{This was going to be the scene where the big mystery is finally uncovered, as briefly mentioned in the A/N, and is the most completed draft I possess. Please note that this scene is completely platonic and meant to show how Lou and Deku's friendship has grown since the beginning of the story.}
Lou woke up in a cold sweat.
Again.
She grabbed her phone off the nightstand, sighing. 3 AM. A solid four hours of sleep. Wonderful. She silently slid out of bed, careful not to wake Holly, and walked out of the room. She wandered down the dark hall, making her way to the reaction room. She stepped in front of the wall opposite the hallway entrance and pressed her hand against it carefully. With a small multicolored flash, the wall caved in, a doorway appearing.
Lou stepped through the doorway, not looking back.
~*~
Midoriya Izuku couldn't sleep that night.
He really didn't know what it was, but he wasn't tired. Not even slightly. He tried training, which lasted for a solid two hours before he stopped. Deku was exhausted, but not at all sleepy. He showered off, changed into pajamas, and tried to sleep anyway. After about an hour of just lying in bed, stuck with his own thoughts, still restless, he gave up. He turned his bedroom lights back on, sat atop his covers, and sighed. What could he do? He was tempted to scroll through something random on his phone, but he decided if he was stuck awake, he wanted to do something at least somewhat productive. Maybe... read? There was one book on the Shelf that had caught his eye, but he never took it. Renegades, he suddenly remembered. A series about heroes and villains in a modern setting, where people are born with supernatural abilities and can use them for good or bad. Not quite like a typical superhero comic. A lot like my normal world, but... different. With nothing better to do, he left his room and ventured down the long hallway, making it to the reaction room with the intent of just grabbing the book from the Rec Room* and going back to his bedroom.
Or, well, that was the plan, until he saw the gap in the wall.
Deku freaked out a bit initially. Where did this come from? It was right across the room from the Hall of Personal Spaces' entrance. He slowly approached it, crossing the room, staring at the new opening and wondering where it led. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the gap, and into utter darkness.
He couldn't see a thing. Izuku mentally groaned, wishing he had a flashlight when he suddenly touched something. It was cool and smooth, completely solid. Metal, most likely. Feeling around, he realized he had stumbled upon a ladder. He began to climb it.
Deku had been climbing up blindly for about a minute when he started panicking. What if this lead nowhere and he got stuck? It was also around this time that he saw a dim light above him. He brushed his anxiety aside and climbed faster, eventually reaching a small room.
There was a small cot, a few blankets, and fairy lights and faux flowers strung around the perimeter. Various posters and drawings plastered the walls, along with what looked like letters, Polaroids, and... to-do lists? One main table near the cot held only four objects; an electric kettle, matcha powder, a mug, and a fairly large avocado toast plushie. The table had quite a few drawers, but Izuku didn't want to invade the privacy of whoever had been there. Another door at the edge of the room was half open, and he could see a few monitors and screens, all turned off, reflecting the light of the room. He softly gasped. This was Lou's room; where they had hidden during the first few reactions before revealing themself. He walked toward the room with the monitors, opening the door further and confirming his suspicions; a small trapdoor was visible on the floor. Lou's big reveal. That's how they did it.
Speaking of trapdoors, Izuku managed to find another one. He heard a noise he couldn't quite put his finger on, soft and sudden, coming from... the ceiling? He was perplexed at first, but soon managed to find another trapdoor, open and leading somewhere above the room. A swivel chair had been placed underneath it, likely so someone could reach the door. He swallowed. Someone was there. Izuku, mustering all the courage he had, stepped onto the chair and leapt to wherever the trapdoor led.
He couldn't help but gasp in awe.
Stars. Stars as far as the eye could see. Colorful, vibrant, twisted into beautiful, unnatural shapes and formations far off in the distance. The shapes the stars made felt abstract, but he could feel a pattern to some of them. One formation in particular called to him. A swirl of blues, golds, reds, and greens, with other various colors speckled in. The shape was incredibly odd, but if he squinted his eyes and really used his imagination, he swore he could read the kana "ヒーロー"; "hero."
"Oh... wow..." was all he could utter.
A voice to his left softly laughed. "Pretty amazing, right?"
Izuku glanced over his shoulder to see Lou, sitting near the edge of the... rooftop? - looking up at the stars. He sat beside her, legs dangling over the edge of the flat surface they were on. He made the mistake of looking down, where he saw nothing but void, dark and endless. A sudden fear of heights made itself apparent as he quickly pulled his knees up to his chest, staring at the void below in a strange mix of wonder and terror.
"Even if you fell," Lou said, easily reading his fear, "there comes a point where solid ground forms. You'd... probably break your legs, but someone would be able to save you."
"What is this?" Izuku asked, staring up at the star clusters once more.
Lou smiled beside him. "The Multiverse. They look a lot like stars, but those tiny pieces of light are actually called Ideas. Lots of little Ideas people have had that make up full stories and Universes. If I remember correctly, that one –" she pointed to the group of stars, nay Ideas, Midoriya had been admiring before – "is yours. Boku no Hero Academia."
"Oh." Izuku felt his chest tighten, the mere sight of his Universe tugging at his heartstrings. For some reason, he felt like crying. The feeling lingered, no matter how much he willed it away.
"You can feel it, can't you?" He looked down and met Lou's eyes, his own eyes suddenly welling with tears. "That deep, emotional connection. That sudden rush of emotions that aren't completely your own."
"Y-yeah..." The tears, lukewarm and void of any true sadness, finally began cascading down his face. Midoriya tried to brush them away, but they kept forming, flowing more consistently each time he tried to get rid of them. "Damn it," he hissed.
"It's an internalized kind of homesickness," Lou explained. "Pure instinct. If you're out of your universe, it's engrained in your mind and soul that you need to get back."
Those words hit him hard. They were suddenly true. He felt like a small kid, lost in the middle of a city, who just wanted to be home with his family and friends. The tears flowed a bit faster, his breaths shaking. He nodded.
"Yeah, it sucks," they laughed. "But it only lasts for a few minutes, I promise."
"If you say so..."
Just as Lou had said, Izuku's sudden sadness vanished just as suddenly two minutes later. He looked back up at the Universes around him, finally feeling normal again. He let himself get lost in the breathtaking sight, cherishing every moment he spent just looking at the Ideas.
"Why did you come here, Lou-san?" he finally asked.
She laughed. "Why wouldn't I? I mean, just look at it all."
The skepticism on Izuku's face became clearer as he tried to piece together the situation. "So, you just... decided to come here, to look at the Universes... at three in the morning?"
"You did, too."
Izuku sighed. Of course, she wouldn't give him a straight answer. "Lou–"
And just like that, it started raining.
Droplets of water fell from the stars above. He expected to get soaked, but was shocked when he realized the water was... not wet? One drop landed on his hand, and he scrutinized the mysterious liquid. It had a heavy, molasses-like consistency, completely clear apart from a small, colorful spark in the center. As he held the droplet, it began to feel warm in his hand, and he could have sworn he was seeing things. Things that were incredibly difficult to explain.
"Huh," Deku muttered.
"These," Lou said, "are called Dreams." He glanced at them to find they were gathering up the droplets in their hands, molding them into a slightly larger blob. "Tiny fragments of thoughts people have. They're not always cohesive, as you're probably seeing right now."
The visions came and went, but at least now Izuku knew they were supposed to occur. "Weird."
Lou smirked, working the blob into something resembling a sphere. "Sometimes the world isn't ready for certain Dreams, and sometimes they become something better on their own. Or, sometimes," a massive multicolored spark formed in the center of the sphere, making Izuku jump, "they just need a bit of teamwork and a push in the right direction."
Midoriya jumped again when Lou quickly stood, throwing the sphere of Dreams up into the sky. Within moments, the sphere exploded into a small Idea, glowing pink. The rain of Dreams moved away from them as Lou sat back down, Midoriya still shocked from what he had just witnessed.
"And that," Lou said, "is why we call it a brainstorm."
"Wow."
"Yep."
A short silence enveloped the two friends.
"Lou-san, can you please tell me why you came here?" Deku asked quickly.
The silence lingered for a few moments more before Lou spoke up. "Couldn't sleep. Nightmares."
"Nightmares? About what? I-if you're comfortable talking about it," he added.
She sighed. "Stupid shit. I guess I'm worried about you guys. Getting... hurt."
Izuku mustered a small, comforting smile. "That would never happen. Even if we got in a dangerous situation, everyone here has been through something worse, and they've survived it before."
Lou nodded, but it seemed forced. Their lips were pressed into a thin line, and Deku just barely caught them wipe something from their face. "Yeah. You're right."
His grin fell. "There's something you're not telling me."
"Yeah, there's a lot of things I don't tell anyone," Lou said, their voice becoming more and more forceful. "And I don't plan on spilling any of that information any time soon."
"It's about us, isn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question. "Everyone you brought here."
Lou's quiet hum was confirmation enough.
"Something from your original plan – whatever it was – isn't working right."
Lou silently shook her head.
"Lou-san, you can trust me with this," Izuku pleaded. "You're clearly upset. I want to help you, but..." He sighed. "If you're not comfortable, I won't force you."
A frown formed on Lou's face, her eyes gleaming in the Ideas' shine with a sage, pensive stare. A look that was almost too mature for her personality. "Izuku — may I call you that?" He nodded at her words. "Would you like to learn... why I started this? The Reaction?"
Izuku frowned, unsure where this was going. "Um, o-of course."
"It, well," Lou said with a dry chuckle, "it wasn't for my own selfish desires or any s*** like that. That's what everyone probably thinks it is. If we're being honest, it's what you thought, too."
"I... yeah," Izuku admitted.
"That's really, truly not my intention. At least... not entirely. I'm doing this to protect you. And I know," they quickly added, "that sounds overused and – let's be honest – like a straight up lie, but I swear to you it's the truth."
"Alright," Deku said with a nod.
Lou paused again before they further explained: "In my world, the Original Reality, there are Creators. They came up with Ideas, they expanded on them, they created you. They dreamt up your worlds. Of course, not everyone is a Creator like that. There are people who like to watch your world and your stories, sometimes even making up their own additions to your stories. It's not the same as the source material, your original world, your canon; it's something else that we call fanon. Of course," they said, tilting their head and meeting Izuku's eyes, "you already know this. It's what we've been reacting to this whole time; almost everything connected to you as characters was fanon content. Except for when we watched Turning Red and Stranger Things, obviously."
"Where are you going with this?" Midoriya asked.
"You know about the good side of fanon; now I need to tell you about the bad."
Izuku was confused. "Bad? What bad could there be? People are just sharing ideas that aren't, erm, canon. The worst that could happen is a bit of criticism, right?"
Lou softly laughed, her voice dark and humorless. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, it's... much, much worse than that."
"I don't follow," Midoriya muttered, his nerves slowly getting the better of him.
"Sometimes, when a bunch of fans of one Universe get together, they form something called a fandom," Lou said. "A group of very dedicated fans. Although, things in fandoms tend to get toxic. Fast. And when it does, there's no going back. People do terrible things to the characters. To other fandom members. They completely change characterizations and personalities for the sake of their own fanon and then force it on other people. People in fandoms get way, way too into the Universes they're fans of. People do things that are downright cringe. Long-time fandom members attack them. A lot of the time, teenage girls in the fandom take all the blame for that cycle. They get stereotyped as fangirls and nothing more; all of them. Even the ones who never did anything to earn that title. And the worst part is that it's so few people. A loud minority is at fault, and everyone else just suffers the consequences. People from other fandoms stereotype the whole group, making everyone look bad and feel worse. It's sickening. Your creators can't stop them."
"Am I missing something?" he softly asked. "Not to be rude, but how does this connect to the Reaction?"
"I'm just getting to that part," was Lou's answer. "I became an Author, probably a few years ago by now. Knowing about this toxicity, and how it was affecting Universes on a more physical level, I got an idea." Her face seemed to fall at the word 'idea.' "If I were to grab a few of the most crucial characters from the Universes who had the worst fandoms, maybe I could save them from losing their original selves to the toxicity of their fans. Fanon has a tendency to bleed into the original universe, and I... didn't want to risk characters like you getting hurt by it.
"I've had the plan for a while now, and I'll be honest, I was really bored that first day and just decided to stop procrastinating. I got everything ready, hid in my upstairs bunker, formed those two temporary rooms, and opened the portals that brought Boku no Hero and Family Guy here. Everything else is history in the making. Although, don't get me wrong," they added, "this is an incredibly large-scale problem. There are so many other Universes that deserve to be helped, but I've learned that I can only summon characters from Universes I'm most familiar with. Luckily, I happen to be familiar with Universes that have some of the worst fandoms. And... even if I could bring anyone I wanted, I can't handle hundreds of people at once, you know?"
"So, all of this was to save us," Midoriya said. "From... getting hurt."
Lou nodded, hiding most of her face behind her clasped hands.
Something about his conclusion still felt wrong to Izuku, almost like trying to read a book with certain pages sporadically ripped out. Like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. Details were barely skimmed over. A lot refused to add up in his mind. It just didn't make sense. He tried to think it all through again: Lou brought us all here to save us from the toxicity of our fandoms and the... fanon content they made? All the fanon, or only the bad? Well, probably just the bad. We had to be saved because the toxicity and bad fanon content might seep into our universes and... and... what? She said that it could hurt characters, but how? Reshape our personalities? Cause us physical pain whenever we do something that doesn't line up with fanon? Kill us outright? It's probably something I'm just not thinking of. It has to be. Should I just ask Lou to clarify everything? I've been asking a lot of questions; I don't want to seem blunt. But... I have to know.
Deku took a deep breath. "Sorry, but... can you clear up a few things for me? Out of everything you just told me, some of it doesn't make sense." He paused, expecting a response from Lou, but when he got none, Deku just pushed forward with his questions. "What does the toxicity do to Universes?"
A longer pause ensued. Lou's face was still hidden. Izuku's heart bashed against his ribcage as they sat in nerve-wracking silence.
"Toxic Collapse," Lou finally spoke.
Izuku tensed at the unfamiliar phrase. "W-what?"
"Toxic Collapse," she repeated, words seeping with spiteful venom. "Every universe has some level of toxicity to it; at least one drop of negativity from a fan or fandom exists in any given fictional universe. When more negativity is created, that physical form of toxicity grows, and it starts to infect the original Universe. It breaks down everything, starting with the foundation of the world and working its way up. It's a slow, painful process. The Universe gets destroyed. The characters lose their personalities, slowly, eventually becoming nothing. Creators can always reboot or revive those Universes, sure, but it's never the same." Lou's voice started to break. "You're all special to me; your stories hold a place in my heart. So many of you were so close to a Toxic Collapse like that starting, I... I had to do something. I couldn't... lose you. Any of you. A-and if too many universes fell like that at one time, the entirety of Fiction... the Multiverse itself could..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "I-I can't..."
"Lou-san," Deku said calmly, "please."
Lou finally met Izuku's eyes, her face grave and eyes misty. "It could... Collapse. Die. Disappear forever."
A chilling silence enveloped the two friends.
"Oh my god," Izuku eventually muttered.
"It's a lot, I know; that's why I didn't say anything to anyone about this, I... danced around the question." A few tears began to trickle down Lou's face.
"You aren't the only one keeping this secret, right?" Izuku asked. "I mean, Holly-san; she's an Author, too. So, she..."
Lou shook her head. "I- not even Holly knows. It—" She hid her face in her hands, completely breaking down. Though she didn't speak again, what she meant was clear: It's killing me.
Izuku held out his arms, offering a hug. "Hey..."
Lou collapsed into his embrace. Izuku's stomach dropped as she silently sobbed into his shoulder. It hurt him to watch. Lou the Kidney Bean, The Author, a person who had God-like powers and created this entire world—The Reaction Dimension—with their bare hands and a dream in their heart. Who loved theater and memes. Who did everything in their power to keep Izuku and everyone else happy and safe. Who always smiled. Who constantly danced and sang. Who didn't give a damn about what anyone thought of her. Who loved and cared for all of them, even if they thought her suspicious and took a while to fully trust her...
To see her a sobbing mess. To see her at her lowest. Trembling. Fragile. Terrified. Weak. Broken. Their own tears soaking into Izuku's t-shirt as they both sat on the Reaction Dimension's "roof," Ideas glowing above them. He'd never seen Lou cry. Not unless it was for a performance, or as a joke, or because they were laughing. Nothing like the carefree, creative friend he had known since day one.
"I-I'm sorry," Lou hiccupped through her tears. "I shouldn't have—"
"Don't apologize," Izuku softly said, cutting her off. "Nobody deserves to carry something like this on their own."
"Well, then, you shouldn't either..."
"It's okay. I'll help you. We can work together to fix this; I promise."
Lou sighed. "I'll at least need to fill Holly in after this."
"That's a good place to start," Izuku reassured.
"... hey, Deku?"
"Hm?"
"Can we just... stay like this? Maybe for a few hours? I-I don't mean that in a weird way or anything, but—"
"You just need someone right now," he said. "We can do that. It's fine. But uh... can we maybe go somewhere besides the, um... roof?"
Lou nodded. "Holly's sleeping in my room, though."
"Then we can stay in mine," Izuku hesitantly offered. "Erm... as long as you're comfortable with that."
"Okay..."
{Welp. At least it wasn't entirely cringey. Also, I did slightly change the details of Toxicity after drafting this (since I didn't like essentially blaming the readers for the plot), so the explanation in the A/N is official "canon," if you can even call it that. And, with this, Multiversal Chaos is officially over! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story for their support, and I hope you enjoyed this wild ride. My best wishes to all of you, and remember, edamame and peas are not the same thing! (That was targeted, and you know who you are.)
-LKB}