The End of One War
The battlefield was silent.
Not because the war had stopped—but because it was finally over.
The air still crackled with the remnants of unleashed power, static energy lingering like the ghost of a battle that had pushed beyond human limits. The scent of scorched earth and molten steel filled his lungs, thick and acrid. Smoke curled lazily from the skeletal remains of buildings, their shattered forms jutting toward the sky like broken ribs.
The city—once vibrant, full of life—was nothing more than a graveyard now.
Streets that had once been filled with people were reduced to rubble and bodies, some buried, some exposed—all reminders of the price paid for this so-called victory.
Izuku Midoriya stood at the center of it all, swaying slightly, his chest rising and falling in uneven, shuddering breaths. His hero costume was a shredded ruin—torn, burned, barely clinging to his battered frame. His fists trembled at his sides, raw and bloodied, the knuckles split open from the force of the final blow. Blood—his own, others'—soaked into the tattered fabric at his knees.
His vision wavered as exhaustion threatened to pull him under.
Is it really over?
His ears were ringing. Not just from the explosion, not just from the echoes of battle still bouncing through his skull—but from the sheer weight of the silence. A silence that should have been a relief, but instead pressed down on him like a vice.
His legs wobbled beneath him, the last remnants of adrenaline finally slipping away, leaving him hollowed out and drained.
His body screamed at him, every muscle, every nerve a raw, exposed wire. Pain radiated from deep within his bones, but he ignored it. He had no choice. The ache in his ribs told him that at least a few were cracked—maybe worse. His left shoulder throbbed where it had taken a direct hit earlier, and the deep gash along his thigh pulsed with every weak heartbeat.
Even blinking felt like too much effort.
But pain wasn’t what kept him standing.
Where are they?
The thought hit harder than any of Shigaraki’s attacks. His gaze swept over the ruined battlefield, searching—desperate—for movement. Familiar faces. His friends, his classmates, the people he had fought to protect.
Had they made it? Had they—
“Midoriya.”
A voice, rough and strained, cut through the haze in his mind.
He barely had time to turn before an explosion of light filled his vision, accompanied by the sharp scent of burnt nitroglycerin.
Bakugo.
The moment his mind registered the name, the tension in his chest loosened—just a little. The sight of him, standing despite his injuries, gauntlets scorched, uniform torn, was proof that at least one of them had survived.
“You look like hell,” Bakugo muttered, voice gruff but steady. He stopped a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest, though Deku didn’t miss the way his fingers twitched—like he was holding back the urge to grab him, to shake him for nearly dying.
“Next time, don’t be a dumbass and take the whole damn war on your shoulders.”
Deku tried to respond, but his throat was too dry. He swallowed, forcing his lips to move.
“Kacchan… you’re okay.”
A scoff. “Obviously. Unlike you, I don’t throw myself into suicidal fights without backup.” His tone was sharp, but there was something else underneath it. Something heavier.
He was worried.
Deku blinked sluggishly, the edges of his vision still flickering in and out. He wanted to say something—to reassure him, to joke, to let him know that he was still standing—but his body was reaching its limit.
“We were worried.”
A softer voice this time.
Warm fingers settled gently on his shoulder, and Deku flinched before recognizing the familiar touch.
Uraraka.
She was kneeling beside him, her brown eyes glassy with unshed tears. Her uniform was in better shape than his, but not by much—scraped, dirtied, evidence of the battle they had barely survived.
“You almost didn’t come back this time.”
A shadow moved behind her, and Todoroki stepped into view. He didn’t speak at first, just looked at Deku with those mismatched eyes, something unreadable flickering in them.
Then, finally, he murmured, “It’s over now. You can rest.”
Deku wanted to believe that.
But something felt wrong.
A deep, twisting sensation unfurled in his chest. Something pulling at the edges of his being.
His fingers twitched. Power still surged beneath his skin—One For All—but it shouldn’t be there.
He had felt it leave him during the final clash, tearing through Shigaraki’s decaying form. Yet here it was. Intact.
Why is it still inside me?
His breath came in short, uneven gasps as he clenched his fists. The familiar weight of One For All coiled within him, but something about it was… off.
It should have been depleted. He had poured every last ounce into that final blow—he felt it leave him, burning through his veins, disintegrating Shigaraki at the atomic level.
That was supposed to be the end of it.
Yet, here it was. Whole.Stronger.
No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t just intact—it was different.
He flexed his fingers, and power thrummed beneath his skin, stronger than before. Not just raw strength, but something more… refined. It lacked the violent, explosive force that usually came with pushing past his limits. Instead, it felt rejuvenated—alive in a way it had never been before.
A sudden pulse ran through his body, making his muscles tighten involuntarily. He winced. The energy inside him was unstable, surging in erratic waves.
For the first time, he had used 100% of One For All without the interference of its additional quirks.
And he had seen the result with his own eyes—Shigaraki reduced to dust.
The thought sent a sudden chill down his spine.
The crater beneath his feet gaped like a wound in the earth—silent, empty, final. There was no body. No sign that Shigaraki had ever existed at all.
Gone. Completely erased.
Deku’s breath hitched. His stomach twisted painfully.
He had always fought to save people. Even his enemies. Even Shigaraki. He had searched for another way, hoping—praying—that there was still something left of Tenko Shimura to reach.
But there hadn’t been.
And now, there would never be.
A bitter lump formed in his throat. He had killed him.
Not by accident. Not by miscalculation. But by choice—a final, crushing moment where he had understood there was no other way.
What would All Might think of me now?
Deku forced himself to breathe, but the air felt too thick. He should have felt relief. He should have felt something.
Instead, all he felt was the unbearable weight of what he had done.
Yet, despite the guilt pressing into his chest, another realization broke through.
Someday… someday I’ll be able to do that again. But with everything.
Not just One For All’s raw strength, but with the full might of its accumulated quirks, working together.
The thought sent a thrill through his exhausted limbs—a rare moment of joy.
Then, his body twitched.
It wasn’t just exhaustion. It wasn’t just the aftershocks of battle.
Something inside him was unraveling.
A sharp pulse ran through his veins, like an erratic heartbeat of raw energy. One For All wasn’t settling. It was shifting—unstable, expanding, recoiling against itself. The pressure in his chest grew, coiling tight like a spring wound too far.
Then, without warning—
Black tendrils lashed out.
They curled around his wrist—unbidden, wild. Not fluid and controlled like before, but erratic, pulsing, writhing like they had a mind of their own.
Deku sucked in a breath. He hadn’t called for Blackwhip.
The tendrils snapped outward, twitching violently, striking against the fractured ground before retracting just as fast. Sparks of green lightning crackled across his skin, flickering like a dying flame—unstable, fluctuating.
The air around him grew heavy, pressing in.
His pulse pounded. His limbs felt weightless.
Something was wrong.
The world around him blurred, distorted—
Before he could react—
The ground vanished beneath his feet.
A crushing force yanked him backward, the battlefield ripping away like a mirage.
And then—
Nothing.
Unknown Location – A New York Rooftop
The moment the battlefield vanished, Deku’s senses collapsed inward—like being pulled through a space that didn’t exist.
There was no falling, no motion—just a crushing pressure, a strange twisting sensation in his gut, and then—
Impact.
He hit the ground hard.
The breath tore from his lungs as his body crumpled against cold stone. A sharp jolt of pain shot through his ribs, rattling his already battered frame.
For a second, he lay motionless, chest heaving, brain struggling to catch up. His entire body still buzzed with the chaotic remnants of One For All’s instability, but the battlefield—the war—was gone.
Replaced by…
Neon lights. Towering skyscrapers.
A heavy, humid breeze swept over him, carrying scents of concrete, car exhaust, and something fried. The distant hum of traffic buzzed in his ears, punctuated by the occasional honk of a horn. The muffled roar of a city alive filled the air.
Deku pushed himself onto his hands, muscles screaming in protest, and forced his gaze forward.
A skyline stretched before him—unfamiliar, endless.
Massive screens flickered on the sides of buildings, splashing bright, artificial light across the streets below. Yellow cabs weaved through crowded roads, their headlights cutting through the night. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed, their shrill cries alien yet familiar.
"Where… am I?"
His voice barely rose above a whisper, throat raw from exhaustion.
His limbs trembled as he forced himself to his feet. His boots scraped against rough rooftop stone as he staggered forward, reaching the ledge. The city unfolded beneath him, so vast, so different, so… wrong.
This wasn’t Japan.
A cold chill settled in his gut.
"This… this doesn’t make sense."
He squeezed his eyes shut, tried to think through the haze clouding his brain. His breathing came too fast, his heart hammering against his ribs.
Who did this?
How did this happen?
Who’s behind this?
His mind snapped through every possibility.
➤ All For One?
—No. He was dead. Deku had felt him die, had seen his influence over Shigaraki shatter into nothing.
➤ U.A.? A hero intervention?
—No. If someone had saved him, there would have been voices. People. Someone.
➤ A quirk accident?
—Impossible. He didn’t trigger any quirks, and none of his allies had teleportation abilities capable of doing… this.
His stomach twisted.
This wasn’t an accident.
Someone—something—had pulled him here.
But why?
Deku clenched his fists, skin still tingling with the remnants of One For All’s wild, unstable surges. His body felt heavy, off-balance. The power inside him wasn’t settling—it was reacting.
His breath slowed.
He needed to stay calm.Assess. Find the pattern. Find the threat.
Physical Checkup.
Deku staggered back from the ledge, pressing a hand to his ribs.
Pain. A deep, bruising throb. But not as bad as it should’ve been.
Did I break them earlier? He remembered the crushing impact of Shigaraki’s last attack, the way his ribs had cracked under the pressure.
Deku exhaled sharply and flexed his fingers, testing for nerve response. His knuckles were raw and split, blood crusted along his hand. Lifting his arm sent a sharp sting through his shoulder. The gash along his thigh still burned, but—
He ran his fingers along the wound through the torn fabric of his suit.
Not as deep as before.
His brow furrowed.
"It’s healing… faster than I expected."
It wasn’t instantaneous—nowhere near what Shigaraki had with his monstrous regeneration—but it was there. A subtle, steady recovery. Not enough to be certain, but… noticeable.
Has this always been part of One For All?
He knew OFA enhanced his endurance, his durability, but he had never relied on it for healing. He remembered moments—bruises fading faster, muscle tears knitting back together just a little quicker than normal—but back then, he had assumed it was just training adaptations.
Now?
Now, he wasn’t sure.
The power inside him was shifting, expanding beyond what he understood. It wasn’t just rejuvenated—it was unstable, fluctuating.
He rolled his shoulder, ignoring the lingering soreness and the faint crackle of uncontrolled sparks dancing across his skin. He wasn’t at full strength, but he could still fight.
He had to.
The weight of the unknown pressed on him, but he forced his focus back to the present. He needed answers. He needed to stay on his feet.
And if someone—or something—had dragged him here…
A sound cut through the night.
A wet, clicking noise.
Like bones grinding together.
Deku’s blood turned to ice.
His pulse pounded. His limbs felt weightless.
Slowly, his body tensed, muscles coiling as he turned toward the shadows behind him.
The air felt suddenly heavier.Wrong.
From the darkness—
It emerged.
The Creature
A wet, clicking noise echoed behind him.
Deku’s blood turned to ice.
His pulse spiked—not from exhaustion, not from battle-worn adrenaline, but from something primal. A feeling he had learned to trust.
The instinct of prey.
Slowly, he turned.
The shadows behind him stretched unnaturally, twisting in the flickering neon glow of the city. For a moment, there was nothing. Just an empty rooftop, the wind cutting through the still night air.
Then—
Something moved.
A shape—long, unnatural—unfurled from the darkness like a thing dragging itself from the void.
It was wrong.
The first thing Deku noticed was how it didn’t belong.
A monstrous fusion of flesh and shadow, its limbs too long, its frame too thin, yet moving with a slinking, predatory grace. The dim light from the city below caught on its glowing, violet-stitched skin, illuminating the grotesque patchwork of scarred, shifting flesh—as if it had been torn apart and reassembled by something that didn’t quite understand what a body should look like.
Its face—
No, it didn’t have a face. Not exactly.
One moment, there were hollow, gaping eye sockets. The next, they flickered and shifted—vanishing entirely, reforming elsewhere on its body. Its mouth stretched open, but not in any way that made sense. No lips, no jaw—just a yawning void lined with jagged, splintered teeth that looked like they had been stolen from a dozen different creatures.
Deku’s breath hitched.
This thing wasn’t just an enemy.
It was something that had never been human.
The air around it crackled with strange energy—not a quirk. Something older. Something worse.
And it was watching him.
Deku’s muscles coiled on instinct, his body screaming at him to move, to fight, to run. But the creature didn’t attack. Not yet.
It tilted its head—or what counted as its head—its joints cracking as it studied him. Then, it twitched.
A faint, whispering noise curled through the air.
Not speech. Not words.
Something closer to breath forced through shattered lungs.
The wind shifted, carrying the scent of rot and burned fabric.
Deku felt his stomach twist.
The thing was studying him.
It was intelligent.
And it wanted something.
Yet, something about it felt… off.
Not just in its grotesque form, or the way it twisted and twitched, but in its very existence.
It didn’t belong here.
No, that wasn’t right.
It didn’t belong anywhere.
A creature that lurked in places no one was meant to tread. A stray not of streets, but of the spaces between.
A hound without a home, chasing not for hunger, nor hatred, but because that was all it knew.
It had followed him.
Dragged along in the wake of his passage—an aimless, rabid thing, starved not for flesh, but for the echoes of something beyond its reach.
And now, it had found him.
And it would not stop.
A tremor ran through his fingers. He clenched his fists, steadying himself. His body still ached, One For All still surged unstable and unpredictable beneath his skin, but he couldn’t afford to hesitate.
If he didn’t act first, he might not get another chance.
His eyes flicked to the rooftops nearby, searching for anything—anything—he could use to his advantage. His breath slowed, muscles tightening as he braced to move.
The creature’s shifting eye sockets locked onto him.
It knew.
And then—
It lunged.
Deku vs. The Creature – Chaos Unleashed
It lunged.
Deku barely dodged.
Danger Sense flared—sharp, urgent, but wrong.
The usual signals—enemy intent, violent action—were missing. Instead, the warning came in erratic pulses, like a radio signal struggling through static. It didn’t feel like a person. It didn’t even feel alive.
His body moved on instinct—no, on reflex—before he could think.
The air split with the force of the creature’s strike, razor-tipped claws slicing through the space where his head had been a second earlier. Too fast. Too erratic.
The second strike came even quicker.
SLASH!
A hot, searing pain tore across his already battered shoulder. Not deep, but sharp. Precise. Blood welled immediately, soaking through the shredded remains of his costume. Deku winced but didn’t stop moving.
He couldn’t stop.
His body screamed at him—the pain in his ribs, the sluggish weight in his limbs—but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus.
"Analyze. Adapt. Survive."
The creature twisted unnaturally, its elongated limbs bending in ways that defied logic. Its movements weren’t fluid or predictable—they were jerky, like a puppet being yanked by invisible strings.
Deku’s mind raced.
Pattern. I need a pattern.
He shifted into a defensive stance, feet light, ready to move. Wait for it. Watch it.
Danger Sense pulsed again—closer this time.
The creature hissed—a guttural, broken sound—and lunged again, its body flickering between real and unreal.
Deku’s muscles tensed. He braced for impact—
But something inside him surged.
A pulse of raw power.
One For All bucked wildly.
"No—!"
A sudden, uncontrolled burst of energy shot through his legs, and before he could rein it in—
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted beneath his feet. The sheer force overaccelerated him, sending him rocketing backward instead of sidestepping cleanly. He crashed hard against a rooftop vent, metal buckling beneath his weight.
Deku gasped, his head snapping up just in time to see—
The creature was already moving.
It recovered instantly, claws gleaming, body shifting too fast.
"Damn it!"
Danger Sense flared again—behind him.
He twisted, just in time to—
BAM!
The impact rattled through his forearms, sending him skidding across the rooftop. His ribs flared white-hot with pain.
He gritted his teeth.
"I can’t keep up like this."
His body was too damaged. One For All was too unstable. If he kept relying on speed and brute force, he was going to lose.
Think.
He glanced around—cracks in the rooftop. Weak points.
"Fine. If I can’t overpower you—"
His fingers twitched.
Black tendrils flared to life around his right arm, responding to his rising urgency—but something was off.
They lashed out wildly, snapping at the air like a beast trying to break free.
"No—stay under control!"
Danger Sense spiked—above.
The creature lunged again. Deku swung Blackwhip, aiming to bind its limbs—
But he miscalculated.
The tendrils veered off-course, striking a nearby air vent instead. The metal was ripped free, debris clattering across the rooftop.
"Damn it—!"
The misfire left him open.
The creature pounced.
Deku twisted his body, just barely managing to reposition himself—
SLASH!
Its claws raked across his ribs. Pain exploded through his side as blood splattered against the stone. The force sent him crashing down hard.
His vision swam.
This was bad.
Danger Sense pulsed—not an attack, but a shift.
It was adapting.
I need to end this—before it adjusts again.
Deku pressed his palm to the ground, steadying himself. One For All buzzed through his veins—volatile, unpredictable—but it was still his.
He took a breath. Then another.
No more misfires.
"Control it my way."
He tightened his stance, letting Blackwhip coil deliberately this time, forcing the tendrils to obey.
Danger Sense pulsed—directly in front.
The creature twitched, preparing for another attack—
Deku let it get close. Closer.
At the last second—
He moved.
A feint—low, fast.
His leg swept around, kicking upward—not at the creature, but at the weakened rooftop beneath them.
CRACK!
The broken pavement buckled, collapsing inward—and the creature stumbled.
Deku didn’t hesitate.
He pushed off the ground, ignoring the fire burning through his muscles.
One For All: 40%!
Electric sparks arced across his body as he drove his knee into the monster’s core.
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire building.
The creature writhed, its unstable form flickering, but—
It didn’t break.
It twisted—faster than before—and raked its claws deep into Deku’s side.
Blood sprayed into the air.
The force of the hit hurled him across the roof.
Deku hit the ground hard, pain exploding through his chest.
He couldn’t take much more of this.
The creature wasn’t stronger than him.
But it was relentless.
A Desperate Gamble.
Deku gasped for breath. His body screamed in protest, but he forced himself upright.
The creature was already advancing again, its warped form twitching as if it was adapting.
Its shifting, eyeless face fixed on him with inhuman hunger.
"I need to end this now… before it evolves again."
His arms trembled as he clenched his fists. One For All buzzed violently—unstable. But it was still his.
One last move.
Everything into one, final attack.
His breath slowed.
One For All: 55%.
His body screamed in protest, but he pushed forward.
The creature lunged.
Deku was faster.
He twisted Blackwhip around his wrists, forcing the tendrils to obey his will.
This time, they snapped into formation—unyielding.
A black coil surged toward the creature—not wild, not chaotic.
Controlled.
The beast shrieked.
Deku redirected the volatile power surging through him into a single, devastating strike.
Pouring everything into one, final blow.
"ST. LOUIS SMASH—OVERTIME!"
His fist collided with the creature’s core.
BOOM!
The rooftop exploded beneath them in a burst of raw power.
The air trembled. Cracks shot through the building as the force of the punch shattered the ground.
The creature writhed, its unstable form finally breaking apart.
Its twisted limbs dissolved into black mist—vanishing as if it had never existed.
Deku stood trembling in the wreckage, his vision swimming with black spots.
His body screamed in protest, but he remained upright.
He had won.
But the cost was catching up to him.
His knees buckled as One For All flickered out.
The rooftop spun.
The city lights blurred.
His strength was gone.
As darkness crept at the edges of his mind, a voice—smooth and commanding—cut through the haze.
"I wouldn’t recommend pushing yourself any further."
Mystic Perception
Deku barely registered the moment his knees gave out.
His body crumbled against the ruined rooftop, fingers weakly clutching at the cracked stone. His vision blurred, the neon skyline twisting at the edges, flickering in and out like a faulty signal.
One For All flickered too.
Green lightning crackled weakly around his form, unstable, fading. His limbs felt disconnected, the power still surging inside him but refusing to obey. His breathing came in ragged gasps, sharp pain stabbing through his ribs with every inhale.
The battle was over.
But his body hadn’t gotten the message.
The city lights swam in his vision, dark spots creeping in. His body swayed, his fingers loosening their grip on consciousness.
And then—
The air changed.
A pulse, subtle but undeniable, rippled through the space around him. Like reality itself had just... shifted.
The rooftop was silent—yet suddenly, he wasn’t alone.
A golden light flickered in the corner of his vision.
Deku tried to lift his head, but his body refused. His limbs wouldn’t respond. All he could do was breathe, listen, wait.
Then—a voice.
Calm. Measured. Unshaken.
"I wouldn’t recommend pushing yourself any further."
The words carried weight, cutting through the haze in his mind.
A presence—commanding, unwavering—stood before him.
Deku forced himself to move, to look. His muscles screamed in protest, but his instincts—no, Danger Sense—urged him to pay attention.
And there he was.
Standing at the edge of the ruined rooftop, untouched by the destruction, was a man wrapped in a deep red cloak, its fabric flowing unnaturally—like it was alive.
Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange’s Perspective
Stephen Strange had felt the disturbance before he had seen it.
The moment the battle had ended—if it could even be called a battle—something had rippled through the fabric of reality.
A fracture. A presence that did not belong.
And now, here it was.
A boy.
A kid, really—collapsed in the aftermath of something far beyond human comprehension. Strange’s sharp gaze flickered over the scene, analyzing, piecing together the impossible.
The rooftop was in ruins. The stone was fractured from the sheer force of their fight, the very air stained with residual energy. The boy himself was barely upright, his body trembling from sheer exhaustion, the remnants of something unstable still clinging to his form.
And yet—he was alive.
That alone made him interesting.
Strange’s eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the crackling green sparks still flickering weakly around the boy’s battered body. Magic? No, something else.
It pulsed differently.
Not mystical, but ancient—like something that had been passed down through generations, layered over time. It carried weight. History.
And yet, it was—wrong.
Fractured. Unstable.
Strange extended a hand, drawing a slow, intricate sigil in the air. A faint golden shimmer spread across the rooftop, scanning the traces of energy left behind.
The moment his magic made contact with the lingering force—it recoiled.
Strange’s brow furrowed.
This wasn’t ordinary power. This wasn’t even an accident.
This boy... had dragged something with him.
Something that should not be here.
Back to Deku’s Perspective
Strange took a slow step forward. The movement wasn’t threatening—but it didn’t need to be. The air around him hummed with power, as if reality itself bent slightly in his presence.
Deku’s stomach twisted.
This man wasn’t just strong.
He was something else entirely.
And right now, Deku wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
Deku’s Desperation
Deku barely registered the moment his knees gave out.
His body crumbled against the ruined rooftop, fingers weakly clutching at the cracked stone. His vision blurred, the neon skyline twisting at the edges, flickering in and out like a faulty signal.
One For All still flickered—unstable, erratic.
His limbs ached, his ribs throbbed, and yet, his mind remained locked onto one thing.
The man standing before him.
The red cloak flowed unnaturally, drifting as though it ignored the laws of physics entirely. Strange’s gaze was sharp—too sharp. He wasn’t just looking at Deku.
He was examining him.
Deku swallowed, his throat dry. He forced his aching muscles to cooperate, shifting his weight and attempting to push himself into a sitting position. His arms trembled under his own weight, but he refused to let himself collapse again.
The man in red didn’t move to help him.
He simply watched.
Then—
“You’re not from this world.”
Deku froze.
Strange’s voice was even, calm—but it carried the weight of undeniable certainty.
His breathing hitched, his already clouded thoughts growing more frantic. Not from this world? No. That wasn’t possible.
Was it?
“And you’re carrying something… unstable.”
Strange’s fingers moved through the air, and golden sigils flickered into existence. They twisted and turned in intricate patterns, casting faint, shifting light over the rooftop.
Deku stiffened.
Magic.
His instincts told him to react—to raise his fists, to prepare for another fight—but Danger Sense didn’t trigger.
This wasn’t an attack.
Strange was measuring him.
Deku forced himself to focus through the pounding in his skull. “I—I don’t… I don’t understand.” His voice was hoarse, his throat raw from exertion. “Who… who are you?”
Strange tilted his head slightly, regarding him with an almost clinical detachment.
“Doctor Stephen Strange. Sorcerer Supreme.”
Sorcerer?
Deku’s sluggish mind stumbled over the word.
Magic existed in fiction, in legends—but quirks? Those were science. Mutations. Physical abilities granted by genetics.
Strange, however, spoke as if his magic was fact.
And Deku wasn’t sure if he had the strength to argue.
“I don’t… I don’t know how I got here,” he rasped, trying to steady his breathing. “I was fighting—fighting to save people—then something happened. I felt something—break. And then…” His gaze drifted to the unfamiliar city stretching out below them. “Now I’m here.”
Strange said nothing.
But his expression shifted.
Just slightly.
Like a puzzle piece had just clicked into place.
The sigils he had drawn in the air pulsed once—then shuddered violently.
Strange’s gaze flickered toward them. His brows furrowed. “Interesting.”
Deku swallowed, sweat trickling down his temple. “What… what’s happening?”
The golden rings hovering around Strange’s hands flickered as he adjusted them, altering their form. “I was attempting to analyze the energy surrounding you,” he said, his tone still impossibly level. “To determine what brought you here.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“But it’s resisting.”
Deku stiffened.
Resisting?
The thought sent an uneasy chill through his already exhausted body.
Strange let the sigils dissolve, his gaze locking onto Deku once more.
“You’re an anomaly.”
Then, without warning, he flicked his wrist—
Golden bands of light snapped around Deku’s wrists and ankles.
His body jerked as the bindings tightened, locking him in place.
Chains.
Magical restraints—not physical, but inescapable.
Deku’s breathing hitched. His muscles tensed on instinct, but the moment he tried to struggle—
A searing, tingling sensation surged through his limbs.
His power—One For All.
It wouldn’t activate.
Deku’s heart pounded against his ribs. “What—what are you doing?!”
Strange didn’t look surprised by his reaction. If anything, he looked... bored.
“Ensuring you’re not a threat.”
Deku gritted his teeth. “I already told you—I don’t even know what happened! I was just—”
A subtle movement of Strange’s hand, and suddenly—
A scroll of golden light unfurled in midair.
Runes shifted across its surface, moving in elegant, fluid patterns. It hovered between them, pulsating with energy that made the air feel thicker—as if reality itself was holding its breath.
Strange glanced at the scroll, then at Deku.
“Tell me exactly what happened before you arrived here.”
Deku’s breath caught.
The air around the scroll shifted, and suddenly, he understood.
This wasn’t just a piece of parchment.
It was a spell.
And it was reacting to his words.
A truth spell.
Deku’s hands curled into fists, his arms straining against the bindings. He didn’t like this. Didn’t like being tied down, being interrogated like a criminal.
But what choice did he have?
He exhaled shakily, lowering his gaze. “I already told you,” he murmured, voice tight. “I was fighting. We were at war. And then… I used everything I had left. Everything.”
He swallowed hard.
“I felt something snap. Like… like a thread breaking. And then—I woke up here.”
The scroll reacted.
The golden runes pulsed once—then settled.
A soft hum filled the air, and after a moment, the scroll gently curled in on itself and vanished.
The chains around Deku’s wrists and ankles dissolved.
Strange watched him carefully, but this time, his posture shifted. No longer just cautious.
Now, he looked... intrigued.
"You’re barely holding yourself together."
The words were matter-of-fact, devoid of sympathy or cruelty. Simply… a statement of truth.
Deku’s arms trembled again, the weight of his exhaustion pressing down on him. He barely managed to keep himself upright.
Strange exhaled through his nose, something between a sigh and quiet calculation.
“Let’s see if we can figure out what to do with you.”
With a flick of his wrist, a golden portal flared to life.
The air hummed, charged with power.
Deku could barely process it before he felt his own body tilting, collapsing.
His consciousness finally gave way, and before he could stop himself—
Everything went dark.
Lingering Questions
Strange stood over the unconscious boy, his mind still racing. Whatever this child was—whatever force he carried—was beyond anything Earth’s magical systems recognized.
And that meant only one thing.
The multiverse was breaking .
Whatever storm had brought this boy here…
It wasn’t over.
To Be Continued…