Disclaimer: This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

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To say she was exhausted was an understatement. She hadn't felt this bone-deep fatigue since the facility. Iida had mentioned that the alarm was for unauthorized personnel who intruded on the premises. So, not a fire alarm like she thought, but it was still concerning. Apparently, whoever it was hadn't actually stepped into campus; they had just destroyed the gate and left, triggering the alarm. It didn't sit right with her. It was like they were telling everyone that they could do this, get close to one of the most prominent hero schools in the country. Was it Tomura or All For One? Did they know Izuku was here? Or was it the doctor? Was he alive somehow and he had found her, playing those mind games he loved so much? Not knowing kept her on edge.

Regardless, she refused to leave Izuku's side for the rest of the day. Yagi and Naomasa pulled them from school for the rest of the day as well. Even Aizawa didn't protest about it. It was one of the rare times that she and Inko travelled back to Yagi's place. She was grateful. She didn't want to let Izuku out of her sight. She was thankful that Kimiko was in the care of Toshinori's detective friend. However, she felt that if she didn't physically see Izuku, she couldn't stop from imagining all the horrible things that could be happening to him. Like back in her cold, white soundproof cell, or the Quiet Room, left to her own thoughts, torturing herself knowing that Rose was suffering just like she was not too far away, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had never felt as helpless as she did then.

She hadn't had a flashback like that since Tartarus. Though the medication was supposed to help with the anxiety (she was extremely averse to taking any kind of medication due to experience, but Nezu assured her that it was prescribed by a legit psychiatrist and came from a trusted pharmacist), managing triggers was an entirely different beast. Hound Dog explained that she had a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, the kind that soldiers and some veteran heroes have. It made sense to her. And since she had spent so many years bottling up the trauma and not processing it, she was subject to flashbacks and sudden mood swings. The first step was to revisit what happened, something that she was struggling with. She wished it would be easier, but Nezu told her it would get worse before it got better. She hoped that was true.

She and Izuku were embarrassed by their breakdowns, but they still returned to class regardless. The trip to the USJ (Universal Studios Japan?) had been postponed due to the breach in security, so they at least had time to calm down before stressing out about any new changes. When they both walked into class, the stares that greeted them bore through them. Despite Bakugo's best efforts, word of what happened had already spread through the entire class. However, instead of everyone regarding them as freaks, they all crowded around them, asking if they were okay, telling them if they ever felt cornered or threatened, just speak up. They were all very accommodating, more than she expected. A stark contrast from when she went to school. She couldn't help but feel safe and protected. She allowed herself to become less stiff and hovering, giving Izuku his space, like it had been before.

"You remind me a lot of my sister, you know." Maddie, Izuku, and Kimiko were alone in Yagi's office. The man himself was at a school board meeting, normal stuff. They sat around going over their class notes for the day, sipping at tea. Izuku spluttered behind his teacup, Maddie pointing at him. "You have a sister?" he inquired. "You never told me that."

"Yeah, well," she conceded, "figured now's a good time as any. She's a nerd like you. Well, she really likes painting. Her Quirk is rather unique too."

"What is it?"

Maddie put her hand to her chin, scrutinizing them. "I suppose," she began, "it would depend on if you believed that ghosts are real."

Both Izuku and Kimiko choked. "Ghosts are real?!" they exclaimed in unison, making Maddie chuckle. "It seems so," she admitted, giggles still wracking her. "She has the ability to talk to them, both in the real world and in her dreams."

"Woah, that's amazing," Izuku gushed, eyes bright and twinkling. He got caught up in another rant about what the nature of her sister's Quirk could entail, its benefits and limitations, how it could be used to help people. Maddie loved that he tried to find a way with every Quirk that could be used for the greater good. And her sister had helped many people with her power too.

Kimiko had to stop the boy before he ran out of breath and passed out. "You two must be really close," the Quirkless girl remarked. Maddie's eyes grew soft. "Yeah," she answered, "we met for the first time six years ago. We were both in that..." She got stuck on the words for a moment, Izuku and Kimiko regarding her with concern. "...awful place," she finished. She could say so many things about it, but this would have to do. Opening her hand, the winged girl stared down at her palm. "Sisters through something much stronger than blood. A shared experience of a significant impact. She..." The memories swam within her mind, a bright ray of sunshine during that dark year. "She helped me survive." She looked up at both of them again. "Kinda like you two."

Somehow, this conversation brought all of them closer together. As a... family, maybe? Either way, it felt good, and she didn't want this pure moment to end.

The next week rolled around, bringing with it the promised USJ excursion. Since this was going to be more hero training, it was time for costumes again. However, Izuku's costume still hadn't been fully repaired since Bakugo destroyed it, so he was wearing his gym clothes with the rest of his accessories. The 3DS gear was still functioning, so he had that too. Maddie's sword had broken from the battle trials, so she only had the cannon-gun (who knew Todoroki's ice was strong enough to break steel). Whatever, you worked with what you had.

Their classmates were chattering amongst themselves like normal teenagers. "Pilgrim," Todoroki piped up from next to her, making her flinch. His calling her by her last name still made her skin crawl for some reason. "You didn't answer me before. Are you and Izuku related?"

"This again?" Maddie admonished, exasperated. "I told you no. I transferred here to have a better chance at becoming a hero. I just met Izuku along the way." She crossed her arms and legs, one boot planted firmly on the floor of the bus. "We have a lot in common, believe it or not."

"Why did you decide to transfer?" Sato asked. Maddie thought about it for a moment, choosing her answer carefully. "I had a better chance here than back in America," she replied. "Unforeseen complications."

"I heard that hero programs overseas can be a bit biased," Iida piped up, chopping at the air. "It's most fortunate that you were given the opportunity to become the best hero you can be like everyone else."

"Well, most of us," the frog girl, Tsuyu Asui ("For the last time, call me Tsu!"), chimed in. "I mean, let's face it, Bakugo's too loud and brash to be the hero type."

"What'd you say?! I'll kick your ass!"

"You see," she indicated, pointing at the loud blond.

"You know, we only just met you," Kaminari remarked, "but it's pretty telling that we already know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage."

"You're gonna regret the day you applied to this school, asshole!"

On her other side, Izuku held his head in his hands, looking perturbed. "It's only been one week, and now Kacchan's the one being teased. Has everyone gone crazy?" Maddie realized the absurdity of it all, bursting into laughter. The whole bus joined in, Bakugo yelling obscenities at the entire class. But no one took him seriously. This felt right to her, in a way. This was what life was supposed to be. Not locked up as a lab rat or being told she was useless. Just her fellow peers getting along.

When they arrived at the USJ, she didn't know what to expect. The fact that it was a vast dome with several different zones with multiple environments made complete sense. Heroes had to be efficient in any kind of weather, especially when it came to natural disaster rescue. She grinned to herself; don't get her wrong, she liked the fulfillment of stopping villains, but saving people was what she was really here for. She hated conflict and would rather avoid it if she could. If she hadn't gotten this Quirk, perhaps she would've aimed to become a doctor.

A Quirkless doctor. Hilarious.

"Welcome, everyone, to the USJ!" the hero Thirteen greeted. They all stood in a loose group in front of her, awaiting her instructions. "Today," she announced, "we'll be focusing on disaster training. Ensuring the wellbeing of civilians from natural disasters such as tornados, tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, and of course, destruction caused by villain attacks." Uraraka seemed especially excited; she recalled Izuku mentioning that her Quirk could be better suited for disaster training. She could admire someone who was so selfless.

Thirteen kicked off their lesson by going into the rules and discussing what their training today would entail. Aizawa stood off to the side, supervising. Maddie stood next to Izuku, listening with rapt attention like everyone else was. But then, something inside her prickled. She liked to call it her intuition, an ability to subtly detect someone's ulterior motives, or when something bad was about to happen. It was so prominent that she would've believed that this was an innate, inherently useless power she had before, like the First. But getting used to the feel of her Quirk over the years revealed that this was just part of it. Her hackles raised slightly, the sound of Thirteen's voice drowned out in the background, her eyes scanning the immediate vicinity. Nothing stood out to her that was suspicious, until she spotted the center platform at the exact middle of the facility.

A small, swirling black dot appeared in the air. Confusion filled her as the dot grew larger, expanding. "Um, Miss Thirteen," she heard Iida call out. "Is that part of today's lesson?" Soon, everyone was transfixed by the events unfolding about fifty feet away. It turns out the black hole was purple, creating a vortex like mist or fog. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Aizawa tense up; this was not part of their training. If this was unexpected from the heroes, then this could only mean one thing: this was a villain attack. But how? Was this a follow-up from last week? What was their end goal?

To her shock, Izuku was frozen stiff beside her, a devastatingly haunted look in his eyes at the sight of the churning portal. As if he recognized it. And it meant something bad. A gasp drew her attention again, her own breath catching as something, or someone, grasped the edge of the portal to peer out, a single red eye flashing. Like the boogeyman emerging from the closet.

The figure stepped through the portal then, shuffling his way onto the facility's grounds. He was a young man, about the same age as Maddie, hunched over. His short, white hair hung like a pile of rags over his face. His skin looked dry and flaky, the reason why becoming apparent as he scratched fervently at his neck. The poignant feature that stuck out was all the hands that clung to him all over his body. One over his face obscured it to an effective degree. Still, it was easy to see his glowing, red eyes.

Maddie squinted her eyes to get a better look at the villain. The way he scratched himself was familiar, in a way. The only difference was the white hair and red eyes. They would've both been black. Is that Ten- She mentally shook herself. No, it can't be. Toshi said he was dead. That can't be him... can it?

From beside her, Izuku's breath hitched. "T-Tomura?" he stammered. "B-But how?" Maddie whipped her head to stare at him wide-eyed before returning to the villain below them. This was Tomura? If that was the case, then that meant All For One... he was... Her body moved on instinct, placing herself between Izuku and the villain. Unfortunately, it was as if Izuku's voice had carried itself across great lengths through the open air, reaching the villain's ears. His red eyes snapped over to them, widening, like he didn't expect Izuku to be here. She could almost hear him rasp "Izu" at the sight of the boy, making her skin crawl. Out of her line of sight, Bakugo was tense and ready to spring into action, content to blow the whole place up to protect his friend from this villain.

Everyone stood frozen and silent, waiting for the other to make the first move. It seemed only her, Izuku, and Bakugo had noticed Tomura's recognition of the greenette. Keeping it that way, Maddie dared to speak up. "Iida, she called, gaining the attention of their vice-president. "Run back to campus and call for back-up-"

"Kurogiri," Tomura interrupted, not taking his eyes off Izuku. "Stick to the plan. But bring that boy to me." His finger pointed unwaveringly at Izuku, who trembled behind her. She reached to get a more solid grip on him. "I don't have to tell you not to put a scratch on him."

The misty portal shifted around before it formed into something resembling a man, two glowing yellow eyes peering from the depths. "Of course, Young Master," it rumbled. And before she could flee with Izuku tucked safely into her arms, the mist man's body contorted and shot out into several tendrils, encompassing the entire class. Iida had taken her advice and had already made his way to the exit, although she wasn't sure if he would make it before the portals swallowed them up. There was a particularly thin one that inched its way closer to them. She was sure this was the portal that would bring Izuku directly to Tomura. She couldn't let that happen.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Bakugo had launched himself towards Izuku, both knowing he wouldn't make it in time. She had to think of something fast. It was too late to get away. But she could keep Izuku out of the enemy's grasp for just a bit longer. From there, she trusted he was resourceful enough to take care of himself. Without any more hesitation, she shoved Izuku and herself out of the portal's path, diving headfirst into another. Tomura seemed to shout something, angry, but it was swallowed up as they sank into the inky blackness. She felt Izuku get yanked from her grip, and she feared for a moment that she had failed. A wave of cold washed over her, a feeling of tumbling weightlessly in the void, until she was spat out on the other side.

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Fortunately, she was dumped not too far from where the villain first emerged. Even more fortunate was that Izuku hadn't gotten caught by them. However, the bad news was that more villains began pouring out of more swirling portals where she landed. They were eager for a fight. Somehow, she got caught up with Jirou, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozou. These villains were easy enough to take care of, low-level thugs, especially with their Quirks. This also suggested that their plan had been to split them up, but they had no idea what their abilities were, so they couldn't strategize which environments they had a disadvantage in. She would make sure that it would prove to be their downfall.

Loud explosions and cursing could be heard from the destroyed city zone several yards from their position. It seemed Bakugo was doing alright. Not surprising. But she didn't know the enemy's numbers. She hoped Iida had managed to get out and run for help.

Much to her ever-growing agitation, she couldn't for the life of her tell where Izuku had been dropped off. She knew he hadn't been caught by the villains. Not yet, at least. But the longer she went without finding him, the more likely Tomura would get his hands on him. And then she may never see Izuku again. This fear is what drove her onwards.

She blasted away another villain when she heard a monstrous splash over near the shipwreck zone. The ship itself seemed to implode on itself, crumbling down to make a small whirlpool. She could just make out tiny specks that had to have been villains getting caught up in the maelstrom. She could also catch a glimpse of a flash of lime-green jumping away from the chaos, two figures wrapped tightly in her tongue. She breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted dark green hair. She would have to express her utmost gratitude to Asui later, if they survived this.

"This is genius, Yao-Momo," Maddie commented as she huddled underneath the thermal blanket the creation hero trainee had procured. Outside, Kaminari proceeded to fry his brain to electrocute every villain within their proximity, the blanket shielding them from harm. Yaoyorozou blushed and thanked her for the praise. Although, the cost had come from some of her clothes, at least Kaminari's babbling kept Jirou entertained enough to take their minds off it.

"Where are you going?" Jirou called as she started to make her way back towards the center where they were separated. "It'll be safer if we stick together." Maddie looked back at the three, holstering the cannon-gun over her back. "I know," she acknowledged, "which is why you three should stay here until help arrives." She placed a hand to her chest. "There's just something I need to take care of first. I promise I'll meet up with you later." And with that, she took off, flapping her wings to give herself momentum. A thousand thoughts raced through her head as she reached the center, occupying her. Could she get to Izuku in time? Was Aizawa doing alright? Had Iida made it out and help was on the way? But most importantly: is Tenko actually Tomura?

Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself. It didn't matter what happened now, protecting Izuku was first and foremost. And maybe, she could get an answer from Tomura if she was lucky.

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Author's Note: Shorter chapter than most of the other ones, but this is part one of two of the USJ arc, which rolls right into the finale of Season 1. So, the last chapter for this part will be much longer. Hope you're all just as excited as I am.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I hope you got everything that you wanted! Watch Season 2 of Marvel's What-If series as it comes out!

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower