Chapter Text
A rift opened up over Japan, and three figures fell through the sky. Despite their efforts to stay together, they’d been forced apart through the rough winds blowing against them as they fell.
One landed roughly just outside the hill on which the remains of UA stood.
This was Midoriya, who failed to catch himself before he landed, as he was too focused on trying to see where his other friends had landed.
One splashed into the cold, rapid waters surrounding the island that Tartarus resided on.
This was Bakugo, who landed much easier than his other two friends, as he slowed his fall by firing off an explosion in the direction of his fall and lessened his impact once he hit the water, though the temperature of the water would have made him feel too numb to feel any pain from the impact anyway.
One crashed into the streets of Hosu City.
This was an unfortunate Rody, who was able to momentarily slow his fall by grabbing on to a large flag hanging off the side of a building. It tore and he bounced off a fire escape and landed on some mildewed boxes at the bottom of an alleyway.
-----
Midoriya formed a small crater in the street from the impact, but was uninjured nonetheless.
He stood, looking up at the building that used to be his school.
The other buildings around it were still standing, but appeared to have been repurposed from shops to small homes.
Someone looked out at him from behind a curtain, quickly hiding once they’d realize they’d been seen.
“Hello?”
He walked over, knocking on the door. It opened, but no one was on the other side. He poked his head inside, squinting to see in the dark.
No one was in sight, so he slowly walked inside. “Is anyone here? Are you hurt? I saw you in the window.”
Voices outside were approaching. They sounded confused and angry.
Maybe they needed help.
As he listened closely, he started to realize he could recognize the voices. They almost sounded like his friends. But the voices were deeper; almost distorted.
He turned to go back outside, hoping to get some answers. From behind, a hand was put over his mouth as he was pulled to the ground.
He couldn’t see who grabbed him, but felt that he was in no danger with this person. He was forced to wait until the voices conversed with each other, sounding concerned and slightly panicked. They spoke among each other for a few minutes and then quickly ran off.
The stranger pulled their hand away from Midoriya’s mouth and he realized that the hand had only four fingers. Not naturally, as if it was the result of a Quirk. But a gap between the middle and pinkie fingers, indicating that the ring finger was missing.
“They would have killed you. They don’t like to take in prisoners.” A familiar voice said as the figure walked over to a fridge. A familiar, scratchy voice.
Midoriya squinted again, just barely making out the silhouette of the figure. A short, lanky person with hair down to the middle of his back.
His suspicions were confirmed, seeing the light from the fridge lighting up the pale, chapped face, hidden by blueish grey hair.
“Shigaraki?”
-----
Bakugo gasped and coughed up water as he washed up on the shores of the prison. He looked up at the building.
Something about it seemed different.
Maybe it was the lot of villains hanging around all over the property.
They must have seen him swimming up out of the water.
Damn it.
The last thing he needed was to be kidnapped by villains again.
The sound of flapping wings grew closer behind him and by the time he turned around, he saw Hawks looking at him with his arms crossed.
“Hawks, what are you doing here?” Bakugo backed up nervously. Something seemed off about him. He held up one of his feather blades.
“I could ask you the same thing. You came out of a rift in the sky.”
More villains surrounded them.
Bakugo tried to spark up an explosion, but he was too cold to make any sweat.
Hawks leaned in and whispered, “please don’t make this harder than it has to be. They won’t hurt you if you go along with what they say. I promise.”
Bakugo could tell he was telling the truth and sighed, putting his hands up in surrender.
He wasn’t sure what happened to Midoriya and Rody. Midoriya was a strong fighter and he’d be able to take care of himself. Bakugo knew that already.
All he knew about Rody was that he had a weird bird Quirk. He seemed like a capable orphan. Maybe his Quirk could be useful in emergencies.
-----
Rody held Pino close to his chest, running from a rampaging shadow. It yelled and shrieked, trying to grab at him with its large claws. Rody gasped, turning around a corner.
He tried to catch his breath, looking down at Pino. She was shaking in his hands, tweeting frantically.
“What the heck is that thing?”
Of course he didn’t expect her to know the answer. Because she didn’t.
He poked his head around the corner and saw the shadow looking around for him. “Why does it want me dead so bad?”
In contrast to the dark purple shadow surrounding the glowing red eyes, Rody noticed a pair of human legs struggling underneath the pressure of whatever the shadow was doing.
“They don’t seem like they’re in control...What do we do?” He looked down at Pino.
She looked up at him with a determined glint in her eyes.
Rody sighed dejectedly. “You’re right.”
He put Pino in his hood and ran towards the legs, keeping low to the ground to avoid the swinging of the shadow, who kept trying to snap at him with its beak.
Rody shut his eyes tight and tackled the person underneath the shadow to the ground.
A streetlight came on and the shadow dissipated slightly with a painful shriek. Rody saw the head underneath the shadow.
A person with a bird head, looking panicked and in pain.
Rody recognized him immediately.
Midoriya’s classmate.
Tokoyami. But he was older. His feathers were longer and more worn than pictures he’d seen of him. He looked up at Rody for just a second before Dark Shadow took over again.
Rody fell onto his back, groaning. Pino rested on his chest, trying to pull him up. But, of course, she was too small to do any lifting. So she did the next best thing.
She jumped at Dark Shadow and smacked his arm with her little wings and bit him. It wasn’t a very effective attack, but it distracted him long enough for Tokoyami to light a match and hold it to Dark Shadow’s face.
He shrunk back and whined.
“Dark Shadow, control yourself! This kid clearly isn’t an enemy!”
“ I’m sorry, Fumikage.”
Rody looked up at them, still on the ground, shaking like a leaf.
Tokoyami looked down at him and helped him up. “I apologize for him. We were trying to patrol the streets. They aren’t safe at night.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have him out at night, then.”
“I understand your confusion. But he’s the only thing keeping villains from attacking at night. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it’s safer here than over there.” He motioned to the streets a few blocks away where Rody could see streetlights illuminating the sky.
Dark Shadow handed Pino back to Rody, crying in apology.
Rody took her back and put her back in his jacket. “It’s alright. I forgive you. Deku says you’re a really sweet Quirk.”
“Deku?”
“Kinda cute, messy green hair, freckles, always talks about that one hero.”
Tokoyami hummed to himself. “I don’t think I know anyone like that. It sounds like the villain who took over the League. He calls himself ‘Dare.’”
“Dare? What kind of name is that?”
“It means nobody. He was looking to make a name for himself. Felt like he had something to prove. At least that was my guess.”
“...Yeah, that sounds like him...We fell through some kind of portal. I think I saw him land somewhere over there.” Rody pointed to the other side of the town.
Tokoyami put his hand on Rody’s shoulder. “You need to come with me. If your friend is here, then he is probably in trouble. But you’ll be no help to him in the open like this.”
Without question, Rody followed him. Anywhere out of the sight of villains was better than sitting and hoping for Midoriya to show up and save him.
-----
Midoriya sat down at a table, looking at Shigaraki. Shigaraki sat across from him, sliding him a bowl of instant ramen.
“What…”
“Happened to me?” Shigaraki finished, scoffing. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”
Midoriya shook his head. “Not technically…”
Shigaraki looked him up and down, as if he was inspecting him. Something that told Midoriya that there was something Shigaraki didn’t trust about him.
“That rift in the sky...that was you, wasn’t it?” Shigaraki asked, taking another sip
He nodded quietly. “Me and my two friends...so can you tell me exactly how things happened here? To you?” He looked down at Shigaraki’s hands. Both of them were missing the ring finger. “You looked terrified of the villains…”
Shigaraki slurped up his noodles, flexing his hand. “I’m not scared of them. But I can’t take on five of them at once without my Quirk. And you were about to go talk to all of them at once. Are you stupid?”
“They sounded like my friends…”
Shigaraki eyed him cautiously. “Maybe they were . But now , they’re just pawns. Working with the ones who stabbed me in the back and tossed me to the side the moment they got scared.”
“What do you mean?”
“I almost won. All Might’s life was in my hands. I didn’t listen when I was warned that he was off limits. My fingers were cut off so I couldn’t use my Quirk...I’d be dead today if it wasn’t for All Might.” He sounded almost disgusted at the thought. “So I was forced to work on the side of the heroes for the last ten years. Ever since, society went to shit and he ended up making the League a terrifying troop of villains. Heroes got killed, villains got stronger, and he killed the closest thing I had to a father.”
“So the League turned on you...do you still work with the heroes? Or...whoever remains?”
“I did. But I’ve learned to channel my Quirk through my feet. So now I’m on my own, working to take back what was stolen from me.”
“What happened to All Might? Is he still okay?”
Shigaraki sighed, groaning lightly. “He’s been MIA ever since our attack on the USJ.”
-----
Bakugo was led to an office that he figured used to be the warden’s office. Hawks kept him close.
Is he planning on helping me escape?
Hawks put his hand on Bakugo’s shoulder, gently sitting him in a chair. In front of him was a desk with an empty chair. Strewn about it were notebooks, open to sketches and pages of notes on heroes. A lot of the drawings had been marked off with red ink, labeled ‘DEAD’. On the wall behind the desk were posters of All Might, worn and faded over time. There was a notebook page on him pinned to the wall. It was also marked with the word ‘DEAD’, but the word had been written all over the page. Each time it was written, the writing got more frantic and looked as if the page started to tear from the pressure of the pen. Right next to that was a cemented shelf with a single pillow on top with a blue marble resting on it underneath a glass dome.
Bakugo’s stomach started to turn.
He started to get the feeling he knew exactly who he was going to come face-to-face with.
The door opened behind him, but Hawks kept his grip on him, telling him not to turn around.
Multiple people could be heard walking in, laughing and talking among each other.
“What’s this?”
The voice was familiar. Bakugo recognized it instantly.
It was muffled and sounded almost non-human, but it was a voice that he knew nonetheless.
“I managed to catch you that kid who washed up on the shore of the base.” Hawks answered.
Bakugo kept his head turned away from them, looking at his feet.
Someone knelt down and tilted his head up.
Neon pink skin, fluffy hair, black scleras with glowing yellow eyes blinked down at him. “Hi there, kiddo!”
“Raccoon eyes…?”
“Don’t talk to her like that.”
Someone grabbed his shoulder, sending a shock through his body. He yelled, coughing.
He was older, but there was no mistaking that stupid grin on his face, even hidden under his messy, streaked hair tied into a long braid.
Bakugo gritted his teeth, scowling.
“Give him some space.”
There the voice was again. It sent chills down his spine.
“D...Deku…” He shook, looking back down at his feet.
He sat down at the desk across from him, resting his chin on the top of his hands, looking at him. “Hey, Kacchan. Boy. Do I have a story to tell you.”
-----
Tokoyami led Rody to UA, keeping him close behind, holding his hand. Rody remembered Midoriya talking about the school a lot. This was much different than what he’d imagined.
There were groups of people either training or sitting and talking. It looked like the classrooms had been turned into living quarters. He recognized some Pro Heroes that Midoriya talked about.
Mirko, Fatgum, Ms. Joke, Manual were the only ones he could place a name on.
He looked forward, hoping to avoid having to make eye contact with any of the people looking at him. They didn’t seem to be scowling at him, but he didn’t want to have to talk to anyone. Mostly because he couldn’t explain how he got there and he knew that they were all going to ask.
He stopped, looking at a short, chubby man with pink circles underneath his cheeks and dark brown hair tied up in a short ponytail, sporting a white puffer vest and a dark outfit of a long sleeve shirt, baggy pants with built-in knee pads, and large dark boots.
Rody stopped, tilting his head. “Hey you’re Uraraka, right? Deku’s friend.”
“Deku? Who’s that?”
“Oh...I guess you don’t know him in this timeline...Sorry. You look great for someone trapped in an apocalypse. Happy for you.” He gave a thumbs up and was pulled back along by Tokoyami.
“Aizawa is this way. You can explain everything to him so we can find a way to reunite you and your friends and get you home.”
“What about you guys? You look like you need help.”
“We appreciate the sentiment, but this isn’t your fight.”
“Tell that to Deku. If he’s here, he’s gonna get involved.”
Tokoyami laughed a little and opened the doors to a large area that Rody figured was a gym.
In the middle of the gym floor was a man with jet black hair that had some slivers of grey tied up in a low, messy bun. He took a breath, tilting his head toward a wall. He ducked underneath a gunshot, dodging bullets that whizzed over his head. He shook his arms, grabbing the bullets with multiple capture threads. They were thrown into targets, all mostly hitting direct center.
He stood up, cracking his wrists and the threads rolled up around his torso.
Tokoyami cleared his throat, getting the man’s attention.
“Aizawa. I have company.”
“That’s Aizawa?”
Aizawa stood straight, leaning his head toward Tokoyami. “You shouldn’t be here during my training session.”
He turned to look at them, showing off a scrap of leather that covered the upper half of his face. He walked toward them, using a cane.
“Oh man. You’ve seen better days.” Rody blurted.
Tokoyami groaned, elbowing him.
Aizawa sat on a bench next to them. “So who are you?”
Rody quietly explained their predicament.
“I’m Rody Soul, this is Pino,” he held Pino in his hands, petting her head, “we got stuck here with my friends. I’m just trying to find them and get home. I’m not cut out for this hero work, so you can understand why I don’t really want to get involved. I mean...my Quirk is just this bird that doesn’t let me lie. So I’m not good in fights…”
Aizawa drummed his fingers on the walking stick. “So Rody Soul. You and your friends got stuck here. How did you get here?”
“Portal.”
“...Is that all you can tell me?”
“Yeah.”
Aizawa sighed. “Do you know where your friends are?”
“I saw one end up in the side of town that’s got a lot of lights. I don’t know where Bakugo landed. But he’s pretty strong, so I bet he can defend himself.”
“The Light District is pretty dangerous. That area is run by the villains. I’ll go look for them.”
“Why are there villains everywhere? What happened to all the heroes? I thought All Might was, like, the best hero in the world. Where’s he?”
“A lot of heroes didn’t survive these last ten years…” Aizawa thumbed the necklace around his neck that had what looked like the shattered remnants of yellow lenses from sunglasses hanging from the silver chain. “There was an attack on the USJ...I should have been able to protect my students. But he walked away with half of them. Nearly killed them and turned them into his minions...He was just...terrifying to go against. Everyone thought he was some wannabe villain, who was just looking to have people know his name. But he spent years researching every hero, Pro and Underground. And when he finally attacked, he had every backup plan at the ready. Years of notes at his disposal. He didn’t even need to lift a finger.”
Rody and Pino looked at each other.
What did Deku get them into?