A Tarnished Hero

Chapter 30: Return From Whence Thy Came

Izuku stomped through the hallways, the empty corridors echoing his footsteps. Despite the event being held in the giant stadium a short walk away from the main building, Nezu stayed in his office for the majority of the event. Unless his presence was required, one only needed to look for him in his office to have a chance of meeting him.

That is, if one could even set foot in this building that was completely off-limits to non-students or non-staff, much more so during this time where anybody and everybody could enter the campus because of the Sports Festival.

From what he's heard, they didn't want a repeat of the last time they were infiltrated, with the press of all people being the distraction. It's why they were a bit spooked when both Blaidd and Patches suddenly popped in because of teleportation, the same method used to attack the students during the USJ.

Now that he thought of it, what would the teleportation used by the villains feel like as opposed to the one that brought him back? He could remember it as clear as day. The vertigo that swept across him as he sailed through the unending expanse of the void. The feeling of clear nothingness as darkness crept all around him.

Would the villain's teleportation be something different than that? Would it at least feel like going through a kaleidoscopic version of it? Izuku would rather take a bunch of colors assaulting his senses than pure darkness... Maybe not, that was just too annoying.

Sighing, Izuku's feet stopped, and he laid his hand on the door leading to Nezu's office. Knocking on it, he heard the rat's voice telling him to come in and he twisted open the door.

"Ah, Midoriya. Quite a surprise to see you here this early." Nezu smiled as he gestured for the couch. "I assumed you would have spent the entire day enjoying the festivities rather than come meet boring me. So, tell me..." Nezu's smile faded. "What is the concern?"

"You know the thing that brought me, Patches, and Blaidd here?" Nezu slowly nodded. "I think it's coming back to get us again."

At that, Nezu grew alarmed. If a normal person were to see the rat now, they would probably think that he wasn't fazed, but Izuku knew better. He could see the rat's fur stand up on edge ever so slightly, his eyes never leaving Izuku as he took a deep breath. Closing them, Nezu let out a deep sigh as he placed his paw on his forehead.

"I assume that with this revelation, you and your entourage would be missing from our campus for the foreseeable future?" Izuku nodded at Nezu's question, the rat sighing deeply once more. "Fortunately, I've already had plans in case that whatever brought you here would likely bring you back. You've already told me about some parts of this land you've been traversing, and I can already tell that you have no plausible way back unless the being that brought you here does the same again, and I doubt that our efforts would help even a smidge in reclaiming you."

"That's pretty much it." Izuku rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish smile floating up his face for but a moment before it was replaced by a determined look. "I also have some... unfinished business in the Lands Between, and I'd wager it'd take quite a while before I finish them all."

"... A shame." Nezu sighed and looked at his laptop. "Despite your methods with teaching the students, there is no doubt that they had tremendous growth during their time under you."

Turning it around, Nezu showed what was being streamed on his screen. Students of all classes, duking it out in a giant urban city, with a ring of light slowly surrounding them. This was one of Izuku's suggested events, a battle royale.

Nights of surfing the web and he came upon this lost relic of an event, but instead of a small arena, it was an entire city. And how do you restrict players? By simply adding a condition that if you cross the ring and do not manage to get back after five seconds, then you're out.