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Chapter Text

Deku was sparring in the training arena with Katsuki. Katsuki was a formidable opponent when it came to hand-to-hand combat, but being Quirkless, hand-to-hand combat was his speciality, and within seven minutes, he had Katsuki pinned to the floor.

"Got you." Deku smirked.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's have a rematch."

"Sure." Deku shrugged, his eyes glinting. "I'll have fun beating you again."

Deku waited for Katsuki to make a comeback, but he didn't. In fact, his mouth wasn't even moving. Deku ran to Katsuki and tried shouting at him, but he was frozen in position, just like a statue. He was getting really worried, and his mind began thinking of all the possibilities, when he saw a giant cloud looming over him.

Before he could even think, the cloud had sucked him up into oblivion, and he could feel his body twisting and turning as he travelled through the cloud, body turning to ice.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was dropping onto the cold floor, and the sound of the cloud travelling to find its next victim.

***

After taking down the last villain and hauling their bodies to a grateful but tired Tsukachi, Viridian and Eraserhead sat outside the police station.

Eraserhead started to talk. "I hope you've considered my offer."

Viridian pulled his hood further down his face and prayed his green goggles masked the expression on his face. "My answer is still the same. I appreciate it, Eraserhead, I really do, but I can never be a hero. It's impossible for people like me."

Eraserhead studied Viridian with curiosity.

For people like him...

He moved towards Viridian. "Kid, you're amazing. If there's anyone who deserves to be a hero, it's y-"

Viridian looked up wearily, tired of listening to Eraserhead's speech, only to see Eraserhead frozen in place. Viridian immediately started patting Eraserhead. "Eraserhead, are you there? Eraser?" He looked around, but there was no one there. Left? Nothing. Right? Nothing. Down? Nothing. Up?

Up?

Above his head was a ginormous cloud, white wisps of vapour swirling around it. Before he could react, Viridian was sucked into the cloud and felt his body turning ice cold. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. All he could hear was the beating of his heart and the wisps of cloud moving in the wind.

After a while, he was dropped on the body of someone he didnt know yet, but must have probably been in the same predicament as him.

"You and me, buddy." He thought, quite unceremoniously. "You and me both."

And with that, he felt himself drifting off into a quite uncomfortable sleep.

***

"Done!" Cheat Code shouted triumphantly, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He grinned, and turned to look at Mei, who gave him a high five.

"That was great, Cheat Code-kun! She turned to the purple-haired boy behind her. "Extra Credit-kun, what was his time?"

Extra Credit-kun, otherwise known as Shinsou, rolled his eyes and looked at his watch.

"13 minutes and 2 seconds."

"What?!" Mei exploded. That's amazing, isn't it. You're a great hacker, Cheat Co-"

Upon hearing Mei's abrupt pause, he looked at her, only to find that she was frozen in place, her yellow eyes wide open. "Mei-chan?" He turned to the purple-haired boy, who was in the same position as Mei. "Shinsou-kun?" He ran outside, opening every classroom door, trying to think of reasons why this could be happening.

A villain attack? That's probably the most likely option, but it's definitely not the League of Villains. Still doesn't make them less dangerous. And if it's a villain attack, why am I perfectly fine?

Cheat Code locked himself in his room and began to brainstorm.

Considering that the clocks have stopped, the only thing this could possibly be is a time Quirk. But how? Time Quirks were super rare and people who have them have to register every month and prove they're not dangerous...how had the police or heroes not caught this guy yet?

Just as he began to think of a possible solution, he heard the sound of a storm. He looked up, only to see a pure white cloud resting above him. The second he looked at the cloud, he was sucked in and moved across the world, his body temperature gradually decreasing. Even in the cloud, Cheat Code was trying to think of ideas.

Okay, they want to transport me somewhere. But where? And why me, of all people? Did they find out I was Cheat Code? But the only people who could possibly want to hurt me are the LOV, and they don't have someone with a cloud Quirk on their side. Do they?

He was dumped on a pile of bodies, and trying to get up, a white wisp of smoke entered his nostrils. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and everything faded to black.

***

Mastermind was whistling, tapping his foot on the hard marble floor. His plan to escape Tartarus was almost complete, and the only thing he needed was to somehow put the guards to sleep. Luckily, he had a plan for that.

The guards gave him food by phasing through the door and dropping the food on the floor. If he timed it right, which he definitely would, he would be able to exit and lock them inside by stealing their keycard. If he didnt time it right, there would probably be extra security measures put in place, making his work a lot harder.

Lucky for him, failure wasn't an option.

Hearing the footsteps of the Tartarus guard, he positioned himself lazily against the wall, looking at his fingers and trying to appear uninterested. 

As the guard's hand made its way through the door, it suddenly paused. He frowned, before shrugging and exiting through the door. He wasn't about to let an opportunity like this go to waste.

Putting on the guard's uniform, he walked through the doors of Tartarus and smiled at the package in the bush near the entrance.

Tearing the package open, he pressed the red button and began to run, just as Tartarus exploded. 

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way towards the LOV base, when he heard a voice.

"Mastermind, hello there. Want to cause some chaos?"

Mastermind looked for the source of the voice, but not hearing it, replied. "Sure, sounds good."

It was good, because this mysterious person could either be a new ally, or a new number on his kill list. Either way, it suited Mastermind just fine.

"Excellent, put this on. Don't worry, I won't look."

Mastermind rolled his eyes, but looked at the clothes anyway. The outfit looked just like his Mastermind outfit, instead for one thing.

The M was replaced with an S.

"What is this for? You've just put an S on my regular outfit- big deal!" He pulled the hoodie on, muttering under his breath.

"You'll find out. Anyway, enjoy the ride."

Mastermind frowned. "What ride?"

"This one."

The cloud opened up, and without being able to run, Mastermind was sucked into the cloud and his body lost its heat.

"Five points for drama." Mastermind thought, rolling his eyes.

He landed on a pile of bodies that he couldn't see, and saw a white mist fill up the space in front of him.

"Why...did I think...this...was a good...idea?" He wondered, as he succumbed to the temptation of sleep.

Chapter Text

Deku was the first to wake up, rubbing his head and blinking furiously. When he came to his senses, he looked around the room and smiled.

"Oh, hi Katsuki! How'd you get here so quickly? I'm pretty sure I was just sparring with you just now. Whatever. Want another- HOLY SHIT THAT'S ANOTHER ME!"

The scream woke Cheat Code up, who was panting furiously.

"VILLAINS! Oh, I'm in 1A. Well, at least I'm still in school. I'll just go to the support lab now. Sorry."

He was about to leave when he came face to face with Izuku Midoriya, who was eyeing him confusedly. He looked at Midoriya, then at Deku.

"Wait a minute. WHY DO YOU HAVE MY FACE?"

Viridian stretched and got to his feet.

"U.A? Seriously? Oh, I am so killing Eraserhead when I see him. What part of 'I can't be a hero' does he not understand?"

Cheat Code tapped Viridian's shoulder. "Um..." He gestured towards Deku and Izuku. You should probably see this."

Upon seeing his wide green eyes and freckles, Viridian did a double take.

"SERIOUSLY? THIS DAY JUST CAN'T GET ANY WORSE, CAN IT? FIRST ERASER BECOMES A STATUE, THEN A CLOUD EATS ME, AND NOW THIS? I'm so done. This isn't real, this is just a dream, this isn't real..."

"Well, actually, we just got drugged by some unknown substance, so it's physically impossible to have dreams after you get drugged for the next 48 hours-"

"NOT HELPING OTHER ME!"

Mastermind, the last Midoriya, rubbed his eyes and looked at the chaos. He blinked once, blinked twice, and scrunched his face up in confusion.

"What. The. Fuck."

Everyone looked at Izuku, who was just as confused as the rest of them were, and raised his hands.

"Guys, I swear it wasn't me this time!"

"Of course it was, we're all you!" Mastermind looked at the others and sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this shit."

"Technically speaking, you don't get paid at all." Deku quipped, looking nervously at the boy in front of him.

"I know. Not enough. Can someone just explain what the fuck is going on. And why I'm in UA when I was on the other side of town a couple seconds ago. And-"

Mastermind stopped. The cloud. Of course. The cloud. Mastermind facepalmed. He was losing his touch here, wherever 'here' was.

A student with glasses got up and chopped the air with his hands. "This is a very serious matter. Everyone should stay put while I inform Aizawa-sensei of this incident. I am sure that this will be immediately resolved, but we must all calm down in order to speed up the process!" He left the room, leaving a trail of smoke and everyone left to look at the four other Midoriyas.

"Guys, are we not gonna talk about this?" Kaminari gestured to the identical green-haired boys. "Because... this feels like something we should talk about."

Viridian tilted his head in confusion. The way Kaminari was talking about him was completely impersonal. It was almost as if...

He didnt know who he was.

Viridian began to freak out. What was going on?

Before Viridian could freak out any further, Iida came bursting through the door, along with a tired and moody Eraserhead walking behind him. He looked at the four Midoriyas and then Izuku.

"Why does everyone keep on looking at me?" Izuku asked, slightly offended.

"Because you're the problem child, problem child." Aizawa turned to the four Midoriyas and looked at them again.

"Alright then, line up people. Let's see what's going on here."

***

Aizawa Shouta was tired. All Might giving him a heart attack everytime he irresponsibly used his power. Principal Nedzu giving him a heart attack everytime he started laughing too much and drank his tea with extra vigour. Present Mic giving him a heart attack when they were in bed and he said 'Good morning!' way too loudly for comfort. All of these heart attacks made him tired, so when he saw four identical versions of Midoriya, and verified they weren't just clones, he began to look at the Midoriyas.

The first one was an identical copy of the real Midoriya, except he had a lot of scars along his arms and a small scar on his face (and he was a student as well, which was really worrying). He looked assured of himself, like someone who knew who he was, and he seemed nice enough, but he also looked like he could pummel you to the ground in a fight. Not really that troublesome.

The second one was obviously a support student, as he was wearing the uniform, and for some unknown reason, had a pencil in his mouth, which he would sometimes drop. Thankfully, he had good enough reflexes to catch it before it went onto the floor. He looked a bit scrawnier than the rest, but his eyes had a glint that showed intelligence. Not a threat.

The third one, was definitely weirder than the rest. For starters, he had a 'If lost, return to Eraserhead' hoodie (what the fuck? He definitely didn't have merch of any kind. And how did the third Midoriya know him? He was an underground hero.) He had green goggles and a mask, and Aizawa could see a variety of weapons attached to his person- knives, slingshots, metal pipes. All of these were very concerning, and considering how young he looked, he desperately hoped that he wasn't going to get mortally injured. He seemed... sort of dangerous, but for some reason, Eraser had a special interest in him. Whether it was because of how he looked at him with some sort of recognition, or it was because of his hoodie, he had no idea, but he was definitely keeping an eye on this one.

The final one, and the most unsettling one yet, was wearing a dark green hoodie emblazoned with a black 'S', and black jeans. He could see a knife in his pocket, and another one being twirled in his fingers. When he looked at him, he raised an eyebrow and grinned. He tried to get rid of the feeling this Midoriya gave him. What was he, a villain?

He was basically another Midoriya. And if there was anything Midoriya wouldn't do, it was be a villain.

After surveying them, Eraserhead sat down. "All right. State your name, Quirk and occupation. Maybe we can find some records and send you guys to whichever hellhole you came from. PE uniform problem child, you first."

Izuku protested, but otherwise made no noise. "Hey. Uhhh... I'm Midoriya Izuku, but you can call me Deku. I just got my provisional hero license from UA, and...I'm Quirkless. But that doesn't matter, because I'm still an amazing hero, and I could probably beat all of you guys in a fight with my hands tied behind my back."

Izuku exploded. "YOU HAVE MY NAME? AND MY FACE? AND MY SCHOOL? Wh-"

"Save the dramatic outburst for later, problem child. Pencil problem child, you next."

"Ummm...hi? This is really ,really weird, and I'm sure this is just some strange coincidence but..." "Spit it out pencil-mouth." An annoyed Bakugo yelled.

"Well I was going to, but then you interrupted me! Anyway, I'm... also Midoriya Izuku, for some weird reason, but just call me Cheat Code! Uhhh... I'm a support student in 1F, and...I'm Quirkless as well."

Everyone was really confused now.

"Same name, face and they're all Quirkless? This has to be some sort of joke, right?" Uraraka nervously shifted. "This is pretty creepy..."

"Slingshot problem child, come here." The third one nervously came up to the front.

Mina gushed. "Aww, he's got an Eraserhead hoodie, that's adorable-" Eraserhead activated his Quirk.

"Zip. It."

Mina zipped it.

"Hi Eraser! My name's...uhh...Viridian, and...yeah. That's it."

Eraserhead was clearly not in the mood for secrets.

"Listen, you fell out of a giant cloud and look exactly like one of my students. If you don't answer my question, we. Will. Have. Problems." Eraserhead said, activating his Quirk before frowning.

"You're Quirkless? Okay, that's one thing we know about you. Now what's your real name, Viridian?"

Viridian's mind raced.

He seems pretty serious... should probably tell him my real name...but wait a second. The way he's talking to me, it's just like Kaminari! It's like he doesn't even recognise me. It won't matter if I tell him my real name then. But why doesn't he recognise me?

Viridian shook his head. "I'm Midoriya Izuku!"

"WHAT? THREE MORE MIDORIYAS?"

"THIS IS INSANE!"

"Quiet! You, giant S problem child, come here."

The fourth one rolled his eyes and went up to Eraserhead. "Like the others, my name is Midoriya Izuku, but to keep things simple, you can call me..."

He couldn't just use his villain name. Everyone in Japan knew who he was! He didn't want to land up in Tartarus again. What was left of it anyway.

"You can call me Shadow. And I'm a detective. I worked with Tsukauchi on several missions, acting as information brokers and spies. As for my Quirk...well...my Quirk is called 'Non-existent.' It works by me not having a Quirk."

1A exploded.

***

After Eraserhead had stopped the chaos, he turned to.the other Midoriyas, shaking his head.

"You guys will be the death of me," He muttered.

All of a sudden, the cloud reappeared, a voice coming out of the cloud.

It spoke, in a deep, mysterious voice:

For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost,

For the want for a shoe, the horse was lost,

For the want of a horse, the rider was lost,

For the want of a rider, the battle was lost,

For the want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished.

Chapter Text

Everyone in the room looked at each other with apprehension.

"What was that? For the want of a nail... something something..." Kirishima tried to recall the strange events.

Momo spoke up. "Don't you remember, Kirishima-kun? The poem by Benjamin Franklin. It's about how seemingly small actions have some sort of disastrous consequences."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with four Midoriyas just spawning in our classroom?"

Cheat Code spoke up.

"Maybe the cloud has something to do with it? If you look at everyone who has Cloud Quirks, then you can narrow down the search."

"And interrogate them afterwards!" Viridian's face brightened. "That's brilliant Cheat Code!"

Cheat Code turned bright red.

"Uh, thanks."

Eraserhead spoke up. "Thank you. I will consult with Tsukauchi to look for all possible suspects."

Mastermind sighed. He had told everyone that he had joined Tsukachi on multiple missions. Maybe if he volunteered, he would seem entirely clueless as to what was going on.

"I'll go with you! Tsukauchi and I are pretty tight." Mastrmind tried to smile.

Viridian grabbed his arm.

"Um, actually, I wouldn't recommend it. Denks- I mean, Kaminari-kun and I are really close, and now it's like he doesn't recognise me at all! I think that cloud has something to do with it. There's a chance that Tsukauchi won't recognise you at all!"

Mastermind raised one eyebrow.

Strange...maybe these people aren't so incompetent after all...they could be useful allies...

He smiled.

"Thanks."

"No problem, Shadow!"

Eraserhead surveyed the group before muttering.

"Okay, we have some spare rooms in Heights Alliance, so you can stay there until we figure something out. Do not attract attention. Do not show your face. Do not do anything stupid, which given who you look like, will probably be incredibly hard. Are we clear?"

The four nodded and went after Deku, who obviously knew the way.

"And you," He spoke to the class. "This is between us, the staff and Jesus. No telling your mom, your dad, not even your pet rat. If this comes out, everyone gets expelled. Got it?"

The class nodded.

Eraserhead ran a hand through his hair before exiting the class.

Let's just hope this is not what I think it is, he thought, walking to Nedzu's office.

***

"We're almost there!" A cheery Deku yelled. "Come on!"

Mastermind waited until everyone had entered the building, before running out of UA. Putting his hood up, he exited the gates and ran to the location.

He had a hunch, and if this worked the way he thought it would, life would become a little more interesting.

***

Mastermind waited at the door of the LOV base, listening to the conversation that was ensuing.

"Come onnnnn, can we just kill them already?" Toga whined, kicking her legs against the bar table. "I want some more blood in my collection!"

Upon hearing Shigaraki's voice, his eyes widened.

"Patience, this is all for Sensei's plan. When we strike, you will be able to kill all the heroes you want."

No video game references...this was becoming weirder by the minute.

Toga squealed with delight. "So, which one are we kidnapping?"

Mastermind entered the room. "So, you're planning to kidnap one of the UA students. I'd recommend Todoroki, or is that who you were going to pick?"

"Hero..." Shigaraki rasped. "Kill him!"

Mastermind glowed. His theory was correct! This was an alternate reality.

As Toga rushed towards him, arm outstretched, he grabbed her arm, making her come to an immediate halt.

"You always do that move."

Shigaraki frowned. "How would you know her? She hasn't publicly attacked yet?"

"Simple, really. I worked with you. Although, you probably don't remember that."

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm the Emperor of China. You're obviously that hero brat."

"Well, an alternate version of him. I got cloned."

Mastermind hadn't got cloned, but the League didn't need to know that.

"Prove it."

Mastermind grinned.

"Sure! I'll kill a pro hero tomorrow. If you look at the news, and no one's dead, feel free to kill me."

The League looked at each other, before nodding.

"Then it's a deal! Looking forward to working with you!" He said, closing the door behind him.

Chapter Text

After setting up, Cheat Code looked around the room and frowned. "Hey, has anyone seen Shadow?"

The three other Midoriyas shook their head.

Cheat Code muttered under his breath. "Strange, I could have sworn he was right behind me..."

"Hey."

Cheat Code jumped back, startled by the suddenness of his voice. "Shadow, hi! We didn't see you."

Mastermind chuckled. "Am I really that invisible?"

Deku stood up. "Cool, everyone's here. I think I know why we're here..." 

Cheat Code smiled. "Yeah, me too! I didn't want to tell you until I got more proof, but...Viridian?"

Viridian was jumping on the bed. "Yeah, this is really cool, I've got the answer as well. Probably not, because this is really groundbreaking evidence, but I think we've all got the same answer. Unless Shadow has got something different..."

"Who, me? I figured it out when we got here. I'm not a detective for nothing."

"Great. Given the evidence, the only conclusion I can come to is... we're in an alternate reality." Deku waited for their response.

"So it is true..." Viridian muttered. "How'd you get it?"

Mastermind spoke up.

"Well, I was interrogating a criminal in Tartarus, but then I just...appear here. The time was different, and everyone was so impersonal. Then I see that all of you have the same name as me, and are Quirkless, it's just...that was it, basically." He wasn't about to tell them about the League.

Speaking of the League, which pro hero was he going to kill today?

Deku added,  "For me, it was mainly the poem. The poem is about how really small things can have really big consequences. And, I'm assuming we all know about One for All, right? All Might's transferrable Quirk? Unless that's only in my reality as well..."

Everyone nodded.

Mastermind resisted a smile. All Might was too busy being dead to transfer any Quirk.

"Yeah, well, in my reality, I didn't get One for All, Mirio did. And since all of us are Quirkless-"

"Maybe the catalyst was us not getting One for All! That would explain the poem!" Cheat Code's face lit up.

"Yeah, exactly. That was it. Like I said, it's a really half-baked theory, but when you think about it, it kind of makes sense."

Viridian shrugged. "For starters, the whole cloud thing was just...weird. Then, I'm really close with Kaminari and Eraserhead, and it was like they didn't know me at all! The whole 'Who are you?' thing was really weird, and... yeah. That was it, really. I've been doing research on alternate realities for a while, so..."

"Cool! I'm assuming it's my turn, right? Well, first of all, Shinsou-kun wasn't here. Mei-chan and I made him get in for an extra credit project. Ochako acted like she didn't know I existed, I looked at the website and there was no 'Analysis' track, and most importantly, no secret tunnels. There were too many things missing that it just didn't make sense."

Mastermind sighed. "Okay, okay, we're all from alternate realities. But how do we get back? Who was the cloud person? So many questions."

"Let's just keep this between us for now. This would cause way too much panic." Deku reasoned.

"Sure thing. No alternate realities." They agreed, walking to their respective rooms.