This is my first My Hero fic as well as my second SYOC (Hopefully this one goes better) It's a somewhat original idea that was inspired by a couple of other fics I have read before I hope this chapter sells it.
Life could be a funny thing one moment you could be living out your day just like always and the next your whole world could be turned on its head. This lesson was learned hard and fast by a young man named Cyrus Aldo. Growing up in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, he was an only child to two loving parents and was the poster child for average. The only thing that made him stick out was that he was quirkless. That did not discourage him though because unlike most kids he never had any ideas of becoming a hero in fact he wanted to get into pro football. Sports to him were the one thing where being quirkless did not matter since use of quirks during games were prohibited. Just like most things he tried; however, he did not excel he was not bad but he certainly was not the best. Yes, Cyrus was hopelessly typical but all that changed when he got to college.
Cyrus was now a nineteen-year-old young man in the middle of his first year of college. He stood at five feet five inches and had ever since his second year of high school. He may have been a bit short but he attributed that to his Filipino roots. His body had gained a fair amount of tone due to his years of playing football but he was not overly muscular. He had caramel colored skin just like his parents as well as sharp dark brown eyes. His black hair was straight and medium length barely covering the tops of his pointed ears. His face was an oval shape, with thin lips, a delicate nose and thin eyebrows. He wore a black T-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. The only accessory he had was a gold chain that he had gotten as a graduation present.
For all that he was, Cyrus was not very social. He could work with others just fine when it came to a project or during a game but outside of what was needed he mostly kept to himself. He was not like majority of the people on his team who went out every time they won a game instead he just went back home since he did not live on campus. Despite a bit of social anxiety Cyrus did have a bit of a reckless streak rushing into situations without thinking. Although he had sustained plenty of injuries due to this kind of behavior he never had many regrets about it.
Everything was going fine one day Cyrus had finished his classes, he did not have a practice he had to worry about and a break was coming up it was all great until he got a phone call. His parents had been attacked in a robbery gone wrong and were killed by villains. Things went downhill fast after that and Cyrus had to stay with his uncle in the city. His uncle was not a good man a fat, alcoholic that could barely take care of himself Cyrus got sick of him in a hurry. It was clear to him that his uncle did not want anything to do with him and as soon as his break started Cyrus got kicked out of the house without anything not even his phone.
Effectively homeless, Cyrus had nowhere and no one to turn to; he was alone. He spent days wandering the streets begging for meager amounts of change and nights sleeping with other street walkers. It was on one of those nights that he woken up by a bright light and when he was finally able to see he saw three men in dark clothing standing in front of a few vans, "Come with us if you want a chance to live better." One of them said.
Cyrus along with many others did not have to think very long about the man's offer. Even though he knew something was wrong and his common sense was begging not to go he just could not take living on the streets After climbing into one of the vans another man who was already inside slipped a bag over Cyrus' head, "Hey what's this about?" he asked trying his best to hide his fear
"No questions," the man answered.
They drove for what seemed like hours Cyrus vividly aware of the people cramped in the van with him. After a considerable amount of time had passed he felt the vehicle come to a stop and heard the door open. It took another twenty minutes or so for someone to take him by the arm and start guiding him blindly. As he walked blindly Cyrus could only identify few sound like the footsteps and breathing of others as well as an elevator. It was only after getting off of the elevator and walking a bit more that the bag over his head was finally removed.
He was currently sitting at a metal table in a room that was in a room that looked like it was for police interrogation. A guard was by the door and a woman wearing very similar cloths to the men who had picked him up in the first place was currently sitting in front of him with a piece of paper, "Can you read and write?" she asked him. Cyrus nodded his head, "Fill this out and hand it to the guard when you're done."
After giving him his instructions she left the room. The paper he was given only asked for basic information like name, age, quirk and ethnicity. After filling out the paper and handing it to the guard Cyrus was left alone sitting in the room. His mind began to race trying to figure out what exactly he had signed up for and he was beginning to think that he had taken one risk too many. After another long stint of time the guard returned placing the bag back over Cyrus' head and leading him out of the room.
This time when the bag was removed he was in a similar room and met with another man except this man was different. He was blond with blue eyes and unlike the others he was wearing khakis and a lab coat. "Sorry about all this young man but could you give me your arm." Wordlessly complying Cyrus put his arm on the metal table while the man pulled out a scalpel. "Okay, I'm going to make a few deep incisions so might hurt." When that was done the man put away the scalpel and pulled out a jar with some strange black substance inside, "Don't open this yet," he said before exiting the room with the guard.
On the other side of the door was another room where the man and the guard could see the room they just exited through a one-way window. There were also a couple of monitors that were showing the video feed of two security cameras that were in the room with Cyrus. Lastly, there were a couple a chairs with a table that had a microphone on top of it. "Here's the form the kid filled out," the guard stated handing the other man the paper.
"Well that's interesting he's one of the youngest we've tested not to mention he is also the first quirkless person we've tested." He picked up the microphone and began to speak into it. "Alright Cyrus please open the jar and place the arm with incisions inside."
Since he did not know if he could be heard Cyrus simply did as he was told. When he opened the jar the smell hit him right away. Whatever was inside smelled like chemicals and heavily synthetic. Slowly he placed his hand inside the jar and the substance inside felt cold and slimy. At first nothing happened but then slime started to work its way up his arm. Cyrus wanted to pull his hand out but he could not it felt like his arm was being held there. As the slime got to the first incision he felt a deep burning pain and let out a scream. The pain only intensified as the slime covered more cuts and by the time it got to the last one Cyrus blacked out.
When he awoke he was lying in a bed in what seemed like a hospital with the blond man from earlier sitting by his bed side. "Good, to see you awake Mr. Aldo how do you feel."
Cyrus sat up in the bed before speaking, "I feel fine great even." His response only caused the man to smile at him, "Who are anyway and what's going on?"
"Well I can't answer your questions fully quite yet I can give you the basics. My name is Doctor Nathan Thorn it's nice to officially meet you." Dr. Thorn extended his hand and Cyrus took it taking notice of the fact that the cuts that were once on his right arm were now gone. "As for what's going on you have been first successful host of something I like to call Project Venom."
"Are you implying that that black slime is inside of me?"
Dr. Thorn could tell that the boy was beginning to get more and more scared despite Cyrus' attempt to hide it. Thorn's quirk allowed him to know the heartrate of whom ever he was looking at the downside was that it only worked on one person at any given time. "Don't worry that "slime" as you put it was not designed to be harmful. It's a special type of organism that was meant to heal its host and augment their abilities. I'm not going to lie I've been looking for a compatible host for quite some time with less than success."
"Are you saying there was a strong likelihood I could have died?!"
"Yes, but you need to calm down my quirk allows me to know your heart rate and I know if it continues to rise so quickly so soon after you've woken up it won't be good for you." After a few calming breaths Cyrus regained his composure and Thorn was able to speak again. "Now before I tell you more I need to ask you something. Would you be willing to give up your life as you know it now in exchange for a new one?"
The doctor's expression was stone cold and while Cyrus was not completely sure what Dr. Thorn meant he knew the man was serious. Cyrus thought back on his life for a bit. Other than college there was not anything he was really leaving behind. He had lost the only family he cared about, he did not have many if any friends who would miss him except for maybe his team and he definitely did not want to go back on the streets if he could help it. "Yes"
Dr. Thorn's serious expression faded and his smile returned. "Good, now I am allowed to tell you more. As I said before my name is Nathan Thorn but what I didn't you is that I am head of the research and development department of an organization known as World's Hand."
"Never heard of it."
"I'd be more worried if you did. We are a worldwide organization that values its secrecy. Our purpose is to help the governments of the world deal with problems they cannot handle alone. Recently following All Might's retirement villains have become much bolder all over the world and while the public is aware of some of them, the ones they do not know about are the biggest threat. This sharp uptake in villain activity prompted the organization to start a new project known as Strike Force. That's where you come in."
"Me?"
"Well, you and some others. Project Venom was actually the latest of my experiments for quirk enhancement."
"What the hell is quirk enhancement?"
"It's what it sounds like. Imagine being able to increase the power of a quirk beyond what any support item could accomplish. That was what Project Venom was supposed to do; it was supposed to enhance every ability of its host including the effectiveness of their quirk. The irony is not lost on me that its host ended up being quirkless. So now that you know everything, are you in?"
"At this point if I said no I'm pretty sure I'd shot so yeah I'm in."
Thus ends the intro and before you all say anything about Venom do not worry I will not completely rip him off. So first let me lay down the rules for OC submission
All applications are to be submitted in PM with the subject line as follows: *Name of Character* Strike Force. The form will be on my profile.
All standard rules apply like NO, OP characters, characters related to canon ones, Gary or Mary sues, carbon copies of already existing characters and characters that have already been accepted in another SYOC unless that SYOC has been canceled
One submission per person
Those are the only rules but let me say a few more things. First let me give an example of what I mean by quirk enhancement since it is going to be a major part of what makes this unique. The best example is this Wolverine had retractable bone claws before weapon X coated his bones in metal and made the most badass thing ever that is what quirk enhancement is. And if you still do not get it PM me and I will see if I can explain it better.
Also if I have not made it obvious enough you can base quirks off of already existing characters but remember quirks always have a down side and if the character you want to base your quirk off has multiple abilities stick with the main one.
Finally, regarding character backstory. World's Hand will be or will have recruited those who have severed all ties or are not afraid to. That means that character does not have to be a criminal or in prison. A couple good examples, a veteran who wants to continue to serve, or even just a runaway kid all I am saying is be creative (but not too much). I will accept a few criminals though just not too many.
Alright that covers about everything. I will be accepting 9 OCs for the main strike force but I'll need support characters like villains and staff members of World's Hand. I will ask for those on an as needed basis. If you have read this far include the name of your favorite the name of your favorite My Hero character at the bottom of your form and do not forget to favorite, follow and review. I will catch you guys later.
