"WAKE UP!"

Muffled screams filled my ears as I struggled to come to.

"WAKE UP! OCELOT, WE HAVE TO GO!"

Was I dreaming? Was I dead?

"GET THE FUCK UP!"

I felt myself being lifted up and over someone's shoulders, and immediately I could see what was happening around me. Buildings were slowly toppling down in a blaze, with gunfire zooming by every inch of my face.

I panicked. Whoever was carrying me was about to drop me, I was sure of it.

But, they didn't. I struggled and struggled, and they held on. I looked back to notice my "savior", only for a huge seismic shock to knock us both to the ground.

I tumbled a couple of times, at an alarming rate, and hit a piece of debris sticking from the ground. The air was knocked out of me instantaneously.

"Shit…" I muttered out, weakly. I looked into my hands and focused hard. Nothing was manifesting. No matter how hard I tried, my quirk wouldn't come to.

"Ocelot, you need to-GAH!"

I watched as a huge beast picked up the person carrying me before, its hand around their ribcage, "K-Killjoy!" I screamed out. What was happening?

The beast tossed my ally across the battlefield, heading over to me immediately. I scurried up, holding my hand out. Before I could even try to charge anything, I was grabbed by my throat. I felt it close and I struggled to breathe. The beast slammed me into the ground as I felt my bones break beneath the massive force; was this the end?

I weakly opened my eyes and watched as its other fist came down. Everything went black.

"AHHH!"

Cold sweat dripped down my body as I looked around in the utter darkness of my room.

A hand found its way, shakily, to my forehead and I wiped the sweat from my face. I was disoriented. "It was just a dream...just a dream."

My door opened and I slightly jumped again, only to see my mother standing in the hall light. Her pink robe was tied tightly around her, hiding her figure, and her hair was up in a loose top knot.

"Shiryo, are you alright? Why are you screaming?"

I put both my hands to my face and just let out a sigh, rubbing my eyes once more. "Sorry, mom. Bad dream again...I didn't mean to worry you."

I could sense the tension in my mother's voice; it wasn't an angry tension though. It was more...nervous. "Okay...well, get some sleep. Try, at least. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, mom."

She closed the door and I laid back down on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. Ever since I turned thirteen, I started feeling different. Now, I know what you are thinking: well, it's puberty! But, no. Of course, I experienced the typical teenage boy stuff, but this was different.

You see, I live in a world of heroes and villains. Mostly, villains nowadays. Or, "protectors", as we're supposed to call them. But I know the truth. Everyone does.

A long time ago, there was a time where heroes ruled supreme. I'm sure you're confused. Heroes? Pfft, this isn't a comic book, Shiryoku! Well, what if I told you heroes, super powers, all of that crazy talk...was all real?

Even further back, children were being born with what we called "quirks". At the time, it was a phenomenon. People were actually gaining super powers! Schools were created to train these people to protect the world from evil, and those not fortunate enough to go to those prestigious institutions found themselves on the wrong side of the coin.

It was an ever changing battle of heroes versus villains. Until one day, one hero changed the game forever: All Might.

Everyone looked up to him. Men, women, and children of all ages. He seemed to be unstoppable. Villain involvement with crime went down drastically whenever he was around. It was pretty incredible. Though, with strong heroes, came strong villains as well.

All Might was a symbol of hope immediately crushed by the realistic fact that nobody lasts forever. His power diminished, but was maintained in another up and coming hero. Once one pillar fell, another rose. The legendary underdog, Deku. Honestly, I thought it was a ridiculous name when I had first heard it, but after reading all of the things he had done with his comrades...it was pretty remarkable.

Now, I know you're probably wondering, WHY I'm telling you all of this.

Well, in this world...my generation: heroes don't exist anymore.

The "protectors", I mentioned before, are a group of previously known villains that have successfully taken over the world basically. A league of villains defeating the heroes once and for all. In this new reign of power, they decided to ban all hero schools, and all usage of quirks unless otherwise permitted.

And boy, were they strict.

Always on the news, I'd see people get executed...on live TV, for using a quirk. Children...getting taken away to God knows where. All because of something we were all born with. Well, a majority of us.

Those not born with quirks, which is completely possible, were just the bystanders per usual. The Protectors only cared about those with obvious quirks. Sure, there were people who hid their powers. Secret factions that planned to cause a revolution and overthrow the villains; they wanted to return order to the side of good.

Life was difficult at first, according to my mother. I hadn't been born yet when the power turned tides, but luckily for them: both of my parents were quirkless. I was born into a family of no quirks, so our lives were infinitely easier. I grew up oblivious to the way things used to be, until I found out through my father.

My father was a great man: loyal, caring, and loved his family. But, before i turned ten, a man by the name of "Death Matter", came in and tore my family apart. Accusing him of treason and harboring "heroes", they killed him in front of my mother and I.

I was scarred forever. And honestly, I still haven't gotten over it. But, we had to move on, otherwise we'd die next. I felt like...we were cowards. We couldn't do anything: no quirks, no means of fighting back. We just had to sit there and watch as my dad was struck down.

We never even knew if the accusations were correct. All we knew: Death Matter had final say.

Enough backstory, for now. Back to reality.

I thought about my dream again. Who was Ocelot? Who was Killjoy? What was the beast? Why was the city on fire? I had so many questions, yet no answers; and why me? Why these dreams? It only started happening three years ago, when I first turned thirteen. I felt something change inside of me, like mentioned before.

I would get constant dizzy spells, rendering me useless for a good thirty minutes at most. In that time span, I felt an out of body experience; it was as if I could roam wherever I wanted, do whatever I wanted, in this dream world like reality. It was really strange. The nurses blamed it on low blood sugar, or just being dehydrated, but as I grew older, I felt something was wrong.

I soon fell asleep, no dreams the rest of the night. I couldn't help but feel a presence of some sort watching over me before I drifted off.

The next morning, I woke up just fine. Well, just fine is not really the best term. I felt fatigued, but active enough to at least get the day done. I got washed up and dressed as usual and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Our apartment wasn't that bad; my mother worked as an EMT specialist for the city and was damn good at her job. One of the best in the district. I was surprised to still see her at home this early. I checked my watch. "7:15? Day off?" I spoke aloud.

My mother flinched a bit, taken aback by the sudden announcement. She turned to face me with a frying pan full of eggs, and gave a sigh of relief, "Shiryo, you startled me. Actually, I'm just on call for today. So, sort of a day off, not really," she walked over to the table and put eggs onto a plate, "now come sit down and eat. This is the first time in almost forever since I've been able to cook you breakfast before school."

I nodded, smiling a bit, as I sat down at my plate. God, how I missed my mother's cooking. Even though I basically had to cook for myself in the mornings for the past few years, it was always nice when my mom could make something actually 100% decent.

"This is great! Thanks, mom." I said with a mouthful of food.

She rolled her eyes at me and put her hands on her hips, "You know, if you keep talking with your mouth full, you're gonna swallow your tongue instead."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I swallowed and sighed, "you know, it's coming up in a couple of days."

There was an awkward silence. My mother nodded, and started cleaning dishes in the sink, "Yeah, I know. I know."

"It never gets easier, does it?" I asked, unsure of what answer I was looking for.

Her eyes stayed glued to the dishes before her, "I don't know. I've never experienced something like that before. But you know what?" She looked over her shoulder and smiled to me, "He wouldn't want us to sulk, right?"

I could see her holding back tears, and I looked back down to my plate. "Right. I gotta go. Love you, okay?"

"Love you too, dear." She replied, watching me exit with my bag. I could've sworn I heard her start crying as I left my apartment.

I plugged in my earbuds and turned on the YO Tube app. Instantly, on the front page, there was a breaking news video streaming live. I hit play.

"BREAKING NEWS! You're seeing this live from Channel 8 News, on the scene of the event. There's been an uproarious call to arms as the Ghost Fighters have attacked the office of none other than Toshiyuki Ganma. Mr. Ganma's bodyguards have taken care of the situation, but the Ghost Fighters are still at large. This vigilante team of ex-heroes and wannabe heroes have struck yet again in their fight to take back power. Fortunately, they have failed yet again," the reporter continued on and on for a bit, as I brainlessly walked my same path to school I had been walking for months.

"With me, I have Mr. Ganma's personal assistant, Ken Takibara. Mr. Takibara, do you have any word on what Mr. Ganma plans to do about the Ghost Fighters?" The woman held up a microphone to a statuesque man with glasses and a firmly pressed suit. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Firstly, I'd just like to say that these "Ghost Fighters" gain power when we use their name. So I'd rather call them criminals. These criminals have desecrated the sacred name of Ganma, and he will not stand for it anymore. The same laws are put into similar effect, but there will be cautionary measures taken to assure nothing happens to Mr. Ganma or any of his people. That's all." He handed the microphone back to the reporter, and the report ended up going back to the weather.

"HEY KID! WATCH OUT!"

I looked up in a start as I felt myself being pulled back from the middle of traffic. Horns were going off, and many middle fingers were being thrown up into the air at me as I realized I almost blindly walked into traffic.

"Oh, shit...sorry, didn't mean to cause a ruckus." I stuttered out, a blush on my face.

The man who pulled me back growled under his breath, "What do I look like to you? A hero? Buzz off kid. Just don't get yourself killed." He walked off, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I sighed, watching him leave. I really needed to get ahold of myself.

I made it to school in one piece and took my usual seat in the back corner. I got out all my necessary materials and waited for class to start; usually, I wasn't one of the first ones to arrive. But today, I definitely was. I looked around. There were only two other students in the room: Shigaya Morimoto, an athlete in both academia and sports, and Izaya Kentachi, the most stunning girl you'd ever see in your life.

She had a smile to die for and the most beautiful, long brown hair. It reached her tailbone, and she always kept it in a nice ponytail with a green ribbon. I found myself staring as she turned to face me. Her blue eyes caught my green ones and I blushed, looking away. I pretended to be staring out the window, hoping I wouldn't be caught.

Luckily, it seemed nobody came over or even bothered to ask what I was staring at. Success, I guess? I could hear more voices come in as the classroom finally started to fill up. I watched patiently as I finally saw the one person I knew would be looking back at me.

Takashi Natsu was one of my best friend, if not my only friend. He had blond hair that he loved to change the color of every day; it was uncanny at how his hair was still in tact. His eyes always lit up when we would hang out, and it made me feel cared about outside of home.

I smiled as he headed over, taking his usual seat adjacent to mine. "Hey, pink today?" I asked, looking at his unnaturally bright pink hair.

He shrugged and kicked his feet up on his desk, "What can I say: I thought I'd try something new." His zany personality always made me laugh, despite all that was going on. I let out a slight chuckle as he leaned over to nudge my shoulder.

"You okay? I know...uh, things are coming up. But, I wanted to make sure that you were handling things alright."

Besides my mother and I, Takashi was the only person that I confided in about my father; he related fairly well to me, as both his parents were killed out of unknown circumstances when he was six. After that, he was put into the care of his aunt and uncle, who lived in this city.

I frowned a bit and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine for now. Thanks though. You still on for coming over though?"

"On Friday? Yeah, totally. Wouldn't miss it, man." Takashi said with a more empathetic tone. I smiled at him and watched as our teacher finally entered the room.

Class went on like normal, and lunch arrived finally. Takashi and I headed out to our usual spot near the back of the cafeteria, and began eating.

"You know, things could've been worse." Takashi said out of nowhere.

I blinked and took a sip of a juice box, "What are you talking about?"

"Like, the whole...rebel thing that happened today. Things could've gone a lot worse." I guess he had watched it too.

"For which party?" I jokingly asked.

"Well, both. The government could've been seriously tainted, sending us into total anarchy, but then again, it's already tainted to begin with," he muttered the last part under his breath, which I took notice of, and he continued. "And as for the Ghost Fighters...well, it seemed careless on their part. I wish they'd take a more organized approach to things."

"Well, I mean when things are out of control in one's eyes, maybe they think they are in more control or like….more organized than the opposing party. It's something we really shouldn't be getting involved with anyway. I'm just glad nobody was seriously hurt." I responded, eating more of my salad.

I could tell Natsu wanted to talk more about it, but our conversation was cut short. An alarm sounded and explosions could be heard in the distance. I blinked and stood up suddenly, "What's going on…?"

"I don't know…quick, follow me." Natsu grabbed my arm, and I resisted a bit.

"Wait, shouldn't we stay still and wait for instructions?"

The P.A. system turned on: "Attention students. Please remain calm, there is no reason to pa-GAH!"

The speakers screeched, as I reached to cover my ears. An explosion, seemingly much closer, shook the school and people started panicking. Students were trampling over each other and people were getting seriously injured.

"Shiryo, we have to go. Now." Natsu insisted, pulling me in the direction of a stair exit. I thought that was a mistake, but it seemed nobody was going that way just yet.

As screams were muffled through closed doors and more explosions continued, another announcement came over the speakers. But this time, it was a different voice. One I definitely recognized.

"Students of Tanzaku High. Please note: we will let you live if you point us in the direction of a certain student. You see, there's been a rumor spreading around that a quirk might be forming in the midst of your student body. And as you know, we cannot let that happen. To further any more damages, we insist you hand over a student by the name of…"

My heart skipped a beat. Who could it be? Who would be hiding a quirk? And is this really the length the government would go to find a kid like this?

"Shiryoku Temagawa…"

I froze, as did Natsu. We both looked at each other, eyes wide. "W-What?" I muttered, shaking.

"Any student that can turn him into the proper authorities within five minutes, will be compensated with a full ride scholarship to a school of their choosing. And they get to keep their life. Time starts now."

The voice stopped and I looked to Natsu. "N-Natsu, I don't have a quirk. Don't worry...y-you can't turn me in!"

"Shiryo. Listen to me. I'm not going to turn you in, quirkless or not. But we HAVE to leave NOW! DUCK!" I was confused. Did he just say "duck"?

BOOM!

Another explosion erupted from the wall next to us, and both of us flew up and down the stairs, hitting various things. I weakly got up and looked to Natsu, who seemed to be fine, but still a little woozy. I ran over to his side, "Natsu! Are you alright? Wait...why is your hair blue now?" I asked, noticing his hair went from hot pink to blue.

He stood up, with tears in his eyes almost. A sadness I hadn't seen on him before, and he turned to face the door that was now opening at the bottom. A couple of armed guards entered and pointed their guns at us. I was freaking out to be completely honest. Not because of the guns, but because of what happened next.

From Natsu's hands, came a very strong geyser of water that seemed to knock all the guards down and out through the door. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing, that I actually passed out.

The last thing I remember seeing is Natsu's face, and five other masked people coming to pick me up. The rest was all a blur.

I startled awake and looked around at my surroundings. I was in a weird cot, my regular clothes still on and such. My shoes were off my feet and I couldn't recognize where I was. I got up slowly and looked into the nearby mirror. My face was clean of all soot and cuts, as if somebody had tended to me.

Was I in a hospital? I looked around and realized that Natsu was nowhere to be found.

"Natsu!? Natsu!" I called out, panicking. What if the government had taken him? What if I was taken? Did...Did Natsu shoot water from his hands? There was so much to process that I didn't realize the door had opened.

"Shiryo, you're awake…"

I looked up to see Natsu and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. "What the fuck happened? Where am I? Are you okay? What was going on earlier with the whole water thing? You have a quirk!?" I was bombarding him with questions that I didn't realize that he was trying to shush me.

"Shiryo. Seriously, just breathe. I will explain everything. I promise. But...in order for me to do that, I need you to calm down. This is going to be a little...rough."

I allowed myself to stop panicking a bit, and I took a step back. "Alright...alright...where...where am I?"

"You're in the Medical Bay of NUA." Natsu said calmly.

I blinked, "N...UA?"

"It's Neo Yuuei…"

"Neo Yuuei…? Wait, Yuuei? Like the old Hero Academy? Natsu, you're not making sense right now." I gripped my head, trying to comprehend everything. The now blonde boy in front of me sighed and shook his head.

"It'd probably be best to just show you instead. Follow me." He insisted, making a pathway for me to exit through. I hesitantly exited the area and looked what was in front of me.

There was this huge statue of a bunch of people I had only seen in old news clippings or online articles in front of me. "All Might? Eraserhead? Deku…? Where are we, Natsu?"

"Shiryo, welcome to the new hero academy: Neo Yuuei. Also the base for the Ghost Fighters." Natsu said in a sort of gallant way as I looked at him unbelievingly.

"Wait, WHAT!?"

HEATHENS - CHAPTER ONE: COMPLETE

A/N: Hello everyone! And welcome to my story. I'm taking a break from some Naruto stuff for a bit to get out an original side story to the universe of My Hero Academia. Just recently getting through all the manga so far, and thoroughly enjoying the anime, I wanted to put my own stamp on the lore and world of BNHA. Now, please be nice! I understand I may get things mixed around, as this is my first time messing around in this lore, but I hope to bring characters you'll like as well as old characters. Please, feel free to review and share as you please~