Izuku woke feeling a sense of nakedness. He still had his clothes, but it felt as if something was missing. Eyes still closed, he tried calling upon One For All, only to find emptiness. His eyes shot open in a panic, straining against whatever bonds were holding him.

Nana!? He shouted mentally. Yoichi!? Daigoro!? Anyone!? Nothing. Not a whisper of them anywhere in his head nor their quirks.

After a few more seconds of hyperventilating, Izuku forced himself to try and reign in his panic. He succeeded enough to finally take in his surroundings. He sat in a metal chair and appeared to be in a room of the same material, rope tied around his middle and his hands clasped to the metal table in handcuffs. One other chair sat on the opposite side of the table and a single light source was embedded in the ceiling. It was the most classic of interrogation rooms he'd ever seen, not that he'd seen many.

When did UA ever have something like this? He wondered, before wondering why he even thought of that. He leaned forward, feeling a headache coming on. Groaning, he shut his eyes, trying to fight through the fog in his head. After a few moments it came back to him. His sudden arrival in the alley, rescuing Jiro, Honenuki, and Pixie-Bob, the memorials along the road leading up to-

"UA," he breathed, reopening his eyes as he stared down at his hands. His gloves were missing, revealing his heavily scarred hands. Upon further inspection, he realized all his gear was missing, Gran's cape included, leaving him with just the fabric of his torn and frayed hero costume. It made sense, but he couldn't help but feel vulnerable, especially without One For All.

Raising his gaze, he turned his head to inspect the walls. Smooth metallic silver with no signs of electronics. But that was with what he could only see on the inside. There was no telling what was working on the inside of the metal, or even outside of it. If he had to guess, the room likely had a quirk dampening field, akin to those found in most prison cells around the world.

He slowly became aware of dull pain around his body. He shifted experimentally, hissing when the pain doubled. It didn't feel like anything was broken; a rib or two being broken was what worried him the most, but he didn't feel anything like that. He mostly felt sore and bruised. And tired.

When was the last time I actually sat down like this? Izuku wondered dully. I've been constantly on the move, hunting down All For One, engaging his assassins, all with minimal rest and food. He shook his head. He couldn't afford to think like that. He was the only one capable of stopping that monster. It was up to him. He needed to get back to his mission, but he had no idea how. If his working theory was correct, then he was ahead in a future where he apparently died and All For One won.

Maybe... maybe staying and gathering information is the best option then, Izuku leaned his head back down on the table, letting the cool surface ease the headache if only barely. I'll need to find a way back to my own time, but if it doesn't need to happen right away, then I can use this as an opportunity to figure out where it all went wrong, and how to change things going forward when I get back. Maybe there was a plan that failed, and if I can figure out how to make said plan succeed in my time, then maybe so many people don't have to die. I can't... Izuku held back a sob. Focus, Izuku! Plan. You need to plan. Convince them of who you are and find out where All For One was hiding in your time. Maybe bring the fight to him, get the jump on him. No matter how bad of a future this is, if I can change it, I will. I have to-

"Looks like you have his mumbling habit down to a key."

Izuku's head snapped up and he bit back a groan as a bolt of pain shot through his skull at the sudden movement. He squinted at the harsh light seeping through the doorway and stared at the figure outlined by the glow. It was one of the girls from Class 1B, her dark green hair cascading down just past her shoulders. Setsuna Tokage. Izuku's only notable memory of her was from the joint training 1A had with 1B, and her spectacular loss to Bakugou and his team. While he had gotten to appreciate just how far Kacchan had come during that fight, he'd also noted how great of a leader Tokage was, coming up with a well-built and intricate strategy in a short amount of time. In fact, her only fault was not being able to adapt better to the situation when things-

"Ahem," Tokage interrupted his private thoughts. Well, he had thought they were private. "Thanks for the reminder of that day. What, did All For One pluck those memories of One For All from Izuku's head and plant them inside of you?"" she commented dryly as she stepped further inside, allowing Izuku a better look at her hero costume. It was similar to the one he'd seen before, but it had clearly been upgraded at least several times since then. The color remained a dark purple hue, but instead of being entirely skin tight, more layers had been added in the form of body armor made from the same scales as her suit. The scale armor added extra protection to her chest, upper arms, and her legs, all without appearing too bulky. Her belt was outfitted with various pouches and her three-piece wrist guards were more spiral in shape, small protrusions along them which indicated that maybe they acted as some sort of projectile shooter. The one thing missing was her mask, leaving the full force of her hard stare on full display.

"No, wha-" Izuku shook his head at what she'd been insinuating, about to protest more, only to stop as two more people entered the room. Jiro and Todoroki. Jiro's costume seemed to have barely changed, if not more frayed and worn, with the addition of a few thin speakers here and there. Todoroki on the other hand wore a familiar costume with one big noticeable difference. A difference that made Izuku go very still.

He definitely hadn't been wearing this when he'd attacked him, because if he had, Izuku might have lost in a split second the moment he laid eyes on his current outfit. The faded dark blue combat vest was familiar, but sported a more militaristic vest-like appearance that looked like it was padded with metal plating, while his utility belt was a silver gray. Over it all he wore an eerily familiar dark blue trench coat that stopped just before his elbows, his lower arms clasped in armored wrist guards.

Izuku only realized he'd backed up as far as he could while tied to the chair when he noticed Todoroki giving him a weird look.

"Sorry," Izuku mumbled, forcing himself to relax. There was still a lot he didn't know and he couldn't make any assumptions without the facts.

Jiro snorted and took the only other seat available across from him. "You look, sound, and act like Izuku. Bakugou seems to think you're actually him, which is why you're being given this chance."

"But you don't think I am," Izuku stated, hearing her unspoken words.

Jiro's fists tightened. "We all saw Izuku die. And because of All For Fucking One, we didn't even get a body to bury. He was obliterated completely. So excuse me if we're being just a little cautious here!"

"You're right," Izuku said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Jiro glared at him for a few more seconds before sighing in frustration. "Let's just get this settled quickly." Her earphone jacks whipped up and shot towards Izuku. He jerked when one jabbed at his wrist and the other over his heart.

"Is your name Izuku Midoriya?" Jiro asked steely

"Huh, I- y-yes," Izuku stuttered, slightly caught off guard by her question. Jiro's eyes narrowed slightly and Izuku could feel his heartbeat beating in his... chest. Oh.

Izuku took a shuddering breath. "I am Izuku Midoriya."

Jiro stiffened slightly, her eyes widening slightly before hardening. "What is the name of the person who mentored you?"

"All-" Izuku paused. "No, Toshinori Yagi. And several others. Gran. Nighteye. But..." He trailed off. Gran was still in the hospital, recovering from battle, while Nighteye was...

Jiro's expression was tight, fingers gripping the edge of the table. "What is the name of your signature move?"

"Uh... smash?" Izuku offered, shrugging, the chain on the handcuffs clanking together with the movement.

Jiro opened her mouth, but Tokage spoke first. "Not that. What specific attack do you use to end a fight? Your ultimate move."

Izuku pursed his lips, fighting through the headache to think. He never really thought about that before. He did use Detroit Smash a lot, but that wouldn't be it. Delaware Smash wasn't a finisher, so maybe Texas Smash... Or perhaps one of the newer moves he'd begun using, like Manchester Smash. But, if this was the future, then...

"I don't know."

Jiro blinked at him in shock, which quickly turned to anger. "You don't know!?"

"I..." Izuku shook his head. "If this is the future, then there's every chance that future me had an ultimate attack, but where I'm at right now, I'm not locked down onto any one attack specifically."

"That's not-"

"Move on, Jiro," Tokage said, her gaze unreadable. "Unless he's lying."

"But-!" Jiro turned to look at her for a few seconds, then to Todoroki, who merely glared in Izuku's direction. Sighing in defeat, Jiro turned back to Izuku. "Okay, fine. Moving on. Tell us how you ended up here. Out of your time as you say."

Izuku took another deep breath. This was it. This was where they would either believe him or... they wouldn't. If he had to guess, Jiro was using her quirk to listen to the beats and rhythms of his heart, getting a sense if he was telling the truth or not. Now that she was familiar with it, they were going to press him for more details to figure out if he was lying or not. He could only hope they believed him.

...

Two days ago...

Delaware Smash! Izuku primed his fingers, blasting off several bursts of wind that ripped through the tree limbs as he flew backwards. He aimed another blast below him, shooting himself up past the treetops and into the full force of the torrential downpour. His eyes moved wildly, trying to find the assassin. Danger Sense was on a constant flare, but suddenly it spiked and his gaze shot towards the sky as the black cloaked villain appeared through a ripple in the air. Dark hair fluttered behind her as she fell, her cloak opening to reveal a glittering mass of light that shot down in a multitude of energy beams.

Just barely dodging the incoming attacks, Izuku propelled himself past the villain, Blackwhip shooting out of his hand and wrapping around her waist. He jerked her up as he shot his fist down towards her. It disappeared through another ripple and his momentum carried him through, the warp gate closing behind him and cutting off Blackwhip. He canceled his fall only to be blasted in the back by a powerful beam of energy that sent him crashing back down into the forest.

She's toying with me, Izuku realized as he hauled himself out of the crater, clawed gloves digging into the dirt. I don't have time for this! I need to take her down quickly and find out what she knows!

He flipped himself into the air as twin beams of light shot just beneath him, tearing up and scorching the ground. Strands of Blackwhip shot out to nearby trees and he pulled himself along, racing through the dark forest. He could feel her presence following him before more beams of energy shot down around him. He weaved from tree to tree, narrowly avoiding each attack.

C'mon, just keep following me, Izuku urged silently, bending his legs against the tree he just collided against and pushing off. He felt the stored energy in his legs reaching their max, the quirk itching to be let loose. Not yet.

Suddenly the assassin appeared right in front of him, both hands extended out. An invisible force slammed against him, catching him in the middle of his jump and forcefully repelling him. Before he could stop it, the repelling force stopped only for him to suddenly be yanked forwards towards his opponent. A brilliant blinding light engulfed the villain's fist as she threw a punch his way, the beam of energy shattering a tree as it blasted in his direction.

50%!

"FLORIDA SMASH!" He yelled, slamming his palms together in front of him with a resounding boom that sent the trees around him flying and dissipating the energy beam. He shot forward, just able to make out the villain clutching their head from the sudden sound wave that had been produced from his attack.

Shoot Style: Chicago Smash!

He swung his leg around, pulling the air with him and sending it bursting forwards. It collided with the villain and sent her, and several trees, flying backwards. Blackwhip wrapped around her middle and he yanked her back towards him. This time he spun out of the way as she came towards him and pulled her up, avoiding the warp gate that opened up in front of him. Then another expelling force ripped apart Blackwhip and sent Izuku crashing into a tree. Groaning, he quickly moved as the ground tore up beneath his feet and he quickly found that he was floating weightlessly without having activated Float.

Gravity manipulation!? Izuku propelled himself forward with twin bursts of energy. Just how many quirks did he give one assassin!?

He broke through the forest canopy to see a city in the distance. Closer than that was a power grid station. Crap, need to avoid-

He blinked, suddenly he was inside the facility, tumbling along the ground. Dammit! He cursed mentally. She led me here on purpose.

"All For One wants your head," the assassin's voice came from above. She floated above the power grid, her hands lit up like twin stars, illuminating her pale gray skin. Even from this distance, Izuku could see her eyes glittering with light and her wavy hair flowing weightlessly in the wind as the moon hung behind her overhead. "I didn't know his reason for hunting down a mere schoolboy, but now I see why."

"Why are you working for him!?" Izuku yelled, eyes darting around. He couldn't let the fight happen here. He needed to move the fight elsewhere and quickly. "I get that you're a villain, but working for him is-"

"A veritable death sentence," she finished for him. "But one cannot simply deny the boogeyman, and I have no wish to die. Or worse, have my quirk stolen from me. The stars have aligned and they speak of your fate. Resistance is only futile."

"Stars," Izuku echoed, his racing mind picking up on that one word and unconsciously cross-referencing it with all the Rank A villains he'd been told to watch out for. It clicked and Izuku grimaced. He was blind. She didn't have multiple quirks, just one. And that's what made her so dangerous. "Starfall," He spoke.

The villain paused. "Yes, that is who I am. Don't tell me you only just now realized. Honestly, I know I've been locked up for close to five years now, but come on. I expected to be a little more well known, especially since it was Endeavor who brought me down. Granted it wasn't All Might, but we can't have all been beaten by the only true number one." The glow emanating from her hands grew in intensity. "Oh well, thanks for giving me the time I needed."

Izuku cursed and dashed away as more powerful beams of energy collided with the ground where he'd just been standing, ripping up the concrete. He fired Blackwhip towards a powerline far above him, only for the strand to disappear. He cut it off and pushed himself backwards as Starfall slammed down on the ground in front of him, her gravity shattering the ground around her.

Izuku remembered Starfall's villain profile. Her quirk was an emitter type, called Celestial Absorber . It stockpiled celestial energy and could be produced in various forms. Most notably her high intensity beams of starlight and her wormholes she could use to move as far as a kilometer. But with enough energy to spare she has also been noted to use gravity manipulating attacks such as repulsion and object attraction. All that meant right now was that she was at her most powerful, with it being night and her quirk's absorption rate of celestial energy being at its highest. If it was any other situation Izuku would be admiring such a well-rounded and useful quirk, but in midst of battle he couldn't even do so much as lament that it belonged to a villain while he was trying to find a way to combat her.

He dodged another wormhole as he rounded a corner. He bunched his legs, activating Fa Jin. He rocketed forward and pushed off the ground, turning as he went to flick his fingers at the incoming blasts of light. The high pressure winds tore through them, but then suddenly a blur of motion shot towards him. He felt his gravity lurch as Starfall neared him and suddenly his vision spun as he felt himself get slammed into the ground below. He rolled away, Blackwhip pulling him forward as Starfall hit the ground again, a beam of light tearing through the strand of Blackwhip and another scorching his back.

He felt himself getting pulled backwards and instead of fighting it, he moved with it. He spun his body, winds generating around him in a vortex as he shouted, "Oklahoma Smash!" Even as his gravitational attraction was changed quickly to repulsion, the energy let off from his leg was enough to knock Starfall off her feet.

Flipping to land on his feet, Izuku activated Fa Jin again, zooming towards her. One blow to the head to knock her out was all he needed to quickly end the fight. But she fell backwards into a wormhole and he moved to cancel his attack as he slammed into a generator, denting the metal. He groaned, stunned momentarily.

"Let's end it here," Starfall spoke as he neared him. She grabbed him by his cowl, tugging him towards a wormhole. "It's time for you to meet the devil."

Izuku forced himself to move, only to stop as the generator he'd crashed into began sparking and a dangerous humming could be heard. He pushed off the ground, making Starfall yelp as he looped Blackwhip around her and made to get away as quickly as possible, but an explosion shot them forwards. Both of them tumbled across the ground as more explosions followed.

As Izuku went to move, a hand closed down on his leg. "You're not getting away!" Starfall growled, her pitch black eyes glowing intensely with specks of light. Just as Izuku felt the sensation of falling into one of her wormholes, a snapped power line hit the ground near them, the electricity sparking dangerously against the damp ground and his vision was suddenly filled with blue light.

...

"Then I was here," Izuku finished his story. "My guess is that the electricity mixed with the properties of Starfall's wormhole and led us to traveling through time and not just space. I wouldn't be able to explain it, but it's a sound theory based on the fact that it's two years later than it's supposed to be."

"Oh my god," Jiro unhooked her earphone jacks from him, face pale. "You're telling the truth."

Todoroki shifted his gaze from Izuku to Jiro, eyes widening in shock, then back to Izuku. Tokage's expression remained unreadable as it had during his story, her foot ceasing the tapping it'd been doing during the story's duration.

"So you really... time traveled," Todoroki said slowly. "And you are Izuku?"

"I am," Izuku could only feel relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Holy shit," Jiro murmured, looking dazed. "That's-"

"Izu-Midoriya," Tokage stepped forward. "You said this villain's name was Starfall."

"Y-yes," Izuku nodded hurriedly, wondering if it had been his imagination that she had been about to call him Izuku. How close had he gotten with his fellow students at UA in these two years?

"We've never encountered a villain by that name before," she shook her head. "Nor has our Izuku ever mentioned one." She paused. "I need you to confirm a few things for me."

Izuku nodded. "Sure."

Tokage nodded to Jiro and the punk girl moved to let the other sit. Folding her hands, Tokage met his gaze and he was surprised by the hardness there. From what he'd known of Tokage back in his time she was a flirtatious joker, but right now all Izuku could see was a battle hardened woman who looked like she'd seen too much.

"When did you receive One For All?" She asked.

"When-right before the entrance exam for UA," he answered. "Shattered my arm and legs using it for the first time against a Zero Pointer."

Nodding, Tokage asked, "You were placed in 1A I take it?"

"Yes?" Izuku was confused by this line of questioning. "Why-"

"When did the League of Villains first attack UA?" She interrupted him.

"The-the first week of school," Izuku stammered. "Me and the rest of 1A were caught up in it."

Izuku noticed alarmed looks from both Jiro and Todoroki, but Tokage's gaze remained unchanged. "Who won the Sports Festival?"

"Kacchan," Izuku said confidently, and this time he heard Todoroki suck in a sharp gasp.

Tokage's eyes narrowed. "Who was kidnapped from the summer camp?"

"Kacchan," Izuku answered again, starting to feel a sense of foreboding, though he didn't know exactly why.

"What was the aftermath of Kamino Ward?"

"Death, lots of it," Izuku said, remembering what that scene of carnage had looked like. "But we'd rescued Kacchan safely and All Might was able to subdue All For One. He gave up the last remains of his power to do so..." He blinked away tears before being shocked by the twin expressions of shock from Jiro and Todoroki. Tokage herself leaned back, her gaze troubled.

"W-what's wrong?" Izuku dared ask.

"When the League attacked the USJ," Tokage said slowly. "It was both of our classes that struggled against the villains. It was you, I mean, our Midoriya who won the sports festival. And All Might... he died taking down All For One during the events of Kamino Ward."

"What are you-" Izuku started, unable to make sense of what she was saying.

"I'm saying you didn't time travel," Tokage ran a hand through her hair. "You... you traveled across dimensions."

Izuku stared at her. He opened his mouth to question her further, then stopped. It wasn't possible. Was it? Time travel was seemingly impossible, but that had been the prevailing theory up until now. So was this being an alternate dimension any more ludicrous?

"It would explain the discrepancies," Todoroki mused. "And why you seem different from our Izuku."

"And why we haven't encountered a villain named Starfall," Tokage added.

Izuku continued to stare blankly, trying to process all this. His headache was a dull thrum in the back of his skull now, barely noticeable in wake of his mental processing. Finally, he asked in a small voice, "How can I get back home?"

Jiro and Todoroki exchanged glances while Tokage sighed deeply. "I don't know. And frankly, we don't have the time or the resources to help you do that." She stood, pushing the chair back in the process, the metal grating against the floor like knives in Izuku's skull. "Not right now at least." She briefly looked at him, and during that split second, he thought he saw longing in her eyes before she turned, opened the door, and left.

Todoroki cleared his throat. "Jiro, you should unlock his cuffs."

Jiro started, having been staring at the door since Tokage left. "Right, sorry." She fumbled in her pockets for a few seconds before producing a key. She unlocked the cuffs and Izuku rubbed his tender wrists.

"Sorry, about, well, everything," Jiro said, bowing her head. "We jumped the gun."

"It-it's alright, Jiro" Izuku said automatically, trying to give his best smile even though it felt forced.

Jiro's mouth twitched. "I told you to call me Kyouka." She hesitated, then left the room.

Izuku made to stand, but had to clutch the table as he became suddenly dizzy.

"You haven't eaten for a while, have you?" Todoroki asked. Izuku realized he was helping him stand.

"No?" Izuku blinked wearily. His stomach felt so empty. How had he not noticed that until now? "I... I don't know."

Todoroki pursed his lips. "How long have you been pushing yourself for?"

"I'm fine," Izuku insisted, forcing himself to stand straighter.

Pity flashed in Todoroki's eyes, but he let Izuku stand on his own. "Let's get you some food. You can ask questions on the way. I'm sure you have plenty. I... have some for you as well."

Izuku glanced briefly at Todoroki's coat. The sight of it on him was nauseating. "Y-yeah. Sounds good."

As Todoroki opened the door, Izuku took a deep breath, pushing down his weariness and hunger. In order to find a way home he needed answers, and he had a feeling it was going to be a lot to take in. Setting his shoulders, he followed Todoroki out of the room and into daylight.

For those who are also reading What Makes a Hero, yes, Starfall should feel familiar. She's an OC that also appears in that book. This and that book are not related at all, so Starfall is just a recycled OC that I couldn't help but reuse.

The chapters should start getting longer from here on out, but also more scarce as WMAH is my main story. Then again, who knows what I might do, so an update could come out sooner than even I expect. Whenever it does, hopefully you all enjoy it still. Toodles~