There was a strange rumbling sound right behind him. He turned over his shoulder to watch the door fall backwards, only for Todoroki to reach out and try to grab it. He missed, and all three of them simply watched as the door was swallowed up by the sand.
"Dammit!" Todoroki spat. "That was our way back!"
"Relax." Izuku placed his hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "We'll find another door. All we have to do is find Shiro-san, and he'll help us get back home."
'Let's just hope we find him before we run out of time,’ he internally added. The last thing any of them needed was for Alice Syndrome to creep up and claim one of them.
"Well, Deku-kun, it's obvious you're the expert on this place," Uraraka stated. "At the very least, you're the expert out of the three of us. So where do we go?"
Izuku removed his hand and placed it on his chin. "Since we're looking for a person and not a place, it's best to try to travel towards where Shiro-san spends most of his time. One of the first things he told me is that he serves the Red Queen, so we'll need to make our way over to her palace and find him there."
"Hold on," Uraraka interrupted. "There's a queen here? And you just want us to walk right up to her house and waltz on in?"
"I guess so," Izuku chuckled, removing his hand from his chin. “Besides, I mentioned that fact earlier in the rabbit hole and you didn’t freak out then.”
“Well, I may or may not have been confident I was dreaming back in the rabbit hole.”
“Do you still think you’re dreaming, Uraraka-san?”
“After everything that happened back in the door room, I don’t think I could even if you forced me to.”
“Getting back on track, I’m pretty sure we'd get in trouble for trespassing." Todoroki stated. "You can't just enter someone's home simply because you want to.”
Izuku couldn't help but shrug at the both of them. It wasn't his fault Shiro had yet to mention if there was even a concept such as trespassing down here. The most he ever said on the matter was just never to make the soldiers angry.
"To be fair, we don't know if the same rules apply down here. All we'd really have to do is avoid ticking off the guards and we should be just fine."
Both Todoroki and Uraraka stared at him like he had two heads or suddenly grew a tail.
"I should be shocked you're suggesting breaking and entering," Uraraka began, "but if I was shocked by every single one of your decisions, I think I would have fried my brain out long ago. Doesn't mean I understand what you're thinking, but like I said, you're the expert here."
"Thanks?" Izuku's voice cracked. "I think that was a compliment?"
"I don't understand your plan either," Todoroki huffed, "yet if it will get us home, then I'm in."
Izuku couldn't help but stare at Todoroki. The last time he’d seen him this unnerved was back at Kamino Ward. Why was the idea of a journey through Wonderland making him as nervous as having to save Kacchan from the League of Villains? Izuku knew something was off back in the door room, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was… hopefully he could figure out what it was on the way to Shiro.
"Then we should get moving," Izuku said. "After all, there's no use to us just standing here!"
"Which way do we go?" Uraraka asked.
"We–" Izuku felt a weird feeling in his head, like a lightbulb exploding. He knew about the various locations of Wonderland, but not where each one was. The closest thing he had to a map was just the fact that the two Queens rested far away from each other. Everything else was a puzzle. Besides, who knew if each place stayed in one location long enough to warrant a map? From the way Shiro had described this place, it seemed to change and flow whenever it wanted to.
"I," he squeaked out, "don't actually know how to get to the Red Queen's palace."
"You don't?!" Both of them exclaimed.
"I'm sorry!" Izuku flinched. "I never thought I'd be down here, so I never asked for a map or directions or anything like that! If I had known we'd be coming down, especially without Shiro-san to guide us, I would have asked!”
"Don't worry, Deku-kun," Uraraka smiled, though the nervousness was still visible on her face. "It's not your fault. We'll just... we'll just need to find someone that knows how to get where we need to go, or some signposts or other guides."
"Hopefully someone can set us on the right path," Todoroki let out a long sigh.
A small twinge of guilt flickered inside of Izuku, and he crossed his arms over his chest. It felt like he once again let people down, even if he did doubt Todoroki meant it that way. He knew the most about this world, so he should have known which way to go. Just like he promised Shiro he’d keep Wonderland a secret, yet let them all tumble into the rabbit hole.
‘Just like how you couldn’t keep your promise to Eri like you wanted to? Couldn’t see it through without messing up somewhere, right?’
He shuddered at the voice echoing in his head. He tried not to think about it; it didn’t deserve his time. He could fulfill his promises and live up to all his expectations just fine. What happened there was just a fluke. All his future plans wouldn’t end up like that.
He wasn’t sure what he’d do if they did.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a warm, gloved hand resting on his shoulder. He shook his head a bit and saw Todoroki had moved right beside him.
"Everything alright?" He asked. "You started spacing out and your face kept twisting into really odd expressions."
"I'm... I'm fine." Izuku flashed the best fake smile he could. "Just thought about something I didn't want to, that's all."
"You wanna talk about it?" Uraraka asked.
"Not really." Izuku shook his head. "Now come on, we should get going while the sun's still in the sky." He began walking down the beach away from where the door once stood. For Heaven's sake, he was in Wonderland right now! He shouldn't let himself worry about what happened back up there. All he had to worry about was getting back home before any of them had too much Wonder inside of them. Uraraka sprinted up and walked on his right side, looking around at her surroundings. Todoroki was right behind both of them, not saying much while he also looked around.
The longer they kept walking, the more and more excitement Izuku could feel bubbling in him. What was he going to encounter first? He was probably a good distance away from the eternal tea party, as well as from the Duchess’ home. Maybe he’s run into a pack of flying whales or a Cheshire or a–
"You think we came across a fish market or somethin'?" Uraraka asked, scrunching up her nose.
Izuku took a good whiff of the air, fresh fish mixing in with the salty air around them. There was some noise in the distance, sounding like a band warming up as a crowd murmured amongst each other.
"No, I don't think so." He picked up his pace a bit. He had a strong hunch about what he was about to encounter. Sure, it was doubtful that any of the sea creatures knew how to get to the Red Queen's palace, but he wasn't about to pass up the chance to see one of Shiro's stories unfold right in front of him.
The more he ran, the noise got louder and the smell got stronger. It sounded like a dance was going on. Eventually, he made it all the way up to the source of sound, which came from a small group of turtles sitting on shiny rocks and playing music. One of them was singing about whiting and snails, repeating the lines over and over again in between heavy coughs.
"Deku-kun, slow down!" Uraraka called out. She ran back up to his side, and caught her breath before losing it at the sight in front of her. "Oh my God..."
Todoroki was right behind her. "What was so important that you just ran up– what the Hell am I looking at?"
All the creatures of the sea– which still included the jellyfish– were on the beach, all of them facing a large cluster of lobsters. Those with back fins were standing on them and using them like legs, while others like the octopus used their pre-existing limbs to move around. Some of the creatures were adjusting the soles and eels on their feet, a few of them even cleaning them up with whiting. Most, if not all the fish were stretching out pairs of hands tucked under their flippers, and the birds were doing the same. The Mock Turtle could be seen crying off to the side, wiping away the tears flowing down his pig face with the handless pair of flippers he had. The Gryphon was right next to him, trying to comfort his friend but looking rather annoyed.
"Okay, this has to be the most vivid dream I've ever had," Todoroki stated. "There's no way this is actually happening."
"Ya know... a dream would explain why this looks like we stepped right into a children's cartoon," Uraraka added on. “Though, this has to be the most realistic dream I’ve ever had. I’ve never had a dream that part way through had me convinced I wasn’t dreaming.”
“Or we’re on something strong. Are we on something?” Todoroki asked. “We have to be. The question is what are we on and when did someone drug us.”
"We're not dreaming," Izuku exclaimed. He couldn't help but smile like an idiot right then and there. “And we’re not on anything at all. We’re wide awake. We're really in Wonderland, and we've really stumbled into a lobster-quadrille." There was so much joy bubbling up in Izuku right then and there. He was really about to interact with Wonderland. Finally, he could truly explore the place he had longed to visit and the stories he had longed to see. It was dancing right in front of him. He could experience it all for himself and feel free.
"Oi!" A voice cried out. All three of them turned towards the seagull, who was sitting on the same rocks right the turtle band resided on. A dodo rested right next to him, his feathers puffed up proudly. He held onto a cane with one of his hands.
"Ya know, a talking bird should seem tame after walking into whatever this..." Uraraka remarked, "but it still feels so weird."
"Agreed," Todoroki stated.
"Don't ya kids know it's rude to come to a dance and not even get in on the action?" The seagull had a weird accent, sounding something like a Scottish fisherman. "Your partners have been waitin' for ya to show up. Now stop dilly-dallyin' and bring ‘em onto the floor! Y’all were about to miss the first figure!”
“All the others are lining up now.” The Dodo stretched out his hand, pointing at the two lines forming along the shore. “Take anymore of Time, and you all would have been late! Now hurry up before the dance starts!”
“Well,” Uraraka cleared her throat. “You see…” She kept looking anywhere but at the Dodo, and she was twiddling her fingers together.
“We’re trying to get to the Red Queen,” Todoroki stated. “Could you tell us how to get to her?”
“Yeah, what he said.” Uraraka continued. “If you can point us in the right direction, we’ll get out of your hair!”
“My dear, there are no hares here!” The Dodo stated. “And even if there were, I wouldn’t own one! I’m not sure how anyone would!”
“A hare?” Uraraka asked. “I wasn’t referring to one, just using an old saying. I’m not even sure how you got there. It’s not like ‘hair’ and ‘hare’ have the same amount of syllables anyways.”
“Uh,” Izuku interrupted. “This might be a good time to mention–”
“You got seawater in yer brain?” The seagull interrupted. “Of course they do! Hair, hare. Hair, hare. Hare, hair. You can’t even tell if I mixed up the order of the words right there!”
“Only in English they do,” Todoroki answered. “Not in Japanese.”
“Todoroki-kun, you see–”
“You got seawater in yer brain too? What’s Japanese?”
“It’s what we’re speaking right now.”
“Come again? I haven’t the foggiest clue what you’re yapping about!”
“Hair, hare. Hair, hare. Hair, hare…” Uraraka muttered. She bit down hard on her lip before her eyes went wide. “They sound exactly alike when I say them. But they shouldn’t unless we were…”
“Speaking English,” Izuku finished. “Unless we were speaking English. Which we are thanks to Wonder.”
Both Uraraka and Todoroki turned towards Izuku with eyes as wide as saucers. “What?!”
“I don’t think I can even explain it. It’s something about Wonder and the way that Wonderland works that naturally favors English. I didn’t even realize it for the longest time until I tried to read a Japanese tongue twister to Shiro-san!”
“So that’s why sentences have been sounding kinda weird…” Uraraka muttered. “I thought it just had to do with the birds being able to talk, not the fact we’re speaking English…”
“I don’t know what you kids are freaking out about!” The seagull croaked. “But you’re holding everyone else up, so get in ya places!”
"Sorry, sir!" Izuku said. “We’ll get right to our spots!” He gave a quick bow before running over to the lobster-less line. Truth be told he was a bit nervous. Shiro once told him how the dance worked, but there were so many steps and maneuvers involved that he only really remembered the end of the first figure off the top of his head. He tried writing down the others, but the steps were so confusing he could never get them down. Regardless, he made his way into the line. He turned to the lobster in front of him before taking off his hat and clearing his throat.
"Excuse me." Izuku bowed again, this time at the lobster. "I'm terribly sorry for being late. I lost my way in the Whistling Woods and only was just now to make it here. Can you believe it? Lost on my way to my first lobster-quadrille!"
"I can forgive you," the lobster stated, "if you make it up to me by giving me a good time."
"I'll certainly do my best." He nervously chuckled while putting his hat back on. "Though, in my foolishness I left my dancing shoes at home, so I might not be the most graceful dancer on the floor today." He held out his hand.
"That's quite alright." The lobster took his hand with their claw. "Besides, I enjoy leading the dance whenever I can. Just end it with a bang and you'll be just fine!”
"That I can do!" He gave a firm shake, and the lobster smiled wide. He snuck a quick glance over at Todoroki and Uraraka, though he didn’t need to look their way to hear the seagull and dodo getting on both their cases. They both rushed towards the end of the line, with Todoroki looking even more panicked than he had earlier. Izuku managed to catch his eye and shot a sympathetic smile his way. He wished he could have done more, but they weren’t near each other. Even then, Izuku was trapped between a rather large codfish and a shark, with other large sea creatures surrounding them. He was squeezed in between them all like sardines in a tin.
The band had finished warming up and began to play again, going rather fast. It only took a few notes for Izuku to realize just how much the dance he didn’t know.
The jellyfish were still scattered about amongst everyone’s feet and flippers. The lobster grabbed his hand and pulled their feet together, spinning both of them rather quickly. They stopped as soon as the lobster jumped backwards, and Izuku quickly followed suit. The lobster picked up the pace even more, rapidly moving around their limbs without taking a moment to rest. Despite this dancing being quite different from Ashido’s breakdancing and from the dance at the cultural festival, her instructions echoed in the back of his head, telling him to loosen up and stop being so stiff.
He let himself look down at the ground for the briefest moment, noticing how the jellyfish were beginning to squirm back into the water. Some of them were rather beaten up, looking like they had been stepped on several times.
“So that’s why we’re moving so fast,” he muttered. “To scare them back into the water.”
“You catch on fast,” the lobster replied. “But you’re still too slow! Come on, pick up the pace!”
He was quickly pulled into a spin, and he found himself pressed right against the lobster’s chest. As soon as he was spun back out, he started staring at his partner’s feet, his brain working as fast as it could to quickly copy the same movements. Bits and pieces of Shiro’s instructions were popping up as well, though nothing large enough to comfortably guide him. Though, even that couldn’t keep him from slipping on a jellyfish running back the water. He fell into a split as he let out a small yell. His reflexes saved him from making a further fool of himself, and he quickly bounced back up, even if a small spin snuck in.
“That’s more like it!” The lobster cheered. “Finally getting lost in the rhythm! Now come on! They’re almost all gone!”
He wasn't completely sure how he supposedly got lost in the rhythm there, but a small smile crept onto his face. He found himself better keeping up with all the twists and turns, even able to properly predict some of them. Eventually the last of the jellyfish went back into the water, and an echo of cheers vibrated throughout the line.
“Thank goodness they’re gone now,” the lobster said. “Now we can get into our groups?”
“Our groups?”
The lobster wrapped both of his hands and wildly spun him around, leading him somewhat away from the shoreline. By the time Izuku’s head had settled down, he found himself surrounded by three more lobsters, the codfish and shark from earlier, and a seal. A small ball of nervousness rolled around in Izuku’s stomach. Hopefully the others wouldn’t mind having a human in their group.
The band slowed down just a bit, yet the beat was still vibrant and lively. The lead turtle pulled out an old fashioned microphone and began singing well into the song:
“Will you walk a little faster ?” said a whiting to a snail,
“There’s a porpoise close behind us, and he’s treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance !
They are waiting on the shingle—will you come and join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?“You can really have no notion how delightful it will be
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!”
But the snail replied “Too far, too far!” and gave a look askance—
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.“What matters it how far we go?” his scaly friend replied,
“There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France—
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?”
As the lead turtle sang, the various groups of eight began to dance together. Each member had arranged themselves in a circle, alternating between lobster and sea creature (and human). Izuku quickly followed everyone else’s movements, grabbing the claws of the two lobsters next to him. They all twirled around in a circle while skipping, reminding Izuku of playground nursery rhymes some of the other kids would do between each other (he had tried to join one once, but had been turned away due to no one wanting to play with a quirkless kid). Once they had broken hands, they had turned to face their original partners, though now they were spinning the other way. The codfish, shark, and seal had all tucked their flippers behind their backs, so Izuku pulled his hands behind his back as well. All of the lobsters had pressed their claws on their hips– do lobsters have hips? If they did, it didn’t look like they did– and started clicking their heels together. The sea creature partners mimicked the exact same footwork, and Izuku quickly did the same. To be honest, it looked like something a chicken would do.
This dance was very weird. Then again, that's exactly what Izuku had expected.
The strange chicken footwork eventually stopped and everyone rested their hands naturally. The codfish had grabbed both of their lobster’s claws, and the seal did the same. They moved in towards the center, and each turned to their right, separating the remaining dance groups. Now there was a codfish standing right next to Izuku, and he held out the fin offered to him. The two new lines formed kept moving back and forth towards each other, pointing their right legs and flippers out and placing their right feet and flippers right on their knees. Eventually the line broke up and formed another circle. They all spun around more, and all the sea creatures (and Izuku) would step into the center and spin around to the other side of the lobster, changing out partners.
The dance kept alternating between strange group combinations and equally strange partner movements. The strange heel clicking kept returning, still reminding Izuku of chickens. At one point, all the lobsters had grabbed the shark and placed it in the middle before holding claws and spinning around it. Izuku happened to sneak in another peak at Todoroki and Uraraka and saw that Todoroki had been chosen to be trapped in the center of the lobster circle. He looked completely and utterly confused, and the expression was priceless. Uraraka kept reaching in towards the center of the circle, though she was also holding back what appeared to be a large fit of laughter. Izuku also had to push down a fit of laughter at the sight. Oh, if only he could take a photo of what was happening.
Somewhere past midway through the first figure, the groups shuffled up. Izuku and his partner had ended up in a group with Uraraka and her lobster, as well as a lobster and swordfish pairing and a lobster and octopus pairing. Despite them not being partners with one another, Izuku and Uraraka kept sneaking glances at one another, both of them sending smiles to the other.
"So, I bet you didn't think you'd be dancing when you woke up, did you?" They had landed side-by-side for another part of the dance. The two grabbed hands, with Uraraka lifting her pinky up to avoid floating him away.
"If I had expected dancing, it wouldn't have been anything like this." She stated, blushing a bit. "I can barely keep up with everything. How are you managing to not step on everyone's toes... fins?" She shook her head. "You know what I mean."
"Honestly, I have no idea." He opened up his mouth to say more, but the two were quickly reunited with their new lobster dance partners. The dance continued, and Izuku pressed his hand against the lobster's claw as they spun in a circle.
Eventually the music rapidly picked up the pace and the band began playing even harder than before. The seagull was bobbing his head so hard he wouldn't look out of place at a rock concert... if you were to ignore the fact he was still a seagull. The dance picked up in pace as well, and Izuku began to struggle to keep up with what everyone else was doing.
"You ready for the big finish?" The lobster asked, a huge and mischievous grin on its face.
"Absolutely." Izuku flashed his own mischievous grin back at the lobster.
The band gave one last hurrah before the seagull let out a large yet painful yelp. As soon as everyone heard the yelp, the sea creatures grabbed their lobster partners and threw them into the ocean. Izuku placed a firm grip on his dance partner's claws and began to channel some of One for All. The Quirk danced inside of him, and he ended up swinging the lobster in a circle before releasing it back to sea. It was hard to see the lobster's expression, but it had let out a large, cheerful yell as it flew through the air.
Uraraka quickly caught on to what was happening, and she grabbed her lobster by its claws, pressing all five pads down. A soft pink glow flashed over the lobster's body as she tossed it out to sea. It didn't travel as far as Izuku had managed to throw, but she still threw it farther than any of the other creatures out there.
"Release!" She pressed her pads together and the pink glow flashed over the lobster once again. It plummeted towards the water, releasing the largest cannonball Izuku had ever seen. The sea creatures began giving both of them a round of applause for their lobster tosses.
"That... that was surprisingly fun!" Uraraka exclaimed. "And somehow therapeutic!”
"I didn't think I'd ever have that much fun dancing, but I had a blast!" Izuku exclaimed. There was a huge smile plastered over his face.
The sea creatures started making their way into the water, and Izuku slowly began to follow them. Perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown his lobster out so far when he knew he would have to swim out to sea. He made it out to the shoreline when something cold encased his legs and ran up to his waist, stopping him in place.
“How did I end up trapped in ice a second time today?” He sighed.
“What are you doing?” Todoroki asked, walking up to him.
“Finishing up the first figure of the dance. We’re supposed to go get our partners, do a somersault while still in the water, and then change partners again while still on shore.”
“I doubt this will dry off fast.” Uraraka held up her skirt with both her hands, twirling it some as she kept looking down and back at the ocean. “Stupid layers…”
“Then don’t go in,” Todoroki countered. “We don’t have to finish the dance. We just have to get directions and then leave.”
Izuku just stared at Todoroki, not sure what to say. Sure, Todoroki wasn’t the most polite person out there, such as diving right into eating without giving thanks for the food. Still, he could spare a little politeness here and at least finish the first figure. Besides, thanks to Shiro’s stories, Izuku knew the people of Wonderland didn’t take well to people breaking traditions. He wasn’t in the mood to possibly experience fury first hand.
“We can get directions once we’re through,” Izuku eventually stated. “So let’s just all go get our partners we threw in, do the flip, and then we can get going.”
“What we need to do is get back on track to getting home. We’ve wasted enough time already.” There was something strange in Todoroki’s voice that Izuku couldn’t quite pick up on. The annoyance was clear, yet something else was mixed in. Nervousness? Fear?
Before Izuku could respond, a lobster walked up right behind Todoroki and tapped his shoulder. “Excuse me? Are you going to throw me in?”
“Why? If you needed to go back in, you could have just walked back in," Todoroki countered. "There's no reason for me to have to throw you into the ocean, nor is there a reason for anyone else to. You had to walk onto shore to get onto the beach, so it's easy to assume you can just walk back in. Not only does that save everyone else trouble, it just makes the most sense. Especially if you’re all going to come right back to shore. Why waste your time with going in at all?”
Izuku bit down hard on his cheek. Sure, he might not have had enough to explain how the rules here worked, but he had assumed Todoroki caught on that Aboveworld logic didn't make the cut here. Apparently shrinking and dancing with human sized lobsters had yet to get him to adapt to the new situation.
"Look." Izuku held his hands up. He attempted to approach Todoroki and the lobster, but was stopped by the ice. "There's been a misunderstanding. You see, my friend here is very new to how the dance works. I tried to explain to him on the way here, but he didn't get it at all. He was so confused, it was almost like he had just stepped into Wonderland for the first time!"
"You didn't explain anything at all." Todoroki turned his head towards Izuku. "And we did just arrive here for the first time."
"Todoroki-kun, what are you talking about?" Uraraka approached Todoroki, laughing him off. "You sure you're feeling well? Normally you get the hang of things so easy." She let out a string of laughter as she subtly jabbed him with her elbow. Izuku sent a silent thank you her way.
"Uraraka-san is right, are you feeling okay? Normally your jokes are much better than this."
Todoroki looked like he wanted to say something to both of them, but a subtle yet intense glare from Uraraka shut him up. He bit down on his lip while shooting them both a look that had the message "we're not done talking about this" written all over it. He did, however, grab her hand rather tightly from the look of it. Perhaps to keep her from going into the ocean herself?
“At the very least you can let your friends complete the dance,” the lobster suggested. “Maybe watching them will help you learn how to do it.”
“We don’t need to go into the ocean. What we need is to get directions to the Red Queen so we can get back home. We don’t need to be distracted by nonsense.”
The lobster looked rather offended at the statement, puffing their chest up. The band was murmuring with the birds, and some of the sea creatures that had returned were whispering amongst themselves.
Izuku channeled a bit of One for All, breaking out of the ice and almost stumbling into Todoroki. After regaining his footing, he placed a hand on Todoroki’s shoulder. “Todoroki-kun, just go along with the flow. I know it doesn’t make sense, but we’ll be able to get to the palace faster if you just follow the steps.”
“We wouldn’t even be dealing with this if you had helped us ask for directions at the start instead of joining in and leaving Uraraka and I in the dark.”
Izuku pulled his hand away and backed up a couple steps. Okay. Maybe he didn’t explain what a lobster-quadrille was when maybe he could have squeezed in a quick sentence. Still, that didn’t take away from the sting his words left, cold as ice.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Uraraka asked. “You’re pretty blunt and kinda aggressive right now, even by your standards. Let’s just head out and–”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Uraraka pulled her hand out of Todoroki’s grip, took a few steps back, and froze in place, though she didn’t need any assistance from ice to do so. “I just– you see–” she began twiddling her thumbs together. “It’s nothing bad, just observations?” Her voice cracked, and her face was pretty red.
“We can find someone else to help us with directions,” Izuku said. He sent a sympathetic smile Uraraka’s way, and there was a small twinkle in her eye as she returned it.
“Your friends are right,” the lobster said. “Besides, I don’t know how to get there myself. Best if you get on your way.” They put a claw on his right shoulder, and miniature Hell broke loose.
Todoroki’s right side flared out, jagged spikes of ice shooting out around him. Some of the smaller sea creatures were frozen in place, as well as a large chunk of the lobster.
“Ah, shit,” Izuku muttered.
"Something tells me we don't want to stick around and see what happens." Uraraka quickly pressed both her hands and both sets of pads against the lobster's chest, sending it flying back as it was freed from gravity's effects. She turned on her heel as quickly as she could before she bolted on out of there. “Run!"
Izuku scooped up Todoroki bridal style before channeling his Quirk again. He caught up to Uraraka in no time, leaving behind an increasingly angry mob of sea creatures approaching them. Izuku and Uraraka ran into the forest, stopping not too far from the edge before Todoroki hopped out of Izuku's arms. He slammed his right foot on the ground, and a powerful wave of ice rushed towards the forest's edge before bursting into a humungous ice wall. A small bit of frost crept up his foot, which he quickly shook off before warming himself up with his fire.
Uraraka pressed both of the pads on her fingers together. "Release!"
A scream suspiciously similar to the Wilhelm Scream rang out in the distance before being cut off by a large splash noise.
"Well," Izuku stated in between heavy breaths. “I don’t think we can ask them for any directions.” He turned around at the mass cluster of trees waiting ahead of him, “Guess we’re back to walking on our own.”
•••
The three of them walked in the woods in silence. The grass was a lush blue-green, always rustling and moving despite the wind not reaching the floor at all. The tree trunks twisted and turned in varying spirals, the branches splitting off at the top, still tucked up in curls as they reached their ends. The trees weren't brown, but rather dark reds, blues, and purples. The leaves weren't green at all, instead matching the color of the tree they hang off of. Gentle gusts of wind blew near the top, causing a strange whistling noise to echo through the area. Bird cages with legs rested on top of the branches, occasionally opening their doors all on their own to let small, fluffy birds out. There were also birds with large mirrors for bodies, leaning in towards the three of them. Shoto caught a quick glance of himself in one, and shuddered at the fact this was even possible.
Nothing in this forest made sense at all, just like everything else he had seen so far.
After what felt like forever, Shoto finally spoke up. "What the Hell happened back there?"
"What happened is that you accidentally froze a bunch of sea creatures," Midoriya answered. He had relaxed considerably since leaving the dance, yet his voice was still sharp and firm.
"I understood that part," Shoto replied. "That was the only thing about it I understood. What I'm asking is why that thing back there was even happening in the first place. Nothing like that should have been going on.”
"It happened because they wanted to have a dance.” Midoriya was now looking over his shoulder staring at Shoto. "And since they are able to dance here, they decided to dance."
"But why?" Shoto could feel his anger rising up. Midoriya was the one who supposedly held all the answers, yet the last thing he was being was helpful. "And for that matter, why didn't you explain what was going on? You just left us."
"I didn't leave you." He had stopped walking and had turned altogether to face Shoto. "Yes, I couldn't explain what was going on, but it wasn't like I had the time to do that! I barely had time to explain the language change! How was I supposed to explain the dance! Trust me! I would have explained it further, but we were being thrown in and couldn't spend any time talking about what was going on. I was hoping you'd look at what was going on around you and figure it out from there!”
"How am I supposed to figure out what to do when everything around me doesn't make any sense? The whole time I was confused and no one was telling me what was going on, that I was supposed to magically understand everything. To top that all off, now you're angry at me for not going along when you never gave any reason for why we should be doing things other than we're 'supposed to'. If I don't know what's going on because you won’t explain things, of course I'm going to default to doing what makes the most sense!" Shoto knew he was snapping, but he couldn't stop. He could feel himself naturally slipping down the old familiar path. Channeling fear into anger was practically second nature to him. Covering up any trace of vulnerability by standing his ground was as natural as breathing. It was something his father indirectly taught him to master, and it looked like it wasn’t going away any time soon.
And right now? He was practically drowning in fear. The fear that first showed up back in the rabbit hole was growing stronger and stronger. He had no idea where he was or what was going on, and the unknown terrified him to his core. He felt powerless at the situation at hand, and that only made him even more scared. He didn't like feeling at the mercy of his surroundings. Who knew how it might bite back.
“Oh, so now you want to listen to me?” Midoriya squinted his eyes. “Where was that idea hiding when you were so eager to find out my secrets that you froze me to the floor to discover them?” His voice was as cold as ice.
“Deku-kun, calm down,” Uraraka said. “Let’s just take this from the top and–”
“Well, at least back there I could actually understand what was going on.” Shoto walked right up to Midoriya, cutting Uraraka off. “Besides, you could have avoided this whole mess if you just told me what you were hiding instead of shoving us into them.” He pointed at Midoriya and accidentally shoved his chest.
His eyes went wide for a second before returning to their fury filled squint. “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to have privacy. Quite ironic the guy telling me this is the same guy I would have thought to understand exactly why someone would keep secrets. I guess if you’re so eager to learn mine, you must not care about who knows what. I suppose that makes it okay to tell everyone your secret, huh?”
Shoto felt all the air in his body vanish, as if he just plummeted into the ground. The first person he trusted with his family story, and now he was threatening to turn around and spill it out. He wanted to yell and scream and do something to let out the overwhelming emotions bursting at the seams, but he couldn’t move at all. All he could do was stare as he watched pure regret wash over Midoriya’s face as he took a few steps back and quickly clasped his mouth with his hands.
“Todoroki-kun…” he whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. “I didn’t mean that at all.”
Shoto crossed his arms firm over his chest and poured every drop of anger into his voice. “How can I be sure?”
“Todoroki-kun, I’d never say anything like that, I promise. My secret… it can’t really be compared to yours. I’d never try to make them seem like they were the same.”
“Well, you just did,” Shoto spat. “And come to think of it, you haven’t been acting right since we got here. You keep gleefully jumping ahead while leaving us behind, and now you seem to have no problem breaking people’s trust. It’s almost like this place has made you into another person.” He let out a large scoff. “No wonder you tried to hide this from us. You probably didn’t want us seeing your hidden colors.”
“Hey, no need to jump to something like that!” Uraraka interjected, this time with a bit more force. “Let’s just pause for a moment and–”
“It’s not like that at all!” Midoriya shouted, cutting her off. He held his hat in one hand as he ran through his hair with the other. “I want to relax down here! I’ve known about this place for years but thought I’d never be able to come! Now I’m here and I can finally experience everything I’ve only been told about, but I can’t enjoy it to its fullest because I’m worried about something bad happening to either of you! I’m just stressed, and maybe I’m trying to relieve some of that stress by actually having fun down here!”
“You’re worried for us? Well, you have the funniest way of showing it, having to run off to keep your cool instead of sticking around and making it easier for the newcomers.”
“Because I trust you and Uraraka-san!” Midoriya snapped. His eyes sparkled with small tears. “You’re both smart and talented and amazing and I believe that both of you can catch onto the swing of things if I have no chance to explain things!” He swallowed a large lump in his throat. “Though, in your case, I’m starting to believe that I can only depend on you to do that when we’re back in the Aboveworld.”
“How am I supposed to be able to do that when nothing here makes sense?!”
“It only makes so little sense because you keep trying to force Wonderland to comply with Aboveworld rules! I’m not sure if you’ve caught on, but in case you haven’t, then news flash! We aren’t in the Aboveworld any more! We’re in Wonderland! What makes sense back home isn’t gonna make sense down here because it’s not supposed to! Wonderland is supposed to be weird and fantastical! It’s always flowing and changing, and the rules are whatever you want them to be! Why can’t you let yourself go and embrace it?!”
“Stop calling it that!”
“Stop calling what? What are you referring to?”
“Home! Stop calling home the ‘Aboveworld’ or whatever crazy term is used here! We don’t belong to this place, yet you’re acting like we do! Just call our world ‘home’ like a normal, sensible person would! Or has this place swept you so off your feet that you can’t do that anymore?”
Midoriya just stared at him, barely moving. He swallowed a large lump in his throat, the sound slightly echoing through the area. “Todoroki-kun, it’s not like that.”
“It sure seems like it to me. And to answer your question, I can’t just ‘let myself go and embrace the madness.’ I don’t like stuff like that. I like to know what’s going on around me,” Shoto let out a long, strong sigh. “You seem to love this place so much. Why haven’t you jumped down the rabbit hole yet and moved here instead?”
Now it was Izuku’s turn to be frozen in place. He looked so offended, as if Shoto had just killed his puppy in front of his face. Shoto had struck some kind of nerve, but he wasn’t sure what exactly it was.
“Why are you being so stubborn?” He practically barked. “I swear to God, you’re going to go mad from trying to apply logic to places where it’s not supposed to exist!”
“I’m going mad from that?! If anything I think you’re going mad from blindly following everything this place says and does!”
“Why won’t you just listen to me?!” Midoriya stormed up to Todoroki, their heads touching as they glared at each other so strongly that they’d both be dead if looks could kill.
"Enough, both of you!" Uraraka had squeezed in between both of them and pushed them apart, accidentally activating her Quirk in the process. Both Shoto and Midoriya floated slightly off the ground, staring at Uraraka. She took a deep breath in before lifting her hands together.
"Now then.” She gave both of them a slightly dirty look. "If you promise to calm down and actually talk this out, I'll release both of you. Deal?"
"Deal," Midoriya said, his voice cracking.
"Deal," Shoto said, the fury no longer in his voice.
"Glad we can agree with that." She pressed her pads together, and both boys flashed pink for a moment before returning to the ground. Shoto tried to look at Midoriya, but this sheepish feeling washed over him, and he couldn't muster up the strength to look at him. Besides, he was still mad at him for even suggesting sharing his family secrets.
"Let's review," Uraraka stated. She first turned toward Shoto. "Todoroki-kun here is confused by everything that's been going on ever since we fell down the rabbit hole, while also being angry at Deku-kun for not explaining as much as he could. And judging from what just happened here, it seems like not understanding his surroundings is setting Todoroki-kun on edge. Am I right with that guess?”
Damn, she was good. “You are."
"Alright then." She then turned to Midoriya and crossed her arms.. "Deku-kun here is frustrated about how Todoroki-kun hasn't been adjusting as fast as he and I have. This place means a lot to you, and we’re new variables that complicate things for you. That’s stressing you out when all you want to do is enjoy this place. Am I right in assuming that?”
"You got it on the nose.”
"So one of you is angry at the other for not explaining everything, while the other is angry at the first person for not adapting even without all the knowledge. Would you say that's what's going on?"
"Sounds like it to me," Midoriya said.
"I don't see anything wrong with it.”
"Now that we've established some common ground, I can throw in my two cents." She let out a large breath. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t confused by this place. I danced with a lobster that was taller than me, and I still can’t fully process that. And truth be told, this place also scares me.” Her voice went soft, and she looked down at her hands where she was twiddling her thumbs. “When I first shrank, I had no idea what was going on at all. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was forced to powerlessly watch everything begin to tower over me before being swallowed up by my own clothes.” Her breathing began to speed up. “It was a similar feeling when I started growing. I didn’t have any control over my own body. I wanted so badly to stop growing, but no matter how many times I asked myself to stop, I still kept going.” She had stopped twiddling her thumbs, her hands now squeezing each other in a tight grip. She was biting down hard on lip, and the fear in her eyes made her look like a scared child.
“Uraraka-san…” Midoriya began. “I- I’m sorry for not seeing it entirely earlier. I knew it must have been a shock for you to go through, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
She looked up at him. Her grip loosened just a bit, and some of the fear faded away. “It’s not your fault, Deku-kun.” She flashed him a smile, not even bothering to hide how it shook. “I was the one who drank from the bottle before asking you what it did, and I should have watched how much I ate. Sure, it was scary, but if I have to do it again, then I’ll give it another shot.”
“You will?” He gasped.
“Yeah, I will. I know what not to do now. Even if you put that aside, I’m willing to give it another chance because I want to understand you, Deku-kun.”
His cheeks turned red and he flinched a little bit. “W-what do you mean by that?!”
“I might not understand what’s going on here in the slightest, but I understand that this place makes you happy. There obviously has to be some good to everything here if you fell so in love with it. Sure, I’d also like to know more about what’s going on here, but I can still learn about this place by interacting with it and going with its flow.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Besides, it was kinda fun to watch all the other dancers back there and pick up what they were doing. It was like solving a puzzle, and the more of the dance I got, the more of the puzzle I managed to put together.”
Shoto cocked an eyebrow at her. He honestly hadn’t considered looking at things that way. He had been so swept up in his confusion that it never occurred to him to view it all as some sort of game to solve.
“Clearly we aren’t back home at all,” she continued. “Which means we all got to work with the new set of rules we’ve been given. Todoroki-kun and I can pick up some of the pieces from what’s going on around us, but if we really want to understand this place, we’re gonna need your help, Deku-kun.”
“I guess I could have started explaining some things back on the beach…” Midoriya looked down at his shoes and tucked his hands behind his back. He tapped one of his feet on the ground.
“I suppose I could have tried harder to figure out as much as I could…” Shoto looked up at the trees and wrapped his arms around his chest.
“So I have an idea.” Uraraka put her hands together. “While we’re on our way to the Red Queen’s palace, Deku-kun can explain as much as he knows about Wonderland and how it works. If we run into another event Deku-kun hasn’t had the time to explain yet, Todoroki-kun and I will do our best to figure out what we need to do. Does that sound like a plan?”
Midoriya looked up from his feet. “Yeah, it sounds like a great plan, Uraraka-san.”
"There we go," Uraraka smiled. "I'm glad we could find a solution."
"So..." Midoriya now tugged at the cuffs of his sleeves. "Where do you want me to start?"
"You briefly described this place back in the rabbit hole," Shoto said. "Do you mind telling us more?"
"Not at all!"
That answer didn't make any sense in any world. "Wait, so you don't mind telling us more, or you do mind telling us more?"
Midoriya stared at him a bit before laughing a little bit. "I mean I don't mind at all about telling you both more."
"So you are going to tell us?"
"He is, Todoroki-kun," Uraraka clarified. She was holding back some laughter as well. Strange. He hadn't said anything humorous lately, so why were they laughing?
“You both remember what I said back in the rabbit hole, right?” Midoriya asked.
“Somewhat,” Shoto admitted. To be frank, it had all been so much that some of the info slipped through the cracks of his mind.
“Pretty sure I do,” Uraraka answered. “Another world, anything possible, size changing, talking animals, strange life force called Wonder.”
“You got it!” A bright smile graced Midoriya’s face, and Shoto could feel his heart skip a beat from the sight. “Honestly, the only ‘rules’ here are like traditions everyone’s agreed to follow. That and a few constants to keep this place from completely falling apart. Even a world of nonsense needs some skeleton to build off of.”
“I can’t still can’t believe a place like this exists…” Uraraka muttered. “It almost feels like something taken straight out of a pure, innocent childhood.”
“A pure, innocent childhood…” The words felt strange in Shoto’s mouth. His childhood was many things, but those two words were the furthest from the truth. A small part of him wondered if he’d be more open to this place if he just had a normal childhood like Midoriya and Uraraka probably did.
Midoriya began walking again. "We need to get out of these woods before the sun sets, but I can keep talking as we go."
"Is there something bad that happens here at night?" Shoto asked, walking right behind Midoriya. Uraraka was right by his side.
"No, not really. I just don't want to get lost in any woods at night in general. I never really minded them at night, but the summer training camp kinda ruined night forests for me."
"Well, if there's one good thing about this place, it's that the League can't find us here! Or any villains for that matter!" Uraraka chuckled.
"You do make a good point," Shoto stated.
"Now, since we're heading towards the Red Queen, it would be for the best to talk about her. Shiro-san works for her, and from what he's told me, she's... um, how do I best put this? She's very... passionate about her job."
"Passionate?" Uraraka cocked an eyebrow at Midoriya. "Are we talking passionate like how Yaoyorozu-san is with studying, or are we talking passionate like how Bakugo-kun approaches pretty much everything that breathes?"
"Like Kacchan, but somehow worse."
"Oh, now I'm curious about this woman." There was a wicked smile on Uraraka's face. "How do you get worse than the explosion overlord himself?”
"Many, many ways. At least Kacchan won't try to behead you if you make him mad."
"Behead you?" Shoto and Uraraka both gasped.
"It's a long story." Midoriya took a deep breath. "But since you asked…"