171Fixed the issue with the timeline ( the dates of the initial events of the world). Sorry for taking so long, I was reviewing the latest chapter as well as trying ( more like pounding my head on the computer) to put ideas to words. Thanks for those of you pointing out the error, as well as those thath helped me with the problem of manga-same-ness of the latest chapter! You guys are the best!
On the year of 2020 on hospital in China, a child that could shine as brightly as the sun was born, the first Quirk phenomenon was registered.
Soon enough, all around the globe there were cases of children awakening to powers previously unknown to mankind. Some could control fire, others had superior strength, some could blow things with their minds and others could cure a great number of sickness.
The Silver Age of Heroes was upon humanity.
But like all there is to, man soon found ways to misuse such abilities and chaos soon emerged like a raging storm upon the world. Countries tried using these "super powered" individuals as soldiers, cults shouted and preached that such people were the chosen ones born of the will of a new god; vandals tried to steal and commit violence and so on and so forth. As time passed, more and more individuals were born in possession of such powers, and in these dark times of distrust and fanaticism, science came fort once more in the aid of man.
Such powers weren't the work of gods, aliens, ancient curses or toxic radiation as most preached, but simply the work of genetics. Man simply had taken the next step in evolution, a mutation on the DNA that became dominant in the gene pool, and the belief that these "super powered" individuals were gods was disproved.
The new generation received the powers down through genetics, these powers mere "Quirks", simple extensions of the individual. Soon enough, society managed to reestablish itself and normalcy returned to the world.
The changes such Quirks had brought were inevitable. As more and more individuals were born in possession of these extraordinary powers, society had to adapt to its new form of abundant super powered individuals. In no time, the super had become the norm and life continued as such, the power of humanity showing once more.
With such changes, ideas of the past were rekindled in the hearts of many, reinforced by the Silver Age of heroes in which vigilantes helped police forces in maintaining peace and order, even if not fully on the side of the law. Such activity brought with it popularity and a new light to the world with Quirks, and some even mentioned an idea only thought of in comics and manga.
Hero
Known vigilantes that fought outside the hold of the law for the good of their peers had settled their place in the hearts of the world's populace. Every country had heroes and every hero was loved and respected. Yet there had to be order as these individuals couldn't be allowed to act on their own, laws existed for a reason after all, and even if loved and helpful, Vigilantism was still vigilantism.
Meaning such activity was illegal, yet the number of such individuals didn't decrease, it only grew as trouble with super powered criminals was becoming more and more apparent. If robberies happened when people only had guns, now with Quirks such heinous activities had become easier to pull off.
The world once more had to adapt and adapt it did, with the United States pushing an ambitious project to ONU as criminality increased everywhere. Sanction and patent the activity as a job, making heroes not only a legal profession, but also a very rewarding one.
The Golden Age of Heroes dawned upon the world, Japan being one of the first countries to sign the petition and implement the job of Hero, USA not long after. The rest of the world soon followed after the successful campaign heroes pulled off on these countries. Massive public appeal with the media made heroes loved by many, but also hated just as much by those who opposed the law and committed crimes, now named Villains instead. Such had become the new world.
Now in the year of 2235, at least 80% of the general populace has a Quirk of sorts, meaning quirk-less individuals were now a rarity, an exception of the world.
On the day of October the 13th of the same year, a young boy and his mother walk the halls of a hospital. The boy looked ready to burst into confetti, such was his excitement to know what quirk was going to be his. He constantly pulled his mother's hand and made small talk to her, the lithe woman warmly smiling and her son's happy and energetic demeanor.
Her curly and green haired boy had bravely faced the needle for the blood test and had a smile all the time he went through the X-ray machine, such was his happiness. His All Might figurine held in his tiny hands spoke on an automated voice the catch phrase of the top hero on both Japan and the world, "Don't worry, for I AM HERE!", and Izuku repeated the words, his childish voice cracking as he tried to match the deep tone of the man.
They walked to the examining doctor's office, Izuku a green ball of energy, and she knocked on the office door. Receiving the cue, she entered the office and brought her son to the stretcher close to the doctor's desk as he commanded. The doctor, a bald and aging man wearing a white coat and glasses with thick lenses, examined the results brought to him, his eyes momentarily fixing themselves on the black sheet of X-ray.
His brow creased and he looked over other papers before assuming a relaxed and, in her opinion, condescending pose. He coughed lightly to call the family's attention.
His next words sounded as if mute to her son, the only proof he had heard them the dropped figurine. Izuku loved anything related to All Might, no matter how small or insignificant it was, and under no normal circumstance would drop anything related to his favorite Hero, much less his favorite action figure.
"Your son is a rare case these days, Missus Midoriya." The doctor said, one hand holding his bored looking face and the other doing small, dismissive movements. "He has an extra bone on the pinky toe of his left feet, an extra metacarpal. Such bone is considered useless for the body and is not present on Quirk Holders. Here, have a look at this."
He passed two black, plastic sheets to the woman who took them with a grimace.
"The left one is from a recent patient, a child too, and the right one belong to little Midoriya." Even to someone who knew little to nothing about medicine as Inko, the outline of the bones was clear. The extra bone joint made the pinky show three bones instead of the normal two.
"You are from the Fourth Generation aren't you, Miss?" The doctor took the plastic sheets back and put them on his table. He better positioned himself on his chair and continued taking.
Inko was worried for her son. Her little green ball of joy was utterly silent, his previous energetic demeanor nowhere to be found. She made small, pulling movements with her right hand, making the action figure float slowly towards her and her left hand cupped the side of her face. She gave the figure back to Izuku, the boy mechanically taking the toy, but speaking nothing.
"You better give up!" the harsh words made the woman glare at the doctor, the man slightly flinching under the housewife's gaze. "…the possibility of a quirk developing this late is quite…improbable, and the X-ray is clear ma'am."
"Thank you for your time, doctor." Inko stood and grabbed hold Izuku's free hand, the boy only accepting the hold, but not holding it back. Inko gave another harsh glare to the doctor, the old man pulling on his collar to alleviate the non-existent pressure. The green haired family exited the office and made their way back home.
The taxi ride back home was silent; the small boy seemed to not even breathe. When they entered their apartment, Izuku immediately went to his room, not a word spoken so far.
Inko had no words to try to console her boy, the sight of his defeated form hurting her heart immensely. The doctor hadn't helped with his harshness either. Even if he was right, there were other ways to crack open the news that didn't involve completely crushing her child's dream.
She peeked in the room, finding her child sitting in front of the computer as the sound of a video played. Loud crashing and destructive sounds emitted from the screen, screams and shouts from desperate people and the roar of fire were exposed as the video focused on the crumbled pile of concrete that was a building. The pile of concrete and twisted metal moved and from under it the image of a man was visible.
On his broad back there were at least six people, and he held other five under his arms. He carried them with no evident problem and held a stretched smile on his face, the grin not fading even in the midst of chaos and flames. His deep voice boomed throughout the destruction, the cracking of the fires around him doing nothing to mitigate his presence. If anything, the fires provided the perfect background for the video, the orange glint of the fire contrasting against the black night sky served only to further set the heroic image of the blonde man clad in an American themed jumpsuit.
"THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY ANYMORE! WHY, YOU ASK? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"
The room was only illuminated by the screen of the computer, the light reflecting off Izuku. Inko wanted to reach to her child, hug him and be able to tell him that it was fine, but she couldn't think of anything to say that would brighten his mood.
He turned the rotating chair around, the video continued on the background as more people were rescued by the second. Izuku had big contained tears on his eyes, a hurt smile on his expression. She couldn't handle it and rushed to her child, hugging him tightly.
"…M-mom…maybe…I-I…me…too, become a hero?"
Inko couldn't handle the sadness on his voice, the hurt expression he had was too much. Izuku was always passionate about heroes; his dream was to become one. All Might had inspired him, his continuous smile as he put himself in danger to save the weak was a smile Izuku wanted to have. His dreams, his aspirations, his thoughts, his everything was surrounded by the idea of one day becoming a hero that could save people with a big smile, the same as his favorite hero, All Might.
The words that came out of her mouth were, unknowingly, another nail on his back.
"I'm so sorry Izu….!"
No mom… why are you sad? Don't cry mom. If you cry…I can't become like All Might.
Her tight hug was… Izuku had no words. It should have felt good, it was his mom after all, but… right now it stung badly.
…Come on mom…don't say that...I w-want you to tell m-me that…
"I'm so sorry Izu..!"
His own contained tears spilled and he trembled lightly as he tried to maintain his contorted smile and his tiny hands balled into fists.
"So…did you managed to steal his quirk?" The doctor from before asked, trying his best to maintain a neutral face.
"Interestingly so, I did not." The auto tuned voice of a man sounded from his computer's monitor. The screen showed no image, only a black background, with the white [SOUND ONLY] words in the middle. Even so, it scared the doctor to no end that the man behind the screen might as well be breathing on his neck; his quirks would allow it so.
"If I may ask, why?"
"I phrased myself wrongly doctor, my apologies." His tone sounded anything but apologetic, but you wouldn't, couldn't, go against this man, be it with words or actions. "His quirk rejected mine, an action I did not really anticipated, and after that reacted no more. However, I could examine some aspects of his…rebellious quirk. A fine lad with a fine quirk."
He is baiting me, wants me to ask.
"…A-and what might be such a…interesting quirk, sir?"
"I guess the best way to express the nature of such a quirk would be to compare it to…evolution…"
"Evolution?"
"Why yes! The lad's body is quite adaptable; his DNA structure is solid, yet flexible; he has control over his body, something akin to a computer coding…no, better, the admin of a network. If he so desires and understands his body, he could even mimic other quirks…"
"You might have to forgive me if this sounds foolish sir, but would it not be better to acquire his quirk then? You sound quite enthusiastic about his power sir!"
"Doctor, doctor, I thought you were paying attention to my points…his quirk, in many ways, is an inferior and honestly outdated version of my quirk. Makes me remember my younger days, really…His body might be able to understand how someone else's quirk works, but it won't be able to reproduce such an effect."
"Capable of understanding, but not reproduction of the abilities…"
"As I said, not all abilities, doctor…I guess it is certainly interesting if you aren't truly paying attention to my words…as you well know doctor, the human body limits itself in a daily basis as to avoid damage, something akin to locking its own abilities for its own sake. He might be capable of surpassing such limitations…as for mimicking other quirks…well, think of it this way."
"Someone who has an Acid based quirk has a body well accustomed to deal with his own acid. He can control his acid and normally won't suffer damage because of it; his quirk is a part of him as much as his arms and legs. That lad, if he comes into contact with any form of genetic material of the acid quirk holder, might be able to analyze what makes the work tick, neutralize its effects and even weakly reproduce it."
"…almost as…"
"As if combating a sickness. His body analyzes it, neutralizes it, and if possible, prepares itself to deal with it in the future, just like anti-bodies; replication with lower effects might even be possible if he fully understands it. It somewhat surprises me to have my quirk repelled by a four-year old, but such event likely put his body through enough stress as it is. It will have a full time digesting the leftovers of my visit and won't show itself until it is done with it. He might as well be quirk-less for as long as it takes for his body to fully understand what happened."
"When you put it this way sir, it indeed sounds like an outdated version of your power."
"Hence the reason why I couldn't take his power from him."
"Magnificent, sir."
"You likely crushed any dreams he had of being a hero, and with the inefficiency rate of his quirk, by the time he finishes analyzing mine, he won't believe he has a quirk, but in all cases, keep an eye on his records. You never know when you might find use out of something broken."
Izuku's night was dreamless, his body felt feverish and he felt a pounding headache. His eyes were red and puffy, crying yourself to sleep tended to do that.
His room was still the same, as there was no way a four year old would be able to go all angsty at such tender age and rip or break his small, but crescent hero memorabilia. All Might's smile was the sole thing his childish mind could focus at the time, the way the man smiled in the face of adversity was his last straw of hope.
The following morning had Izuku go to school feeling less than whole. His mother was worried he might be depressed, and he was, but school couldn't be missed just because he was sad. The other kids never paid him any mind, they weren't about to change just because he seemed a bit more pathetic than usual.
Kaachan was the center of attention as usual, the blonde boy bossing his followers as he declared his drawings were better than everyone else's. Izuku had to agree that his own drawing today were less than stellar, as his whole self was really.
His little mind felt sluggish, nothing too bad compared to receiving one of Kaachan's pranks or words, but he weirdly felt weaker than normal, more spooked, more sensitive.
Kaachan noticed it and immediately acted upon it, first calling Izuku a green tofu, as he wobbled weakly just like one. Izuku just smiled along with the joke, too tired to think of anything else. Kaachan normally would quip another answer as soon as Izuku tried to defend himself, but noticed the green haired boy failed even that.
The days on pre-school went by with no remarkable events Izuku could remember. Honestly, these days he couldn't really do much, messing up harder tasks and having difficulty with easier ones. The green boy's memory did not register unimportant events as he felt more and more tired as the days passed by.
One event in particular registered quite well in his mind, however, when on the day, everybody was on the part, playing with earth and sand.
"Hey guys, check this out." Kachan brought Izuku's empty sand bucket to eye level. "Izuku's name can also be read as Deku (useless) right?"
Useless?
Izuku now was eight years old. His physical condition had improved leaps and bounds since pre-school, he could hardly remember being sick again. Although never the most physically prepared of his class, Izuku boasted of peak conditions for someone his age, paired with quite the good head on his shoulders and Izuku could be called the perfect average student. His grades were the only thing in which he stood far and above others.
Izuku could play sports for long periods of time, so long as he wished for it. However, if his determination to play was zero, the youth seemed sluggish and one time he had slept through an entire P.E class, only to be awakened by quite a furious Bakugou talking about how he was going to murder Izuku for not taking their "competition" serious.
The, literally, explosive teen found that while picking on Izuku while easy, was mostly boring or a waste of time. The green kid was shy and socially awkward, only standing out of the crowd when Bakugou decided someone else should be belittled that day.
It was quite a bad habit of his, playing the hero when he didn't even have a quirk, and it pissed Bagukou to no end as this damn Deku tried to standup for a weakling who could only talk trash on others' backs. You could call Bakugou loud or arrogant, but you couldn't say he talked about others behind their backs.
If he had to call a loser a loser, he did it in front of said loser, not behind his back.
Bakugou also could see that while Izuku didn't standup for himself or talked with anyone in class, the damn nerd got good grades, was polite, and some teachers even liked to use him as an example to those who didn't aspire to be heroes. There couldn't be just heroes in the world after all, only the best could be heroes.
If Izuku had a quirk, Bakugou would allow the damn nerd the chance of getting beaten by him in the heroics test. Bakugou was aiming high, U.A high, and when he left Middle School, he was going to go for the top heroics school. Naturally U.A was the only selectable choice; nothing else would be enough for him.
Having to worry about some scrub getting hurt wouldn't do for him. Me, worried about that damn nerd? Never!
Izuku had become 10 just the last week. His "party" was just a reunion at home where his mother invited few guests over to enjoy some pizza, and by few Izuku really meant few. The Katsuki family had come, a few teachers, and most surprisingly, his father. Hisashi Midoriya wasn't a neglecting parent, but Izuku could count on one hand the number of times his father had stayed home this year.
His mother would always say that he was busy working overseas to provide for them. The green haired boy never understood why his father needed to be away for so long, their expenses weren't really that costly and most of all, his parents didn't need to pay for quirk controlling classes seeing as he didn't have one. A good thing, right?
Deep down Izuku knew that his father was probably too ashamed to come back to his motherland and tell his workmates that his son was a quirkless nobody. Even the most useless quirk was better than not having any.
His grades weren't bad; in fact he was so good in class that some of his teachers had come to his party when he invited them. Kaachan had also come, bringing his mom and dad with him. Izuku felt somewhat jealous. Kaachan had everything: a good quirk, confidence, strength…a dad that comes home.
At the end of the end, his party wasn't the depressive event he predicted, he had quite some fun. His mother enjoyed the company of Kaachan's mother, auntie Mitsuki. The women talked during all the party and his mother received the boost in happiness she deserved; she was in low spirits since her husband hadn't come to his son's birthday.
Kaachan was quite friendly towards him, even toning down his usually loud and brash mouth. He and Izuku played some games on the console the blonde had brought, the explosive teen bragging about how he would win any game. It was a wide surprise for everyone in the party when Izuku managed to beat Bakugou in about any game they played.
The blonde looked pissed off as all hell, but controlled his anger in favor of focusing in their current game, M*rtal Kombat. He used all the combos he knew, yet none worked in the green haired boy seemed to predict his every move after seeing it once, his hands moving with astonishing accuracy to counter Bakugou.
The only games Bakugou could win was in racing games, as everything else was taken apart and analyzed by the green boy, winning becoming impossible against him unless the blonde used some unknown variable, and even then the chance of it working as he intended was quite low.
On the third game they were playing, some FPS, Bakugou had dropped entirely his polite act and was openly cursing and he moved his controller together with his body as if to gain an edge and win. Of course no such thing happened, Izuku having sniped him for across the fucking map with a rifle. The fucking thing didn't even have attachments, yet this damn nerd had killed him as easily as walking down a park.
"Fucki-…damn nerd, stop camping and fight like a man!" Bakugou shouted, a vein bulging on his forehead. His palms were sweaty and he even had a stain in his shirt, the color of it the same of the cake on the table in front of the teens.
"Kaachan, what are you talking about? It is a legit strategy of the game, isn't it? If it is in the game, it is meant to be used!" Izuku answered, his focused eyes trailing the screen as to spot the newly re-spawned avatar of Katsuki's character.
How is he weak minded, you damn hag? Bakugou cursed his mother in his mind. His overly aggressive mother had convinced him to "play nice" with Izuku as the boy's mother was worried he was getting depressed or wasn't making friends. Naturally Bakugou, as the better person, and not with his mother's convincing (read threats), decided to play along and even go easy on the scrub for the first matches they'd be playing.
What he didn't expect was to be curb stomped, his losing streak against the nerd ten to one. How can someone like him allows others to walk all over him?
Playing with Kaachan had been fun! Izuku couldn't remember when he had had so much fun. The party had ended and everyone had gone home, leaving Izuku and Inko to themselves. The duo cleaned the house and each went to do their own thing, Izuku going to open his gifts and his mother going to her room to rest.
The young boy was stunned when opened one gift in particular. A green box with no name was the giver. Izuku quickly opened the gift, his eyes watering as the tears almost flowed. He wasn't one to cry anymore; in fact he expressed little of himself these days, preferring to keep to himself most of the times. And yet…
Hey champ, how did your party go?
I'm sorry your old man couldn't be there, work has been really difficult here.
I promise to visit as soon as I finish this project, then we can go bowling, fishing, or anything else you want. While I'm not home though, have fun with these. America has these really graphic games and your old man couldn't stomach them, but I beat you can beat them!
When you beat them, show how to do it to me okay?
Your father, Hisashi.
It was clear the letter had been written in a hurry, the whole paper was a bit crumpled and one of the edges was even burnt, his father's quirk, Fire Breath, no doubt. The box had some hurriedly wrapped CD casings, the games for computer almost entirely visible despite it being a supposedly surprise to him. And yet Izuku couldn't spot the tears from falling.
"T-thanks dad, y-you remembered!"
Izuku installed the games immediately and played the first of the list, some sci-fi themed war game called WARMALLET: 39.999K. Maybe it would be fun, besides; he was really in need to distract his mind from the whole hero deals. Izuku wasn't able to forget his dream and certainly wouldn't be able to give up the idea of becoming a hero, even if he knew it was almost impossible without a quirk.
But it would be nice to distract his mind from the issue, and playing something non hero related these days would be refreshing. Besides, it was just a game. It wouldn't influence him right?
The following day at school.
Just before the first class of the day.
"Oi, damn nerd, what's wrong with you?"
"FOR THE EMPEROR? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"
"What the fu-…"
A.U Notes:
Hey guys, side project for you.
The references are a bit obvious, but I need to modify them as to avoid copyright and legal issues. It is 2018 after all my dudes.
Any suggestions besides that I should kill myself?