Izuku awoke in a place he recognized.
He'd only been there once, but he knew.
Complete and utter darkness, so thick that it wasn't a simple lack of light, but a dense fog that swallowed light into its heavy nothingness.
A persistent feeling that he was there - a tingling of sorts, a reminder that this was real, possibly more real than the reality he lived in.
Izuku knew this place.
He was due for another meeting with his reflection.
The darkness was overcome by an unknown light source, shining from the empty void that stretched into oblivion above him.
Looking around, he found the mirror. He ignored the piles of bodies around him; he knew what they were. He knew whose fault it was.
Slowly, he stood up and made his way to the mirror. It sat front and center, watching, showing.
On the other side, he saw the same face he'd seen last time, but it was far more recognizable now. He had grown significantly more similar to his reflection since the last time they'd met.
It really hadn't been all that long since the first time he came here. From his perspective, though, getting through a single day could, depending on the day, take hundreds of hours. He had seen much more time than the rest of the world had.
"I suppose I wasn't very clear last time. My apologies," the reflection said with a rueful smile. "These warnings are only to keep you grounded. To remind you that you're not in control. If I didn't do this, you'd end up just like me, and that's not what we want."
Izuku didn't have to ask why it would be bad if he became like his reflection. It was crystal clear.
His reflection walked out of view for a moment, but continued speaking. "The only way to let you leave this place is to kill you, so..." He returned, his grin showing something akin to pity and a pistol in his hand. "Sorry if this hurts a little when you wake up."
Izuku had barely registered what was happening when his reflection blew his brains out.