Izuku was in the hospital for two days - the exact amount of time remaining in his internship - before Recovery Girl turned up to fix him. The fact that she showed up with Gran Torino in tow was not lost on him. Nor was the fact that Gran Torino seemed to be... well, getting manhandled was the only word Izuku could think of to describe it.

"Aw come on! He's fine!" Gran Torino complained as he and the equally diminutive nurse of UA entered the room Izuku was in. Recovery Girl was pulling the man along by his ear and had a pinched, annoyed look on her face. The small bun she always kept her hair in strained against it's restraints, with loose hairs drifting too and fro, in what seemed like the direct result of rushed preparation.

"The boy's body is one contiguous fracture you old coot! And his arm! HIS ARM!" Recovery Girl retorted, releasing her grip on Gran Torino's ear and throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

"I figured you were busy helping out the other victims! He ain't in traction or anything!" Gran Torino shot back sullenly, rubbing at the side of his head and wobbling slightly while he tried to regain his balance.

"I'm retired Sorahiko. I'm a nurse at a high school now. I don't do field work anymore. You know that." The elderly woman said, her words turning suspicious as she turned to look away from Izuku and back towards Gran Torino with a scowl.

Gran Torino must have caught the undertone of suspicion in her voice because he immediately grew pale and stepped robotically towards the window of the hospital room. Iida's brother - Ingenium - had been released just the day before, not because he was healed, but because his condition wasn't likely to improve any more than it already had under the hospital's supervision. Izuku's classmates - including Iida - had all been forced to return to their own placements after their initial visit, and so, despite several of his classmates having forced a promise to stay in contact out of him, Izuku once more found himself left alone with his thoughts.

It was time Izuku usually would have spent as Grey Matter, the form that - in his opinion at least - he had the highest affinity with. However, his complete inability to move either of his arms, let alone set the dial on the Omnitrix somewhat precluded that.

So instead, he watched the two elders before him bicker. He'd never admit it of course, but seeing Gran Torino on the back foot like this was oddly pleasing to Izuku. The old man was such a poor loser that seeing him in anything less than snide self-assurance was somehow refreshing.

"Now, Chiyo, I know what you're thinkin' -" Gran Torino started, propping open the window he was standing by and allowing a fresh breeze that Izuku didn't realize he needed to flow through the room.

"Oh? You can read minds now, can you? All right then Sorahiko, go ahead and read my mind. Tell me, what am I thinking." Recovery Girl said, continuing to scowl and advance on Izuku's teacher.

"Um. I'm sure he had a good reason for not telling you." Izuku offered, then immediately spluttered; "M-m-m'am!" in deference when the wizened healers head whipped around to stare him down. What made the movement disconcerting to Izuku was the fact that only her head turned. She very temporarily looked like an owl swiveling its head to look behind it.

Or, in Gran Torino's expert opinion - a woman possessed by Satan.

Without speaking a word she turned back to Gran Torino, having sufficiently cowed Izuku into silence. Izuku respected his teacher, and so was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt most of the time. But that didn't mean he was going to intervene in... whatever this was for no good reason. Yes, as far as Izuku was concerted they were both responsible adults who could deal with their differences just fine on their own.

He repeated that to himself as he did his best to reduce his presence and avoid being paid any undue attention by the irate old woman before him.

Once more in Recovery Girls sights, Gran Torino paled noticeably then stammered.

"Y-you're thinking I didn't call you because I wanted to ride out my last few days in peace! But I swear, there's a good reason for that!"

"So you admit you were just being lazy!" Recovery Girl said, pouncing on Gran Torino's words like a jungle cat going for the kill.

"No! I had a good reason! I... just can't tell you what it is!" Gran Torino tried again. When his long time friend didn't appear to be buying it he changed tact.

"Anyway you're here now so - goodbye!" He said, his tone suddenly cheerful as he briefly saluted Izuku from past the small woman - and then leapt out the fifth floor window of the hospital.

Recovery Girl didn't seem surprised by the sudden escape, but Izuku found himself staring agape at the open window as if someone had just slapped him in the face. He should have expected that move. Sure it was outrageous but if he thought about Gran Torino's sore loser personality, and tendency to flaunt what was normal on the basis that 'he was too old to care' then it all made sense. The old man had even clearly opened the window for no reason while the other occupants of the room watched.

And yet it was still an insane response to the situation.

"Um. Do you two... know each other?" Izuku tried, hoping he could keep Recovery Girl's ire pointed away from him even if he had to stoke her rage against his mentor.

"Bah. That old grouch was always better at running then taking one on the chin. We used to work together." Recovery Girl said, picking up the chart situated at the base of Izuku's bed and looking over it with a critical eye that did nothing to detract from her clearly annoyed demeanor.

"Oh yeah, your both Bronze Age Heroes huh?" Izuku half muttered, getting a distracted nod from the nurse. Izuku had always found stories of the first generation of Heroes to be fascinating. Back then there had been no formal hero system, and there were drastically more villains than anything else. The only reason history books didn't describe the time period as anarchy was because - through some miracle most governments had been able to maintain rule of law in the wake of all the new and unknown Quirks that were arising each day.

Izuku frowned, his eyes darting towards the wrist he knew held the Omnitrix. There was something about that time period he was forgetting... it was just at the tip of his -

"MWAH!" Recovery Girl's puckered lips pressing into Izuku's cheek derailed his train of thought. The loud smack as she pulled them away from him caused him to turn a bright red as he tried to suppress his embarrassment.

"Oh don't be such a baby about it. You remind me far too much of another idiot to think this is the last time we'll be here." Recovery Girl quipped at him, her face still set in a half scowl. Even as she spoke Izuku could feel the power of her quirk flooding through him, reknitting bone and muscle together in one solid whole. A wave of exhaustion passed over him at the same time, and that, couple with the sudden cessation of the pain and discomfort he had been feeling up until that point was nearly enough to send him to sleep right then and there.

But he couldn't sleep yet. He had been almost completely cut off in the hospital. He had no more knowledge of how things were progressing in the outside world than what he could glean from his conversation with the Detective. And Izuku was keenly aware that knowledge, understanding, was a power unto itself. Greater than the strongest quirk, and oft overlooked by the powerful, truly knowing what was going on was something Izuku had come to understand made the difference between a competent hero, and a great one.

"What... what happened with the Nomu?" He asked, desperately struggling to keep his eyes open. Recovery Girl's lips pressed into a thin line as she watched him struggle to maintain consciousness.

"Don't you worry about it young man. The professionals handled those monsters easily. Now hush. Rest." She said, her voice taking on the practiced and soothing tone of a nurse that has seen too much suffering and truly prays for the well being of each and every one of her patients. At first her response was calming to Izuku. It was done. It was over. They had caught the Nomu. They had... stopped...

His eyes shot open in terror as several thoughts congealed in his mind at once. Did he ever tell anyone about the Armored Nomu? The one that could talk? Did Iida? Did anybody? When the Detective spoke to him he had only spoken of Stain, of the Hero Killer. There had been no mention of anything else. True Stain was a monster, but he was a monster of mortal make. He was a monster that held the same limitations and reasoning as any other human being. But the Nomu. It was less like a person and more like a force of nature. Even at his best he had only really been able to ward it away, not defeat it. And if it was smart... if it had enough intelligence to go into hiding... then it was still out there. Waiting for him.

"No!" Izuku yelped, shooting up from his bed and dislodging much of the cast holding him in place. He no longer needed it so it was a small loss, but the large disturbance was enough to halt Recovery Girl as she made to leave the room.

"Young man you must sleep! My healing-" She started in with a chiding tone before Izuku began to speak over her.

"The Armored Nomu! The one that could talk! The one from the USJ!" Izuku yelled in panic, his wild eyes turning towards the veteran hero with only the barest hint of hope in his eyes.

"Did they get that one too?" He pleaded. Recovery Girl didn't answer him - but she didn't need to. He could see it in her eyes. The confusion. The worry. She had no idea what he was talking about. Probably no one did. Iida might have reported the villain, but he hadn't seen how Izuku had ultimately defeated it. In the face of all the other troubles his taller classmate had been facing the Nomu would almost be a footnote. Something he could convincingly assume had been dealt with out of sight. Only it hadn't and Izuku had been lax in bringing up with anyone else.

"You have to-!" He started struggling to free himself from his bed. He needed one of his aliens. He needed XLR8, or Grey Matter, or Jetray - Mobility, Intelligence, Speed. It didn't matter how. He had to find that thing. No one else could -

Too late Izuku took notice of the orderlies that had rushed into the room amidst his continued tumult. Two of them rushed to his bed, one to either side of him, holding him down at the shoulders with flat stares and casual demeanors, as though bored of this situation and the many more like it they had faced before. But they didn't understand! They didn't know what was out there!

So it was that Izuku, half awake and panicked, look up and maintained eye contact with Recovery Girl for the entire time it took for him to be sedated. Only after he was soundly asleep did the older hero deign to speak or acknowledge the younger boys worries, something she did with only a single word and a dour expression.

"Shit."

-ooo-

Khoros was burning.

Zu'ku was small and weak. Easily the smallest and weakest of his kind. He had no hope of finding a wife in this life time. No hope of joining a Warband under a great warrior, or inheriting the martial prowess of a teacher. He had no skill at arms. Nor any skill making arms, which was deemed an inferior if acceptable substitute by his people.

Zu'ku was just... nothing. He had been nothing before the world had come to an end, and he had continued to be nothing of note in the waning twilight of his planet.

And all that had changed when he had met him. The greatest of all Tetramand's. The strongest, fastest, most indomitable warrior of their kind. The Hero of Khoro's himself. With a single slashed hand and a dribble of blood down his throat, he had become so much more. He had become heir to the power that would save Khoros. But even with all that, he had never believed that the power was what had made him a Hero. No, to his mind it was the words that were spoken on that day that had truly forged him into the Warleader he was always meant to be.

"Zu'ku. You too, can be a Hero."

-ooo-

The fires of Pyros dimmed.

Zucorona was a coward. He was unable to manipulate flames with the same acuity as his fellows, and bore such poor control of his own flames that he was too unsafe to be allowed to leave his homeworld. Other people were already leery of Pyronite's for their destructive nature, and it was a rare day that Zucorona went without being reprimanded for his failings.

And now his home, the only place he would ever be even slightly welcome, was dying.

The elders convened. They argued. They raged. They demanded action from allies and enemies alike. But none could see a way to reignite the planet, restoring it to its former glory. And Zucorona, he had simply wanted to help so much that he... well he had no reason not to try at least right? He had no control but he was powerful after a fashion. And reigniting a planet would be a worthy use of his life fire.

In all likelihood, had he not met him that faithful day, that was exactly what he would have done. Given his life in an attempt to help a world that only barely accepted him. And in truth, likely would not have even succeeded. But deep in the heart of his planet, beneath the cooling magma flows and the shifting tectonic plates he had encountered him. The Fireheart. The blaze that legend spoke of as the beginning of his species. And that meeting stuck out in his memory more than anything else. Even more so than the spark of godhood that had been kindled him by that meeting, the words were what gave him strength.

"Zucorona. You too, can be a Hero."

-ooo-

Aeropela - Chalybeas - Anur Transyl - Galvan Prime was burning

dying

breaking

ending

And he-

"You too-" "YoU toO-" "YOU TOO-"

"Can" "bE" "a"

"HERO!"

-ooo-

Izuku woke with a start. He had only the vaguest recollection of what he'd dreamt about. He felt it was important but somehow, no matter how much he thought over it, he just couldn't bring meaning and order to the chaotic memories flickering through his mind. He kicked his legs out from under the covers of his bed, and turned to sit on the edge its frame, eyes downcast in thought. It was his first night back from the hospital and he was anxious. He wasn't as panicked as he had originally been when understanding had donned on him back at the hospital, but he was still desperate to make it to school the next day so he could speak to All Might. As long as All Might knew about that thing out there, then everything would be okay. He had defeated before so he should be able to defeat it again. Right?

Izuku sat in the dawn of the early morning, with the sun just cresting the horizon, and knew he was lying to himself. All Might was a force of good like no other. But what Izuku knew and that nobody else seemed to grasp was that he was tired. It wasn't just about his waning power. It wasn't just about the torch that had been passed on to Izuku. It was about the man himself. Izuku knew, without a shadow of a doubt that All Might, the greatest hero that had ever lived, could and would work for the betterment of others even unto his last breath. And truthfully, that was what worried him the most. That man... the longer Izuku lived in his shadow, the greater the threats he faced, the more he truly understood the weight that rested on those titanic shoulders. And every day that Izuku failed to rise to take that weight upon himself, was a day that it would continue to hobble his mentor.

Izuku lifted his right hand, firming his grip tightly around the Omnitrix. He would still tell All Might about the Armored Nomu but... he had to be prepared to be the one who would fight it. That was the responsibility he had taken on when he had inherited All Might's power.

The rest of Izuku's morning was spent mostly in solemn contemplation. Usually he would spend that time as Grey Matter, plotting, planning, and tinkering. But today he was... he hesitated to call it depressed. Wary would be the word. Izuku was wary of the future and what it held. Which was why when he finally arrived back to school for the first time in a long time, he was completely flabbergasted to find someone sitting in his seat.

"Uh..." He spluttered at the brown haired boy of American descent leaning back in his chair and chatting amiably with Sero and Kaminari.

"Hey! Deku right? Name's Ben." The boy said pleasantly, pausing mid sentence to sit up and extend a hand towards Izuku with a grin on his face.

"O-oh! Uh, my names... actually not Deku..." Izuku said with a wince as he stretched his left hand out hesitantly to shake with the other boy. He ignored the way his classmates smirked at him when he said those words. He very much ignored the snickers from the female half of the classroom at his expense. He was perfectly aware of how hypocritical it was to let a pretty girl call him something and no one else.

"Huh. Weird. Everyone in this class is always 'Deku' this, 'Deku' that. I just assumed you know?" Ben said with a shrug before suddenly tightening his grip on Izuku's hand and twisting it so that the Omnitrix was facing upward. He examined it for a second, slowly tightening his grip with an almost bizarre amount of strength before releasing Izuku, who had begun to struggle the second attention had been drawn to the Omnitrix. Ben watched Izuku stumble backwards when the anchoring force that he was struggling against suddenly vanished.

"Nice watch." He added, smirking knowingly at Izuku. Izuku felt a sinking feeling run through him as he considered the the fact that the only two foreigners he knew were also aware of the Omnitrix. He looked around at his classmates who were mostly watching on with casual amusement, not realizing how threatening Izuku himself found those two simple words. Well most of the class anyway. Tsuyu - who almost always turned her attention towards Izuku when he was in the room - took immediate note of the smaller boys distress. It was often taken for granted the Asui was not one for social graces. She was blunt, not particularly emotive, and seemed self confident enough that she made nearly no attempt to cover those tendencies up. However this did not mean Asui couldn't be mindful, or show tact. It simply meant that she often chose not to.

With quick, almost reflexive easy, Asui's tongue shot out, stretching the length of the classroom and flicking towards Ben's head in a maneuver that most of 1-A would recognize as the Mineta Special. Truthfully, the diminutive lecher had been surprisingly well behaved since he had begun to pursue his friendship with Izuku, and they hadn't had the opportunity to see the maneuver in a good long while. It was, perhaps, a testament to the absolute strangeness of the personalities gathered in that little classroom that this more than anything else, spoke to them. It said to all of 1-A, that they were back and all was as it should be.

It was a statement that Ben however, was only all to happy to disprove, leaning back on the rear legs of his chair to avoid the overhead strike from the frog girl. Leaving no room for further reprisal, he dislodged the multi tool from his shoulder, allowing it to take the form of a quarter staff and using the suddenly extending beam of hard light to propel him up and out of his chair in a standing pole vault that landed him exactly at the front of the classroom, just in front of the teachers lectern.

"Man you and Gwen would get along great." Ben quipped, twirling his staff about him before allowing it to collapse into a form vaguely reminiscent of a gun.

"Don't bully Izuku." Asui said with a shrug, retracting her tongue and eyeing the green haired boy, who - if anything - looked even more distressed than he had before. She didn't know it yet, but there were several reasons for Izuku's sudden panic. First, Ben had clearly admitted to knowing Gwen - the woman who had previously stated her intent to take the Omnitrix from him. Second, the symbol on Ben's omnitool was on prominent display. It was a symbol that Izuku recognize very clearly as being close to the symbol on the Omnitrix itself. But beyond all that, Izuku's musings from the day before about the history of the Bronze Age of Heroism had come back to him in full force.

After all, when so much evidence was shoved in front of him, how could he not finally come to recognize that symbol? It was, after all, the symbol of the organization that had ensured the stability of America in the wake of Quirks emerging. It was the organization that had gone on to spread across the world, with Hero's of all kinds joining it's ranks. It was the symbol of the Plumbers.

And that, more than anything, did not bode well for one Izuku Midoriya.

"Eh, I was just saying hi. You wouldn't believe the stuff the 1-B guys believe about him." Ben said with a hearty chuckle and a challenging smile towards Izuku.

"Anyway, lemme introduce myself again. My name is Ben Tennyson. And I am going to be the greatest hero that ever lived." The brown haired boy declared. The silence that fell over the classroom was expected, but abrupt. Members of the class who had only barely been paying attention to the goings on until that point paused to stare at Ben. Ben could feel the sudden onrush of competitive spirit as every member of the class etched his image into their memories. This was more like it! This was what he he lived for! These kids, they had no idea who they were messing with. He was Ben-freaking-Tennyson! He'd been a Hero since he was ten years old! He had all the essential qualities and skills necessary to be a hero right now. The certification was just a formality to him. And when he graduated top of the heap? Well who else were they going to give the Omnitrix when they finally got it back?

He locked eyes with Izuku in that moment, and both of them knew, then and their.

To this person... I absolutely won't lose!

Izuku's gaze firmed up, and the grin he was famous for began to spread across his face. A pressure unlike that which the class had already brought to bare against Ben filled the room, one that was met in equal measure by this foreign boy who had invaded their classroom so early in the morning. The tension only broke, when everyone blinked, and suddenly there was someone else in the room with them.

"Honestly Ben, I came all the way from America to teach you and you can't even be bothered to be in the right classroom?" A slightly amused sounding British voice spoke up, breaking the tension slightly.

"Wha- Professor Paradox!?" Ben yowled, jumping slightly away from the middle aged man wearing a white coat with golden trim about the shoulders that had all but teleported into the room.

"Yes Ben, that is my moniker here. Honestly, I've no idea why you're so insistent on avoiding me." The older man huffed.

"Because every time you show up nothing makes sense!" Ben barked back, edging towards the door defensively.

"Ben my boy, you are a kind soul, but I must admit that you think chili cheese fries are the height of scientific improvement. I assure you that everything makes sense when I am around." Professor Paradox said with a swift roll of his eyes before vanishing between one blink and the next. Ben - who had pressed himself against the door into the classroom in preparation for an escape, released a sigh of relief. Which was the exact moment the door opened and the silver gauntleted fist of Professor Paradox reached into the room to drag him out into the hall with a strangled yelp, the door slamming shut behind him.

Izuku, and indeed the majority of 1-A stared on in dumbfounded wonder at the sudden exit of the boy who had only moments before declared himself their better. Izuku had no idea who Professor Paradox was - he had never worked with All Might and he wasn't from Japan, so he wasn't likely to have immediately come to Izuku's attention - but Ben certainly seemed wary of him. And he could clearly do something akin to teleporting which was easily one of the better Quirks Izuku could think of...

"Who the heck was that?" Kirishima asked incredulously.

"A new teacher!" Tooru squeeled, waving her arms furiously in the air to express her delight at this new development. As one the class turned their gazes on Izuku, awaiting the resident experts explanation. Izuku blinked once, then turned red as he tried to find a way to explain that, yes, he was a human and therefore might not know every hero that ever existed. He was saved however, by what happened next.

"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce myself!" Professor Paradox's voice called out from the rear of the classroom, causing Izuku to stiffen once more in surprise.

"My name is Professor Paradox. I know my accent would imply I'm British, but I operate largely out of the America's. I will be the new teacher of 1-B while Vlad King is away on business." Professor Paradox stated happily, his hand landing on Izuku's shoulder. Izuku tried very hard not to jerk away in surprise. He hadn't even managed to turn all the way around before the new teacher had moved.

"Fear not for my fellow faculty member though. He will return in due time. Somethings are simply meant to be." He chortled, shooting Izuku a meaningful glance before once more vanishing from sight. Izuku turned towards Bakugou's seat, too late realizing that uncanny quietness of the temperamental boy in the face of all this new strangeness - only to find him sound asleep in his seat. He pursed his lips in worry at that. He had never known Bakugou to be anything but energetic when it came to his lessons at UA. He was halfway to his feet in order to question his childhood friend when Aizawa - their actual teacher, finally chose that moment to sit up from behind the teachers lectern, only his face visible in the opening of his sleeping bag.

"Alright that's enough. Class has officially begun." He declared with a lazy tone that brooked absolutely no argument.

And so Izuku was forced to sit back down, and ponder all these knew changes in his surroundings in silence. He just had to make it to lunch break, then he could talk to All Might. Only... something told him that that conversation wouldn't be as reassuring as he thought it would be.

-ooo-

"Bleh. Nasty." She griped, sliding off of her most recent victim and reforming her body in the alley beside him. She had tasted this flavour before. The man she had just assaulted - possibly even murdered, she wasn't quite sure - was bland. His DNA was... how could she put this... it was like sweaty gym socks. Most strength enhancing quirks tasted like some variation of sweaty gym socks. That taste did have it's own appeal back at the beginning when she'd just gotten her Quirk. It wasn't as though that was a literal flavour she was tasting. But it was the closest she had ever been able to come to describing the sublime sensation of feeling the lifeblood and DNA of another creature flow through her gelatinous body. Did she have to get that taste from blood? No, ofcourse not. But Himiko Toga was a girl who had preferences and she was loathe to allow anyone to take that away from her.

She turned her head fractionally to the side, eyeing the entrance to the Bar she had been invited to. It was kind of cute that she had been invited to a bar. Oh she knew this wasn't an amorous meeting - she had long since learned that nothing and nobody would be able to abide her tendency to get bored of a persons flavour and move on long enough to hold a relationship together with her. She was more than aware of how her unique biology and tendencies made her repulsive to... just about everybody.

But that was why she had to go. Not just to find new and interesting DNA to taste - but because if this shitty world wasn't going to accept her than she would just have to do what any sane person would do. She would tear it down and make a new one.

That final, malicious thought, caused Himiko Toga, bearer of the Quirk: Slimebiote, to smile a jagged toothed smile that caused her already questionable stretchy physiology to warp. Her smile was - literally - ear to ear, and it promised nothing but bad things to anyone who should get in her way.

With a final absent minded kick to the stomach of the mook she had ridden here on, she strode forward into the Bar. This would later be known as the first ever meeting - of the League of Villains.

-ooo-

Once more into the breach! In so far as things go, the Slimebiote was one of my favourite things about Omniverse, and I just had to include it in my story eventually. I had pretty much always intended for Toga to be that character, because I thought her desperate loneliness lined up nicely with the Skurds nature as the last of it's species. Whether or not she actually ends up as an ally the way Skurd did remains to be seen. Toga as a character has kind of a lot more literal murder in her history than Skurd did so redeeming her might be a bit more of a stretch.

This chapter also sort of showcases the way Izuku's Ultimate Forms came to be if you pay attention.

For those unaware of the mechanics, the Omnitrix - even the default one - has always had a simulation ability to it. It takes the DNA of it's wielder, and then simulates an entire life for them as a member of the species they transform into. This means that they transform into whatever alien they pick as literally a version of themselves if they were a member of that species. In the original series, the Ultimate Aliens were the result of Albedo adding a function to the Omnitrix that simulated like a billion year death match/civil war for that species, where the final result - which was obviously specialized for combat - would be the Ultimate version of that alien. In Izuku's case that's not

quite the case. I wont get too into the details past that, but I thought I would clarify incase I have a few readers that only really watched Omniverse and never got to enjoy Ultimate Alien.

Anywho, you all know the deal. Reviews=Crack, Me=Addict. It's really that simple. Ask any questions you like in the reviews and as long as they're reasonable and not overly spoilery I'll try to answer them in my afterstory blurb.

And as always,

Thanks for reading.