Chapter Text
Obligatory warnings: Mentions of Suicide, Suicidal thoughts
Chapter 1: Sludge, All-Might, and…SPACE?!
Midoriya's thoughts/dreams/Flashback
All Might’s speech
Regular talking
*Mind speaking*
Elder of the Universe
Not all men are born equal. A truth I realized at the young age of 4.
200 years ago, the world was shaken as a baby boy in Qingqing City, China was born glowing. From that point on, superpowers, or Quirks, as they came to be called, became more and more common. At the present moment, over 80% of the world's population has a Quirk. Consequently, some people abused their powers.
Those who abused their ‘Quirks’ for destruction and became known as villains.
And those who stood to protect the innocent with their power became known as Heroes.
As champions of peace, the heroes beat back the horde of villains that had arisen. The Government realized that heroes were needed to combat this rising tide of evil. Even now, centuries later, their battles still go on. One on one battles that shake the streets and cause the sky to tremble. But it's alright! The heroes always win.
The heroes always win, don't they?
*page break*
It was a simple fact. Izuku Midoriya loved heroes. He loved their Quirks, their catchphrases, their battles, anything to do with heroes, he knew.
Midoriya, sitting at his desk, closed Hero Analysis for the Future #12. He stretched his fingers as he put down his pen and let out a big sigh.
‘whew, that one took a while,’ Midoriya thought as he sat back in his chair, hanging his head back. He had been working on that notebook for a few months now, and had just finished it.
Midoriya laid there for a few moments, before getting up from his desk. He grabbed another blank notebook from his pile and wrote ‘Hero Analysis for the Future #13’. He stuck the newly christened notebook into his bag.
Midoriya winced as he shouldered his bag. Kacchan had been particularly brutal this week. Going on about ‘being the greatest hero’ while exploding his face into the dirt.
Yeah. ‘Greatest hero’. Sure. Kacchan could do it though. Endeavor was proof of that. As long as Kacchan toned it down a little, he would be a great hero.
Midoriya hummed as he walked into the kitchen, where his mother was waiting.
Inko Midoriya had seen better years, with bags under her eyes from being essentially a single parent. Not to mention, her husband, Hisashi, had gone missing 5 years ago.
As Izuku walked into the kitchen, Inko smiled. Her little boy was growing up so fast!
“Have a good day, Izuku!”
Izuku smiled. His mom really was the best. Even when the doctors had told him he was quirkless.
*Flashback*
“Sorry, kid. Looks like you're quirkless. Got the toe joint and everything. Looks like you should pick a new dream. Can't be a hero without a quirk”
“M-mom, do you th-think I can be a h-hero?”
A much younger Inko looked at her son, and smiled,
“I think you can, Izuku. You'll be the best hero ever! It'll be a lot of hard work, though. ”
Izuku burst into tears as he hugged his mom.
*Flashback end*
Izuku waved goodbye to his mom as he walked out the door.
As Midoriya walked to school, his mind turned to the past, and more specifically, his past with his ‘friend’, Kacchan.
Midoriya wasn't an idiot, far from it in fact. He knew Kacchan hadn't been his friend for a long time now. Ever since that day in the park, all those years ago.
But now was no time to reminisce, as Midoriya heard someone cry out,
“That's a huge villain!”
Midoriya looked up, excited to see the hero that would inevitably come to fight the villain.
Wow! The rescue hero Backdraft is here!
“Stay back, citizens!” Backdraft said as he shot water from his hose. “Other heroes will take care of this ruffian, and we'll all be on our way!”
The villain, who was standing on top of a bridge, yelled to attempt to assert dominance.
Suddenly, a wood armored hero swung past the crowds.
It's the young star, Kaumi Woods! He's risen in the ranks recently, hasn't he?
“Heh, using your Quirk to cause a panic during rush hour? Truly, you are evil incarnate.” Kaumi Woods said as his arms became thicker and sturdier.
There it is! His special move! Preemptive Binding..
“...Lacquered Chain Prison!” Kaumi Woods yelled out as his arms wrapped a forest’s worth of wood around the villain.
“CANYON CANNON!!!” A woman's voice yelled out.
Huh? Is that a new hero?
A giantess came flying out of seemingly nowhere, and kicked the bound villain unconscious.
She scrambled to her feet, and posed.
“Hey, everyone! I’m Mt. Lady, and that was my debut!”
Midoriya pulled his notebook out of non-euclidean space and began furiously muttering and taking notes.
“QuirkseemstobegigatificationIwonderifshecancontrolthesizeIfshecantthatsalotofdamagetothecity…”
Mt. Lady posed for a few more (COUGH) pictures and then let everyone pass to the train. Midoriya followed, still muttering and jotting down some other notes. He closed his notebook and focused on the train ride to his school, hopefully it would be a good day.
Page Break
Aldera Middle School
“Well, now that you’re all third years, now’s the time to be really thinking about your future! I have some career forms here, but, let's be honest here. You’re all going to be heroes right?”
The class gets very rowdy as they all use their quirks, showing off their various powers.
“All of your Quirks are amazing, but remember! No using your quirks in school, its against the rules!”
The class nods as they settle back into their seats. Midoriya, being quirkless, had stayed seated the whole time.
“Sensei! Don’t lump me in with these rejects. I’m gonna be number 1!” Midoriya turned around. He sighed. As usual, Bakugou was being obtuse.
“Oh, yes, Bakugou. You’ll be going to U.A. right?”
The class erupted in whispers.
“U.A.? I heard it has a really low acceptance rate…aren't they the national school?”
“Yeah! I aced the mock exams! I’m the only one here who has any chance of getting in. I’ll be number 1! I’ll surpass All Might!” Bakugou bragged.
“Say, wasn’t Midoriya planning on U.A. as well? Maybe there’ll be a little competition!”
Midoriya froze as Bakugou turned to him, seething with barely tempered rage. “Don’t even think about it Deku. You’re Quirkless. Don’t you know you’ll never get in?”
Midoriya swallowed, “W-well Kacchan, I-I’ll just be the first then!”
Bakugou scoffed, “You will try, Deku. And you will fail, just like every other reject here.”
Midoriya bit back a response and put his head down. There was no convincing Bakugou that he could do it.
Later, after school
Midoriya began to pack his bag. When he got to his notebook, another hand covered his.
“Did you think we were done talking, Deku? What’s this? A notebook? Hero Analysis for the Future? Seriously? You think you can get into U.A. just with this? Get a life, Deku”
“I’m Q-Quirkless, right Kacchan? I’ll need e-every advantage I can get!”
“Advantage? Ha! No matter what advantage you have, you’ll always just be a worthless Deku.” Bakugou set fire to Midoriya’s notebook and threw it out the window.
“If you really want to be a hero, you know, there’s an easy way to do it. Pray that you’ll have a quirk in your next life and dive off the roof!”
Midoriya flinched and put his head down. Bakugou scoffed again, and left with his friends.
Kacchan, you can’t say things like that. What if I actually jumped?
Midoriya rushed out of school to find his notebook being eaten by fish. He grabbed it from the pond and shook it out. Thankfully, the only entry was for this morning. Midoriya shook out the notebook and placed it gently in his bag, away from everything so it wouldn’t get wet.
Midoriya started the long walk home. Thanks to another villain attack, the trains were down for the day. As Midoriya walked, he talked to himself.
“Maybe it would be better if I tried to sell my analysis? No, maybe if I learned a martial art? No, that might not work either…”
As Midoriya muttered to himself, he lost track of his surroundings.
Under the sewers, a mound of sludge with eyes and a mouth scrambled over himself, trying to run away. It seemed to breathe hard as it stopped to rest under a manhole.
“Huff…I…huff…lost him…” the living sludge said, “time…huff…to find…huff…a host.”
Midoriya paused as he heard some rustling down an alleyway. He looked down the alley.
“Hello? Anyone there?” He asked, but there was only silence. Well, and that manhole cov-AUUGHHHHHHH. The manhole cover burst from the street and from it came a giant sludge monster.
“Huff…sorry, kid…huff…I need a skinsuit!”
The sludge villain moved with surprising speed and started shoving himself down Midoriya's throat.
Midoriya's eyes remained open in horror as he tried to grasp the slime coming into his body.
“Huff…kid, you're making this…huff…a lot easier for me…huff…” the villain said.
Just as Midoriya was about to lose consciousness, he heard a loud chuckle.
“IT'S FINE NOW, WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!”
Suddenly Midoriya didn't have anything in his throat, but due to the lack of oxygen, he fell to his knees, blacking out.
Page break
“Kid? Kid! Can ya hear me?”
Midoriya shot up, hacking slime from his lungs.
“Easy there! You gave me a little scare! Are you alright?”
“I think I'm fine,” Midoriya looked up to thank the hero and froze, “A-All M-might!”
“Ha! That is the normal reaction from fans.” All Might said as he stood over Midoriya.
“ALLMIGHTCANYOUPLEASESIGNMYNOTEBOOK” Midoriya held out his notebook pulled from the Non-Euclidean sub-space.
All Might chuckled again, and opened it to the last page. There was the signature, loud, bold, and proud. Midoriya looked down at it and tears began to form in his eyes.
“Th-thank you, All-Might.” He said.
“Nothing to it, kid! Now, I've got to be off! Hero things to do, and all that.” All Might said as he squatted to get ready for a jump.
“W-wait! I still had one question!” Midoriya reached out and latched onto All Might's leg just before he jumped.
To Izuku Midoriya, the world shifted. Suddenly, Midoriya found himself over 100 ft in the air latched onto All Might's leg.
“Wha-Kid! You shouldn't have done that! Get off!” All Might shook his leg to accentuate his point.
Midoriya barely held on. “I can't let go! I'll die!”
“Oh, right. Hold on, I'll land somewhere” All Might directed his gaze to a rooftop. Just before they landed, he felt his injury act up. He tasted blood and swore in his head.
When they landed, Midoriya unmatched himself, and with shaky knees, turned to face All Might.
“I j-just had one more question for you,” Midoriya stammered.
All Might swore in his head again, and said, “Alright kid, but make it quick!” Already the steam was beginning to show.
Midoriya bowed his head, “Thank you, All Might! My question is…Can I be a hero without a Quirk?”
Midoriya, eyes closed and breath trembling, stood before All Might.
“Kid…I'm gonna be honest with you. It'd be really tough to be a good hero without a quirk. Someone quirkless would be better suited to something that isn't heroics. Perhaps the police? They do good work. You'd be a better fit there.”
Midoriya, trembling, kept his eyes shut, “Thank you, All Might. That was all I wanted”
“Well, then. Kid…don't worry about being a hero.” All Might paused, “It ends up being pretty lonely” All Might walked to the edge, sighed, and jumped down.
Midoriya stood still, trembling. His hero had just told him…no, he hadn't told him no, but he might as well have. Even his greatest hero didn't believe in him. Midoriya looked up at the sun. Why? Why am I the one to go through all this? Why? He thought as he walked to the edge of the building. He wouldn't jump, he wasn't that stupid! He just needed to…think. That was it.
Midoriya sighed and swung his legs over the edge. There was a ladder to the right he would use. But now he would sit here and just think.
Suddenly, a gust of wind made Midoriya feel off balance. He teetered, and then there was nothing to hold him up. Was he falling? Yes, yes he was. He panicked, watching the ground get closer and closer.
Imsosorrymomipromiseididntmeantokillmyselfplease!
Midoriya shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable crunch…but it never came. He was still falling. Confused, Midoriya opened his eyes. He immediately regretted it. Stars and galaxies and eternities flew past him.
Is this a quirk? What's happening?!
As quick as it began, it ended. Midoriya found himself standing on an asteroid. For a moment, he panicked, but then realized that somewhere along the way, a spacesuit had appeared on him.
Midoriya looked through the visor at the wide expanse of space in front of him. It was beautiful. Spiral galaxies forming into dazzling nebulae leading into beautiful constellations.
But where was he? That was the question on his mind. The suit, seemingly responding to his question, beeped. It displayed words on the visor.
“Welcome to the Battlerealm! Home of the Contest of Champions! Would you like to begin, Summoner?"