She gasped for air, staring up at the starry sky. She wasn't at a loss of breath, she just felt like she resurfaced from something. As she struggled to remember how she got here, two familiar people came into view.
Melody had been driving home not a moment ago; she lived in a small town. She had just finished a closing shift at the local fast-food place. She was the manager, so she was all alone.
At twenty-two it wasn't anything impressive; an art college degree was tucked away at home gathering dust in her apartment. The only thing she had to look forward to each day was cuddling up with her boyfriend of three years and watch some My Hero Academia as she fought off sleep until the early hours of the morning.
Her boyfriend always had early shifts and tomorrow was her day off, so they had the afternoon to spend together. She was excited to eat a home-cooked meal with him again.
As she crossed the overpass something, dark darted in front of her, a person. She slammed on the breaks, feeling the pit in her stomach tighten and the seatbelt snag on her hair. She put the van in park and ran out. She hadn't hit anyone, but she worried that the person was going to jump onto the highway below.
"Hey!" she shouted at the figure in her headlights, she kept at her van door, in case the person lunged at her. "Are you okay? Do you need me to call you a cab?"
The figure turned around, he looked, different, like a cosplayer from a convention; unrealistically coloured silver hair and thick makeup under his eyes. He looked wild, torn clothes and bulging eyes. Melody had a sinking feeling in her stomach, she was a part of the local geek community, and there wasn't a con anywhere near here, or on this weekend.
"Um great costume bud," she didn't make a move towards the stranger. She was feeling sick to her stomach, regretting stopping now as he gave her a broad grin. If he was playing a character, it was impressive, but there was an asylum just a neighbourhood over. He could have been an inmate.
"You'll do," the man shouted, his voice loud and heavy Japanese accent. "Come here!"
She yelped and jumped back into her ride, slamming the door before driving off. She didn't bother with her seatbelt, as much as the warning bell in the van rang.
She gripped the steering wheel like until her knuckles went white and stepped on the gas, she didn't care if she got pulled over. So long as she put some distance between her and the creep. She could see the man running after her in the rear mirror. She was going a stable 50 km per hour, and he was gaining on her.
She screamed in fright. This couldn't be real! This was just a vivid nightmare from watching too much anime before bed!
She felt herself being yanked from her seat, and she almost vomited in terror. She left her stomach behind as she flew through the air. She hadn't crashed. The monster chasing her had only caught up and flung her. She saw the man's back as she went flying past him. It happened so fast, but she could remember each detail. However, the night sky turned black; then it swirled a sickly green before going black again.
When she opened her eyes was staring at the starry sky.
She winded from her back hitting the earth hard. She should have hit pavement though. Her head should hurt more, but it didn't. It was more like she had hit the top of it when standing up in a tight space than it being dashed against the road.
The first figure came into view, who was hovering over her. His brows knit together in worry.
"D-dad?" she managed out. Her voice didn't sound just right to her ears, it sounded foreign and more high-pitched.
"Melody," he sighed rested the back of his hand on her cheek. Her dad looked bigger. Like a giant compared to her. But he was only a foot taller than her, she was only five seven, why did she feel like she was more like three-something. "How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts," she groaned. Suddenly the man standing behind her dad came into view, and she felt sick to her stomach.
The man before her looked just like HIM. His hair on end, his hulking figure towering over the two of them. A worried smile on the man's face. It was like the real thing in front of her, cape and all.
"Thought we lost you there!" the man boomed. My god, he sounded just like him too.
"A-All…" her eyes widened in disbelief. "ALL MIGHT!?"
She almost vomited in terror. What was happening!? Either this was some cool thing her dad was doing or something terrifying was happening with these realistic looking cosplayers.
"That's right young Milan!" the man boomed. "I'm happy you remember me, you took quiet a fall!"
Remember him? He's a hero in her favourite show, how could she for-
Oh? Was this an early birthday gift from her parents? It was a bit much to have a bodybuilder dress up as All Might much less remember lines from the show.
"You look just like him," she mumbled, taking in the flowing hair and ripping arm muscles under the uniform.
"Because I am him," the man boomed, giving her his signature smile.
"Melody don't you remember meeting him just an hour ago," her dad spoke slowly as if she was a child.
"Actually I don't, dad," she rose a brow at him, she then remembered why she was afraid. "OH, MY GOD! I forgot!" she turned to her dad, serious now. "Dad I was driving home just now and this crazy fuck-"
"Driving!?" her dad gasped, his brown eyes wide with fear. "Melody you were just talking to us a moment ago before you fell."
She racked her brain, she didn't remember visiting her parents. She racked her mind as she looked around. They were in her parent's backyard, but it wasn't the same. They had a giant pool stretching the length of the yard. She was laying next to the deck, that must be what they saw her fall off of. NO! She had fallen on the pavement a few streets away.
"I-"
"And you don't know how to drive…" her dad added.
"Hey!" she shouted defensively. "I'm not bad! I've driven for a couple years now!"
"Show me later, princess," her dad teased. But this just worried her more.
"Come on," she laughed, feeling her stomach clench with fear, this joke was going on too long. "Just cause you think Connor is a better driver-"
"Connor's only four!" her dad hollered, glaring at her. "When have you two been taking the van?!"
Her stomach faltered, as did she. They hadn't owned a van in years, her dad got rid of it when it started failing on them, and they had a car and SUV.
"I have been using James' van, dad…" she mumbled.
"Who?!" her dad hollered in shock. She wanted to cry, why was her dad acting so mean?
"M-my boyfriend," she mumbled out, feeling tears come to her eyes.
"Alexander," said All Might gently. "You're scaring her, she probably knocked her head harder than we thought…"
"S-since when is Connor four?" she mumbled to herself more than anything.
"Hey, Melody," All Might said gently as if she were a special needs child. "How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-two," she rose a brow, clenching her fists. "I have a boyfriend about my age, I have three brothers and a manager position-"
"Melody," All Might spoke gently. "You only have one brother, and you're in the first grade, so there is no need to worry about boys yet or jobs."
Her eyes widened in fear. The joke wasn't funny anymore.
"Nice one, dad." she snorted and made to get up. She was lighter than she remembered and off balanced. She looked down to asses how come and a silent scream left her mouth. She had no chest.
She stared, dumbfounded. Where double-C's should be was flat, barely enough to even warrant a training bra. She was wearing a blue strappy tank-top and matching skirt, the top had a rhinestone butterfly. She hadn't fit in this outfit since she was in elementary school. And she gave these clothes away years ago.
"I-" she managed out and started crying. What was happening to her? She just wanted to curl up in bed with James and sleep the night away. Where was he?
"D-dad," she managed out. "Where's James?" she croaked. "And Kyle, and Colin!? She hollered! Where's mom!?"
She sobbed freshly, and All Might reached a hand for her.
"No," she shouted. "FUCK off!"
Her dad grabbed her shoulder, it hurt. Like it did when she was a child, and she misbehaved.
"You don't speak to guests like that," her dad said sternly. "Mom will be home from work soon!"
"DAD ITS NIGHTTIME MOM'S A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER!" she screamed, shaking her dad free.
Her father looked at her, and for the first time in her life, he looked terrified. She felt horrified at the expression he gave her. She had never seen him scared before. He was her dad, her hero, the man she went to for every problem she'd ever had that wasn't fit for her friends.
"D-dad?" said a small voice. "M-melody?"
She turned to the voice and almost sobbed freshly.
There, was her little brother, Connor. Aged about four years old, looking precisely as her first memories in her old body, he was clutching the fur of a black husky-mix puppy. He was wearing Spiderman pajamas and rubbing the sleep from his eye, hand wrapped around a Teletubby stuffy, but in semi-perfect condition compared to when she last saw it.
"C-Connor?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat. Connor still had his front tooth knocked out, she remembered him missing a few about when he was four.
The puppy jumped at Melody, and her heart sunk, she stumbled to her knees to grab the ghost in front of her. She remembered this dog so well. But it couldn't be her. They had her dog's five-year-old ashes in the dining room Connor had just excited to end on the deck. The puppy licked at her face.
"L-Lady?" she sobbed and grabbed the dogs fur around the black harness she wore. The neck fur was even the same as she remembered, full of thick, soft locks. Her dog looked into her sad eyes, and she wanted to scream in woe. Her dog, her little Lady-fingers. How was she a puppy!?
She sobbed into the dog's fur as he dad picked up Connor in one arm.
"Melody?" Connor asked.
She turned to her little brother, he looked so worried for her. She probably looked scared and angry with him.
"I-If this is some sick joke…." She mumbled into her dog's fur. "I'm r-ready for it to be over."
"Melody!?" her mom shouted in surprise, and she ran forward to her. This wasn't her mom though. She wore her hair in a pony-tail, yes, and had a tanned, bright round face with the kind patient eyes she remembered. She was in a hero getup, however.
Her mom had a blue and black outfit with designs that looked like sound waves, it hugged her body, which seemed trimmer, thinner. Her mom looked like a model, not like the mother of four she remembered.
She stared at her mom, feeling so confused. Dad looked the same, he was trim when he was young, but her mom hadn't let go of her pregnancy fat until Melody had been in high school. This was, weird, surreal. She was overwhelmed by everything happening. The people in front of her, the dog in her clutches. The age of everyone before her. She couldn't process it. She started hyperventilating in shock.
Melody had never had a panic attack before, but after tonight she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy. She started to feel suffocated, her vision blurred, and she blacked out, feeling wave after wave of fears crash into her. Where was her boyfriend? What happened to her? Where were her younger brothers? How is her dog there? Why was All Might there? Why was her mom dressed up like that? What happened to her body?
She woke up to the sound of beeps. The loud intrusion rushed into her ears suddenly, she was jumping up like she did with her alarm in her apartment. Only there was no apartment around her. Only a hospital recovery room. Her mom was sleeping on the chair next to her. Or the new mom. She wasn't like her real mom, the one her real-self remembered. Everything was fuzzy, and her eyes were sore.
The doctor was talking to her dad and the only word that stuck out made her turn to them.
Quirk.
"Sorry?" she asked, sitting up, feeling weak and heavy.
"Whoa!" the doctor shouted. "Rest little missy, we've patched you up."
She relaxed into her seat.
"What's wrong with me, doctor?" she adjusted herself. "I don't remember how I got like this."
The doctor smiled sickly sweet, he had sharp teeth, like a shark. She wanted to scream at the sight, that wasn't fucking normal.
"Tell me about your family, Melody," the doctor smiled wider.
Her dad took a seat next to your fake mom, giving Melody a reassuring nod. She didn't need it.
"My dad is born in the late sixties," she managed. "Named Alex, only my grandma, his mom, and his sister in law call him by his full name. My mom is named Adele, there's an age difference about a couple years between them. They're high-school sweethearts and mom had me when she was twenty-six. My brother Connor is two and some years younger than me. I have two other brothers; Colin who is ten years younger than me, and Kyle who is seven years younger than me, I have two dogs; Lady and Skye. Lady passed away five years ago at eleven, and Skye is only a couple years old. We have a ginger cat named Yazmin who's old as sin. My grandparents; Evelyn and Ken are deceased. I only have my Mummu. We have a close cousin named, Rocky who dad named because he looked like a buff baby. His birth name is Ian, he's married with two kids and is an RCMP officer."
"Wow," the doctor smiled falsely, taking note of everything she said. "Now, if you're right, you'll be getting a new baby brother in about a year then."
"I'm sorry?" she asked, titling her head.
"Well, Melody." The doctor spoke carefully. "It seems your quirk is seeing the future. You have a puppy named Lady, only a four-year-old brother. Your cousin isn't out of high-school yet. And you have three grandparents not one. I'm impressed."
She stared at the man, everything he said pissed her off. But what worried her was the word he used.
"Did you say quirk?" she asked slowly.
"Of course," the doctor smiled, hands out carefully and invitingly, like he was talking to a criminal. "Your power that you're born with."
She felt her heart thud in her chest. No way.
THIS DREAM IS ALL TOO REAL!?
Her heart rate monitor went wild, which caused the doctor to put a hand on her. But she grabbed his massive one with her tiny hand, she took a breath until her heart rate slowed again.
"Call All Might!" she glared a the man. "Now!"
"B-" the doctor mumbled. "Your parents-"
"I know my parents are here, dumb-ass." She glared. "I need All Might, NOW! He's the only one who will believe me!"
She looked around for her phone. She must still have it.
"Where's my phone?" she asked.
"Phone?" the doctor tilted his head. "This was all we found on you."
Her phone was in a plastic baggy in front of him on a table not far.
"It better be charged!" she shouted as she leapt up. "That has my evidence!"
She reached out for it, but instead of grabbing it, something odd happened. Red string shot from her hand and grabbed it instead.
She stared at the thread, and wanted to scream. It was coming from her wrist. Like Spiderman's organic webbing would. It looked thick and strong like steel. What was going on with her body!?
She tugged gently and the bag went flying to her. The thread dropping to the ground gracefully, she watched as it did.
The doctor wrote a note and pinned himself against the wall as he dialled the phone.
"Send him in," he mumbled into the receiver.
"Dad…" she looked at him, her hands shaking as she held the small device that was huge in her six year old hands. "I know you're angry and terrified," she nodded, feeling her body weak. "I am too. But I need to speak with All Might…alone…"
He turned to the doctor and he nodded. He picked up mom and walked out. She wanted to cry again as All Might entered the room.
She had only finished Season two, her dumbass was waiting for the third season to finish airing so she could binge. She hated herself for that now. What if something important happened?
"Where's Izuku?" she asked All Might as he closed the door.
"I don't know that name…" he said softly.
"Izuku Mydoria?" she looked at All Might, but he didn't change his expression. She racked her mind. How long had All Might been a hero?
"How old are you?" she asked All Might. That might help her out.
"High thirties…" he responded slowly. No luck, she didn't really know his real age.
"How old is Endeavor's youngest the one with the half-an-half hair…" she asked carefully.
"Your age, Melody." He said simply. "About six."
She swallowed; so Izuku knew about being quirkless already. She knew her timeline now. Poor Izuku. Poor Todoroki.
"How do you-"
"I know it all," she looked to All Might as she opened her phone, a fiftey-six percent charge. "What I tell you now can't leave here."
"Leave." All Might nodded to the doctor. "She is safe with me here."
She wanted to cry from those lies he told the Doctor. The man left anyway.
She turned to All Might and took in the man, he was staggering. He towered over her, and he would continue to in her age. She let out a heavy sigh.
"This world is fictional, where I'm from…" she opened her phone and showed him a picture of the manga, with teenage Midorya on the front. He looked stunned at her, his brow quirked, as he recognized himself on the front.
She slowly opened the book she had on the electronic manga app, finding All Might's real name she showed it to him.
"Toshinori Yagi," she took a deep breath. "I know about All For One," she looked at him. "And One For All."
The man glared at her, she felt the fear and anger radiating off of him.
"Where I'm from, my…other world…" she looked at the phone. "This is old tech. All I said about my family come true, and of myself." She took a shaking breath, remembering quantum theory from a game she loved; Bioshock, and all her other nerdy things. "If this world is like mine then scientists know about trans-dimensional travel…I want to think…that someone used their quirk to put me here…and I don't know how to get back…"
"Trans-dimensional travel?" he quirked a brow up. "It sounds like something All For One would own."
A tingle ran down her spine in fear.
"Don't go looking for answers with him," she almost shouted, her body trembling in terror. "I need to find a scientist who knows about travelling dimensions! My real body of this universe left, and my real life is waiting for me!"
Her body shook, how long would it take? She had no way to message her boyfriend, no way to message her parents back in her real world the cellphone infront of her had no signal and probably wouldn't ever.
"In my world…" she looked at the ground. "Everything that will happen to you and your quirk has been written, it's a story meant to entertain, not a history book, not a magic future-teller…."
She slowly did the math on her hands.
"In about three years…" she took a deep, steadying breath. "One For All will come for you….I don't know the details of the fight….You will loose…horribly…I need you to come to me after that. I will need to come with you to Japan, to train at UA."
The man rose a brow higher, he slowly deflated to his normal form. No coughing or blood however. She was happy to see his frail form smile a little at her.
"You want to be a hero?"
"No," she looked down at the bed. "I need to fix whatever's happened to me. I know normally when someone comes to a new world, the mind adapts to fix the things that don't connect. Whoever's quirk brought me here is still around or messing around in my world. So long as the me from this world doesn't die while here I will be fine…."
"I can only think of two people who might have an idea how to help…" Toshinori rubbed his chin a little. "But they're in Japan right now, where I must return soon."
She blinked, so UA was still in Japan.
"I'll have questions…" she mumbled.
"And I have a phone number you can call to Japan," he waved his hand. "You're old enough mentally to understand so I won't baby you, you sound smarter than me. So don't worry about paying for anything like bills, your mom and I can cover-"
"Yea," she interrupted. "That reminds me; what's up with my mom?"
"Oh her?" he chuckled. "She's a friend of a friend…"
He looked to the ceiling in thought.
"How many Pro-hero's are in your book from your world?" he asked slowly.
"A dozen at least…" she rubbed her head as she turned off the phone, saving it's charge. "There's you, Midnight, Eraserhead, President Mic-"
"Stop," he laughed. "President Mic is your mom's cousin."
Her jaw dropped, her mom…I mean President Mic didn't really look Japanese. But still-
"Wait does she have the same quirk!?" she jumped up, regretting it though as she felt a little light headed.
"Yes," he grinned and transformed back into his All Might form. "Your mother is Siren, the Golden-voiced Goddess of North America. She works with the NA Pro-hero's; Spider-man-"
Her jaw was on the floor, Spider-man was real? Peter Parker existed here!?
"-your dad Great Northern Shield, and the wild Wolverine."
Her heart was in her head; Logan Howlet? Her first hero crush when she was little? She was floored. She loved heroes but this was a bit much.
She was stunned. Her parent's worked with her favourite heroes.
"What are my parent's rank?" she stood on the bed, barely reaching All Might's eye height.
He laughed warmly.
"There's no ranking system in America," he boomed. "Just money made from Comics and Manga."
She felt herself almost foam at the mouth. Her parents were super-cool heroes!
Suddenly guilt struck her hard. What if back home time moved the same as it did here, and her poor family…James…He would be living life without her….
"Don't…." All Might whispered. "We will figure it out; I will speak with all heroes about the dilemma. Hopefully, someone will aid you, we are heroes. What use is the word 'hero' if we can't save you?"
She looked him in the eyes as she felt her stomach bottom out and fear clutched at her heart. Her gut instincts never failed her before.
"What if…I'm the case…that none can aid?" She looked into the eyes of her elder. "'There are some people, no matter what we do, that we cannot save.'"
All Might moved his hand up to hold his throat, like he was holding back something.
"H-How-"
"I've heard you say it before…" she lay back in bed, fighting the sinking feeling and the tears in her eyes. "Can you bring my parents in? I want to comfort them…reassure them…"
Authours note;
I know I'm trash. But this plot idea has been bugging me for a while. I LOVE SELF-INSERTS WHERE THEY ENTER THE THING THEY LOVE. I am obviously currently obsessed with My Hero. If people enjoy it I'll add more.
Some questions I might get. Most of the information within is about my real life. With names kept the same, even my dogs name. Yes; at the kennel we saved her from she was named Lady-fingers by the women who ran the place, because she loved licking your fingers when you tried to pet her. I miss her every day so it was really hard to write my younger-self getting to see her again. I sobbed while writing it, I never really got to say goodbye to her as I had to go to school the morning my parents found her. They didn't tell us until we got home. She died of age in her sleep.
I didn't even want to add about that, but I'll keep it.
I hope you like this idea if you are new to my works. If you follow me, I'm sorry I didn't update what you followed for. I have a vacation in a couple days. So I might update like mad..
Forever here to inspire the hero in all of us,
Melody M.