Prologue
Breath. Just need to breath.
Izuku kept repeating those words to himself, desperately trying to keep himself awake. The slime was forcing its way in through any means possible. His mouth, nose, and ears were all filled with the substance, and if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't breathe, he would've surely been sick to his stomach.
Clawing at the slime with his hands, he futilely kept trying to pull it out of his body. He even tried flailing his feet but only succeeded in getting his lower half stuck in the slime below. He had quickly lost track of how long he had been stuck here, slowly becoming the host for this villain to escape.
But he pushed on, despite the searing pain that was now erupting throughout his entire body. He couldn't believe that it could all end here in this grimy tunnel. He was going to get into UA and become the hero that he had always dreamed of despite being the quirkless Izuku Midoriya.
The villain's laughter rang out from above, taunting him and providing a constant reminder of just how hopeless his situation was. By this point, Izuku didn't know how much longer he had. He was slowly losing the feeling in his body, and the edge of his vision was fading into black. If something didn't happen before long, then he'd be done.
And as if someone was reading his thoughts, the villain's laughter stopped. For a second, Izuku heard nothing besides the light drops of water falling to the concrete ground around them. The slime had ceased its movement but remained where it was.
"Who are you?!" The slime villain exclaimed, making Izuku's eyes widen. Someone else was there!
Izuku felt his hope begin to rise once again. Could it be a hero? Was he going to be rescued? As his mind continued to race with the different thoughts, he resumed his effort against the slime villain with renewed vigor.
Kicking and scratching with all he had, he managed to free his right foot and his mouth. As he spit the last bit of slime out of his mouth, he gasped for breath, desperate to fill his oxygen deprived lungs. Having been distracted by the newcomer, the villain hadn't been able to stop the boy from breaking free.
Letting out a frustrated scream, the slime began to move towards trapping the boy again but was quickly stopped by a voice. "Stop."
Just by the one word, Izuku could sense the power radiating from the other person in the tunnel. It was clear that it was an older man, but it was not one that he had heard before. His voice had also sounded a bit muffled, almost as if the man was speaking through some sort of mask.
Izuku felt the slime holding him in place shift to the side, as if the villain was turning to look at the man. "Ehh?!" The slime shrieked, "Who do you think you are?!"
There was silence for a few moments as the villain and mystery newcomer stared each other down. Izuku had yet to continue fighting, instead choosing to continue pumping fresh air into his lungs. Besides, he didn't know who this man was, but it would probably be best to let him handle things in the way that he thought best.
Even while dangling in the grasp of the villain, he could feel the tension between the other two occupants of the tunnel. With his oxygen levels finally rising back to where they needed to be and his breathing evening out, Izuku was finally able to get a better grasp of his surroundings.
As the slime was holding onto him from behind, he was currently stuck facing the far exit of the tunnel. That also meant that the villain's body was effectively blocking off any possible view of the other man. Besides a few wrappers and old plastic bottles, there didn't seem to be anything in the area around him that he could possibly use as a weapon if he ever escaped.
His thoughts were interrupted when the man spoke once again. "Let the boy go."
Somehow, and Izuku didn't know how, he felt the slime tense up behind him. But it was only for a moment, and the villain resumed his laughter. "Just who do you think you are old man? Just turn around and pretend you didn't see anything and I might just let you live!"
Having seemingly gained his confidence back, the slime started to entrap Izuku once again, causing the boy to let out a few startled gasps as the slime rushed back into his mouth. He could feel the slime below quickly swirl around his leg once again, once again preventing him from being able to escape.
But this wasn't for long, and before Izuku even thought to start struggling again, he heard the villain let out a startled scream. "What the he-" was all he heard before he felt his body making contact with the damp concrete below. Thankfully, due to how the villain had trapped him, he was able to land on his hands and feet instead of his head.
Taking a second to regain his bearings, Izuku shook his head as he slowly pushed himself back up. Leaning against the wall on his left, he glanced around the tunnel for any sight of the slime villain but found nothing. Turning around, he finally spotted his mystery savior, and what he saw sent shivers down his spine.
His right arm looked to be around five times its normal size, with different rivets poking out across it. It had ripped the arm of the suit he was wearing to shreds. And try as he may, Izuku wasn't able to get a glance at the man's head due to the dark hood that was covering it.
As the man took a few steps closer, Izuku bowed his head in respect. "T-Thank you… F-F-For saving m-me!" He blurted, feeling his face grow hot in embarrassment at his stuttering. Even after being saved from a villain he had a hard time conversing with strangers!
The hooded man said nothing as his head tilted towards Izuku, causing the young boy to start to sweat even more. He began fiddling with his hands as he stared at the ground, unable to look at the imposing man before him.
"You are quirkless."
Izuku jumped when he heard the man speak, and as he looked back up he noticed that the man had moved closer. Fumbling over his words, Izuku eventually managed to respond with a short nod of his head, which did nothing to ease the trembling of his hands.
The man before him radiated an aura unlike anything he had felt before. Sure, he had witnessed countless hero fights on the internet and had even caught a few of them in the city, but he never felt like this before. All the heroes were strong, and always radiated a sense of comfort and reassurance for the people around them, but this… this man seemed to just shout dominance and assertiveness.
By this point, the man took a few steps closer to Izuku and came to a stop only a few feet away. His arm had shrunk back to its normal size and was now hanging by his side. Seemingly taking into consideration the state of his clothing, he held out his left hand to the boy, "Are you alright?"
Izuku stared at the hand in front of him for a second, as if unsure of what to do. But his senses quickly kicked back in and he lightly grabbed onto the hand, allowing the man to pull him up from the wall. "Y-Yeah," he muttered, attempting once again to get a glance at the man's face. But besides what looked to be a piece of metal sticking out of the bottom, the hood prevented him from seeing anything else.
As the hooded man nodded in response, he let go of the boy's hand. "I'll be on my way then."
And with that, the man turned and began to make his way out of the tunnel. Izuku's eyes widened at the abrupt departure, and scrambled towards the man again, making sure to grab his backpack from the ground. "W-W-Wait sir!"
He had never been this close to a hero before! There was no way that he could just let this moment finish so quickly, not when he had so many questions that he wanted to ask. With one specific question sticking out in particular…
At the sound of his voice, the man had stopped walking but had yet to turn around. Izuku stopped just a few feet behind him, clutching on to his backpack's straps as if they were his lifeline. Gathering his courage, he stared up at the back of the man's head and spoke.
"I was just w-wondering about your quirk!" His voice was much clearer than his past attempts at speaking with the stranger, and he assumed that it had to do with his adrenaline finally fading away. "I've been watching heroes for as long as I can remember, and yet, I have never seen a quirk like yours before! I was wondering what your hero name is! So that I can watch out for you in the future!"
There was silence as Izuku's sentence came to an end, with neither of them making a move. And as the silence dragged on, Izuku could involuntarily feel himself becoming tenser. But eventually the man let out a sigh, or at least that's what Izuku assumed it was. The sound that the man had made was clearly distorted, sounding almost as if it had come from a robot.
The man turned around and bent over slightly as he lowered his head to stare at Izuku. "I am no hero, kid." The man spoke, causing Izuku's eyes to widen as he unknowingly took a small step back. "I only helped because you reminded me of someone I used to know."
As the man straightened his head, Izuku managed to catch a short glimpse of the metal at the bottom of his face once more. "It would be best if you forgot about me."
Tightening his fists around the straps so hard that his knuckles began to turn white, Izuku stared at the ground below. "How could I forget about you?" he muttered, his voice low, "You saved my life."
As Izuku finished his sentence, the man let out another distorted sigh. He dropped onto his right knee and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to jump once more. "How about you tell me your name to start?"
"I-Izuku." He replied, silently cursing his nervous nature.
The man let out a light chuckle in response to his nervousness, which didn't help Izuku in all honesty, and withdrew his hand from Izuku's shoulder. "Well Izuku, you wanted to know more about my quirk?"
At this, Izuku's eyes seemed to brighten. He was never one to pass up the opportunity to learn about a new quirk after all. And the longer he spent with the man, the more at ease he was beginning to feel. Despite the man stating he wasn't a hero, he surely wasn't going to do any harm, not after saving him. But before he was able to go on a mini fieldtrip questioning the man about anything and everything his quirk could do; the man raised a finger to silence him.
"I will not say much," the man started, "But my quirk is unlike any other."
Choosing to remain silent, Izuku waited for the man to say more. The man paused for a second, as if debating what to say. "My quirk allows me to give people quirks."
Out of all the possible things the man could have said, Izuku hadn't ever imagined it would be that. A quirk that could give people quirks? Sure, a quirk such as that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. But still, nothing like that had ever been spoken about before, and he was sure that at least a few news outlets would've gone crazy at the discovery of this power.
"The power to give other people a quirk?" he muttered, causing his thoughts to come to a stop. A quirk that could grant other people quirks. Could that mean he could receive a quirk?
"Sir," he started, watching the man stand back up. "Could… Could it be possible for you to give me a quirk?"
Letting out another distorted sigh, the man pushed up on the only remaining sleeve on his suit to look at the watch strapped around his wrist. "Listen, Izuku." the man paused as Izuku bowed his head and slapped his hands against his sides.
"P-Please grant me a quirk! It's been my dream to become a hero ever since I was a child! To save people with a smile, like All Might!"
At the mention of the number one hero, the man had tensed up, but had quickly reverted to his former stature. Unknown to Izuku, a dull flash of light shone out from under the man's hood for a split second.
"I understand Izuku. While it is possible for me to give you a quirk, there's a bit more to it than just that."
Izuku nodded lightly, but otherwise remained in the same position. "P-Please."
Staring down at the boy, there was another small flash of light as he raised his hand once more and placed it on Izuku's shoulder. "Let's continue this discussion another time." he spoke, nearly causing Izuku's heart to stop. "If you can meet me back here in three days' time, then we will discuss further."
Izuku nodded immediately after he finished. The green-haired boy looked up at the man once more, "T-Thank you so much!"
Lazily waving a hand in response, the mask man replied, "Don't thank me just yet. There's still much to discuss. But I'm sure your family is waiting for you."
Izuku's eyes widened at the reminder of his mother, and immediately turned to make his way out of the tunnel. Turning one last time to wave at the older man, he paused. "You never told me your name. W-What should I call you?"
"For now, you may call me Sensei."
Accepting the response, Izuku made his way out of the tunnel and onto the busy street above. But if he had just turned around one last time, he would've seen the dark red light glowing around the base of the metal. And perhaps if the man hadn't been wearing the mask, he would've also seen the smug smirk spread across half of the man's face.
I've been toying with this concept for a while in my head. And after a day or so of work, here is the Prologue for the story. I hope you enjoyed.
If it isn't clear, this is an AU, with some minor changes and some other major changes. I'm trying my hand at a slightly darker story, while keeping what makes the anime and manga what they are. But also, without doing another retelling of the exact same story.
Follow me on Twitter PFWriting and/or PraetorFable for updates on my writing including current and future chapters.
Besides that, feel free to review what you think and feel free to take a look at some of the other stories I'm working on currently.