A/N: Huh? What's this? An ACTUAL UPDATE?! YES YES IT IS!!

You guys have asked for a Christmas Miracle, so Here you are!! You have my good friend Kastaborous to thank for this update (thank you Kast for your motivation!!). This chapter is dedicated to Kastaborous!!

I know my updates take forever (it's been literally a year), but I want to take the time to thank you all for your patience. I know my muse is fickle, and my attention span is shorter than Viridian's sense of self preservation, but I promise that when I post a story—unless expressly stated—I will finish it.

That aside, I want to also apologize for any differences in the writing tone of this chapter. I wrote this in three days as a Christmas Gift for Kast (and, of course, all of you!!), and I haven't touched this story for nearly a year. So a quick reread and a prayer was all I had going for me here. Haha... Hopefully it's still just as fun to read as the rest of the story has been!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you keep yourselves warm and cozy this winter, and please enjoy some fudge for me! All fanart can be sent to [email protected] or you can reach out to me through my Discord!

Also, a fic recommendation. My friend Kast (who is pretty much the reason we've got a chapter of Viridian today), has written a bnha/FMA crossover based on one of my prompts! I helped brainstorm parts of it, and I adore this story so much!! Please check it out!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43801903

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Aizawa Shouta heaved a massive sigh as he sat down in the meeting room at UA. Not all the teachers were present, but the core of the staff was. Nezu had sprung him, Hawks and Viridian from the hospital in Hosu upon the time traveler's insistence, and the kid had locked himself in his private lab (courtesy of Powerloader) for three days straight thereafter. Only Recovery Girl had been able to see him.

Viridian had called this meeting, not Nezu. If he was being honest, he wasn't sure what he was expecting from this gathering, but he knew it wasn't going to be nice. He had no illusions that it'd also address the thing that haunted Shouta's nightmares—the White Nomu.

The creature that Viridian had barely managed to bring down in Hosu. He'd heard his friend talk about the different kinds of Nomu before—he'd seen the scars, both mental and physical. But nothing could've prepared him for the utter terror that the monster had inflicted upon him.

He'd never seen a living creature move so fast. He'd never felt so helpless before. Staring at the gaping maw of the salivating nightmare swathed in pale white scales had him feeling hot and cold from head to toe. It was a primal terror. His every instinct had warned him that this is an apex predator. He'd known without a doubt that he was nothing more than prey before it.

And yet... Viridian had managed to bring it down. That fight had been a far cry from his usual graceful motions. It was a raw struggle of predator against prey. There was nothing refined about gnashing teeth and whipping tails and the flurry of blades and kicks.

But they'd survived. Thanks to Viridian and his prior experience, they lived.

His thoughts were pulled back to the present when he saw Vlad and Maijima walk in, both looking concerned and somewhat confused. The news of the White Nomu had been kept as quiet as possible. Only Nezu and those who had fought against it were aware of it. But Aizawa was still wrapped in bandages (though thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as the USJ's injuries had been).

Perhaps that was why everyone did a double take when Viridian walked in—out of uniform, and also sporting a fair number of bandages. His eyes roamed the room, carrying a sharpness that hadn't been there before.

"Masa, Kenji, thanks for coming." He greeted the Detective and Police Chief.

"Well, you did ask for us." Tsuragamae nodded. "Though I'll admit that I wish you'd had Tsukauchi inform me of the situation a bit sooner."

Ah, so he'd finally been let in on the time travel business. "I wanted to make sure the paperwork was in place first." Viridian shook his head. "Better safe than sorry."

"Just be honest, you forgot." Tsukauchi shot him a look, earning a light chuckle from the kid.

"I mean, I did have a lot on my mind." He shrugged.

"Are you okay, Izuku? I heard you got hurt pretty badly." Thirteen's brows furrowed in concern as they took their seat beside Ectoplasm. Nobody was in uniform today, it seemed. Even Hawks walked in with casual clothes, one wing held in an awkward brace.

"Didn't Recovery Girl treat that?" Shouta frowned.

"Yeah, but she could only heal so much at once." The winged hero shrugged with a small wince. "I have to keep it like this for another day or two before I'm cleared to fly again." He seemed rather put-out by that.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started, shall we?" Nezu popped up from nowhere and called the room to order. Shouta took note of who was there. Hizashi, himself, Nemuri, Thirteen, Ectoplasm, Powerloader, Snipe, All Might and Vlad King were there from the UA Staff. Tsuragamae and Tsukauchi were there from the police force, and Viridian and Hawks were the outliers. "Midoriya, you called this meeting."

"Yes." He set down a large stack of papers on the table. "For those of you who haven't heard, there's been a concerning development. Four days ago in Hosu, there was an attack. While we expected the Stain Incident and had prepared as best we could, something new happened as well—a White Nomu from the First Run appeared."

Gasps echoed softly in the silence of the meeting room. "I thought you said that the portal was destroyed." Tsukauchi's eyes narrowed.

"It was." The time traveler responded with a light scowl, hand going for the lemniscate scar on his inner wrist. "But apparently Shigaraki made a new one." He flipped through his notes. "This in mind, we should expect to see more First Run Nomu."

"More of that?" Snipe shuddered hard. Shouta completely understood his fear—he never wanted to see another one of those again.

"It's very possible." Viridian ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. "I'd like to propose some specialized training for all of you. I have experience fighting these things, and while I'm not as agile or fast as I was in the First Run, I can still give you all a better chance of surviving against these Nomu."

"So you're offering to train us to fight these Nomu?" Ectoplasm hummed.

"No. I'm offering to train you to survive." Viridian corrected him. "You don't train to fight a Nomu." He snorted like the very idea was ridiculous. After having seen one, Shouta had to agree. That wasn't a creature you fight. It was a creature you do your damndest to survive against and pray you live to see the next sunrise.

"I'm afraid I don't quite get the difference..." Nemuri frowned.

"You'll understand when you see one." Hawks stated darkly.

"You said he made another portal." Nezu's tail flicked sharply as he brought the conversation back around. "But you swore Project Hope's notes were here."

"They are." Viridian nodded, placing his hand on one of his stacks of paper—the handbound very old and rather stained stack that looked ready to fall apart at the slightest provocation. "But he apparently had a Quirk that either let him remember or understand something like that at a glance. He called the Project Hope portal 'flawed'."

"You... saw him?" All Might leaned forward with a deep frown. "Here?"

"No. In the First Run." His words sent a ripple of confusion through the room. "I..." Viridian let out a frustrated sound as he scratched at his scalp, wincing when the action pulled on his still injured left arm. "Ever since the train wreck before the Sports Festival, I've been 'jumping' back and forth between the timelines randomly. At first I thought it might've been a fluke. Some figment of my mind toying with me. Maybe an aftereffect of the time travel."

Shouta thought back to how the kid had acted in the wake of the incident. He'd been out of it, dazed like he wasn't sure what was real.

"So when it happened a second time, it was... disconcerting." He gave Snipe a significant look.

"When you woke up from that nap in my apartment." The masked hero realized.

"That's right. But since the mess at Hosu went down right after that, there wasn't any time to look into it. I started thinking of them like 'memory downloads' of sorts. Like every now and again I'd match up with my First Run self and share all the memories of what's been going on in each isolated timeline."

"Wait, so there's another you running around in the future? I thought you came back here?" Powerloader sat up straighter.

"So did I." Viridian shrugged. "But I've got a very distinct set of memories where I thought Project Hope failed. Of surviving after that. It seems like... it tore me into two parts—shoved part of me back here to the Second Run, and kept part of me in the First Run. Injuries and scars reflect once the downloads—or 'overlaps' as I call them now—occur." He pointed out a few scars that apparently hadn't been there initially (though Shouta would argue that the kid had far too many scars regardless, and he honestly couldn't tell which ones were and were not initially there).

"So that's how you know Shigaraki made another portal." Vlad gave a sharp nod. "But then doesn't that mean that he can come back here too?"

"It's something we shouldn't discount." Viridian scowled.

"Hold on a moment." Nezu shot him a serious look. "Why have you been overlapping?"

Viridian winced as he reached for the larger stack of notes next to Project Hope. "I've... been looking into that the last few days." So that's what he'd been doing. "And I've come to a startling conclusion." He passed the stack to the principal, who quickly flipped through them.

"The timeline is breaking apart." It was the first time Shouta had heard anything close to fear in the marsupial's voice. "The timeline is destabilizing."

"W-wait." Hizashi shot an alarmed look between the principal and the hero. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we're on a time crunch." Viridian's eyes darkened significantly. "My presence in this timeline is causing an anomaly that's destabilizing reality itself. The longer I stay here, the more it'll break apart—the blurrier the lines between the First Run and Second Run will become. After enough time, it'll be irreversible and... they'll merge."

"You mean that everything in the First Run—all the Nomu—will break out into our timeline?" Powerloader spoke in a strangled voice.

For a moment, Shouta imagined what that would be like. Hundreds of those White Nomu—and other ones just as horrifying—suddenly spilling out of cracks in reality and rampaging in the streets. It would be an utter disaster. A bloodbath the likes of which the world had never seen before. Perhaps even worse than the First Run itself.

"Killing Shigaraki is even more important now." Viridian spoke up once more. "We kill him, we can prevent that future and stop the timelines from merging. With no First Run to merge with, the danger will be gone. No more Nomu, and no more Shigaraki."

Shouta's gaze narrowed. There was something about that statement that bothered him, but he couldn't quite place what it was. Hawks seemed deeply bothered by that statement as well—a dark shadow of shock that bordered betrayal flickering across his features before it settled into something akin to irritation or anger. Shouta was about to speak up when someone else cut him off.

"How long do we have until this... destabilization reaches the point of no return?" Tsuragamae's voice had a low growl of anxiety to it.

"My best guess? Six months."

Six months. They had six months to prevent the end of the world. The silence in the room weighed upon him almost as heavily as the words themselves.

"So what now?" All Might gave a heavy sigh. "We've been looking for Shigaraki for months already, and you've been at it for... what, a year?"

"The Summer Training Camp." Viridian's words made Shouta flinch back in surprise.

"You can't be serious! We cannot hold a training camp for the students with Nomu running about!" Snipe sounded more frightened than angry. His uncharacteristic outburst surprised a few people in the room, but Shouta understood entirely. Having the students in an isolated location—even with heroes—was asking for the League to attack them. And if these new Nomu came to hunt, there would be nothing they could do to protect them.

"Listen to me." Shouta had never heard Viridian snap at anyone before. He was always laid back and calm, joking or contemplative. Sometimes he was thoughtful or exuberant, when he was excited about something. Perhaps a bit timid at times. But never had he seen him snap at someone. The sharpness of his tone silenced the room faster than anything Shouta had ever seen.

Viridian took a deep breath. "Shigaraki will attack the Summer Training Camp. They will kidnap a student. It has to be me. The League will bring me straight to Shigaraki, and I can take him out."

"That was the plan before the portals came into play." Tsukauchi shook his head firmly. "There's no guarantee he'll attack it now. What if he's already jumped back like you?"

Viridian rested his face in the palm of his hand for a moment. "If Shigaraki's already jumped back... then everything will have been for nothing. He's got hundreds of Quirks." He paused for a moment. "But he hasn't."

"And how can you be so sure?" The detective's voice was a little lighter—likely because he could hear the truth in Viridian's statement.

"Because I wasn't working alone in the First Run. I was with a small group of revolutionaries. Resistance. Whatever you want to call them. I know that Quip, Tamaki and Dabi won't let him through the portal—and neither will my other self. You forget, I'm there too. I'll do everything I can to keep him from jumping here."

Shouta felt something in him relax a bit at that. If Viridian himself was there to keep Shigaraki from jumping back, then it was entirely possible that they'd only have to deal with the younger one—a much easier target.

"So the most he can do is send some Nomu through the portal." Nezu's fur smoothed down a bit at that. "It's not ideal, but so long as no people come here, we should be able to count on the timelines remaining roughly the same."

"Then the camp is a go?" Thirteen spoke up softly. "Isn't it still too dangerous? These are kids."

"Which is why we'll take precautions." Viridian's voice was much more relaxed now. It set Shouta at ease. Hearing the vigilante-turned-hero so on edge had added a tension to the room that he hadn't even consciously noticed. "Higari, can you dig some bunkers under the Summer Camp grounds? Make sure there's multiple tunnels branching out into the area so if people are separated, they can still escape. Nomu can't tunnel underground, so even if they show up the students and staff will be safe."

"They can't tunnel?" Shouta found himself asking. For all the things that these nightmares seemed to be capable of, he never thought they'd be defeated by dirt.

"Nope. But in the First Run we didn't have a way to reliably dig or make bunkers." Viridian explained. "Not without making too much noise... besides, Nomu weren't the only things we had to worry about at first."

"Other survivors." Tsukauchi realized suddenly. "With limited resources..."

"Anyways, the tunnels will protect them from any Nomu attacks." The kid stopped the conversation before it could be derailed.

"Cementoss and I can get some sturdy bunkers ready with plenty of time for the camp." Powerloader nodded firmly.

"Good. Tsuragamae, are we still on for that Police Training Camp? If we coordinate with the hero class, we'll have a better chance of avoiding injuries when the villains attack."

The police chief gave a heavy sigh. "Only if you actually plan to train my men. I'll take our best officers."

"Of course." Viridian smirked. "You really think I'd hold a fake training camp? I'm wounded."

"Yes. You are. Which is why you need to rest." Hawks finally spoke up with a teasing tone, but Shouta was sure he caught something beneath that easy smile. Almost like a warning tone.

"All right then." Nezu clapped his paws. "So the plan is thus! We'll continue on as normal with Viridian teaching the hero class students stealth and evasion. Thrice a week—maybe more depending on everyone's progress—he will train those of us here on everything we need to know when it comes to the First Run Nomu." He waited for the kid's nod before speaking again. "All first year Hero Course students will attend the Summer Training Camp, which will be conjoined with a police training camp run by Viridian. When the villains attack, we will do our best to make sure Midoriya is the one taken while the staff guides the students underground. To make this easier, we'll have Ectoplasm follow every student that leaves a hero's sight."

Said teacher nodded. His cloning ability was ideal for this kind of mission.

"Does that mean the rest of us will be coming along for the camp too?" Thirteen tilted their head curiously. Though in Shouta's humble opinion, the look in their eye said quite plainly that they had no intentions of sitting this one out.

"Of course." Nezu grinned. "Though the students won't know that, so those who come along will have to stay hidden."

"With my lessons that won't be an issue." Viridian's grin made even Shouta shudder lighty. The kid had been utterly terrifying when he'd been a vigilante. He was under no illusions that this 'training camp' of Viridian's would be a hell in and of itself. He'd seen the kid teach his class, after all. He was not looking forward to being a student again.

"Well, I think that about finishes this up." Nezu hummed thoughtfully. "We've got six months to sort this out. I want everyone to be careful. I don't want any fatalities by the end of this mission. Not of my students, and certainly not of my staff." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Meeting adjourned."

Linelinelinelinelinelienline

Izuku sat on the couch of the Staff Dorms, leaning lightly against Keigo. He'd known immediately that his brother wanted to speak with him regarding what he'd said at the meeting, but neither had dared broach the topic. They both knew what was going to be said regardless.

"Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" The winged hero's voice was terribly small and quiet—frail in a way Izuku hadn't heard since... ever, really.

"Believe me, Keicchan. If there was another way, I'd take it in a heartbeat." He let his head rest against his brother's shoulder. "I... When everything's done... can you still..."

Keigo shifted slightly to look at Izuku, likely trying to understand what he was getting at. The blonde had been getting frighteningly adept at reading the time traveler's expressions. "Of course, Zukkun. I'll always be your brother. You really think I'd let you walk off into trouble without me there to bail you out?"

"Thank you." He felt some kind of relief wash over him. If the worst came to pass, as he was fearing, then at least he'd still have Keigo by his side.

Izuku's sensitive ears caught the sound of someone heading down the stairs. He flashed his brother a smile. "Come on, now. Let's drop the heavy topics."

Keigo chuckled lightly as he caught sight of Yuka and Snipe coming down the stairs. "All right, all right." He held up his hands in surrender. "You've got a training class with everyone this afternoon, right?"

"Yeah. And you are included in that." Izuku shot him a look.

"H-hey! I'm still not cleared for combat!" He gestured towards his wrapped wing.

"Who said it was a combat class?" Izuku shot him a wide smirk. "You aren't getting out of this one. Besides! A Nomu won't give two shits about a hurt wing."

"Yeah, I noticed." A small shiver traveled down the hero's spine. "But we've got several hours before your lesson, so what're you going to do before then?"

Izuku noticed that Snipe and Yuka were watching the exchange curiously. "Why, patrol of course!" He shot the three heroes a peace sign. "Anyone want to come along?"

"You're still hurt." Yuka replied with a worried expression. "Should you really be patrolling like this?"

"I'll be fine." He waved the concern away. "It's just some scratches, really."

"You got stabbed." Snipe stated dryly.

"Like I said—scratches." The three of them shared an unamused look.

"Since we can't stop you, I'll come along." Yuka smiled as they pulled something out of their backpack. It looked like a nicely folded set of clothes. With the push of a button, they inflated to show Thirteen's hero outfit. They slipped into it with the ease of practice, pulling their iconic helmet from their backpack and clicking it into place. "Who better to keep you from getting hurt than a Rescue Hero?"

Izuku barked out a soft laugh. "If you can keep me from getting hurt constantly, Shouta might just give his patrol slot to you."

"Go on, then. If Aizawa catches you heading to patrol, you know he'll give you an earful." Snipe rolled his eyes.

linelinelinelinelinelineline

Yamada Hizashi was a lot of things right now that he normally wasn't. He was tired, having to take care of Shouta's injuries in place of the hospital the man refused to return to. He was emotionally and mentally drained—learning that the timeline itself was breaking apart certainly played no small part in that, he was sure. But most of all, Hizashi was scared.

He'd seen Shouta wake up from nightmares more times than he could count, but these ones about the White Nomu were different. The way he'd wake up in a cold sweat with the fear of death in his eyes was distinctly foreign to the Voice Hero.

So when his husband heard that Viridian was going to go out and patrol with Thirteen, he'd been quick to voice his concerns and try to go along as well. Try being the keyword there. Hizashi was quite stubborn when it came to the safety of the people he cared about.

Which was how he found himself joining the two on their patrol.

"Eraser worries too much." Viridian shook his head as he led the two heroes down the street. Hizashi marveled at how many people stopped to greet the green-clad hero. Considering the fact that Viridian was technically an Underground Hero, the fact that he was so recognizable was incredible.

Not to mention the public support the kid garnered. He'd started a massive worldwide movement to better the lives of people with weak Quirks and those without them. He doubted the kid even realized that he was a global icon.

Even so, Shou really wasn't kidding when he said the vigilante could find trouble. They'd been on patrol for only two hours and had already run across six muggings! That considered, he thought he was entirely justified in his not-so-quiet groan when they heard the quiet beeping of their hero phones.

Viridian pulled his phone out with an intrigued expression. "Bank robbery. Looks like... a block away from us?" He sent off a quick message indicating that they were responding to the call. "How does that even work?"

"When the banker presses the silent alarm under the counter, it notifies the police and any nearby heroes." Thirteen explained as the three of them took off at a run. They were the first ones on the scene.

"I hate hostage situations." Hizashi scowled, earning a nod from Viridian.

"Okay, I think I've got a plan." Viridian settled the two with a surprisingly heavy look. "I'll infiltrate the building and get a good look at the situation. If I'm able, I'll distract the villains. Thirteen, when I give you the signal, you'll get the hostages out of there. Mic, you'll be my backup—once I've got the villains' attention, you'll attack. I'll give you the signal."

Hizashi mulled the plan over. It was pretty good—loose enough to rework if something unexpected came up, but cohesive enough to be called a plan in and of itself. "Sounds good, Viridian. We'll be on standby waiting for your signal." He tapped his earpiece, waking it up. Viridian did the same as Thirteen nodded.

He didn't like waiting, but it was a necessary part of their job. After a few tense minutes of quiet crowd control (trying to keep the public from interfering without tipping off the villains of their presence), their earpieces crackled to life.

"I've got eyes on the villains. Three of 'em. They're armed. Two of them have visible Quirks—one is some kind of tabby cat mutation while the other has bony spike-like protrusions on his arms. The third person doesn't have a visible Quirk, might be something mental." Viridian hummed softly. "Sixteen people are in the bank—five employees, eleven customers. All three villains have weapons, but only the third one has a gun. The other two are armed with knives."

"Good work." Thirteen nodded, though Viridian couldn't see them. "Any injuries?"

"None from what I can see, but there's something off about this situation..." Hizashi could hear that frown. "Stay on standby, I'm going to make contact."

Hizashi shifted from his position by the window, ready to leap in and assist as needed. If things went wrong, it'd be up to him and Thirteen to make sure everyone made it out okay.

He watched, somewhat transfixed, as Viridian walked out of one of the hallways of the bank, as if he'd just happened upon the situation. He risked cracking the window slightly so he could better hear the situation.

"FREEZE!" A voice called from somewhere beyond Hizashi's view. "On the ground!! Drop any... wait a minute... Don't I know you?"

"Holy crap... dude, that's Viridian!" A female voice stated excitedly. Hizashi could barely make out a thin cat's tail flicking in excitement. "Oh my god, that's... you're really him!!"

Hizashi couldn't help but share a bewildered look with Thirteen. Sure, heroes often got recognized, but there weren't many villains that had such blatant idolization for the hero that came to capture them.

"Shit, man... why'd it have to be you?" A third voice—male—stated. "Anyone else and it would've been fine." He sounded distinctly disappointed.

"Oh? Are you disappointed? I promise I'm not that bad of a fighter." Viridian's smirk was audible.

"It's not that." The third voice sighed. "It's just... damnit. Of all people." He made a sound of frustration. "I can't do this. I won't fight you, Viridian."

Hizashi felt his eyebrows raise as the female voice spoke up. "I don't think any of us can." She admitted. "We'll go quietly. But only because it's you."

"Not that I'm not appreciative of this, but... why?" Even Viridian sounded confused.

"Because you're Quirkless..." The third voice spoke. "And so am I."

Hizashi felt his breath leave him. Viridian's entire stance shifted.

"Mind if I ask why you decided to rob a bank?"

"Do you even have to ask?" The Quirkless man gave a dry laugh. "You know how it is for people like us... My wife is ill. She's got a really weak Quirk. I can't hold a job to raise the money because nobody will hire my Quirkless ass." The man's voice tightened. "But if I had the money... no, even if I'm just imprisoned, the nation will give her benefits to get by. It's the only way to pay for the surgery that'll save her life. I'll go quietly, I promise. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Hizashi felt like he wanted to cry. What the fuck? Was their world really that messed up that someone had to become a villain just to save their wife's life? And the worst part of it was that Viridian didn't even sound surprised.

"The payout would've been bigger if the hero who captured us got hurt." The girl explained. "But... we've all got a lot of respect for you, Viridian. None of us want to hurt you."

"I wish I could say I didn't understand, but I do." Viridian sighed. "But you two... why are you doing this?"

"I'm already a villain in the system, and so is Himaru here." The cat-girl explained, likely gesturing to the boy with spikes. "Because we robbed a few places when I was younger. The streets aren't kind, even to a cat." She gave a small humorless laugh. "But the system's not exactly nice to villains, even if we're 'reformed'. You know they jack up the prices for stuff? That includes medical costs."

"Chi-chan here won't live another month." The other boy spoke up softly. "Worst part is that her illness is treatable—they just made it so she couldn't afford it."

"If I'm dyin', I might as well go out with a bang." She huffed. "And helping to save a life...? Well, I've done enough bad in my life. Maybe something good will help me on the other side." She gave a shrug.

Hizashi bit his lip hard. This was wrong on so many levels. This... this was...

"Sounds about right." Viridian's voice cut through his thoughts like a gunshot. "Believe me, I know how bad the system is to people. Unfortunately, I still have to arrest you three." He sighed. "But if there's anyone you want me to watch over for you until you're released, let me know."

"Released?" The Quirkless kid scoffed. "You think Chi and I will ever see daylight again? They'll kill me in the system, you know that. And she'll die."

"Not if I've got anything to say about it." Viridian's voice was firm. "I'm... I'm a hero." Hizashi was quite sure it was the first time he'd admitted it aloud. "And heroes protect people. And that includes you. You may be villains, but you're still people. I'll protect you."

It was his slogan, Hizashi was sure. At least, that's what people had started to say. But he'd never heard the kid say it before. Suddenly, he understood why people had said it was Viridian's version of All Might's 'I Am Here'. Though the words weren't directed at him, they carried a surety that resonated within his very soul. A feeling of warmth and safety that wrapped around him and told him that everything would be all right.

And here, he was saying it to the very people they'd been called in to arrest. Hizashi felt something in him shift and calcify—a determination to change this world. Change it for the better. He'd personally look into the Quirkless man's wife and pay for her bills. And he would also make sure that little cat girl got her treatment as well—fully paid for. If he pulled a few strings, he could get all of their sentences lightened to a few months.

Flashing lights caught his attention as the police pulled up. Viridian guided the three would-be robbers out of the bank and the two hiding heroes stood up. He had to hold back a smirk at the expression on the lead cop's face the moment he saw Viridian.

"Why do the weird things always happen around you?" The monkey-Quirked cop asked with a sigh. Hizashi was half sure he was one of Tsukauchi's men.

"Not my fault that the universe loves to throw me a curveball." He snickered. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on these three. I don't want anyone mistreating them." There was a sharpness to the once-vigilante's gaze that was quickly reflected in the cop's eyes as well.

"Of course. I'll personally watch over them."

"Perfect!" Viridian turned towards the would-be villains. "Don't cause them any trouble, okay? I'll come by and check on you three later, so please stay on good behavior." He winked, earning light smiles from the three.

Hizashi shook his head. What a day. Hopefully the kid would be willing to cut the patrol short. Something told him that it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

~~~Linelinelinelinelinelineline~~~

There were a lot of things Viridian was prepared to handle. This was decidedly not one of them. Stopping a bank robbery without violence was a great way to start off a shift—though the reasonings for the robbers' motives were decidedly not great, and he'd make damn sure nobody hurt them using the system, but still. He'd take what he could get, especially if it involved not having another knife in his gut.

He'd had a small laugh when the two heroes following him around realized they were heading into the South Side. But the trouble they'd come across was a bit more than Viridian felt he could handle. Not because it was that dangerous, but because of who it involved.

It'd been a fight of some kind, but the second party had fled the moment the heroes had shown up, leaving Izuku staring at a familiar—if much younger—face. Bright blue eyes framed by horridly scarred skin held together with staples... freshly dyed black hair... There was no mistaking the kid (was he a kid at this point?) that stared coolly at him across the alleyway.

"Heroes in the South Side?" Dabi scoffed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Viridian bit back a knee-jerk response to the familiar voice. "Hey now. I like to think I'm a bit of an oddity when compared to the norm." He kept his voice even and light.

"That's true." Dabi gave a small laugh. "Viridian, right? You're that Quirkless hero everyone's been talking about. I'll be honest—I respect you. A lot of villains do. You... you took what society thought of you and flipped them the bird. That takes guts, and I can respect that."

He felt himself grin beneath his mask. His Dabi's words echoed in his mind. Don't let me die nameless. It was a promise he intended to keep.

He felt Thirteen and Present Mic shift uncertainly behind him. He needed to figure out a way to get Dabi on their side. "You don't strike me as the type of person to turn to villainy out of boredom." He leaned casually against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"I'm afraid if you want my life story, you'll have to find another source." Dabi's gaze narrowed and he turned to leave.

"Shigaraki Tomura." The name made Dabi stiffen, foot halted halfway from the pavement. "I know you've been thinking about joining him. Don't. His ideals aren't what you think."

"Oh?" Intrigued and guarded cyan eyes locked with shadowed emerald.

"I'm going to warn you. Shigaraki is my end goal. If you join hands with him, I'll be forced to go after you as well. And I really don't wanna do that." He paused for a moment to let that information sink in. "Dabi." He held out a hand towards the villain. "The system is shit. We both know that. You wanna stick it to the heroes that their system is wrong? Let me help you. I'm working from the inside to change things. You don't have to sacrifice your future for revenge."

The blue-eyed flame villain shot him a dark look. Evidently, that might've been the wrong thing to say. "The hell do you know?" His hand flexed in that way that Izuku knew from his Dabi. He was prepared to summon his flames.

"Look, I—" He cut himself off as a wave of wrongness came over him. Something wasn't right. Something was...

Then he heard it—a low growl from the street behind them. Instinct took hold as he drew his blade and spun about, something falling from his lips to warn his comrades that danger was among them. Because he knew that growl—low and rumbling with an occasional almost cough-like chuff. Sure enough, he saw it on the other side of the street. Lurking. Watching.

A Royal Nomu.

"H-hey, is that...?" Hizashi's voice was quiet—enough that he had to give him props with his Quirk and all—but if this'd been a White Nomu, it would've gotten him killed. He'd need to go over that during their classes for sure.

"What the hell is that?!" Dabi's voice wasn't nearly so quiet, and the Nomu's gaze flitted towards the flame user.

"A Nomu. A Royal Nomu. This one's a drone, but the Queen should be nearby. Watch out, these ones hunt in packs." Viridian let his gaze flicker around the street, lingering in dark alleyways and on the rooftops—just in case. If this one wasn't making a move, its because it was waiting for backup. "Damn." He felt a shaky grin spread across his face. "I hate Royal Nomu."

"A... Nomu?" Dabi sounded shaken.

"Shigaraki's handiwork." Viridian shot him a look. "You still wanna join hands with the freakshow that made these fuckers?"

"Shou's gonna kill me." Hizashi bemoaned silently. "I promised to keep you out of trouble."

"Even Eraser knows that's a hopeless request." Viridian chuckled softly. "Thirteen, will your Quirk work on organic matter?"

"Yes, but it'll tire me out faster." They stepped forward, but Izuku could see them trembling lightly. He reminded himself that this was Yuka and Hizashi's first time seeing a First Run Nomu.

Without warning, the beast charged them. Thirteen opened the cap on their finger. "BLACK HOLE!" They shouted, and the Nomu—sensing the impending danger—was quick to try to turn away. But it was too late. With a horrible screech, in it went. It was almost laughably easy, compared to every Nomu fight the time traveler had ever had, but he wasn't dumb enough to think this was over.

On an instinct borne of years of apocalyptic danger, he brought up his blade to block an angry claw a second before it would've taken Thirteen's head off. "Oh lovely, the rest of them have arrived."

"Is this normal for you?!" Dabi shot him an incredulous look.

"You'll get used to my special brand of chaos after a while." He promised with a grin, leaping out of the way of a tail that tried to slice into his side. "Though I have to say, this may be a tad more chaos than I can handle."

Viridian rolled to the side, swiping up with his blade and deflecting another tail that tried to hit him. "Damn Royals."

"How do we fight these?" Hizashi eyed the scene warily.

He saw Hizashi smile brightly in relief even as the Royal Nomu closed in on him. "Thank you, Little Listener."

His momentary lapse in concentration was rewarded with a biting pain to his arm—where one of the whip-like tails caught him. He cursed softly. "You go for the brain. But these are long-ranged fighters. Their tails are bladed, so try to stay out of their strike-zone."

"Right. Go for the brain." Hizashi pulled out a pole. "Glad Eraser made me learn how to use this."

"No. Protect Thirteen." Viridian's voice was sharp. He eyed the four Nomu warily as the four Nomu eyed him. Zashi and Yuka wouldn't be of much help here. The rescue hero was already out of energy from consuming an entire Nomu with their Quirk.

"I can... fight." Yuka panted, but Izuku shook his head.

"Conserve that energy for the Queen. These are just the Drones."

One of the Nomu made to dash at him again, when it lit up like a christmas tree—all in flames of blue. "I know you said to go for the brain, but this works too, right?" The villain sent him a wary look. Izuku grinned brightly beneath his mask.

"I mean, damn near anything dies if you burn it enough." He nodded. "But be careful—I don't want you hurting yourself."

The scarred youth scoffed. "That's something I haven't heard spoken to me in a long time."

Before anything more could be said, Izuku leapt forward, trying to close the distance between the Nomu and himself in the hopes of avoiding that tail. He pushed off the ground, dodging to the side to avoid one tail-strike, only to inadvertently leap into the path of another. He bit back a cry as it bit into his left ankle, drawing a steady stream of blood.

That'd slow him down for sure, but he didn't think there was any permanent damage done. He'd find out later when the adrenaline wore off.

A cry from his left drew his attention for a moment as Hizashi barely blocked a strike from one of the Nomu, Thirteen doing their best to assist him with their exhausted energy reserves.

Izuku cursed when one of the tails speared itself into his side. "Fuck you too." He cursed at it through clenched teeth.

"Geez, I leave you alone for a handful of days and you're already a shishkabob." A familiar voice spoke up as the Nomu by Hizashi went up in a tower of carefully controlled blue flames. Far more controlled than the kid behind him was capable of.

A grin spread across his face. "Took ya long enough, scarface."

"Oh please." He felt the presence leap down from the window of the building beside him. "You weren't expecting me and you know it."

Izuku glanced up to meet the familiar cyan blue eyes of his brother—Dabi. First Run Dabi. Which was admittedly strange considering the fact that his younger self was standing not ten feet away, staring at them like he'd just announced that All Might was streaking through Tokyo singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips.

"We'll talk about how later. Maneuver twelve?" Izuku felt much more at ease having his brother by his side. Suddenly, the Royal Nomu situation didn't seem quite that bad.

"I'm feelin' more of an eight today." Dabi smirked. The familiarity of it all had a grin spreading across his face. "Keep up if you can, squirt."

"HEY!" Viridian bristled as his fellow First Runner dashed forth, blue flames flickering on his hand. "I'll have you know I've grown three inches this year!"

"And you've shrunk a foot and a half!" Dabi laughed as Izuku rolled under one of the Nomu and scaled its back and jabbed his blade into its brain, trusting Dabi to keep the dangerous tails away from him.

A sharp whistle from his companion had him leaping off the Nomu without hesitation, dodging a killstrike that would've undoubtedly taken him out. "Says miss sleeping beauty over here. Maybe that'd fix those eyebags."

"I'll have you know these eyebags of mine are Gucci." He cackled madly. "Quip would agree. FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He shouted, and Izuku quickly leapt backwards to avoid the literal pillar of flesh-melting flames.

"Watch it, Zippo, not everyone wants to look like you." Izuku shot him a flat look as they circled the last Nomu. "Did you already take out the Queen?"

"Who do you take me for?" The fire-user scoffed. "Why do you think I was late to the party?"

"I dunno, maybe you got lost. Again."

"One time!" Dabi shook his head.

Izuku eyed the wariness in the Nomu before them. "Yo, gimme a lift. This one's boutta make a run for it."

"Guess we can't let it get away." Dabi made a big show of sighing before getting into position. "Just don't miss!" He threw Izuku into the air. He spun, using his momentum to aim from above while Dabi distracted the Nomu on the ground. From this angle, he had a perfect shot at the brain, and he took it.

He landed with a graceful stumble before leaning against the brick wall, bumping his fist against Dabi's to celebrate their victory. "I think that deserves a drink."

"I mean, aren't you too young now?" Dabi snickered.

"I can still put this sword through your foot." The vigilante-turned-hero warned.

Dabi laughed. "All right, you win. Mister Hero."

Izuku felt his cheeks redden. "Timedamnit. Can I trade you in for Quip?"

"Nope! Too late! You're stuck with me." Dabi grinned.

"I... am very confused." Younger Dabi stared between the two and the dead Nomu. "Very confused."

Dabi—Izuku's Dabi, that is—sighed. "Give us a minute, shrimp. I'll be right back." He took his younger self by the shoulders and guided him down a nearby alleyway. Izuku decided he should check up on his group too.

"You guys alive?" He clutched his side with his good hand. It was bleeding quite nicely, having been torn wider by his movements, but it wasn't anything life threatening—especially when they had medicine in this time.

"Listener, was that...?" Hizashi was trembling from head to toe, and he couldn't blame him in the slightest.

"Dabi. My Dabi. From the First Run." He nodded. "I'll... have to ask him the specifics later, but my best guess is that my other self realized what was going on and sent us backup." He shrugged. It was decidedly nice not to be the only First Runner. There was a sort of weight that lifted from his shoulders. He wasn't alone before, but he'd been alone in his pain and panic and...

And now he had someone who understood.

He pulled out his phone.

ViridianChaos: So...

CoffeeAddict: Goddamnit Problem Child. What did you break this time?

ViridianChaos: Why do you just assume I broke something?

HuggableMarshmallow: We found some trouble on patrol...

DividingByZero: Are you okay?

SCREAM: Everyone's alive. Listener's hurt—as in he got stabbed AGAIN. Thirteen's exhausted. And we've got about five dead Nomu in the South Side.

ViridianChaos: I'm FINE. It's a flesh wound.

MotherHen: I swear to everything you hold dear, PLEASE GET THAT LOOKED AT.

[ViridianChaos is typing]

MotherHen: BY RECOVERY GIRL

ViridianChaos: ...

He glanced at Hizashi and Yuka who were both giving him a no-nonsense look. He sighed.

ViridianChaos: Fine.

MotherHen: Thank you.

RatGod: So there were more of them...

CoffeeAddict: Please come back so I can know you're all safe.

ViridianChaos: I'll be bringing a friend... or two. Depends on Junior's answer.

StopthePaperwork: Junior?

ViridianChaos: Tsukauchi! You figured out how to change your username! I'm so proud~ :')

StopthePaperwork: Please don't.

ViridianChaos: One of my buddies from the First Run came to give us a hand. He's technically a villain, but he's my brother so please don't attack him. Even if he is ugly.

"I am not ugly." Dabi scowled as he rested his chin on Viridian's head, reading the messages.

"I mean, dunno what to tell you, but if you look into a mirror and it breaks, that's not because of beauty." Izuku snickered as he ducked under Dabi's warning swat.

"Well 'Junior' as you've called him, is going to be joining us." Dabi pointed over his shoulder at his younger self. "By the way, you can't go by Dabi because I'm Dabi. I'm older so you're stuck with our birth name."

Younger Dabi stiffened. "You know why I don't go by that." He growled.

"Yeah, and I wish I'd changed things when I was your age." Dabi scowled. "Trust me, if anyone can break reality, it's Izuku. And if that reality is just your reality, then he'll do it in a heartbeat."

"You say that like it's something for you to be proud of." Izuku snickered. "Also way to namedrop me."

"Not like you weren't going to tell him anyways." Dabi shrugged. "C'mon Spitfire. We're going to UA."

"Do... uh... we get a say in this?" Hizashi tilted his head. "Because I'd like to have the Listener go to a hospital first."

Dabi snorted in amusement. "If you can drag Izuku to a hospital without knocking him out first, then by all means." He waited for a moment before Hizashi sighed. "Didn't think so."

Izuku leaned lightly against Dabi as they walked. "Good to have you back, bro."

Dabi's gaze softened as he rubbed the top of Izuku's head—hair covered by his hero's outfit. "Good to be back."