The Many Lives of One For All - An MHA Short Story

Chapter 5: The Fuster-Cluck

Izuku quickly got back up on his feet as the figure began to walk his way.

"Who are you?" Star questioned.

The man jerked his head at her and frowned. "That's impossible..." He said to himself as he turned back to Izuku, then to Uraraka and Iida. "You're all younger... What is this?"

"What are you talking about?" Iida asked.

"We said 'who are you'?" Popper repeated.

He began to walk closer.

Izuku pumped up One For All again and readied his fists. It only made him snicker. "I don't believe this. This must be a dream."

"New Order: If you do not tell us who you are-"

"Oh shut up, Stars n Stripes!" He shouted. "Don't you know who I am?!"

Star glared at him. "I've never seen you before in my life."

The white-haired man sighed. "Dream or not, this is getting annoying. I am Tomura Shigaraki."

"What are you doing here?" Star followed up.

"Do I look like I know?" Shigaraki shrugged with his bared arms out. "One minute I was in my cell, and then I blinked and I was here."

"Your cell, huh." Star's brow furrowed. "So, doc." She turned to Doctor Souter. "Teleporting old friends out of prison?"

"What? Preposterous! I was attempting to bring back my wife and child!" The doctor shouted.

Everyone looked at him in confusion. "M-My machines here were meant to tap into other worlds. Other timelines of reality. All I wanted was to bring here the family I never had. And you ruined it with this freak!"

Shigaraki snickered. He looked around, eyeing each of the hostages. "Another world..."

Down one of the tunnels, someone laughed loudly. Izuku, along with the others, watched as a pink-haired man climbed through the tunnel's entryway. He was covered head-to-toe in all sorts of tech that seemed to fuse with his skin and clothes that looked like a janitor's outfit. Large robotic tentacles sprouted from his back and opened up into sharp triangular claws.

"Look at this... Here I am, atop one of the tallest buildings on the planet, about to destroy my enemy and conquer the whole earth, when suddenly I wind up in the sewers. And yet..." He stared at Izuku. "Here you are."

Star grabbed Izuku's arm and pulled him back. She signaled for each of them to get behind her.

"Izuku Midoriya." The pink-haired man addressed him, with a wicked smile.

"You know him?" Shigaraki asked.

"Yeah. Although I don't remember him looking so short. Or that hero suit. Reminds me of the days before the Hero Accords." He explained.

"What is happening, doctor?" Star asked the older man with them.

"Well... your intern stepped in the path of the machine and it triggered some multiversal convergence. People from different universes that seem to know him are here."

"You mean there could be more?" Iida asked.

The doctor nodded. "I'm not sure how many. The multiverse is infinite... Infinite possibilities for infinite outcomes."

Everyone there had what felt like rocks dropping in their stomachs.

"Not so fast!" Another voice boomed out as a third stranger climbed into the chamber. This one was a large, extremely muscular man with short, spiked blonde hair, a devious grin, and one bionic eye. "That brat is mine!"

"Brat?" A fourth person asked. Stepping out of the shadows was Izuku Midoriya. Or a boy who looked exactly like him, more or less. The side of his head was shaved. He was covered in tattoos and piercings, wore a white shirt with a black vest, and a confident look in his emerald eyes. "You can do better than that... whoever you are."

Shigaraki looked at each of the sinister characters in the room before turning his attention back to the heroes. "Looks like this is about to get messy."

"We still need to get these hostages out of here!" Popper informed her.

"We can do it! Right, Deku?" Iida asked.

Izuku was too busy staring at the edgy version of him standing across the room.

"Where am I?! Korugiri! Warp me back!"

Shigaraki turned his attention to one more voice. From the tunnel behind the heroes, a man in his twenties with light blue hair, and disembodied hands covering his body emerged. "What the..."

As the scene was beginning to escalate further into chaos, someone literally jumped from out of the hand-faced guy and and grabbed Star's shoulder. "We need to leave, now!" He shouted to her.

The heroes, all still completely unsure of how to respond to all this information at once, simply trusted him enough to grab each other and run, including the doctor.

"B-But what about the boy?! The hostages! We can't leave them!" Izuku protested.

"We won't!" The man said. He ran ahead of the group, leading them through the long tunnel to the exit and daylight.

There, Izuku and the others were able to get a good look at their rescuer. An older man about Star's age, and physique. In fact, much of him reminded them of All Might. He had blonde hair stuck up in a cowlick, complete with a mullet in the back, white, red, and blue colors on his tattered hero suit, with yellow trim (although the colors looked faded). He had a thick beard that matched his hair and small blue eyes that look like they had seen much.

"Who are you?!" Izuku asked.

The man jerked his gaze from the tunnel over to Izuku. "Wha..." His mouth hung open.

"You look familiar..." Iida pointed out.

"I can say the same about your friend here." The man gestured to Izuku.

"You know him?" Uraraka asked.

"Know him...? He's one of the craziest villains I've ever faced... At least, where I come from."

"He must be talking about that weird edgy version of Deku back in the sewer." Popper thought out loud.

"Weird and edgy? Yeah, that's him. And more. We need to get outta here." The older hero suggested.

Star stepped closer to him. "Ingenium." She addressed without taking her eyes off their rescuer. "Who does this guy look like to you?"

Iida stepped up. "Well, he resembles one of the Big Three at UA. A third year student named Mirio Togata."

The hero winced at the mention of his name. Then he nodded. "Yeah. That was me once."

"So that machine sent us a future Mirio, and some anti-Deku?" Star questioned.

"This is your mess now. Not mine." Doctor Souter spoke out.

"Oh yes it is just as much yours." Popper grabbed him by his collar.

Izuku approached the weathered older Mirio. "What is your Quirk? I saw you leap through that villain back there."

The blonde-haired man sighed. "Permeation. I can pass through solid matter like it's not there."

"But I noticed the speed you used to grab us. Is that also from your Quirk?" Izuku asked.

Mirio narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, kid?"

Izuku held out his arm before letting One For All course through his body, flashing bolts of green lightning.

The hero's eyes widened. He then held out his arm, and did the same. Yellow lightning snapped around him.