The Tragic Hero: Lightning Knight

Chapter 1: Unfortunate Beginnings

The world is filled to the brim with amazing wonders and puzzling questions alike, but very few things often exist in both of those categories. One such event was the creation of superhuman abilities that came to be known as quirks and the following chaos and hope that spawned from their use.

With the initial introduction to quirks, people used them greedily to satisfy their own desires at the expense of others. These people became known as Villains. To protect others from these Villains, far more people rose to stand against them with their own quirks. These people became known as Heroes.

After the chaos of quirks settled, the foundation for modern-day heroics was established, those who wished to become heroes would attend schools specializing in the training of heroes and upon graduation would receive an official hero license. Based on the type of hero-work they completed and varying aspects of the situation, these heroes would be paid for their efforts. Those that wished to continue with peaceful lives would follow their path as they normally would and would be protected by the heroes they idolized.

Quirks developed around the age of 4 and were almost always a copy or merge of the parents' quirks with a mutation of the quirks also being possible. However, on rare occasions a child would either receive a quirk with no similarities to their parents' quirk or would receive no quirk at all. These people became labeled as quirkless and lead empty lives when compared to those around them.

One such boy was Po Futo, as early as the age of 3, the boy was identified as quirkless and was left feeling empty throughout most of his childhood. All the people in his life treated him as a sort of nuisance and often abused him for his uselessness. From this abuse, the boy developed numerous mental issues, the most notable issue being the creation of numerous personalities to serve as friends and people who cared for him. The boy's depressing life continued until age 15 where he was on the verge of committing suicide when life decided to give him a break after these long hard years.

Po sat in his empty room, as he stared at the pistol he held in right hand. In his right, useless hand. Po lifted his the pistol to the side of his head, tears streaming down his face. I'm useless, he thought to himself, I don't have any purpose and even my existence puts a burden on everyone I'm around. Why should I continue to make them suffer from my weakness. I don't want to live like this. I don't want to live at all! Rational thought abandoned Po as he began to slowly pull the trigger, coming within mere millimeters of ending his life before lessening his hold and dropping the gun to the ground.

Terrified, Po ran from his room with the gun now facing away from both him and the door. Exiting from the dreary place he called home, he ran to the nearby park, hoping that watching the people passing by would make him forget his insecurities. Watching the beautiful scenery and all the people that passed him, he began to wonder what amazing quirk each person had, bringing his thoughts back to the gun laying on the floor of his room.

"I can't do it! I'm useless and a total coward!" Shouted Po, startling many of the people walking by the troubled boy.

Of the ten people that heard and saw the distress the boy was in, only one approached him, a beautiful girl from Po's neighboring school. She casually walked over to the boy, sat down, and looked off at the scenery, just as the boy had, before she began to speak.

"No one is useless," she stated plainly, "Only the people who think themselves worthless are useless, and even then, they hold great significance."

The boy looked at the girl, who was still staring off at the slowly setting sun, before meekly replying, "How can someone without a quirk be of use to anyone. All they do is drag the people around them down with them."

"People always think that without a quirk, a person has no purpose," the girl stated, "Why you think this is true, I'll never know, but what I do know is long before quirks even existed, people got through their lives fine and ended them happily. No one is useless because of something they lack."

Po, unconvinced, became frustrated with the girl, "Why do you think that?"

"Well it's true, every person has a purpose, and every person matters."

Po became enraged with the thought that he was going to drag this girl down with his useless self. This kind girl had calmly approached him and told him that he had purpose when he desperately believed was a bundle of nothing.

"How the hell would you know! You don't know who I am! You don't know what's wrong with me! Po was now screaming at the girl who only watched him as he continued with his outburst. "You don't know how little I matter or how pathetic I am! I -" Po abruptly stopped, disgusted that he was taking his rage out on some girl who has only talked to him calmly. Po no longer wanted to be at the park, his eyes darting away from the girl as he began looking for the fastest way out. Po was about to take off running, before the girl stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Listen to me, okay?" The girl said in a reassuring manner, "No matter what you may think about yourself, know that every person has things they hate about themselves, but those people still have purpose." Po desperately denied the thought that he mattered before being cut off by the girl. "Look at me." She said commandingly, Po finally looked at the girl in her sea blue eyes, slowly calming down from his panicked state, finally realizing that the girl was beautiful. She was small when compared to Po but she looked to have a fierce aspect of her that made her seem much more endearing. She had tan skin, slender arms, and long legs that gave her a commanding presence but her calm sea blue eyes and shining white hair gave off a much greater sense of calm.

"You have purpose."

She let go of Po and began to walk away from the astonished boy, more than glad that the boy now seemed to be rethinking his previous beliefs.

"Wait!" Po called to the girl, "I want to see you again."

The girl stopped before turning around and telling the boy, "My name is Kata."

Following their first encounter, the two began to see each other nearly five times a week. Po was excited to finally be around someone who believed in him and quickly latched onto her, following her wherever she went when they were together, refusing to leave her side for even a second, with some exceptions (you can't exactly follow a girl into the bathroom now can you?). It wasn't long before he realized he truly loved her and everything she was. These feelings were returned as Kata also began to feel for Po as he wasn't exactly the ugliest person in the world. He was far from it as he was a tall and lean person who both appeared frail but very strong with a very well defined face and eyes that shook Kata with pure content from how cute they were! She was a little offset by Po's multiple personalities but over time, he became himself, and only himself, calmed by Kata's love. Po also came to learn of Kata's quirk, Shock. It was a basic electric based quirk that let Kata give off small shocks of electricity. Po was initially incredibly jealous of Kata for having a quirk but he eventually overcame his jealousy and happily stood be her side throughout their middle and high-school years.

After they both graduated and got jobs, they married and lived with one another in a perfect marriage for two years before finally deciding to welcome another to their family.

Koto Futo was born on May 30th, 20XX to Kata and Po Futo and was named after his mother, living a happy three years with his loving parents. He was tall for his age and had a slight puff to his cheeks but still had a defined chin and jawline. He had pure white hair which was identical to his mother's own hair but it was always in a mess, with Koto putting little effort into taming it. His eyes were also a pure white which confused both parents as well as every doctor as neither of them had seen a person with pure white eyes before, even in a world of quirks. He made several friends and easily became infatuated with any and all heroes, his personal favorite being All Might. All Might was always so heroic and brave, saving people with an ever-present smile on his face. The boy quickly declared that with whatever quirk he got, he would be a hero, with a great desire to save others and a peaceful nature, Po was sure Koto would become a great hero and would encourage the child every step of the way.

They spent every waking moment they had available with the young boy, showering him with their love. Encouraging Koto when he did something amazing, like when he stopped a car to protect a small duck when it was crossing the road and disciplining him whenever he did something bad, like when he jumped in front of a car to protect a small duck when it was crossing the street. Normal parent stuff.

Koto often got into trouble trying to protect any animals he found in their small neighborhood, doing his absolute best to save each and every one of them, and when he failed, he was almost inconsolable. When Kata and Po took Koto to the lake for the first time in his life, they had to leave immediately as a small group of fishermen were angrily chasing after them Koto released every one of their fish back into the lake. Po gave Koto a stern lesson as he unraveled the fishing wire that Koto had gotten wrapped in before his parents rushed and escaped.

Kata and Po also didn't refrain from showing their love to Koto, laughing long into the night after kissing in front of Koto and seeing him blush to the point his face resembled a tomato.

The family shared many incredible moments with one another and lived happily.

Koto opened his eyes and he surrounded in a vast green meadow. Confused he stood up and began to search around the the unending land of gently swaying grass. That's weird, I thought I went to sleep with Mommy and Daddy in their bed. Koto continued to walk, seemingly for years on end to the young child before a voice called out to him.

Koto spun around only to see nothing more than the swaying grass and a newly sprouted tree, more than a mile high. He walked up to the giant looming tree, wondering with the curiosity and innocence of a child, How did this get here? Inspecting the tree, Koto saw that besides how tall it was, it was a completely normal tree. Now looking around for any idea of how the tree suddenly appeared, Koto looked through the area, only to find nothing.

It wasn't until Koto placed his hand on the tree that events began to unfold.

A long crack appeared in the tree's bark and continued to spread slowly from where Koto had placed his hand. A black light poured from the crack as Koto quickly pulled his hand away, startled by the new appearance of the tree. As the crack continued to spread, the peaceful giant began to twist into an image of pure anger and ferocity. Terrified, Koto ran from the tree, only stopping when he his legs felt like jello. Looking back, the tree was nowhere in sight. Koto promptly forgot about his encounter with the demon tree and continued his walk through the never-ending meadow.

Koto continued on, spurred by his curiosity before coming to a small hill, the first one he had seen in this unending landscape. At the top of the hill was a circle of red matted grass about three meters in diameter. The presence of this strange circle was enough for Koto to wander into it and begin searching for anything.

He froze.

He stopped moving and sweat began to collect on the back of Koto's neck. Something was behind him, whether it was something of uncontrolled malicious intent or unending care and protection was unknown, all Koto knew was it was one of them. Slowly turning around to meet the owner of this terrifying dilemma, Koto was met with a skinny and anaemic looking man in what appeared to be a black skintight suit. He was hunched over and had scruffy white hair, just like Koto's. The strange man appeared unassuming and non-threatening, so Koto readily warmed up to him. No words were ever said between them but Koto still heard the man talk. It was a brief message but one that clearly held a great significance.

I will protect you for as long as I am able.

Kata and Po were looking worriedly at their child between them. One moment, they were all sleeping peacefully, and the next he was panting heavily, covered in a cold sweat. They attempted to wake Koto through their usual methods of tickling his feet, gently rocking him, and calling out to him but nothing woke the boy. They looked at one another, unsure of how to wake their child. Then, just as quickly as it had started, it had ended. Koto was once again resting quietly. This cycle continued for the entire night until finally on the morning of Koto's fourth birthday, he woke up, having forgotten the bizarre dream he had endured. Kata and Po decided against telling Koto of their stressful night and instead began their own plans. Operation Birthday Party had officially begun.

To celebrate the year where Koto would (hopefully) receive his quirk, the Futo's had filled out Koto's birthday to the brim as every hour was filled with a fun activity with an hour and a half allotted to lunch.

Koto's party began at 10 AM with the arrival of his friends and the activities were listed on his decorative birthday party invites, made by Koto himself (with his parents filling out the activities). Kata giggled at Koto's daring attempt at a birthday card which was a pile of macaroni, glue, and black marker scribbles and sent them off to all his friends.

KOto's AwsOm b-day PaRty

I wuld lov it if you cam to my birthdy party!

Activities:

10 AM Show-Up and Play Time

11 AM Trip to the Playground

12 PM - 1 PM Pool Party

2 PM - 3:30 PM Lunch (Pizza!)

3:30 PM - 4 PM Tag Tournament

4 PM Nap Time

5 PM Water Balloon Fight

6 PM Dinner and Gift Opening

The list went as planned leading up through to lunch and Koto was having a blast with all his friends. He had run around the playground and slid down his favorite slide twelve times before he saw that his friend had fallen and gotten hurt, quickly rushing off to help her. Kata hadn't seen the child get hurt but when Koto took her to Kata, she rushed immediately to get a band-aid for the small scratch. Kata watched Koto as after he saw that his friend had been taken care of, he eagerly ran back to play. He may still be a kid, but he has a heart of gold, and would never hurt a fly, just like his father.

Other than the small scratch, play-time, the playground, and the pool party all went without any incident, which still left more than half of Koto's birthday party left for him to enjoy. The time came for lunch and Kata drove off the grab the pizzas for the now hungry kids and some much needed silence for Kata. Since Kata had left for the pizzas, the responsibility to watch the kids had fallen to Po, which would have been more than easy enough for Po to do but the incident with Koto's sleep difficulties left him with little sleep and consequently, little energy and fell asleep within minutes of Kata leaving, who had drank the last of the coffee to stay awake while driving. One of Koto's more adventurous friends, Leo wanted to venture around the neighborhood, having already grown bored of waiting around for Kata to return with pizza.

Koto quickly refused, "We can't leave! It's not safe for us to walk around without an adult."

Leo, however, was undeterred, "It's not like we'll be going very far from the house, we can just head back to the playground down the street!" Hearing mention of the playground, the other kids picked their heads up and all quickly joined with Leo, telling Koto they wanted to go to the playground.

"But the rules say never leave the house without one of us!"

"Who told you that?"

"My mommy and daddy!" After saying this, Koto beamed with pride at the thought of his loving mother and father, even if one of them was completely passed out! He probably didn't sleep well, Koto thought.

Leo saw his chance and took a shot at Koto, already anticipating the feeling of the wind from the slide flow through his patch of hair, "C'mon, what are you? A momma's boy?"

"So what if I am?" This caught Leo completely by surprise. He had believed that Koto would try to prove him wrong and would agree with Leo, but instead, Koto had defended his parents from the insult of a four year old.

Leo backed down and Koto won the battle but Leo still planned on getting to the playground, with or without any of the others. Leo waited ten minutes for Koto to become distracted and quickly slipped around the corner of the property, running off towards the playground, but not before being spotted by one of Koto's friends who immediately went and told Koto.

Koto ran off to search for his friend but after arriving at the playground he did not see Leo anywhere. Around the large rock, near the swing set, and under Leo's favorite slide, not a trace of Leo was there. That was before a scruffy and sick sounding voice called to him, turning around Koto saw a pale man in greasy jeans and an unwashed shirt staring at him with a strange look in his eye. For the first ten seconds, the two just stood and watched each other, before the man asked, "Hey kid, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

Koto was beyond scared, unwilling to take even a single step towards the man, but the man was more than willing to take a step towards him.

"Where are your parents?" Koto didn't respond.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Koto didn't respond

"Are you lost?" Koto didn't respond.

"Or maybe you're looking for something, or rather, someone."

This got Koto's attention as the man pulled out something from his back pocket, but upon closer inspection, it was a card with three stripes, the top being colored a pale skin color, the middle being the same lime green as Leo's jacket, and the bottom being the same navy blue as Leo's jeans, it was obvious the man had taken Leo. Koto was no longer afraid of the man, ready to save his friend. Koto charged forwards swinging wildly with his four year old fists. These swings did nothing to the large man as he knocked Koto to the ground easily. He was powerless against him as the man slowly reached towards Koto, a mist beginning to surround the man's hand.

Koto was falling through a black void, he looked around, completely terrified. Where did the man go? Where am I? He looked around as he continued his descent, unable to find any answers. Eventually he landed face first into some sort of floor. When he picked his head up, he saw he was in a sprawling meadow that continued as far as the eye can see.

You let him out.

The voice startled Koto as he turned around to see a pale thin man.

I couldn't protect you.

With those words, Koto remembered the previous night and the strange dream he endured. Koto began to wonder, This is the same man as before, but what does me mean by protect me?

What I mean is protect you from yourself.

Koto jumped back at the realization that the man had heard him. Did he talk aloud?

Welcome to the meadow, the place that exists only in your mind. In the meadow, you do not need to talk, and instead must only collect your thoughts to communicate with others here. I am Xatl, it is both a pleasure and a tragedy to meet you.

Koto was now filled with questions, Does everyone have one of these?

No.

Then is this my Quirk?

It is a consequence of it.

What do you mean?

Xatl stayed silent for several minutes debating whether to reveal what was truly happening. But decided against it, choosing to tell Koto at a later date.

Your Quirk is special. It is the result of the combination of your mother's original quirk and your father's psychological condition. Your Quirk is named MULTI-SOUL.

Koto was both intrigued and incredibly confused at the reveal of his long-awaited quirk. He had no idea what a soul even was.

Throughout history, survival was dictated by evolution and mutation. Whatever mutated and survived, continued to breed and passed its traits down, whatever didn't died. Up until the first quirk, all the mutations had been primarily mental and physical, affecting the condition of your brain or changing an aspect of your body. But never before has a mutation affected the soul itself, at least it was until the first quirk.

Koto's questions still went unanswered, what was a soul and what does multi even mean? He had never heard of it until now.

The soul is the culmination of your very being. Your soul is you and you are your soul. If your soul is changed, you will never be the same you that existed beforehand which is why quirks haven't existed until recently in history. Quirks are a direct evolution of the soul.

Koto was reeling back from the excess of information. He had so many questions and his four year old brain couldn't handle much of the information Xatl had just told him. Before Koto had enough time to ask more questions, he caught a change in the gently swaying grass far off in the meadow. The color of the grass turned a deep black, the same color as the void Koto had fallen through to enter the meadow and it was rapidly spreading. The black spread through the blades of grass, changing their gentle swaying to a frantic bend in one direction, as if they were being blown by a hurricane.

Koto began to panic as the ever expanding black spread through the meadow. What's happening mister?

Xatl stayed silent, a deep red circle appearing under their feet.

The black spread from the grass to the sky, turning the serene landscape of the meadow to a hellish void that rapidly expanded towards them.

Why is everything turning black mister? Koto began to back away before stopping after Xatl had placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder, providing a more than reassuring grip.

The black had now consumed every part of the meadow surround the two and now began to encroach towards them.

I will protect you.

Koto looked up at the man seeing he now appeared incredibly focused before dozens of small but powerful sparks of blood red electricity rose from him. Xatl exercised incredible control over the sparks, maneuvering them to completely avoid Koto to avoid injuring him and used them to create a barrier on the edges of the red circle, surrounding the two in a protective dome of red electricity. The darkness now completely surrounded them and began pounding and slamming into the walls of the dome. Xatl was now sweating from the strain but made no indication to Koto. Koto looked on with awe at the ability this man possessed, and it was being used to protect him from this darkness, unlike what that man had done to try and take him and Leo.

Leo!

Koto froze for a moment. In the confusion of him entering the meadow and meeting the man, Koto had forgotten about his friend. Enraged at himself for forgetting something as important as his friend, he let loose.

A power Koto had never felt rose from within him as entire bolts of white electricity far stronger and far more plentiful than Xatl's own blood red sparks surrounded and covered the two before continuing to pour out from Koto in a massive release of energy. Xatl stood amazed at the power this boy held within him and wondered how it had been used without any form of training with the boy's newly discovered quirk. Koto's bright white hair was now completely pointed up as he was overflowing with excess energy and his eyes were completely hidden as the bolts centered and connected from Koto's now glowing eyes. Koto moved on instinct as if he had used this power for his entire life and far longer. He lowered his small hand and collected all the energy he had released so far and even more into his fist, bringing the area inside the red dome down to a reasonable brightness where Xatl could now squint and faintly see what was happening.

Drop the shield.

Xatl looked at the boy with astonishment. When Koto had spoken, his words held no indication of fear and held a commanding yet gentle authority to them. Xatl was incredibly tired from holding back the darkness and would be on the verge of collapsing if he continued to use his sparks to shield them both. After a small moment, Xatl decided to trust the boy and stopped supporting the sparks, which quickly gave out one by one until the shield had completely fallen, dropping to his knees in the process. The darkness hungrily rushed in, swallowing both Xatl and Koto.

All was silent for a painfully long time as the void had seemingly conquered this new and unfamiliar land. The silence served as a painful reminder of the life that once existed here.

It won't end here. I won't let it!

Cracks began to form in the void surrounding where Koto and Xatl had been before completely shattering as Koto was revealed to be expelling a never ending pool of electricity from his body as his punch sent bolts of purifying white electricity across the entirety of the seemingly never ending meadow, eradicating any and all hints of the void, returning the meadow to its previous, serene state.

Koto stood in the meadow for only a moment more and turned around to see Xatl giving him a somber smile, as if he knew something Koto did not.

You have a hard time ahead of you.

Koto opened his eyes drearily and he looked around in a panic. It took Koto more than two minutes to take in his surroundings. The playground was gone and everything else was gone.

In its place, all he saw was rubble.