Chapter Text
Katsuki
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From the moment he had gotten up that morning, Katsuki knew he should have called in sick. When he'd mentioned the odd feeling, he had when he woke up, Izuku had told him to just call in sick. Hell, he'd even volunteered to call in for him. Of course, he'd brushed off the idea. What sort of hero would he be if he called in sick just because he had a bad feeling twisting in his gut?
So, he watched Izuku put on his hero uniform, mumbling something about a joint training exercise between Class 1-A and class 1-B that he and Aizawa were going to be doing today while Katsuki felt like this might be the last time he saw him. He clenched his fists, anxiety washing over him.
Izuku paused in his rambling, turning to look at him. "Hey, are you going to be okay today?"
He swallowed past the lump in his throat, nodding. "Yeah, I just have a weird feeling. Be safe, okay?"
His husband's features softened, and he stepped towards the fiery blond, those shining emerald eyes staring at him. "Of course, baby, always." A scarred hand touched his face, and Izuku gave him a small smile. "You're the one going on patrol today." He set his gloves down on the countertop next to his coffee. "It's not too late to call out, if you've got a bad feeling, maybe it's best to stay home."
Katsuki rolled his eyes, "Ground Zero doesn't call out over anxiety and I know for a fact that Dekiru doesn't either."
"Of course not, my big, strong hero has to be there to protect people." He could hear the teasing tone in Izuku's voice. Izuku hugged him, slipping his hands into Katsuki's back pockets. He tilted his head up at him, and Katsuki leaned down to kiss him.
He didn't want to let go. Something was going to go wrong. He could feel it. He tucked his head into the side of Izuku's neck, inhaling the earthy smell of vetiver and vanilla of the soap that Izuku used.
As they both parted ways outside the small house that they lived in during the school year, he watched those green curls bounce away from him with an ache that he wasn't sure he wanted to know where it came from.
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Patrol was a shit show. He was so tired. Some low-level villain decided to use trigger and caused a building to collapse. Ground Zero and Red Riot were sifting through the debris after the battle was over, trying to see if there was anyone still inside. Luckily the small store had been mostly empty when it came down, and so far, everyone had minor injuries. He could hear quiet sniffling, and he lifted an overturned shelf to see a dark-haired child, curled up in a protective ball.
"Red! I got one over here!" He called over to his patrol partner as he set the shelf over on its side gently. "Hey there, are you hurt?" Wide, frightened eyes looked up at him as the child slowly shifted and blinked. The child whimpered, clutching their head. "What's your name, little guy?" He knelt, holding out his hand to help them up.
Their eyes were so black, the pupils were silver, a striking contrast that he knew would have Izuku so fascinated. The child tentatively brought their hand up to his. The sound of Red Riot jogging over made him turn his head, he smiled up at his friend as he approached. Red Riot glanced down at the child, his usually happy face turning into worry as he watched the child in front of him start glowing as Ground Zero's hand connected with the tiny hand. Everything went quiet and dark.
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Katsuki blinked, glancing around. The overhead lights of the small shop flickered. The shelf in front of him was upright and stocked. The child was gone. He slowly stood up, warily looking around. The walls of the shop were intact. The shopkeeper he had rescued earlier frowned at him from behind the counter.
Okay Katsuki, you were probably hit by a quirk. Don't panic.
He glanced at the clock above the register, comparing the time to his phone. The time was the same, but he sighed at the fact that he had no signal. The man behind the counter eyed him warily. Katsuki waved at him, "Hey, umm I know this is a weird question, but do you know what the date is?"
The man looked around, "Uh, it's June 15th, 2108." He narrowed his eyes at Katsuki. "Where did you come from?"
Katsuki frowned, apparently it was the exact same day he had been in. "Is that clock correct?"
"Yes, it is. Now where did you come from? Are you a hero or a villain?" The man was glaring at him now.
Katsuki paused, he really wasn't used to anyone not recognizing him. "I'm a hero. My name's Ground Zero." He glanced around at the shop, trying to get his bearings. "I think I was hit by a quirk."
The man's posture changed from wary to hostile. "I need you to leave. Now."
"What?"
"I can't be seen with heroes in here, so I need you to leave."
Something about the hostile, yet panicked tone the man spoke with had Katsuki shake his head and wander outside. "Alright, I'm going." He knew his past self would have probably threatened to blow up the shop, but honestly, he was just confused at this point. He glanced around, the area was familiar, but something was off about it. He touched the communicator in his ear and was met with just static. With a sigh, he wandered back towards the agency. He did his best to ignore the frightened looks of people that he walked by and the fact that several changed sides of the street as he walked down it.
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The Genius office was... gone. All that was left was a pile of concrete and broken glass. Whatever happened here, didn't look recent. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hand, ignoring the tremble in the limb. Maybe he hit his head. Maybe he's passed out right now, and this is just a nightmare. Yeah, that must be it. He's unconscious right now.
The next best thing would be to head back to UA. If anyone could figure out what's going on, it'd be Izuku. After the day he had, he really just wanted to hug his husband and forget everything that happened today. He took off, using his explosions to fly through the air. He really didn't feel like taking the train back to Musutafu, and this would be faster. Luckily, this also allowed him to take a straight-line route back to UA.
As he approached the campus, he realized something was wrong. Very, very wrong. The grass was overgrown; there was trash and debris along the edges of buildings. Some of the buildings were broken husks. He landed in the front courtyard, looking around cautiously. As he stood there, he could feel someone watching him in the dim light as the sun started dipping below the horizon. A glance upwards, and he was relieved to see the dark figure of Aizawa. Though, there was also something off about the way he was standing, and his eyes were glowing that continuous red, even though he had blinked.
The hair on his neck stood on end about the unnerving way he was watching him silently. Katsuki blinked, and he was gone. He felt the air change behind him, and he whirled, gauntlet raised to defend himself, only to hesitate when he sees the face of his high school teacher. The capture scarf flies towards him, wrapping him tight as if the fabric had a mind of its own.
"Aizawa, what the fuck?" Katsuki was pulled forward, and the harsh face of Aizawa stared down at him.
"Dynamight, you're supposed to be dead." Aizawa tilted his head to study his face. His voice was unnaturally raspy and distorted.
"Who the fuck is Dynamight? Aizawa, I don't know what's going on. Where is Izuku?" Katsuki struggled against the bindings, but his quirk wouldn't even spark to life. He glanced back up, and the grin across Aizawa's face made fear skitter down his spine.
"You want me to take you to Izuku?"
Katsuki could feel his own heart racing. "Yes, take me to Izuku."
"As you wish." A dark red portal opened, it reminded Katsuki of looking at red nebulas when researching the stars with Izuku. The edges of the portal were golden. Aizawa pushed him through it, still wrapped in the capture weapon. It felt cold inside the portal. Cold and empty. When they stepped back out, he blinked at the bright lights inside the support department building.
Electronic pieces and metal scraps were everywhere. A bed had been set up against one of the walls and Katsuki could see that someone was lying in it, dark hair poking out in different directions over the edge of the blanket. There was frantic mumbling happening at one of the tables, as the sounds of a pencil flying across a piece of paper. The sound of the paper ripping and being crumpled filled the quiet workshop, and the paper ball was thrown against the wall where it landed in the corner, joining a pile of other discarded pages. The person in front of him was wearing a black hoodie, the hood pulled up over their hair.
Aizawa yanked him forward. "Master, we have a visitor who insisted I bring him to you."
Katsuki frowned. Master? "I told you to bring me to Izuku, what the hell is going on Aizawa?"
The writing stopped, and the person sat up straighter. A voice that was so familiar, but oh so wrong responded, "Oh, Eraser, and it's not even my birthday." The man turned to look at his captive, a manic grin on his face.
Katsuki's breath caught in his throat. This was Izuku, but it was not Izuku. His scars, god there were so many scars, and they were all wrong across his face. One ran down across his cheek, as if he'd been cut by a claw in the past, and a large starburst burn scar covered the other cheek, the eye white and it looked like he was blind on that side. His hair fell into his face, a dark green, much too dark, much too long.
Rough, calloused hands touch his face, tilting his chin back and forth to inspect him. "How are you here?" There's a hint of awe to the man's voice. "I watched you die. I watched you disintegrate to dust, and I lamented it. So, tell me, Dynamight, how are you here?"
The person sleeping in the bed shuffles and sits up. "You only lamented his death because Tomura did it. You wanted that honor for yourself." Katsuki's heart drops when he realizes it's Dabi. Dabi, who is supposed to be dead. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
That solitary emerald green eye is cold as he stares up at him. "Are you going to answer me, hero?"
Katsuki opens his mouth again. "I'm not- I'm not Dynamight."
The man blinks at him twice before a laugh bubbles out of his chest. "Oh, this is too good. Let me guess, your dumbass got hit with a quirk, and voila, here you are?" Katsuki nods, swallowing down the anxiety. "This is the best day ever!" His eyes trail down, and he eyes the gauntlets curiously. "Those are an upgrade. Who made you those?"
Katsuki squirms in the restraints, "Does it matter?"
He's aware of the jaw twitching of the man in front of him. "What should I call you, hero? Since you're not my Kacchan, and you insist you're not Dynamight."
"Ground Zero."
"Interesting that you'd use a name I suggested all those years ago." Shaking hands yank his gauntlets off, dropping them onto the table behind him. "These will make a great addition to my hero collection." He gestures around the walls above them. "And as you can see, I have quite the collection."
Katsuki regrets looking up at the walls. He regrets it so much. He can see Aoyama's belt, Ida's exhaust pipes, Jiro's headphones, Todoroki's bracers, Kaminari's sunglasses, Monoma's pocket watch, Shinso's face mask, Amajiki's visor, and his own gauntlets up there. An outdated version, but his gauntlets. Shit, there's even Endeavor's pauldron's and Present Mic's speaker box. His face pales.
"I can show you the rest of my collection later, since we have so much time to catch up but first-" He picks up something metal from the table next to him, moving forward to clasp it around Katsuki's neck. He can hear an electronic lock engage. He smiles up at him, gesturing to his own face at the starburst scar. "I'd hate to have a repeat experience, I'm sure you understand."
Realization flashes across Katsuki's face. He did that. The other him. The thought of blinding his Izuku, of hurting him like that churns his stomach. Sure, he'd been a shit in elementary school. But he and Izuku made up in middle school. It took therapy, but he would gladly spend every single day of the rest of his life making it up to his Izuku. But this? This was not his Izuku.
He's so distracted by the thought that he hadn't realized that this world's Izuku was closer. Katsuki cleared his throat. "What do you want me to call you?"
"Call me Wraith, since that's the name I ended up with when Dynamight left me for dead."
Katsuki exhales sharply. "He should never have done that to you."
Wraith's eyes narrow at him, contemplating before he takes a step back and it looks like all his previous energy leaves him. "I'm tired, Eraser. Remove all of his weapons and add him to the collection. Put him with Dabi's pet for now. They can keep each other company."
Katsuki watches as Wraith trudges over to the bed in the corner, dropping himself onto it as if he was exhausted. It churns his stomach to watch as Dabi pulls the blanket over him, petting his hair and whispering quietly to him as he tucks the smaller man against his chest. He has to remind himself repeatedly that this isn't his Izuku. Dabi catches him looking, those bright teal eyes staring for a moment before he smirks and leans down to kiss along the side of Wraith's neck, keeping his eyes locked on Katsuki the entire time.
"This might sting, Ground Zero." Katsuki is barely aware of the words before he feels a pinch on his own neck and his world goes black.