Chapter Text
Chapter One:
The Cell
It’s…Cold
That's the first thought that came into Izuku’s mind
S͒t̺̤̘͍̫̞̱̜̦͇̑͌ͬ̉̀̋ͣ́͑_̸̶̵̷̛̥̳̟̦̮̠͉͚̽̃̈́͌̆̎ͥͤ̀̓ͪ̌̍͝o̻̝͉͔͈͙̹͚͕̹̤̜͆̓ͬ̈̑͂ͥ̎̎ͭ͜͠p̵̷̴̢̤̗̣̱͖͍̝̥̔́́ͣ́̽́̒̍͋̒͊̎ S͓̥̔̍ͯ͆ͭ̓̌̎ͦ͘͘ț̷̷̸̡̛̣̩̖̜̝̺͋̆ͮ͗̀ͨͯ̚͢ͅŕ̘̭̮̅ͯ́͂ͪû̴̜̰ͫ͘g̴̨̥͉͎͎̰̻̝͓̖̯̟͖̓ͣ̓͛̑ͧ͆̄̕̕͜͟͟͠g̡̞̎͗̚lͦ̿͆͊̐̓í̷̧̡̥̝̰͖̳͓̆̈̄ͧ̅ͪ̎̋̽ͣ͘̕͢͜͡n̼͓̱͉̹͔̭͕̥̖̞̞̝̩̖̦ͫ̉̊ͭͧ̌̆́ͪ̐̎̌̾̋͐̕̕̕͟͟͢͜͞͝g̴̱̣̰̲̑͑ͧ̈́͒͡͞
Glassey green eyes sluggishly open before slamming shut, a low groan echoes off of the bare metal walls.
B͓̼̩̺̪̩̠̭ͤ͛ͤ͆ͯ̔̆ͣ͢ȅ̠̄ͭ̎ r̵̨̖̤͖̘͇̖̯̳̙̤͙ͣ̀̃͐̍ͪ̇͊̌̆ͧ̎ͧ̋̋ͪ͛̒̀̔̽͘͟͞e̵̡̧̟̺̦͚̹̓ͬ̈́̔̆͊̀̑͞_̵͖̪̘͗̂̀̽͘͘͞a̵̶̸̧͕̼̭͇̮͉͙͍̻̤̣͌͊̐́̀ͮ̐ͯ̚͟l̫̲̪̟̲͆ͣ̕͝iͯ̆́͟s̵̵̷̸̷̷̸̟̝͔̗̥̘̦͉̝̘̫̝̬͖̈́͂̋́̌̈́̅ͪ̈́͌̐̑͒͗̒̀̉̆̕͘̚͟͢t̴̡̮͖̮͉͕̃̐ͣ̽̆ͮ̌ͥͣ̍ͮͮ͒ͬ͢͡i̼̪̕_̛̜̫̳̖́̍̔c̡̛̹̪͈͉̣̱̯̮̩ͣ͑̑̾̌ͯ̽̇ͧ́̌͆͊ͤ͋̕͢͝
Izuku clutched his head as he rolled onto his stomach and tucked his legs underneath.
“What?”
His stomach rolled and saliva flooded his mouth.Izuku fought against the urge to vomit onto the cold metal
“Where?”
The very words seemed to sear themselves into his throat. A dry cough took over him as he pressed his forehead into the cool floor. Bracing himself, he placed his hands down and slowly rose to his knees. Izuku’s vision swam as he tried to take in his surroundings, the conclusion? Gray. Gray floor, gray walls, gray ceiling, gray vent and a gray door with a little gray window high above.
‘Would it break the bank to add a splash of color to their cells?’
Izuku thought grimly, because that's what this was, a cell. He had been kidnapped and brought to God knows where. The cell was not large, barely larger than the school's custodial closet he had come to know so well.
Izuku’s gaze wandered down as he observed his clothing. Gone was the usual burned and tattered middle school uniform and what replaced it, you guessed it, a gray smock-like article with ties, zippers and snaps at odd intervals. The usual red shoes and socks were also confiscated, leaving him barefoot on the icy floor. His nails, Izuku noted, though usually short, were cut much farther all the way to the bed.
Izuku staggered forward, falling into the door with a loud BANG.
“Hello?”, Izuku crooked out.
“Please, I-I think there’s some kind of mistake, I don't have what you want.”
Only the low persistent hum that seemed to permanent the air was his response. Izuku pressed his head to the door and thought for a moment. Abductions have been on the rise recently, but the group responsible seemed to only go after those with a strong quirk, what would they want with a quirless kid? Unless this wasn't that group and instead a different one, one who targeted him because he was quirkless. Though less common they were still dangerous and his mother always warned him to be careful. Izuku thought back to any mention of quirkless missing cases, but drew a blank. Then again a few quirkless people going missing wasn't exactly news worthy.
Izuku’s heart rate began to climb and sweat wet his palms. His breathing though already labored turned into sharp painful gasps. The strange calm he had been under lifted and panic set in.
‘This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening!’ Izuku thought.
Lubdub, lubdub, lubdub, lubdub, lubdublubdublubdudLubdubLUBDUBlu- his heart beat out of control till finally.
“Let me out!” Izuku cried, slamming his hand against the door.
The metal seemed to rattle and Izuku screwed his eyes shut against the on slot of noise, breaking the panic hold that overtook his body.
“Okay, bad idea” he breathed, pushing himself off the door and into the opposite wall.
Huffing, he slid down until he was seated on the ground with this head in his hands, trying to block out the persistent ringing. As the pain subsided, Izuku thought back to any clue about his current situation.
As Izuku thought, memories seemed to stagger in. The notebook, Kachan Bakugo telling him to jump off the roof, pond-
G̸̷̡͎͉͙̱̣̫̽ͥ͂̕_̵̙̄̄e̶͖ͧ̽̽́t̷̵̴̡͍̩̫̐ B͎̄̊̎͑ͦ͟͞_̷͔͍͐̉̈́̈A̘͎̞̭͍ͦ̓ͮͤͪ͐͘͢͠c̴̡̡̨̢̛̛̛̭̺̝̣͖͎ͣͧͣ̄̿̔͋͆̾̿̈͛̕͢͝͠ͅk̴̵̸̶̡̨̠̯̮̪̹̻̯̳̝͎̞̼͕̠̭͂̌ͫ̾̐ͧ̋̅ͮͨͪ̈̂̅͢ Ḩ̶͇̠̳̣̯̙̺̤̜̲͒ͬ̍́ͮ͋̓̈̊̿́̕̚͠͠E̶̡̢̛̛̻̜̖͈͇̪͈̾͋ͣ̋ͣ͆ͩ́̎͟͠͡R̦̫̩̲̝͖̥͇͈͇̼̺̳̭̰͖̐̆ͩ͛͐̉͋̑ͧ̄ͤ̕͢͠Ę̷̨̨͙̫̫̝̪̤͈̝͓͚͂̆ͭ͑̿̀ͤ̓̅̆́ͪͫ͛̆͒ͨͭ̚̕͟͢͡ B̳̙͉̫̆ͪ́̅ȓ̵̨̯̯̤͇̙̈̃̀͒̃̅̔̂͗͟͜ą̸̷͇͙̣̱͖̝̜̭͔͍̞̯̥̼̻̣̈́̆ͭ͂̈́ͣͩ̂͑ͭ̓͗͛̉̈́̿̀̊ͯ̚͟ṱ̴̪̫̘̬̲͊͐͊̇̎́̿̄́ͧ̚!̵̨̢͔̘̟̘̙̮͎̫͍̹̖̇ͫ̌̒͑̒̈́̄͊͊ͮ̄ͦͧ̏̃̃̕͘͟
Izuku gasped, that's right, the sludge villain. All Might saved him, then left him on that roof.
L̸̵̨̨̰̘̫̼͍̥͎̰̻͍̦̟̮̥̭͓̀͋ͤ͂̈́̈́̿̅͛́̄̄͆ͥ͐̓ͨ̾̍̌ͨ͟͝͞͠͞ͅị̸̖͓̹̣̤̰̩̝͉̝̘̼̱͎̜̏͑̿͛̃ͭͮͫ̕͡ą̶̸̛͈͈̫̲̘̯͓̤ͯͫ̆ͮ͛̽̊̒͋̾͑̽̎̒͘͜͜͠͝ḇ̵͚̃́ͫ͂ͧ͊ǐ̗̰̰̳̫ͯͪͤ̚̚͡l̷̸̷̶̞̠͍͖̞̣͍͕̀̂̓́́̔̏͛ͧͧ͘͟ỉt̸̸̵̸̳̳͕͔͍͉̹̥̯͕̯̮̮̭̮͚̩̮̞͔ͨ̂̎̃ͩ́̊ͮ̆̒ͤ̓̓͐̀͘̕͢͠͠ͅy̸̶̸̶̢̡͇͚̘͓̝̪̣̽͐͒̾̏͟_̵̴̢̡̛̟̤͙̱͈̔̈͊ͨ̈̐ͪ̅͑ͫͪ͢͢͠͞
Izuku shook his head of that particular memory, what happened next? The explosions, running, Bakugo trapped. The memories were coming quicker now. He threw his bag and bought just enough time to let his bully breath. All Might again and the other heros praise quickly turning to scolding once they learned he was quirkless.
Oh yeah at least Izuku did something besides twirling his thumbs hoping someone better shows up.
What then? He snuck away when Death Arms back was turned and started to make his way home. Not wanting to return to the cold house and his mother’s sorrowful eyes, Izuku took the long route through the local nature preserve. He took a seat by the lake and watched as dusk gave way to night and the few stars that the city lights allowed twinkled into view.
Izuku leaned back and took in the stars. Why does it matter anyways? Any of it, so what he doesn't have a quirk, why do they matter? The universe is so big in the grand scheme of things why should something like having an extra pink joint matter?
Angry thoughts swirled his head as he gazed, noting a particularly bright star.
‘I bet somewhere out there, there is a world where I'm the strong one’
Izuku sighed and continued the watch, the start only seemed to get brighter and… bigger?
A helicopter?
Izuku watched transfixed as the light seemed to grow bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter.
“What?” Izuku muttered.
Suddenly the light blinked out only to be replaced by a beacon. Izuku shielded his eyes as the wind began the swirl around him. Izuku was gently tugged off his seat and by time he noticed, it was too late. Izuku was being pulled in the air towards the bright light. He screamed and struggled managing to flip himself over and watch the ground leave him.
Then…
RED
Alarms blearing, panicked voices?
“⟟⍑⎎ ℇ⎎⍧⍲⍴⟟☊⅁!”
Running.
‘Where do I go? Where do I go!’
Fear.
“ꈜꁝꊿꊿꋖ ꒐ꋖ!”
Pain. Something stuck into his shoulder.
“ꀷ꒐ꀷ ꒐ꋖ ꅐꊿꌅꈵ?”
Rage.
"꒐ꋖꈜ ꃔꊿꋖ ꅐꊿꌅꈵ꒐ꃔꁅ! ꒐ꋖꈜ ꃔꊿꋖ ꅐꊿꌅꈵ꒐ꃔꁅ! "
More pin pricks, what felt like 100 needles assaulted his body. Wet covered his hands; the world spun, tilting this way and that way.
Then. Black.
Izuku gasped as he tore his head out of his hands. Trembling as the memories receded. Taking a moment to slow his breathing he stared into the unyielding gray door. Finally only one question remained.
‘Where on Earth am I?”