Chapter 1: PrologueChapter Text
To say Izuku Midoriya was confused was an understatement. "Whe-where am I?"
Surrounding him was pitch-black darkness all around him. Izuku was standing on a white platform. "What is this place?" Izuku then went to the edge of the platform. Looking down, there was no bottom in sight.
Izuku eventually got back up on his feet and gripped his chin. "The last thing I remember is going back to my dorm and going to sleep after our performance, so am I dreaming right now?" Izuku mutters to himself
"This may be a dream, but it is also reality." A voice echoed all around Izuku.
This caught the freckled boy off guard as he almost fell over before quickly catching himself "h-hello, I-is anyone there?!" Izuku asked, a little caught off guard.
"I am here but also very far from here." The voice answered, seeming to want to be as vague as possible.
Izuku stopped talking to himself and continued, "Maybe I'm dreaming, and this voice is part of it?" he questioned himself, "Though I wonder why am I aware of my dream?"
"I may be a voice right now, but I am more than just a dream," the voice said without hesitation, in a mocked, hurtful tone.
"O-oh, sorry!?" Izuku said, not picking up on it, "B-but if you're not a part of my dream, then who are you?"
"Hehehe, don't worry about it~" The voice answered back with a cryptic tone. "Here, take a look at this!" It finished as a *click* ringed throughout the void.
Izuku watched as the floor beneath him changed, sparkles emanating and flying off it, giving the white floor color completely wiped over as what looked like a stained glass window with an assortment of greens and reds, but that wasn't what had caught him off guard.
"Is that me?!" Izuku looked to the ground to see his familiar mop of green hair that he would recognize anywhere but "Wa-wait, something is off?" Izuku decided to take one more look at the stained glass.
This version of him looked different; while the outfit on the image felt similar to his hero costume, there were noticeable differences, "A variation of my hero costume?" It was then that the most prominent thing stood out.
In his left hand was what looked like a giant car key that the stained glass version of him was holding like a sword. For some reason, there was also a keychain on the bottom of it.
"I… A giant car key? Why do I-" Izuku paused as a sudden jolt of pain struck him so hard his knees collided with the floor. "What is happening?!" He began to clutch his head and closed his eyes in pain.
In the darkness, a light had somehow begun to illuminate, and his view was starting to take focus.
"W-what is?!" Izuku thought to himself as a black mass began to take his sight. It was wriggling around before it took off from the ground to start flying.
As Izuku's view got into an entire focus, he realized this thing wasn't just one entity; it seemed to be multiple of these dark tiny humanoid creatures with bug-like antennas and bright yellow eyes seemingly climbing over one another. They were forming a flying mass surrounded by a core of what Izuku knew Tokoyami would describe as pure darkness.
At this moment, only one thought was going through his mind "What are those things?" Izuku thought, realizing, "Wait, why can't I speak?" But Izuku quickly was brought out of it as he saw them slither and float around through the air while only being able to watch.
But out of nowhere, the mass of creatures darted around. Izuku watched the creatures circle him and cried, "Wait a minute!" He was now feeling cornered and tried to back up and away.
"Why won't my body move!" Try as he might, Izuku's body wouldn't budge. No matter how he struggled, his arms, legs, or anything, the boy's body didn't bulge, "Come on! One For All!" But no matter if he called for it, One For All did not answer his call.
Before he could do anything, the mass of creatures darted around before beginning to charge right toward him.
"Crap crap crap, move!" Izuku practically felt like screaming at his body to move, but as he saw the black mass begin to obscure the light from his vision, he closed his eyes and braced himself, "Crap, here it comes!".
As the creatures got closer, a singular, almost familiar voice rang through with a shout.
"ZANTETSUKEN!"
As Izuku heard that, he opened his eyes only to see a singular slash cut through the mass of bug creatures coming towards him before a massive gust of wind sent them flying away. Just then, a blurry green figure of a person entered his vision.
As the wind dissipated, the figure stopped in front of the green-haired boy. When Izuku saw who, it shocked him, "That's me?!?!" He thought as he looked at the other version of himself.
Izuku sat there stunned and awestruck, unable to process what was in front of him. " Th-that's me!! Bu-but I'm standing right here?!?!" Izuku examined the boy; it felt like he was looking through a mirror and seeing a completely different person. "What's going on?!"
The other Izuku was dressed in clothes utterly different from anything the boy had worn, especially the baggy pants with so many pockets. " Why are there so many zippers and bel-" he quickly shook those thoughts, "Nope, better things to question right now!".
As quickly as the other Izuku appeared in front of him, he vanished with a quick step and jumped towards the mass of creatures as it closed the gap with the other Izuku, and they clashed together.
After the clash, the other Izuku was sent flying back only to land on the mass of the creatures. He was planting his giant key down into the mass of creatures to stop himself. As he tore a hole open in the mass, causing the tiny creatures to hit the ground and disappear into a cloud of black smoke and then nothing.
The other Izuku got up and started running in the creature's direction to get closer to the head of the mass; they then clashed again. The other Izuku has pushed away, gaining distance and using it to dodge as the creatures lunged at him. He then jumped and slashed, destroying some of the creatures.
As Izuku watched the other him slash, dodge, and fight the creature, he didn't know why even though it seemed to be handled just fine "I have to help!!" As he began to struggle, he thought, "I can't just let him fight these things alone! Come on!! Move!!!" Then out of nowhere, it began to happen.
Suddenly Izuku began to feel himself slightly twitch before One For All surged through his body, the green lightning crackling around him, and he slowly regained control of his body as he took a step.
"I can move now-" He suddenly paused. "I can speak now? Why couldn't I-" The boy quickly shook those thoughts aside, "Never mind!! I have to get in there fast!!".
As Izuku looked towards his other self, he saw the other mop-headed boy jump up to meet the mass of creatures flying toward him, and he was about to swing down his weapon.
Izuku saw this and didn't hesitate to run in, "Alright, here I go!!" As he charged OFA's lightning, "One For All!! Full Cowling! Fifteen percent!" With those thoughts, he leaped to meet them in the middle while preparing a kick for the monsters.
All of a sudden, right before the clash, a light came to life and covered the whole area, "Wh-what-" Izuku didn't get to finish as it enveloped his vision entirely.
Izuku's next sight was once again a stained glass floor; the first sounds he heard were his ragged breaths.
"Hmm, interesting…" The voice was back, and Izuku was more confused than ever. "You weren't supposed to be able to move in that memory... I guess you're just full of surprises!" The voice said, questioning itself before quickly dismissing the question.
As Izuku caught his breath, he began to speak, "Me-memory?!" Izuku steadily got up. "What do you mean, memory? Who was that other me?! Is that your quirk?" The boy was so confused he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"Hmmmmm? That's not exactly an easy question to answer?" The voice said before somehow Izuku could feel a mischievous grin appear on the disembodied voice's face, "Let's just say it's you, but it's not you-" It seemed to want to continue but then stopped before starting again, " Hehehe, well would you look at that?" The voice finished, feeling a bit smug.
Izuku couldn't understand it but felt eyes on him, or his hands specifically, so he quickly looked down at it,
"What do you me-" Izuku didn't finish, and he looked at his hand. "M-my hands are glowing?!" Izuku stared at his hand as a faint whitish-yellow glow enveloped it.
It wasn't for long, though. The glow disappeared a few seconds later, causing Izuku to keep staring at his hands even after, "What-what was that?" Izuku was so confused about this dream that he sent him so many directions that he wasn't sure what was going on anymore.
"Hmmm, it seems you can just barely hold the Light needed?" The voice said with a slight hint of concern, but the mischievous tone was not entirely gone, "Or maybe you just didn't realize it yet?"
"Wh-what?" Was all Izuku could muster.
The voice didn't answer at first, but Izuku could tell that the silence from this voice was more of a curse than anything. "Hehehe, I've decided!" Izuku could practically hear the cogs turning in the tone of voice.
"Oh no," Izuku felt dread building. He felt like he wasn't going to like where this was going.
As if the voice didn't scare Izuku enough, he became terrified when it replied, "Oh yes! It's time for you to see some more!" The voice gave a brief pause. "But maybe a little easier than the first time? I'm not cruel." It said, showing a hint of mercy, "I know just the thing, the theater!" The voice exclaimed, proud of its idea.
The voice was going too fast for the green-haired boy, "No-now ju-just hold on a minute!" Izuku sputtered, trying to slow down a bit for his sake.
It didn't stop the voice. "Nope, it's time to get this show on the road!" With those words, there was a *snap* of fingers.
Shortly after that snap, Izuku watched as the black emptiness quickly turned into a white void around him, then a light completely enveloped his vision.
Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have the time to think it over as he heard glass shatter underneath his feet. He felt the ground disappear. The boy tried quickly to use his hand and reach for something to grab onto, only to feel himself flip around as he felt his body seemingly float in the middle of the air.
Izuku's vision began to focus. He noticed the black void that was around him had completely turned white. Eventually, he used his floating to turn around and look all around, only to see the pure white void.
Until a voice rang out, "Up here!"
Izuku, recognizing the voice, turned around and saw a wispy black figure high above him.
Izuku couldn't fully make the figure out as they were too far and surrounded by mist, but two defining features were the seemingly heavy armor of the silhouette and the large round head.
After all this, Izuku had to know "W-who are yo-" until he was interrupted.
The figure quickly stopped him, "Doesn't matter, right now, just listen carefully!" It finished hurriedly.
"You're gonna wake any moment now, and the show will start soon!" The voice said as an outline. Izuku could swear the figure had a smile on its face, " But first, you need to meet the people of the theater, explore your new surroundings, and most importantly…." The voice stopped reaching his hand out. "Don't ever stop searching for the light you need! Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku tried once to stop the figure "W-wait! What does all that mean?!"
But it was useless as everything faded away in an instant with a single…
*SNAP!*
Izuku felt groggy.
"Ugh."
Ok, so groggy was an understatement. Izuku's brain was still trying to find a reason to wake up.
As Izuku's body and mind adjusted to waking up, his eyes began to open only to see a blurry white and gray, "Am I still dreaming?" He asked himself while grabbing his head, still too groggy to properly think
As he waited for a minute, his head began to clear. As he finally blinked at the spots from his vision, Izuku realized something: "Why am I sitting on a chair?" He then took in his surroundings.
As Izuku looked around, he noticed the theater itself was primarily gray with the walls with various upside-down heart-like emblems with three points at the top, one to each side and one straight up, being an unstained white as well as functioning as the lights of the room.
The most colorful thing Izuku noticed about the room was his chair. Gray-colored hearts with white outlines were surrounded by green lightning bolts which traveled to the center of his chair's back, where a giant green heart was.
In front of him was a giant black screen with a spinning number 8 in the center and the words "we will begin momentarily" underneath it.
Outside of the mop-headed boy's view was a pitch-black, heart-shaped window, but if one were to stare long enough, they would swear you could see a figure move across it and out of view.
"A... theater? I must still be dreaming." Izuku put his arm down on the armrest. He felt comfortable like he could fall asleep at any second, but someone grabbed his hand and spoke.
"Good morning, Deku," The very familiar voice of a little horned girl sounded.
"Eh...good morning Er-" Izuku's eyes shot open. He turned to look to his side to see the white-haired girl looking at him and holding his hand "Eri!" He said in shock.
The girl jumped back a tiny bit, shocked at his outburst. This caused him to flinch a bit, "S-sorry, Eri, I'm just surprised you're here? How did you even get here?" He waved his hands in the air, indicating where they were.
The girl accepted the apology and gave him a slight nod, "I don't know either. I went to sleep in my bed, and all of a sudden, I woke up here." She began to look around the room in confusion before looking back to Izuku, "When I woke up, everyone else was asleep, so I waited. I didn't want to wake them up, and then you woke up." She began to look around again. "Do you know where we are?"
The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "U-um, I'm not sure either. At least this place doesn't look familiar. Bu-" He paused, taking in the information. "Wait, did you say others?"
Eri gave Izuku a nod, "Yeah, the other people you go to school with who put on that show." Eri pointed to his right as he turned to see Ochaco, Tenya, Shoto, and Katsuki all asleep in the chairs.
"Then the rest of those people and the skinny All Might guy along with Mr. Eraser and Mr. Nezu," Eri continued pointing behind them.
Izuku turned around to see the skinny form of All Might passed out in the chair. Nezu and Aizawa were up at the top row of seats along with the rest of the class. "W-what are they doing here?" Was all Izuku could get out.
Eri finished turning to her right, "And this lady who I've never met before." She said, looking at her with concern.
As Izuku turned around, shock overtook him as he gripped the seat "Mom!" Izuku quickly got up from his seat after seeing his mother and rushed over to her, wanting to check on the sleeping woman.
She seemed fine as her slow breathing and small snores were enough to tell Izuku. He let out a sigh of relief before taking a glance at his mother and then everyone in the theater before contemplating for a bit, "We don't know where we are. How did we even get here? And why is everyone asleep?" .
He began planning his next move, but it was pretty obvious.
Izuku turned to Eri, who was staring at him. "Eri, we don't know where we are, so we need everyone's help." He gave a smile to her, as big as he could, trying not to worry the girl, "But we don't seem to be in danger, so can you go wake up Mr. Aizawa and the other heroes while I try to wake up the people down here?" He asked as calmly as possible.
She smiled slightly and nodded, "Yeah, I can do that. Give me one second." With that, Eri jumped off the chair and walked up the stairs. Izuku watched her back and the surroundings.
Giving another sigh of relief, Izuku thought, "Good, if anyone watching us were hostile, they would have attacked while my back was turned, so Eri is probably safe for now." With that, he looked at his mother.
He looked at his mother's sleeping form. Izuku decided that since she was here, he would wake her up first, grabbing her shoulder and giving her a gentle nudge.
The boy whispered, "Mom… mom, I need you to get up," He said while gently shaking her.
Izuku's mother tightened her eyes, and her face began to move and scrunch as Izuku removed his hand. She quickly opened her eyes slightly afterward and blinked when she noticed her son, "I-Izuku?" She asked, confused.
Izuku answered softly, "Yeah, mom; it's me… I need you to wake up now." He looked around before wincing a bit, "We're in a bit of a situation." The boy said while rubbing the back of his head.
While his mother was listening, she was still somewhat groggy and confused, "Izuku, what are you doing here?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, "You're supposed to be at the dorms. Why are you home?" She then had to squint her eyes, "And why is it so bright in here?" she tried putting her hand right above her eyes to block out the light. "Did I fall asleep on the couch again?"
Izuku was currently racking his brain for a way to explain this to his mother without freaking her out. "Ok, so mom… I'm gonna need you not to freak out when I say this." He whispered.
While the mother had a look of concern on her face, she also looked unconvinced as she spoke, "Izuku honey, every time you've told me not to worry or freak out, it ended up with your bones broken, you being taken hostage by a villain, or sneaking off to fight villains. So, sorry if your mother is concerned with when you start with that." Inko stressed with as much concern as she could with how out of it she was.
Izuku took a couple of seconds to process her statement, only to realize that he could not refute any of those claims. He just decided to continue, "S-so….um" Izuku began to twiddle his thumbs, "W-we're kinda not at h-home." Izuku quietly squeaked out.
Inko, still groggy, listened to this and started to wake up a bit more, "What do you mean we're not home?" She asked her son, giving him a confused look, "Where else can we be?" She asked as her fatigue faded by the second.
He looked at her, trying to be as calm as possible, "Again, I need you not to freak out, but…." He paused and looked away for a split second, "We might have been kidnapped." Izuku finished, deciding to give it to her straight but holding his hands out just in case she panicked.
The tiredness had entirely left Inko at this point, and she was wide awake, "What do you mean we've been kidnapp-?!" She started to yell before he quickly put a finger to his face and silenced her, then gently put his hand on her shoulder.
Izuku gave his mother a serious look as he spoke, "Mom, I know this is a lot to process, and it's terrifying."
He then looked around to ensure he wasn't being watched before turning back to his mother, "This is dangerous, but it seems whoever brought us here doesn't know we're awake." He quickly looked around, "And we need it to stay that way as long as possible, so I need you to do something for me." He then gave her a look. "Can you help me?".
Inko paused for a moment before nodding hesitantly in understanding, but the worry never left her face.
Izuku then nodded. "Ok, here's what you need to do." He then pointed behind her, causing Inko to look back.
She was about to freak out seeing the students seemingly knocked out until she saw him pointing farther up to see a little girl softly shaking Aizawa.
"That girl is Eri, and I told her to wake up Mr.Aizawa." Izuku then looked at his mom, "And I need you to go up there and stay with them while I stay down here and wake up everyone else. You'll be safer with them." He gave her a serious look.
Inko wanted to protest but seeing the look her son was giving her; she knew there was nothing she could say to change his mind. She sighed, "Just be careful, Izuku." She said, giving him pleading eyes.
Izuku's face softened, "Always."
Izuku had to stop sweating when his mother gave him a single deadpan glance before shaking it off.
"Alright, Izuku." As she said, this Izuku stepped back, letting her get up as she got started walking up the stairs.
As Izuku watched her get halfway up the stairs before he turned around and walked over to his other classmates. Just as he glanced to the side, he noticed something about the chairs.
While he noticed his chair and its color beforehand, now he saw his mother's and Eri's chairs and how they differed from his.
His mother's chair had darker green than his, and unlike the lightning bolts around him, it seemed to be images of items from his house. His All Might figure, kitchenware, and even a silhouette of his head had a dark green heart in the middle.
And Eri's, while having less stuff, was adorned with images of bright red clocks with yellow numbers that are warped around the seat with a bright red heart in the middle, strangely though the clocks had no hands on them.
Izuku began to notice all of his classmates had different colors and images on their seats though most of it was obscured by their bodies.
As Izuku looked forward, he thought to himself, "It's like someone specifically made each chair for each one of us." Izuku's thoughts began to wander, "This had to have taken quite a while to make." He looked at his classmate and then back to his chairs,
"No restraints either. This doesn't feel like the League of Villains style…. But they seem like the only type of people who could pull this off. Could it be someone that's gone under our radar? But it's improbable someone would be able to keep hidden from us for this long."
As the freckled boy finally stopped in front of his friend Iida he quickly stopped his thoughts, "Doesn't matter whoever it is, I still have to wake everyone up. We'll be safer with all of us as a group."
Izuku looked at his friend Tenya Iida. Even asleep while looking relaxed, he was upright and straight, not slumping in the slightest. It even felt he was somewhat awake, which threw Izuku off for a bit, "Always at attention. Huh, Iida?" Izuku asked his sleeping friend.
Izuku then grabbed Iida's shoulder and began to shake the boy, "Iida, wake up." he lightly whispered to his friend. The boy didn't seem to budge.
Izuku then shook him harder, grabbing both of his shoulders, "Iida, come on, you need to get up." he started to talk normally but to no avail.
The green-haired boy was at a loss for words. No matter how hard he shook the boy, he continued to be completely knocked out.
Izuku wracked his brain for answers, "He won't get up no matter how hard I shake him." He grabbed his hair, "What could I say that would wake him? What cou-" Izuku stopped his inner monologue as a thought crossed his mind, "There's no way that would work!" Izuku bashed his idea aside, but even then, he put it into action, getting a little closer, "there's no way this is going to wake him up."
As Izuku finally stopped inching closer and sighed, "Here goes nothing." He finally stopped and whispered, "Iida, people are sleeping in class."
With the final words leaving Izuku's mouth, Iida's eyes shot open instantly as a serious glare adorned his face causing Izuku to jump back in surprise "that worked!"
Iida stood up, a serious aura emanating from him, "Thank you, Midoriya, but I ask you to return to your seat so I may handle this accordingly!" The boy said, chopping his hands as he took his rigid stance.
As Tenya got up, Izuku could see his engines start revving, causing him to step back, "He's not gonna run, right?!" Izuku began to sweat a bit. He wanted to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract whoever brought them here, "W-wait, Iida, I don't think we really should-"
He was quickly cut off, "No need to worry, Midoriya!"
Iida started running back and forth as his engines revved, and he started to yell, "This is your class, president Tenya Iida! Class is about to start. Everyone wake up and pay attention!"
Izuku could only shake his head in exaggeration. as he watched Iida run, "I-Iida, you need to!-"
It was too late, however, as that awakened Katsuki Bakugou, and he was not happy. Katsuki let out a string of curses and caused a few explosions.
"Fuck you four-eyes! You woke me up!"
"Language, Bakugou!" Iida berated him, not stopping his run.
The noise was enough to wake everyone in the theater. Some of them were whining and grumbling about being rudely woken up.
"Does Bakugou need to be so loud this early in the morning?"
"Yeah, I was having a good dream."
"I'm so tired."
"Wonder what got him on the wrong side of the bed."
"Let me sleep, damn it!"
Iida stopped running, his engines sputtering before going silent. He made sharp hand-chopping motions as he grabbed their attention. All of the class turned to look at their class president, "Everyone! Get up! It is a disgrace for us to be asleep during class!"
"Um…Iida…" Muttered Izuku, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Y-you were kind of asleep as well."
Tenya's mood dropped instantly. "I-I was w-what?!" Aghast, he stood there for a few seconds before slumping in utter shame. "I-I have failed as a class president!" He went silent and slumped down into the chair he was previously asleep on.
"Also…" Izuku's voice started to go quieter. "W-we ar-aren't i-in class….I just…..said that to wake you up."
Tenya's depressed form, in an instant, went back into attention, "What did you say, Midoriya?"
Izuku felt sweat building up as everyone's attention shifted to him. "I-I mean-!"
Katsuki started to get annoyed and impatient, "Spell it out, Deku!"
Izuku jumped at Katsuki's yell, "W-we aren't in the dorms anymore!" He yelled a little louder. "We aren't in UA anymore. If anything, we were kidnapped and brought here…." He trailed off quietly. However, his words made their mark as everyone progressed.
And once it clicked, the panic began.
[A few minutes earlier….]
Eri tried to shake Aizawa awake, but the man snored loudly, unbothered by the little girl's efforts. The unicorn pondered on what she should do when she noticed that strange woman coming. Mr. Deku said that she was his 'mom,' but she didn't know what that was.
But Deku seemed to know her, but she was a little scared. So she hid behind Aizawa's chair but stuck her head out.
Inko knew of the scared little girl. Her son did mention her a couple of times over the phone. Eri, if she remembered correctly. She also knew that the poor girl had a difficult life before her son saved her. She wasn't given the details, but after watching the news from that day, she could easily piece things together.
Inko didn't want to startle the girl, so she slowly went to her son's teachers. Once she was in front of her son's homeroom teacher, she gently knelt down and smiled softly at the one-horned girl.
"Hello there, Eri. My name is Inko Midoriya."
Eri tried to bury herself on the chair but perked up when she heard her surname. She remembered Mr. Eraserhead calling Mr. Deku that.
"Midoriya…Like Deku?" She asked softly, her eyes beaming with innocence.
Inko smiled. While she wasn't fond of that name, she understood that it represented something different for her son. She briefly remembered how he told her that his classmate had changed the meaning of the name altogether.
"Yes, Izuku is my son."
Eri blinked but stepped out. She wanted to be brave and was sure Mr. Deku would've liked that.
Inko looked at the sleeping teachers, a little bewildered seeing the teacher in a yellow sleeping bag. She decided to help the little girl. So with a firm hand on Aizawa's shoulder and shook him awake. Eri watched in awe when Aizawa groaned and shuffled around his sleeping bag.
His bloodshot eyes opened, and he took notice of the Problem child's mother. He blinked before noticing something wasn't right. He shot up and looked around and saw that he wasn't anywhere in the dorm but rather in a while-like theater room.
Aizawa knew for certain that a theater room was not in plans when they built the dorms. He narrowed his eyes and zipped out of his sleeping bag. He looked around his surroundings and immediately saw his students. Except for Midoriya, everyone else was asleep. Though it seemed the problem child was waking up the class representative.
He groaned. Was he really out of it that he failed to notice that they were kidnapped? Great, to make it worse, the rat and All Might be with him. At least Present Mic wasn't around.
During his musings, Inko went to wake up the remaining adults. Nezu blinked in confusion at where they were while All Might coughed blood.
"My my." Murmured Nezu, getting out of his seat, "It seemed like we're in quite the predicament."
Before anything else was to be said, it was then when all of 1-A started screaming and causing a ruckus with their quirks. Aizawa groaned, trying to fight a headache creeping up on him.
This was not what he wanted to deal with when he woke up.
[Back to the Present]
"What the fuck?!"
"Where are we?!"
"Forget about that! Who took us, hostage?!"
"Where are the teachers?!"
"This isn't manly!"
Tenya managed to get out of his stupor and began calling for attention. "Everyone, calm down!" Either everyone ignored him entirely or couldn't hear him from the panicked shoutings. This went on while the adults were talking, with Eri gripping Aizawa's pant leg.
"Deku!"
Izuku turned around and felt a sense of relief when he saw Ochako making her way toward him and Tenya.
"Uraraka!" The relief overwhelmed the boys when they saw their female friend safe.
"Are you and Iida alright?"
"Y-yeah," Izuku scratched the back of his neck.
"Do you guys know what happened?"
To her disappointment, both boys shook their heads. "Sorry, we don't."
"But worry not, Uraraka!" Tenya said, chopping his hand more softly, "We have Principal Nezu, Aizawa-sensei, and All Might with us! Surely they are creating plans on what we could do to escape."
The brown-haired girl beamed, "You're right! With them around, surely we can escape."
"Even if All Might can't fight anymore." Izuku thought sadly as he turned to look at the fragile state of the man.
"Though I got to ask…." Ochako turned to him, "Isn't that your mom?" She pointed at Inko, who was still talking to the teachers.
"Y-yeah.."
"That's odd…." Tenya thought thoughtfully, "I wonder why the villains brought her here?"
By that, Izuku started to sweat nervously, "Y-yeah… Me too."
"They even have Eri!" Ochako says, both excited and concerned at the sight of the little girl, "I just hope she stays safe…."
Tenya started chopping his hands, "She will be alright! With Aizawa-sensei around, she'll be safe."
Ochako hummed thoughtfully, "I suppose so!"
Eventually, they stopped and turned to the hysteric students as Tenya tried and failed to bring order. And Aizawa had enough.
"Stop."
Their homeroom teacher's gruff and stern words were enough to put an end to the insanity in an instant. Not to mention their quirks were turned off. Everyone slowly turned their full attention to their tired yet pissed-off teacher.
"Everyone shut up!" He gritted his teeth.
Once everyone sat down in their seats and looked at their teacher, Eraserhead let out one of his infamousdone-with-life sighs and glared at them.
"Now that this insanity is dealt with," he glared at them, "can anyone recall anything from the night before?"
When he received negatives, he turned to Izuku. "Midoriya."
"Y-yes, Sensei?"
"I gathered that you were the only one to wake up early."
"Y-yes, sir."
"So pray and tell me what happened?" Izuku swallowed, "W-well, sir, I don't know either. I just woke up and noticed we were all here."
Aizawa let out another groan of annoyance as Nezu stepped up.
"Well then, children," Pipped in Nezu, gaining everyone's attention, "It seems that we're quite in the pickle indeed. Now, does anyone have any of their personal items?"
Mina burst into tears, "No! I don't even have my phone with me!"
Toru was also sad, "I don't have mine either!"
There were a lot of agreements, and Izuku noticed he didn't have his phone either. And oddly enough, all of his classmates were in school uniforms. With what was going on, he failed to notice until now. He looked down; instead of his sleeping wear, he was also wearing his school uniform.
Though oddly enough, his tie was neatly tied around his neck. It was rather strange, as he never really knew how to tie a tie and never really put any effort into doing so.
However, it was then that he felt something heavy in his pockets. He looked down, and indeed something was bulging from there. Confused, he pulled it out and was baffled when he saw that it was a service call bell.
"Um…" Izuku looked at All Might, who had been watching the students with a calm expression. However, Izuku knew him enough to know that he was very anxious about this.
Izuku looked back at the bell. He hesitated, but something was calling at him to ring it. He should tell Nezu and his teachers first…
RING!
Though, he isn't sure. Despite his instincts telling him to tell his teachers, he put his finger on top and pushed it. The ringing caught everyone's attention, and they all saw an embarrassed Izuku holding a service call bell.
"Midoriya," grumbled Aizawa, "Why do you have that?"
Izuku smiled sheepishly, "W-well, I had this in my pockets…."
"And you didn't bother to tell any of us?"
"Well…" Before Izuku could come back with an excuse, a voice had rung out all around them
"My my, I hadn't expected all of you up this early, and I still have to do my hair…. Give me one second, Mr. Midoriya, and I'll be right down."
While everyone was distracted by the voice and was looking around for the source, Mina jumped down and took the bell from Izuku's hand.
"Thanks, Midori!"
"H-huh?! Ashido?!"
"Ashido," Grumbled their homeroom teacher.
"What?" Pouted Mina at her teacher, "I don't have my phone, and we're stuck here! Besides, maybe we can figure out something if we continue to call whoever answered Midoriya."
"Ashido, you shouldn't be doing this!" Tenya said, chopping his hands. "We must focus on the situation at hand and figure out how to get out of here!"
She ignored the class rep and started to ring it constantly. It began to annoy most of the group, especially Jirou.
RING!
RING!
RING!
RING!
"Damn it, Raccoon eyes!" Screeched Katsuki, "Stop doing this shit before I blow you up!"
Mina pouted at him.
"Yes, yes, patience, Ms. Ashido. I will be with you all in just one moment," the voice said once more, "and while you are at it, please give Mr. Midoriya back a bell I gave to him. It's for emergencies only," the voice said, now a bit annoyed.
This, however, caused the class and teachers to be on high alert as they couldn't find where the unknown voice was coming from.
Tenya turned his head to Mina and gave her a look "Ashido, don't go getting whatever that thing is aggravated at us," Tenya said, somewhat agitated himself. "And give Midoriya the bell back this instant!" He yelled at her, chopping his hands sharply.
Mina pouted once more, "Ok fine," before she gave Izuku a smile putting the bell back into his hand "Here, Midoriya."
While still a bit unsure if this was needed or if he even wanted the bell, he quickly pocketed it one more. "N-no problem, Ashido."
Aizawa looked at his students before deciding that huddling up was best. "Ashido, Midoriya, get back to your seats. We need to stick close," he looked at the rest of the seated students as Mina made her way back up, "and the rest of you stay where you are and keep a lookout. We don't know if we're in enemy territory or not"
Nezu then piped up, "Yes, please keep a watchful eye, students. Eraserhead and I will protect the civilians, but until we know where we are, you have free reign to engage in combat if provoked and watch your classmates' backs." Nezu said, now getting on Aizawa's shoulder for more ground, "We do not know when that voice will sho-"
"And all done now, time for my big debut," the voice said with a surprising amount of giddiness, "ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention to the screen!" The voice finished in a now mock severe voice.
As the student's teachers, Inko and Eri, looked toward the screen, suddenly, a dark blue mist began appearing on the screen before forming a circle-shaped portal.
The students and Aizawa have taken a fighting stance on whatever was on the other side of the portal. They were ready for anything that this potential threat brought their way.
As they watched the portal, a hand slowly popped out, and little by little, a shadow figure made its way out of the portal before it fully stepped through and the portal closed behind it.
As they all stared at the figure floating above them, ready for any sudden movements of attack, they were not just waiting as it stood there floating and unmoving before slowly reaching behind itself.
Aizawa braced himself, gripping his capture weapon, and said, "Class, if any of you are approached within 5 meters of the enemy, attack."
"Understood"
"Got it, Aizawa-Sensei."
"Yes, Aizawa-Sensei."
Now they all sat in bated breath, and the figure kept reaching back before finally pulling out….
….a microphone?
The figure then tapped on the microphone as they all heard the TAP TAP around them.
Finally, the figure spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen of U.A high and affiliates of class 1-A... I welcome you…. TO THE EIGHT DIMENSION THEATER"
A light shined on the figure as the voice rang out, making all of the shadows disappear.
As everyone got a good look at the now confirmed man, they looked at him in utter shock.
He seemed to have long curly black hair, a black jacket hanging from his shoulder, and a long dark blue shoulder pad and yellow buttons.
His attire was a blue bellhop jacket with black buttons, a golden butterfly on the top right, and black pants.
His dark brown eyes could be seen as he gave them a joy-filled smile as he looked up at him.
"Hello all, my name is Sleppt, and I thank you all for your patience once again. Welcome to the Eight Dimension Theater. I am its butler and the resident repair worker, and I will take care of any needs you may have!"
To say everyone was stunned was quite an understatement; this man looked utterly harmless. They could feel no hint of hostility coming from him.
"But with that all being said, I believe my bell was rang," the man finished as he floated down before landing on the ground. "I will get with you all in one moment as soon as my request is finished."
Without so much as a blink, the man put the microphone away and was in front of Izuku before anyone saw him move, causing everyone to jump back, Izuku included.
"What the fuck? How did he-?!"
"He moved so fast I didn't even see him?!"
"Not even Tensei can move at that speed?!"
"Did he teleport?!"
"Is this his quirk?!"
Aizawa was about to jump in. "Just who is this-"
Izuku couldn't move. It felt like the man would move right past him if he nudged. "W-who is this guy?"
The man seemingly ignored everyone's shocked faces around him and continued, "Mr. Izuku Midoriya and Ms. Mina Ashido, since you have rung the bell, I shall help with any inquiries or problems you may have. So please ask me anything." The man said with a reassuring smile.
It seems this time Mina was quicker to the draw as she blurted out, "Who and what are you?!" she said, pointing at the man.
The man began to tap his chin. "You ask just some difficult-to-explain questions, Ms. Ashido, but I'll explain to the best of my ability." He gave her a genuine smile.
As he said this, he began to fly again "as for who I am, my name is Sleppt. As I said, nothing has changed about that, and as for what I guess you could say a few things, a human, a viewer, and Eight Dimension Theater's watchman, repairman, and peacekeeper," the man said as he listed each one on his fingers.
This got Izuku thinking that if the man could answer, they might get what they needed from them.
"W-well, what does viewer mean, and what's this Eight Dimension Theater, and why did you bring us here?" Izuku asked stuttering for a bit, trying to be brave.
This caused the boy to scratch his head. "You asked a complicated question to answer too, Mr. Midoriya...hmm, so basically a viewer is…." The man seemed to carefully watch his words as he looked like he was trying not to touch a sensitive topic.
"We're basically different creatures from a different world, and we view other worlds, which is why I know all of you. That's the best I can say."
They watched him with confusion, but that seemed to be all he would say as he brushed it off.
"As for where you are, we are in the Eight Dimension Theater, and it's a special place created by a...…very powerful and eccentric person, a friend of sorts," the man said, not before a bit of exasperation came across his face.
" HEHEHE!"
Izuku didn't know why but he felt the hairs stand on his back when that cackle emanated. Everyone around looked, wary and unnerved.
It was then that Aizawa seemed a little hostile, "What was that, Mr. Sleppt? "
Sleppt looked at the man sweating going down his cheek as he looked at Aizawa. "Nothing to be worried about, Mr. Aizawa."
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. I guess I had that one coming." He exaggeratedly shook his head and continued, "As for your last question…. I didn't bring you here."
Izuku and the others were shocked this guy didn't bring them to the location. "Y-you didn't?!" He sputtered.
The man shook his head in a negative "Nope, not me. I am simply your guide here, asked to help by my friend." The man took a relaxed position, "but now then, if you have any questions or concerns, please ask away, and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability."
Suddenly the man was bombarded with questions, yet he somehow answered all of them with utter calmness and ease. Though a few remain silent, watching the entire thing as it occurred. Katsuki and Aizawa, in particular, eyed Sleppt with suspicion.
"What do you want from us?!"
"Nothing, just to help."
"Are you a villain?!"
"Nope, just a hard-working theater employee."
"Are you strong?!"
"I like to think so."
"You got a girlfriend?"
Everyone looked at Mina with bafflement, annoyance, or irritation, "What? He's cute, and I'd figured it would be appropriate to ask."
A few classmates sighed while Aizawa facepalmed, dragging his face down. Nezu was chuckling, while Eri looked confused.
Toru looked at the embarrassed man, "So…Do you?!" The clothes jumped excitedly, "If you don't swing that way, what about a boyfriend?!"
The man coughed on his hand, and he had a bit of a blush on his face. He had to chuckle. He honestly wasn't expecting this. "While no, I don't, I'm afraid a relationship is not something I'm in the middle of pursuing. That and I'm only eighteen. I want to pursue my future first, and as for that hidden question, I'm straight."
Mina and Toru pouted.
Most of the class, including Inko and All Might, felt uncomfortably awkward. The silence indicated awkwardness, and none of the students were willing to speak. Thankfully the awkward silence was shattered by a cough from Nezu.
"I believe I have a question." Nezu said, lifting a paw, "May we please leave?"
The man began to scratch his chin and give a sheepish look. "Well, technically speaking, you can leave, but...it's kinda-"
"Kinda what? " Asked Aizawa, irritated and tired beyond belief.
The man scratched the back of his neck. "W-well, it's just that my friend has locked the only exit, so... I can take you to the front door, but you have to open it yourself…..I'm sorry," the man looked like he was genuinely sorry.
Everyone was silent, letting that sink in until…
"Well, this is fucking great." Snarked Katsuki with obvious sarcasm and rage filling his face.
"Language, Bakugou!" Berated Tenya, giving Katsuki a look.
"Bite me, Four-eyes!" Snorted Katsuki, "Besides, you heard what the motherfucker said; we're stuck here in this shitty place!"
It was the man's turn to look at them. "Well, not exactly," Sleppt said, gaining everyone's attention once again, "It's hard to explain."
All Might step in, "What do you mean, young man?"
He rubbed the back of his "Well, the best way to explain it is that one of my friends will give you the key. You just don't have the ability to use it yet."
"Wait, friends?! " Yelled Denki, baffled, "How many of you are there?!"
"And what do you mean we don't have the ability to use it ?" Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the young man.
Sleppt looked at them with a cheeky grin on his face "Well, including me, there are about eight people, some of them even crazier and stronger than me, and believe me," the man then let out an oppressive aura that shook them to their very souls. Almost as if their hearts were pierced though it was gone as soon as it came.
"I'm pretty strong, but don't worry, they're not hostile." The man paused. "Mostly….. just don't provoke them, and you'll be good!" He chirped, which unnerved some of the group. Mineta, in particular, looked as though he was going to pee his pants.
He then checked his phone as it pinged before remembering Aizawa's question, "Oh yeah, and sorry, but I couldn't explain what I mean without proper context." He sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head
Aizawa's eye twitched.
It was then that Mineta suddenly perked up, "Hey!" He said, grabbing Sleppt's attention, "You said there were eight of you, right?"
Sleppt nodded, a little wary at the face Mineta was making, "Yes, I did say that." He had a sneaking suspicion. Scratch that; he already knew what the grape midget was thinking.
Mineta was drooling, eyes bulging with hope, "Does that mean that there are hot girls?!"
Most of the girls glared at him, and the guys wisely stepped back, though Denki likewise looked hopeful. Inko looked unsure with the boy's evidentexcitement, while Eri looked confused. Aizawa merely sighed and looked more tired than ever.
Sleppt gave a grimace look with slight disappointment but only for a split second as he began to think. Then a certain sinister smile graced his lip. "Hehehehehe, well, two girls are working here, one in the theater's kitchen and one in the basement." The man knew of the bait he was setting all too well, and it would all work out in the end.
Mineta was drooling, "How big are their bust size?! Are they as big as Yaoyorozu?!" Then his face fell flat, "Or are they like Jirou, dull and boring?"
Kyoka had a tick mark at Mineta's dismissal before jabbing him. Mineta yelled in shock and pain while Sleppt coughed.
"Both girls are attractive…" He said slowly, "But if you want the best of our gals, you ought to meet our kitchen gal! She's beautiful and dangerous!"
Mineta recovered quickly and grinned.
Sleppt merely shook his head, "Hook, line, and sinker. Dark will certainly be pleased." He shivered. "Many strong warriors crossed that woman's punishments, and they all folded in less than a day. Just hope she goes easy on the little guy. He'll need it." In contrast, Mineta was jumping with joy, not paying any more attention.
Some of the others looked at Sleppt in shock and confusion. A few girls even looked sorry at the thought of the poor girl dealing with the pervert.
The second Mineta wasn't paying attention, though; he turned to everyone and had his thumb across his neck. The message was clear to everyone, Mineta has doomed himself, apparently.
Sleppt coughed, gaining Mineta's attention. The purple midget, unaware of his independent doom, turns to him expectantly, along with everyone else.
As Sleppt got everyone's attention, he began, "Alright, then it's time for phase two of the operation. We'll have to split you into groups of six."
"Why is that young man?" Asked All Might.
Sleppt turned to him. "You see… The Eight Dimension is rather… large, so it will take too long if you all go together in one group."
Nezu nodded once given an explanation, "I see. And I believe you have chosen who goes with who?"
The man had to laugh. "Wow, how did you guess that one?" Sleppt was now curious. "Okay. Now I have to know. Take a guess who's going with who?"
Nezu hummed, "I'm afraid I don't know!" He said cheerfully, raising his paw, causing everyone to nearly faceplant to the carpet.
Sleppt shrugged, unbothered. "Alright then, everyone, I will call names, and all of you will be put in a group!"
In the end, the groups were,
Team 1: Izuku, Tenya, Ochaco, Shouto, Eri
Team 2: Katsuki, Ejiro, Hanta, Denki, Mina
Team 3: Yagi, Inko, Aizawa, Nezu
Team 4: Tooru, Fumikage, Koji, Yuga
Team 5: Momo, Kyoka, Mezo, Mashiro
Team 6: Minoru, Rikidou, Tsuyu
"...and that should be everyone." Said Sleppt as he read the clipboard he had.
Everyone was in their respective groups, and the man was satisfied. "Now then, the whole theater is big. So please call with a ring of the bell if you get lost, but there should be arrows to lead you to any maps of the theater." Then he flipped the paper on his clipboard
"You'll meet your special theater representative in your respective room. They will be taking care of you while you are in the theater. Please treat them withrespect. " He said with emphasis as he looked at Mineta and Katsuki
Katsuki narrowed his eyes when he noticed this, while Mineta had a dreamy expression. Sleppt shook his head; they'll eventually learn. Hopefully.
As he read the last part from his clipboard, "While you all are meeting your representatives, they will explain all you need to know while here, but you will eventually be all called back for the main event and the reason why you all have been brought here," and with that, the clipboard was gone.
"Can we fucking leave now?" Asked Katsuki with a bored expression.
"Bakugou! Show some respect!" Tenya shouted.
Sleppt quickly put his hand out. "Do not worry, Mr. Iida; Mr. Bakugo's words barely phase me." The man then pointed to the exit. "Your way out is that way, and I will be seeing all of you a bit later, and I do hope you enjoy your stay."
And with that, the group was sent off.
Izuku could assure that Sleppt was not lying to them when they said they could leave.
The door was unguarded, just locked, and that was one big door and one big lock. The door was enormous enough to allow Mt. Lady at her maximum size to pass through. That door had to be made out of tough metals because apparently…
"DIE!"
BOOM!
…it's indestructible.
Aizawa's eye twitched in annoyance. "Bakugo, that door is not going to open no matter how many times you hit with an explosion," he grumbled even more while rubbing his temples to push away a growing headache, "and that lock hasn't even gained so much as a mark on it."
No matter what they tried, the door was not budging. Nearly everyone used their quirks and strength to break down the door. Unfortunately, there is no hope for that idea...
"We already hit the door with everything we have, but it remains untouched." Izuku put his hand on his chin and thought about their current situation. "I even used eleven percent of One for All, but the door didn't budge."
It was then that something clicked on Izuku's head, "Wait! Surely, after all of our attacks, someone would've heard us! And surely some people would notice that we're missing after a few days!"
"U-um, P-Principal Nezu?" Stuttered the freckled boy, gaining the rat's attention, "U-um… I-I was thinking…."
Katsuki was already in a bad mood from his failed attempt at blowing up the doors and yelled at him, "For fucks sake, Deku!" He yelled, making Izuku yelp and jump, "If you have something to say, speak the fuck up!"
"Uh, right." Izuku stuttered. "I was t-thinking that if we made all this noise, wouldn't someone have noticed?" Everyone stopped, and Aizawa looked like he wanted to smack his head on the door. Nezu merely smiled and gestured for him to continue. "S-so I was thinking if we were gone for too long, wouldn't there be a search party for us?"
Nezu hummed, "You are correct, Midoriya," He raised his paw, "I wanted to ask Mr. Sleppt about this, but there was never really an opportunity to ask!"
Aizawa's expression turned sour, "You mean to tell me… you knew about this and didn't bother to tell us?!" The older man was tempted to make rat stew.
"Why, of course!" Nezu said, unbothered by Aizawa's menacing aura, and turned his attention to Izuku. "Midoriya, can you call Mr. Sleppt once again?"
"S-sure Principal Nezu." Stuttered Izuku and pulled out the bell from his pockets.
RING!
Out of nowhere, the man came flying out from the ground, "I have been rung, so all you have to do is ask, and you shall receive!" As the man floated back to the ground, he looked over at the entire group. "Oh, I expected you to be all split up by now," he then shrugged it off. "But don't worry, we have plenty of time. Though I heard the bell rung, so I'm assuming you all have a question for me or something that needs to be fulfilled," the man finished with a pristine smile.
"Why yes!" Nezu said, "There were some concerns that were brought up that need to be cleared up!"
"And they are?"
"Isn't it obvious? With how long we'll be cooped up here, wouldn't anyone notice we were missing?" Nezu raised his paw.
Sleppt was quick to answer, "Why yes, that would be obvious...if that's how the flow of time worked here." He said nonchalantly.
There is a record scratch.
Then…
"What?" Aizawa said flatly, with his expression matching his tone.
Sleppt either pretended not to notice, or he was just used to it at this point cause he continued right after, "You see, we aren't even connected to your world. As of now, time here doesn't even pass the same, you could be here for hundreds of years, and technically you would just be dropped back to a few seconds after you were picked up" he then gained a very concerned look as he looked at them, "But you won't be kept here for nowhere near that long, and you won't age here."
Tenya looked as though he was steaming at the absurd exclamation.
Izuku had to ask, mostly to himself, "How can anyone have a quirk like this?
Sleppt's sharp ears picked up Izuku's question anyway, and he answered, "Quirks?....we don't have quirks," the man said, shrugging his hand. "In fact, quirks don't exist on the earth I'm from."
The silence was utterly unnerving.
"3…2…1." Sleppt silently counted the seconds when suddenly…
"WHAT?!"
"What do you mean you don't have quirks?!" Yelled Mina,
"Yeah, man! And did you say you were from another Earth?!" Ejirou yelped.
"That's absurd!" Tenya said, chopping his hands.
Izuku was gaping, "...But then again…." He slumped in defeat. "Quirks were considered nonsense that belongs in comic books back then. Anything is possible now."
Slept rubbed the back of his head. "It's the truth, though where I'm from, humans have no quirks. We just… Are granted abilities like this on…..special circumstances." He shrugged. "That, and I think your world is a century or two ahead of mine….not sure, though; it's never properly explained."
While everyone processed this, Nezu rubbed his hands with a feeling of curiosity. However, he is a patient creature and will wait for a more… private time.
"Is that all?" Asked Sleppt.
There were no more questions, but everyone looked at each other with unsure and confused expressions.
Sleppt, while seeing this, knew all he could do right now was help them along the way. "All right then, while this was fun and I'm happy to help, the others are waiting, and a few of them tend to be impatient. So without further ado, let me show you all the way and directions you each need to go."
Without warning, Sleppt began to multiply and created six other versions of himself, all then with hats labeled one through six. "Please, if you will, follow the Sleppt with the number corresponding to your group numbers. They will point you to your room and then disappear. Please have a great day at the Eight Dimension Theater."
While the groups wondered how the man could not consider these powers' quirks, they continued before one final huddle.
Aizawa looked toward his class. "Students, I'm only going to say this once, stay alert but do not engage the people in this theater, stay on the defensive."
Nezu then popped up, "And don't forget this is just like reconnaissance training; gather any important information you can find and bring it back to us. This will be the next hurdle in your training as heroes!"
All Might's turn was, "And don't forget to Go Beyond."
With one go, the whole class perked up.
"PLUS ULTRA!!"
And with that, they were off.