Ceasefire - The Way Out

[mockmods]

[And then you wake up.]

[The room is dimly lit and made of pitted, industrial metals. You sit up abruptly on- some sort of padded table or cart? There’s a caged structure of metal piping surrounding you like a low barrier, but it’s open on top. You might similarly have a moment of panic about the straps holding you down or the electrodes on your head, but they’re just velcro and lightly tacked on, respectively, and in no significant way prevent you from sitting bolt upright and getting onto your feet. A series of twenty one such tables ring the room at even intervals. All but one has an occupant.]

[However long it takes you to notice, there a twenty of you again. Patches, the Trusty, and Yaiba, the Legendary Bassist, are back among your number. Penny, unfortunately, seems to be missing. Whatever you were wearing to the trial, or at the time of your death, you are back in the clothing you wore when you initially arrived. If anyone checks, CAREFULLY PLEASE, they will find that any powers they may have been missing are back.]

[The room is lit well enough, and there are computer banks and monitors around all the walls, which look to have been monitoring your vitals until just this second. Wires and tubes lead from each table to the center of the room, where a low pool is filled with a thick, milky-looking liquid that looks incredibly disinviting to touch.]

[A door rests on each side of the room, a glowing hand-sized pad beside each.]

[Welcome back, Participants.]

[Now, what do you do?]

((One clarification - any active powers that require some kind of power source or connection from your home worlds will either be not active or severely weakened.))

Comments

[mockmods]

[Not from the inside, apparently! It's got another electronic pad beside it, but touching that seems to be enough.]

[The door slides open, complaining slightly, and Izuku is greeted with cold sunlight and brisk winter air.]

[mightdoriya]

[The coldness of the air and the bright light is enough to take his breath away the moment the door opens. For a second or two he stands blinking in the sunlight as it pours in around him, his hair tousled by the light breeze. And he laughs, because it's almost too good to be true.] Hey...h-hey! This- this door leads outside! [Presumably. If this is yet another simulation he'll just be sad.]

[mockmods]

[THE SKY TURNS TO STATIC AND FILLS WITH HODGEPODGE'S GRINNING FACE-]

[Yeah, no, it seems legit? Blue winter sky, a light dust of snow on the ground, and a ramp of packed Earth leading down from the open door. Gonna explore at all?]

[mightdoriya]

[Well...he's hesitant to just leave without any of the others, but he will step just outside of the door to see what there is to see from the entrance, shielding his eyes from the sun.]

[hyaku]

[It's okay because Shigeo is here after the initial confusion of everything else. He caught sight of the green mane taking a step outside and decides to follow him in the end, because he hasn't talked to him yet since.. everything that happened.]

Midoriya-kun.

[mightdoriya]

[Izuku is quick to turn when he hears Shigeo's quiet voice, steam from the cold leaving his mouth every time he breathes.] Kageyama-kun! [Shit since he woke up he didn't even think to check on the others...but the moment Shigeo comes over Izuku is quick to rush to him, putting both hands on his shoulders.] Are you alright?

[hyaku]

[Shigeo gives a little smile at Izuku's question, and he nods in response to it.]

I'm just glad everyone's alive.

[Brrr... it's cold though, and he gives a little shiver from the breeze.]

[mightdoriya]

[As cold and snowy as it is out there, Izuku appreciates it. It's thrilling, to be able to be outside at all, breathing in fresh air.] Y-yeah...yeah, me too. And look- there's a way out of here. We can get everyone else together and we can get out.

[hyaku]

We can go home...

[When Shigeo says that, a warmer smile spreads across his face. He'd been ignoring the fact that he was gone from home-- instead focusing on the tasks presented at hand and now that they're safe it hits him like a brick. He'd been gone for... who even knows how long. A week? Two? And the idea of leaving his younger brother alone for that long after he had just saved him from a kidnapping twists at his guts like a knife... but it doesn't matter. He's going to go home. He'll see him again. It'll be okay.

Though.. if they're from different universes, that means he probably won't see Izuku again. He's... probably been the best friend he's had, barring Teru. But he still doesn't know a lot about Teru.. it's not like they hang out together regularly. Izuku was someone he got to know, and someone he could hang out with every day and trust with his worries. But it's pretty likely that he'll never see him again after this.

That's a thought that fills his mind and before he really realizes it, he pulls Izuku in for a hug.]

....thank you for being my friend, Midoriya-kun.

[mightdoriya]

[Oh Izuku almost staggers when he's suddenly dragged forward, not having expecting Shigeo to just...hug him, like that. But after a moment, he reaches out and returns the gesture, giving him a light squeeze.] Of course, Kageyama-kun. I wouldn't trade having met you for anything.

[hyaku]

[Shigeo is quiet when he hears that from Izuku, but it's less because he has nothing to say and more because he's trying to keep himself together. It's not goodbye just yet, after all. They still need to figure out how to actually get back to their own homes from here but it just.. it's a very touching sentiment, honestly. He's not sure if he can recall anyone saying anything like that to him before.

But he can't cry over this, especially not with his powers back. Not that he feels particularly stressed but he just.. doesn't want to chance it. Everyone here is a friend, it'd be awful if he lost control.

So after a few moments of just letting himself cry silently into Izuku's shirt, Shigeo lets go and pulls back with a smile, tears still clinging to his cheeks but he decides to ignore that and change the subject.]

Oh, right. I said I'd show you my powers before, didn't I?

[mightdoriya]

[Oh Shigeo...his crying makes Izuku tear up pretty immediately, prompting him to hold him even closer while blinking his own tears away. When Shigeo does finally pull away, Izuku is reaching up to wipe at his eyes, his brows raising at that comment.] You did say that...did you get yours back too?

[hyaku]

[Boys...

Shigeo gives Izuku an excited looking nod, and he wipes his eyes off on his sleeve as he mentally prepares himself to use them for the first time in two weeks.]

I can do a lot of things with them, but this is what I usually do.

[He holds his hand out to Izuku, and suddenly the teenager is illuminated in a blue glow and starts to float.]

[mightdoriya]

Wh- aa-ah!! [Izuku knew what Shigeo's power was, and still...being lifted up into the air like this surprises him. Maybe it's just because it feels like it's been years since it's happened to him, and he feels a gut wrenching sensation of surprise and nostalgia over it all at once.] Your powers really are just like Uraraka-san's!

[mockmods]

[The ramp leads down to the top of a huge, rolling ridge of earth that curves around to each side, snug up against the facility. Which, if Izuku looks, is much bigger than the areas they've had access too; the exterior walls stretch up and around, like the bottom of a massive bowl.]

[It also looks damaged as shit under the light frost clinging to it; the metal is badly burned and cratered, and some spots feature jagged holes punched through the exterior. Moss and lichens have begun sprouting in places, beginning the slow process of nature reclaiming the abandoned structure.]

[The nearest feature beyond that is the beginnings of a sprawling mountain forest in the distance, trees growing thick.]

[Between here and there? Looks to be a whole lot of nothing.]

[mightdoriya]

[It's almost too good to be true, seeing the world as it is outside. Of course, the very stark lack of civilization poses an immediate concern...not to mention how overgrown everything seems to be. It was...what, two weeks they were captured? If it all was never real, at least what happened wasn't...how much time had passed out here?]