Chapter 1

Hi everyone, I'm back with a new story to present to you all. This one I have been wanting to do for awhile but haven't got a chance to get around. So after some time to myself I thought why not and put this story together.

None of this would have been possible without the help of urbinatzation. So huge shoutout for helping me making this happen like seriously, thank you.

Also shoutout to kumokaya for the story cover art. Another huge thanks to this gorgeous piece of artwork.

So yeah, before we get right in to it. Context. The Justice League roster that is being used is based off of Scott Synder Comic run from 2018-2020 that recently just wrapped up. But, the Justice League in this story is from original Earth based off of all different medias in DC.

Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy

When Cyborg first opened his eyes to red-orange hues dancing with stars, he did not hesitate to shut them again. There was a soothing warmth to it combined with a fresh atmosphere. The air was different and the white noise was unfamiliar, but all he could think was that it was a dream. There wasn't anything else to it; he probably just had a long day of crime fighting and needed the rest. Human bodies were always prone to doing that.

But then he heard the wail of a siren, and immediately hopped out of his—wait. This wasn't a bed, this was definitely concrete. Not only did he nearly ram his head into one of the nearby air vents, but he was rolling over and he would've found himself off an office building in seconds. The "soothing warmth" was actually fire and smoke coming from nearby structures, and he could hear the screams of many echoing in the sky.

Note to the robot man: he was required to take some time off whenever they were done fighting crime and saving others.

Cyborg walked towards the edge of the building and looked down; ants? No, those were definitely people. Frightened people. This wasn't his first rodeo in watching people panic, but it was always a little jarring to see how people who weren't typically superheroes react to certain situations. Not only that, but the way this played out before him wasn't exactly… normal?

Since when did normal human beings wear skin-tight suits like the League did, and since when were they attacking with lasers and swords? Why were they blowing up buildings and trying to take the people nearby down with it? Why were they wrecking so much havoc? There were a lot of questions he had and not a lot of answers; he would have to go down there and get information himself.

But just as he was about to jump down, someone or something snatched his wrist up and pulled him away from the edge. He jerked his head around with a sharp glare, but wasted no time softening it upon seeing that it was two people that he recognized almost instantly: Superman and Aquaman.

God, he had so many questions.

"Glad to see your metallic body has kept you alive and well." Aquaman smirked, "Are you quite alright, Cyborg?"

"I'm not gonna lie: part of me wants to be relieved that I'm not here on my lonesome, but the other part of me is wondering why you guys stopped me from saving the people below us."

Superman, who was the cause of his halting, finally let go. "As much as I appreciate the fact that you're ready to spring into action, I am highly against it for the time being."

"That's unlike you."

"Take a good long look around you, Cyborg. What do you see?"

What did he see? That was simple. He saw sleek buildings that were now tarnished in broken glass and fumes. He saw helicopters and cars passing by in his peripherals. He saw people with what seemed like powers and they were using them for an assortment of different reasons. He wasn't quite sure what Superman was getting at; what else did he need to see? Celebrities? Big fans?

The childish part of him wanted to blurt out that joke – particularly to the Flash who always laughed – but then… Oh.

The Flash wasn't here. Hawkgirl wasn't here, either. If this was a classroom, perfect attendance was definitely not met yet.

"...So am I going to assume that you know where they are, or?"

"Nope." Aquaman chimed in.

"Do you know where we are?"

"Also a negative."

"Do we know how we got here, or are you just going to answer before Clark has a chance to speak?"

There was a moment of silence. Aquaman dolphin chirped a couple of times, and Superman had to butt in before the two of them went back and forth over something stupid.

"That might have been my fault..." His hardened expression made both of them shut up. "Let me refresh your memory since you seem to have your sense of time mixed up."

There was no doubt about it, the Justice League had split up sometime after Superman used his Heat Vision during their ongoing battle with Darkseid. This malicious, world reforming man had been up to no good for ages but it was the first time in awhile that the team was able to get a lead on him. He desperately wished to launch another attack on Earth – well, their Earth – and was trying to escape using a Boom Tube and a Mother Box. Everyone was either preoccupied or injured, and there wasn't much time before the man slipped out of their grasp once again.

He flew as close as he could in order to set off a high impact Heat Vision, but at the cost of taking everything down with him. Just as he thought he stopped the New God from running away, a vortex had appeared in the center of the battlefield. It flickered, it sent out sparks, and then he found him and all of his friends sucked away into a black abyss.

He told them all to hang on to each other, but the wormhole was a lot stronger than they had ever anticipated. Everyone was ripped away from one another, and it wasn't long before everything in the world faded to black.

When he originally woke up, he was all by himself. It wasn't until Aquaman had emerged from the sea that the two of them rendezvoused back onto the land and went off looking for the others. Finding Cyborg went a lot quicker than what they had expected.

And, well, there they were.

The robot man couldn't quite comprehend what was going on just yet, but he tried his best to. This wasn't their first rodeo by any means; there were probably more instances of them traveling to different realms than he could count on his fingers. This just so happened to be one of few times where everyone was split, and they had no way of contacting them.

Now it was his turn to sound displeased. "Can't we just heat vision the sky and hope that takes us back?"

Superman shook his head. "You know that's not how it works, and even if we could, I still haven't recovered. We're better off learning the way this world functions and searching for our friends."

"We do have to admit that there is a lot more to this world than we have ever expected in our lives." Aquaman pointed to the ocean in the distance, "The people here are not like our own. The quality of life is not like our own. There is so much more to this world than what is let on, so it might be best to ask first."

"What's more, is that splitting off again won't do us any good. We need to stick together. It's the only reason why I wouldn't let you go off on your own."

"Okay, okay fair..." Cyborg continued to look around. "So, where exactly do we start?"

"I overheard some superhumans over there talking about a boy leaving their sight. Something about him potentially being in danger." Superman shot into the air, "Maybe if we're able to find them, we might get some answers about our location."

"Really, Clark? A boy?"

"He's not very good at explaining things, is he?" Aquaman hopped over to the very edge of the building. "This boy is apparently looking for another boy; they both attend some sort of school dedicated to being superheroes, and there's some scum out there who just might kill them."

"...You lost me at 'superhero school.'" Cyborg hopped onto the next building. "You know what, I don't care anymore. The sooner we can find the others, the better. Clark, you still haven't answered my question."

"The others were coming from the south, so I'm going to assume that taking the north would be the best course of action. We will start there."

Another hop. "And if we can't find them?"

"Then we just keep looking until we do. There's no more time to waste, friends."

This whole fiasco felt like the end of the world for Deku.

Not the literal end of the world by any means, but the end of the world that he created in his head. The end of heroism as he knew it. The end of how he perceived Pro Heroes, as well as well as what it meant to be a hero in the first place. There was something about these starstruck thoughts that he couldn't put his hands on, but it's not like he had the chance to do it right now anyway.

...

Hosu City was under attack, and there were a number of things that ran through his mind as it all unfolded.

For starters, this attack was a lot different and a lot more volatile than what they could've predicted. Originally, when the students at U.A. were attacked by the so-called League of Villains the only damage that was brought upon them was the school and some of the facilities. There weren't any deaths or injuries, and first responders didn't really have to do much because Pro Heroes were already working in the area. In this case, there were only so many that were able to tackle different situations; not everyone could put out fires or rescue falling civilians after all.

Next, Nomu. Not just one, but three. Three whole nasty-looking creatures that resembled the bulky bird during that attack were now moving around the city and causing trouble. Lives were already being taken, and Pro Heroes weren't sure of how to handle them. Hell, they had to play a guessing game with the original Nomu until All Might came in and took it down. Deku knew for a fact that information could only spread so fast, and the Pros were more focused on getting any and every student or inexperienced folk out of the area before it got worse.

The cherry on top of it all was the fact that Iida went missing. He wasn't at school or at his house, and no one had heard from him all day. He completely vanished without a trace – at least until the assault began. He caught wind by some of the other heroes that he ran off to go avenge his brother, and Deku could only link that to him hearing that Ingenium was attacked by the Hero Killer himself. Iida was never the type to be reckless, but then again the boy definitely showed signs of changing after the school was protected. There must have been a lot of turmoil going on. He didn't want anyone to worry.

But now he was worried. Everyone was worried. He had to take it upon himself to go find his friend before it was too late.

The last thing he wanted to see was blood all over a mangled body.

Deku had gotten a better grip on his powers, but he knew for a fact that he was still new to the whole hero thing. One for All wasn't entirely contained yet, and Deku didn't think he could do much if he did end up running into the Hero Killer… but he couldn't worry about the "what ifs" now.

All that mattered to him was the fact that the city was burning, and his friend was in trouble. He'd have to take the risks and deal with the consequences later.

There had to be a lead somewhere. He remembered the Pros always saying something about a light being at the end of the tunnel. An opening when things looked grim. Once he found a clue or a tip about this close friend of his, he was sure he could find him and pull him out of harm's way.

But what was the clue? Where was Iida? What was the information that he had to keep an eye out for?!

An ear-piercing outcry broke him out of his thoughts: "Boy, move!"

Had anyone else heard something like this, it would be an instinctive reaction to move out of the way. There were never questions, they just followed commands.

But this wasn't "anyone else" the random hero was screaming to. This had to be the overly analytical boy that was still working on sorting his thoughts out on approaching the situation.

Deku turned around, and his eyes instantly widened. His jaw dropped. Everything was moving so quick, yet so slow. He heard the loud outcry from the bulky, brain-bulged Nomu he knew so well. He knew exactly what took it down when it originally attacked his peers at the USJ.

Yet, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to approach this situation.

He was telling his legs to move – telling his body to move. He was vocal about it, but his voice trembled with every word he tried to muster. The beefy monstrosity had its arms in the air and its body towering over him; it was gonna pummel him down and crush him under the weight. It's full intent was to kill.

And from how everything looked right now, there wasn't a person around that could stop the thing from taking him and his peers out.

He put his arms up and covered his face while thoughts flashed here and there. Thoughts from back to when he had no quirk. Back to when his "best friend" – one sided, now that he thought about it – told him that he wouldn't amount to anything. Maybe he was right. Maybe this hero business was just not cut out for him, and that the death he and his classmates were to experience would be the price he had to pay. When his thoughts got to him like this, all he could do was apologize.

Apologize to All Might for wasting his quirk on him. Apologize to his mom, for going to school when she was hesitant to let him go in the first place. Apologize to himself.

He closed his eyes and stood in place; it wasn't like him to just accept his fate, but maybe in another life he would grow to understand that being a Pro Hero wasn't just about flaunting off superpowers.

Maybe, just maybe…

…

Silence.

There was no wait crushing his body. He didn't blackout, either. Instead, all he heard was a disoriented scream come from the Nomu's direction. Followed by a slam into the ground.

Deku peeked through his arms and saw… red and blue? All Might? No, All Might have cried out his signature move and the whole arena would've felt a powerful gust surpass them in the air. He knew his teacher's habits.

So then, if this wasn't All Might, who was it?

He heard a sudden splash from the nearby water area, too. A bulky, blonde man front-flipped onto the "shore" with his fists and a pole-arm in hand. Looks like he might have stolen it from one of the villains on his way here. Deku noticed him drop out of the water like it was his livelihood.

He would assume these were Pro Heroes, but this didn't seem to be the case. He had every single piece of information about every single hero he saw in action written away in the notebooks he carried for school. He knew each Pro and how their quirks worked. Their "divisions" and utility when it came to battle. So, who were they?

Who were these people, and where did they come from? Why did they all have suits like the Pro Heroes did?

A clunky, steel-ridden man pushed some cars out of the way and gestured for some civilians to scram before he caught up. "Nice job, Superman. You found out where the people were in the midst of all this mess. I thought you said your vision didn't work!"

"He said it didn't work for prolonged periods of time." Aquaman pointed his pole-arm towards the dry and flaky man, "Not that it really matters. We can tell when people need help."

"Cyborg, enough chatter." He charged his fist into the Nomu again, "Get these people to safety now."

Nothing was really registering in that big brain of Deku's, but he couldn't dismiss the fact that he was grateful someone had come to the rescue. It was just jarring that he hadn't a clue on who these people were in the first place.

Not only that, but what if they were also villains? The robot man that was approaching him seemed dead set on getting his attention, but there was no way that he could take them on at this point in time. He only recently got a grip on how his Quirk could be utilized, and there was still a lot of training that he had to undergo in order to perfect his punching. He would prefer to risk it all on the Hero Killer over trying to fend off these people. It was best if he made a break for it now.

"Kid, come back," cried one of the three newcomers,"hey!"

Deku wouldn't listen; in fact, he used the incoming dust clouds as a distraction to hide between the buildings and make his escape. He slipped between the alley, pulled out his phone, and kept on running.

Going after Iida was reckless enough as it is, but if Iida was going after the Hero Killer then that was even worse. There was a very slim chance that he could drive that man away, and an even slimmer chance that the two of them could get out there alive. He needed to reach someone that knew how his mind worked, and would respond almost immediately.

And then it came to him. Todoroki.

Deku sent out a photo of his location, silenced his phone, and kept on going. There was no way of knowing where Iida was, but there was something in his gut that told him that he wasn't that far off.

And that's a wrap, if anyone of you guys have questions or confused about anything. Let me know in the comments and leave a review which is very much appreciated.

Not very long as it should have but hopefully future chapters will be longer. Updates for this story depends on time and schedule cause I'm already working with FMW on Spirit Unto Dawn. If response to this story are positive and big, I'll probably do a follow up.

Other than that, hope everyone is taking care of themselves in these difficult times were in and that we stay strong. Goodbye and take care.