#what happened to the rhinocerous guy I was fighting a second ago

[nevertheless-moving]

My Hero Academia Time Travel Swap Fic

Post Canon Yagi and Top Hero Deku abruptly swap in place and time with Pre Canon young Izuku and All-Might (Even after the war and cleanup and government overthrow quieted down, quirks never really stopped getting unreasonably, inconveniently powerful).

Yagi Toshinori laughed, full bodied, uproarious, and far too hard; Izuku had a clean red square of cloth in hand even before weathered fingers could finish reaching for the cafe’s flimsier napkins. The cloth changed hands smoothly, alongside a well worn set of sheepish grins. 

With only a brief pause for a searching look, the young man continued on with his story; Yagi smiled and wiped the blood away, letting the wide hand-motions and emphatic expressions wash over him. Try though they both did, it was rare enough that they could steal enough time for lunch together.

Already Yagi’s gaze caught on a young woman approaching nervously - he glanced away, no malice detected - perhaps an autograph seeker  (though more likely someone seeking help, which could only mean the end to a pleasant lunch and another amusing anecdote of young Shoto’s unfortunate tendency to find himself facing the worst quirk match ups). Something drew his eyes back to the girl. 

Old instincts or old paranoia? Izuku followed his eyes, but turned without much haste, clearly Danger Sense wasn’t activating so it was probably—

— A bright flash of light and a twisting sensation — ...probably fine. Well. He wasn’t coughing up blood, so that’s good. He’s staring at a vaguely familiar villain who looked just as surprised to see him. Maybe more so. Deku was nowhere in sight.

Yagi straightened, barely wobbling.

(‘I’m standing up, cafe’s gone—no I’m on a different street—differentcity—teleportation? mental trap? Vivid for a hallucination but depending on the quirk I might not notice errors...fellow with horns in front of me is clearly dangerous..but too confused to do anything for the next few seconds...My, he looks more out of sorts than I am...’)

“The fuck?” the unnamed villain breathed out, stopped in place (‘hm not frozen or paralyzed - just a non-quirked state of bewilderment’—better figure this out sooner rather than later’). The vaguely rhino-like figure was standing far too long in an exaggerated fighting stance; “You — I didn’t — what —”

(‘Didn’t I fight a rhino-themed villain who looked like him, hm, a few decades ago? Son getting revenge? But the plan went awry somehow — Great Lakes his outfit’s a pre-civil war throwback isn’t it — wait, what am *I* wearing — my clothes haven’t sagged this badly since—no, not just clothing this is—’)

“All Might?” the man asked, incredulous.

“You’re...asking if I’m All Might,” replied possibly the most recognizable old man on the planet, speaking slowly, eyes clocking ((too slow, far too slow)the slack jawed news crew behind an overturned car, the murmuring passersby slowly turning into an audience, in a careless way they hadn’t since before—’)

“I mean—he was—you are standing where he was standing, and wearing his costume,” the Rhino replied, defensively puffing out his chest ‘(The Rhino, that was his name—looks like he’s getting over the shock, shit’}. 

“And you do sort of look like him, if he suddenly had all his blood and muscles pulled out of his body and his hair gel removed and — are you like his dad? Or did you get hit by a quirk or something?” 

The tone was gradually growing arrogant; out of the corner of his eye, Yagi spotted a look in the Reporter’s eyes, a look he associate almost solely with reporters — fear slowly being edged out by unholy glee at a big, destructive, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The crowds’ whispering picked up. The Rhino straightened all the way into a proper loom, a sneer crumpling thick skin.

All Might smiled back.

The sneer flickered, clearly unnerved. Even Izuku, his dear boy, had to admit - his smile was a bit unnerving, if you weren’t used to it. Especially when he made a point to show the All Might Classic Full Mouth Of Teeth out of his unarguably (well, Izuku did argue that one, and so do quite a few others—) skull prominent face.

All Might raised a finger and ever so carefully stood tall, vertebrae cracking loudly in the sudden hush. At 7 foot,3 inches, he tended to rival all but the largest of mutation quirks, and the Rhino paused on the backfoot, uncertain. Yagi’s muscles already strained, ruefully missing his walking stick.

“Hold that thought, I’ll answer in just a moment”

Making a snap decision — ‘either this is in my head, in which case I need time to figure out the parameters to escape, or its not, and i need back-up quickly to not get flattened by a C-rank villian’

He turned, still smiling widely, to the reporter, who’s eyes went wide at the attention.

“Excuse me,” Yagi called out, voice echoing over the rubble of a battleground just barely broken-in.

“Hello over there—” He let the grin soften for the camera, (it has to be live, if this isn’t live wer’e all dead). It was still probably...a lot, for this time-period un-acclimated to more banged-up heroes, but a few fewer teeth were showing now at least.

“—I think I may have been hit by a quirk; would you mind telling me what year it is?”