PROLOGUE: THE CONTRACT
"Talking"
"SHOUTING"
'Thinking'
"Deep Voice / Demonic Voice"
[ Place / Time ]
- § - § - § -
"It's best you give up."
The room sank into a heavy silence for several seconds while a child of just four years watched the doctor in front of him with a mask of shock carved into the rock. At his side, his mother looked at him with concern before speaking to the doctor.
"Doctor...! You mean there's something wrong? Every other child at his kindergarten has manifested, but Izuku still hasn't..."
The doctor sighed before explaining the reason why Izuku had not yet shown any Quirk, talking about how those who possessed no Quirk had two joints in the pinky toe, while those who possessed a Quirk had an extra joint. However, in spite of his shocked expression and his eyes glued to the doctor, Izuku was not listening to anything that was being said, the man's words still echoing in his mind.
'I don't have a Quirk? I can't be a hero?' a thunderous laugh echoed in his mind with the image of an imposing man with blond hair and a wide smile 'I can't be like All Might...?'
His small hands balled into fists, without even realizing he had dropped his action figure of All Might. He was so taken by his thoughts that he did not hear his mother's question until she put a hand on his shoulder, surprising him slightly "Uh? W-what...?"
"Honey, are you okay?" asked his mother with a concerned look.
"Probably he is still shocked by the news, ma'am. You just have to give him some time, but now I need to talk to you privately about your condition." said the doctor with a knowing look.
Inko sighed with a sad look, then forced a smile on her lips "Honey, can you wait for mommy in the waiting room, please? I have to speak for a moment with the doctor and then we will go and buy the ingredients to make a good katsudon for dinner, okay?"
Nodding absently, Izuku put his shoes back on and walked out of the room in silence, his eyes still wide open in shock but with his mouth closed in a thin line. With heavy steps, he went and sat on a chair in the small waiting room, barely noticing that he was the only one in that room.
Or so he thought.
"What's bothering you, young one?" asked a calm male voice to his right, startling him.
Looking at the owner of the voice with frightened eyes, the little kid calmed himself at seeing that it was only a man wearing a black cloak and dark gloves and carrying a silver cane with a glass skull on its tip. The man was probably in his late forties and his blonde hair was elegantly combed. Shifting his attention to the calm blue eyes of the man, Izuku immediately looked away, slightly frightened by those eyes.
"The-the doctor told me I do not have a Quirk..." said Izuku looking at the floor with tears forming at the edge of his eyes "I can't be a hero..."
"Mh, I see. Indeed, in the world in which we live, not having a Quirk can be incredibly disadvantageous." the man nodded before tapping the floor with his cane "You look like a smart child, so let me ask you something. Do you think there is only one way to get a Quirk?"
Izuku looked at him with confused eyes, his young mind trying to understand those words. He was only a child, without Quirk and definitely weaker than all his peers, but his mind was already sharp enough to notice the subliminal message hidden in that question. The man was not old but not young either, so he had to have some experience with Quirks, so the answer to his question was only one...
"There are...more?"
The man smiled at Izuku "Yes, there are more ways to get a Quirk. The most common way is to get it from your parents, at the age of four, or develop a completely new type of Quirk, always around that age. However, what many scientists and doctors ignore is that there are other means to obtain a Quirk. In fact, there are Quirks that can be passed down from owner to a new owner as if they were a simple object, but there are also special Quirks that can give Quirk to other people. The list goes on."
Izuku looked at him in awe, his previous shock now forgotten "Do you mean that I can get a Quirk too?!"
The blonde man chuckled a bit "Of course you can, you just need to find a way to obtain such power for yourself. I am sure that, in due course, you will gain an incredibly powerful Quirk."
Izuku's face lit up like a Christmas tree and, jumping up, he bowed to the man, thanking him for his words as his mother had taught him. His mother had also taught him not to talk to strangers but Izuku had easily forgotten that warning.
"Honey? Why are you bowing?" came the voice of his mother as she walked to him with a confused face.
"Uh? I was thanking this...mister?" said Izuku but his face changed from happy to confused as soon as he took notice of the fact that the man was gone. But his confusion was short-lived because the kid turned to his mother and showed her a huge smile "Mommy! I can be a hero too! I can get a Quirk!"
Inko smiled sadly at her son, thinking that his words were a simple way to face his newly discovered status of Quirkless. Shaking her head, she took his hand walking toward the exit while talking to him with sweet words so as not to ruin his mood "I'm sure you will succeed, honey. Now let's move, we have to prepare dinner!"
"Yes! Katsudon for dinner!" shouted Izuku with a huge smile.
Neither he nor his mother noticed the blonde man sitting in the waiting room with a cold smile on his lips.
His facial features slowly turning into those of a demon.
[ Midoriya's House / Three days later ]
"He's smiling. He always smiles!" mumbled Izuku looking a video of All Might where is favorite hero was saving the victims of an accident. Nodding to himself, the little kid looked at a notebook next to the screen, currently open on the first page where there were few simple words: -FIND A POWERFUL QUIRK!-
'I just have to find a way to get it and then I can become like All Might!' thought the kid before leaving the room to get a glass of water. Going down the stairs leading to the entrance, he noticed that the clock hanging on the wall marked midnight on the dot.
'Is it already so late? I had not noticed it.' thought Izuku looking at the clock 'Why mom did not come to call me? Usually she gets angry if I stay up late...'
When he was at the base of the stairs, he saw that the television in the living room was still on and, upon peering into the room, he noticed his mother sleeping on the couch. The woman seemed calm but her face was not at all and it seemed to worry Izuku, who had always seen her smiling. At least before the discovery of his lack of Quirk.
Walking towards the television to turn it off, so as not to wake his mother, the kid saw a letter on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Curiosity immediately got the better of him and Izuku took it in his hands, but found himself faced with a series of words of which he ignored the meaning. He was still a four-year-old boy, after all.
'Ah, this is the name of the doctor.' thought Izuku understanding a word every once in a while 'I don't understand...what is this...Quirk cancer? If it's in a letter with the doctor's name maybe it's something important...'
Deciding to understand what that letter was about, Izuku left the living room in silence and went back to the study with the computer still on, quickly typing the words that seemed important, such as 'Quirk Cancer', and what he found froze the blood in his veins.
'Discovered five years after the first Quirk...this cancer manifests itself in Quirk holders without distinction. There are no signs that can make the patient aware of its presence except when it is too late.' Izuku gulped loudly, his hand trembling on the mouse 'To date, there are more than one million victims and there has not yet been a cure for this type of cancer. Not even the Quirks of the most famous doctors in the world seem able to counter this disease and dozens of scientists are still working on a cure...'
As gifted with a life of its own, his finger slowly scrolled down the page and the last words of the paragraph stopped his heart.
'Rate of lethality...one hundred...percent...'
[ Playground near Midoriya's House / A couple of days later ]
"Hey did you hear? Apparently Deku has no Quirk!" said a kid snickering while he and other kids were playing among them. The others looked at Izuku, sitting not far from them by himself, before starting to snicker like their playmate.
"Was not he who said that he wanted to become like All Might?" asked a second kid with bat wings.
"Yeah, now he can't even become a hero! Oh well, he's always been weak, isn't it, Kacchan?" asked a third with long purple hair, looking at their blonde playmate who just joined them after having been praised for his Quirk by some parents.
Said kid looked at Izuku with an unreadable face before shrugging "Who cares? If he's weak then it doesn't matter to me. Let's go play Heroes and Villains!" and the other kids shouted in approval before following the blonde kid, leaving Izuku completely alone.
However, what they could not know, was that Izuku was staring at the ground with a dull look not because of his Quirkless, but because of what he had discovered about his mother, namely that she was sick with an incurable disease. After discovering the existence of that disease, Izuku had put the letter back in place in order to not worry his mother but, as soon as she woke up, he had noticed how Inko was less alive than usual. For a child like him, it had been a far worse shot than finding out that he did not have any Quirk. In addition, the thought of being without a mother for the rest of his life had made its way into his mind, leading him to not sleep for several hours, in the grip of an unsustainable anxiety.
"I see that even today you are morally on the ground, young Izuku." said a male voice to his right, making him nearly jump out of his skin.
"Y-you?!" Izuku asked with wide open eyes, seeing the same blonde man sitting on the bench, right next to him "W-why are you here? Wait...how do you know my name? I never told you..."
The man showed a little smile "I like walking during the day when I have no commitments. As I passed through here I noticed you sitting there alone, but you were so taken by your thoughts that you did not hear me coming. As for the name, I went to the same doctor as you the other day and he was still filling in documents about you, and I got to read your name."
"O-oh, I see...sorry about that." mumbled Izuku looking back at the ground.
"Judging by your face, I can imagine that something terrible happened." said the man looking at Izuku "Does it concern the fact of not having a Quirk?"
Izuku shook his head slowly "I'm looking for a way to get a Quirk but...my mom..." he sniffed a couple of times "She's sick...and her illness can not be cured!"
The man nodded solemnly, looking back in front of him "Quirk cancer, right?"
Izuku looked at him in surprise "How-?!"
"In this world there is only one disease that can not be cured using the countless existing Quirks, and that is the Quirk cancer. It's really a terrible disease..." explained the blond man tapping the ground with his cane "The thing about cancer is the time it takes...the toll on loved ones. Lives that are altered. Plans that have to be changed." he looked down at Izuku, who was staring at him carefully "Izuku, what if I could help your mother?"
Izuku's eyes almost fell out of their sockets "Y-you can? But...but on the internet it is said that nobody knows a cure!"
"That's true, but it is also said that no doctor or scientist has succeeded in finding it. There is no mention of anyone outside those two branches of research." said the man with a small smile "The truth is that there are some Quirks in this world that could be of great help to humanity, but the people who possess them do not come forward for fear of being targeted by unwanted people and, fortunately for you, I am one of those people."
"Really?! Your Quirk can help my mom?!" shouted Izuku with eyes filled with tears.
"Of course I can, in fact I can also give you a Quirk." nodded the blonde man with a strange smile bringing out a scroll "However, in order for my Quirk to work properly, you have to pay a price."
Izuku gulped loudly looking at the scroll. He could feel his heart beating wildly at the idea of having a Quirk and being able to save his mother, but everything had a price.
"What...what's the price?"
"Oh. I'll take..." the man looked around for a moment before focusing again on Izuku "...your soul."
The deafening noise of his heart stopped abruptly "M-my s-soul...are...are you going to e-eat it?"
"Oh Hell no." chuckled the man with a smile "To put it simply...by sunrise tomorrow, your mother will be healthy as a horse. And you will have your whole life ahead of you with a new powerful Quirk. In exchange for this, I will come back to you in the future to collect the favor. You will not have to do anything complicated, I guarantee you. You'll just have to help me with something when the time comes. It's your choice, Izuku." he unrolled the scroll, handing it to Izuku "All you have to do is sign."
With hesitation, Izuku took the scroll in his hands to read its contents but suddenly something opened a cut on his finger, making him wince due to the pain. Without realizing it, he dropped the scroll while a few drops of blood dripped onto it. Alarmed by the incident, Izuku quickly picked it up, apologizing infinitely with the man.
"Oh, it doesn't matter matter, young Izuku." said the man with a little smile, looking at the blood dripped on the signature line "This will do just fine."
Izuku tilted the head, showing confusion on his face "But...I did not sign it."
"Your blood did it for you and, when you grow up, you will learn that a contract signed with blood is worth a thousand times a contract signed with ink." said the man putting away the scroll "Now, go home and help your mother, because this is the last day where you'll see her in such a bad shape. From tomorrow she will be even healthier than before."
Hearing that news so hoped for, Izuku seemed to forget about the contract and started running towards his house with a big smile on his lips, only to stop suddenly, turning on his heels.
"Hey mister, what is your...name?" the child stood still, confused to see the empty bench and no sign of the man.
'Maybe it was a dream...?' he thought but, as he saw the cut on his finger, he shook his head 'No, that wasn't a dream! Now my mom will recover!' and with that, he ran towards the house, unaware of two red eyes intent on staring at him from afar, adorned by a sinister grin.
[ Midoriya's House / The next morning ]
Slowly opening his eyes, Izuku let himself go to a long yawn as the sunlight filtered through the shutters of his window. However, after a few seconds, he frowned in confusion as he heard music echoing throughout the house. Coming out of bed, he slipped on the All Might-themed slippers and left the room, heading for the kitchen, the room where the music came from.
Entering the room, Izuku gasped as he watched his mother humming the song as she cooked the breakfast with one of the biggest smiles of all time.
"M-mom...?"
Upon hearing his voice, Inko turned to her son and, in record time, caught him in a big hug, whirling around in joy.
"Good morning, honey!" said Inko smiling at her son "I have some wonderful news to tell you!"
Seeing his confused look, she giggled before placing him on a chair "Honey, as you probably noticed, I was not very well these days." she placed a hand over her heart "There was a bad thing inside me that was hurting me...but now that bad thing is gone!"
Izuku widened his eyes, his mouth wide open "R-really...?"
"Yes! I took the morning test prescribed by the doctor to monitor that bad thing and I discovered that it completely disappeared!" explained Inko hugging him "Now you don't have to worry about me! I'm completely fine!"
"I-it worked...it really worked...!" mumbled Izuku looking at his mother without thinking about his words as Inko tilted her head with a confused look.
"What worked, honey?"
"Uh? N-nothing mom! Nothing!" said Izuku shaking his arms to prove his points "I was just talking to myself!"
Inko raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask questions so as not to ruin the atmosphere. Kissing him on the forehead, she walked towards the stove "Get ready because after breakfast we'll go shopping!"
"Okay mom!" Izuku nodded with a smile without a care, his mother was healed and that was all that mattered!
As said by Inko, after breakfast they went to the city center to buy some things and the happiness of Izuku grew even more when he received the official diary of All Might, where they wrote some of his most famous phrases as well as a lot of information on his heroic deeds. But all this faded compared to the idea of having received a powerful Quirk from that blonde man, according to their agreement.
'Now I just have to find out what my Quirk is so I can start practicing to become the best hero ever!' thought Izuku with a huge smile while shaking with excitement.
"Wait here for a moment, honey." said Inko tapping him on the shoulder "I'm going to get the car and then we go home, okay?"
Izuku nodded before sitting on a bench with the shopping bags, looking at his mother as she waled down the market street on the sidewalk.
Her back was the last thing he saw of his mother before a violent explosion erupted from a store swallowing her in a fraction of a second, and destroying everything within a thirty-foot radius. The following shock wave threw him and all the civilians on the ground, causing him to slam his head against the concrete of the sidewalk.
As the screams of the people echoed in the air, Izuku tried to get up, shaking on his legs with the clouded vision as a trickle of blood dripped from his forehead. Looking around he saw only blurred figures running in all directions, mostly trying to get away from a strong light source not far from him. When he turned to that light, his vision became clearer, allowing him to see the flames that were slowly devouring the street and the buildings, but above all he saw what was left of at least fifty people, now reduced to charred skeletons.
His mother's back as she walked away from him came back vividly in his mind as tears began to run down his cheeks. Without realizing it, Izuku took a step forward but someone grabbed him by the shirt, lifting his little body off the ground. In an instant, he found himself face to face with a boy in his late teens with white hair.
"Where do you think you're going, kid?!" shouted the boy "We need to evacuate the area. Are you alone?!"
Normally, Izuku would have been delighted to have just met Death Arms, one of the pro-heroes of the new generation, but his mind was unable to process anything that was happening around him, so he turned back to look at the flames, stretching his arms forward "M-mom...!"
Death Arms widened his eyes, looking at the flames while hearing the broken voice of the green haired child he had just stopped, intent on calling his mother.
'Shit...' without wasting time, he picked up Izuku and began to run with the rest of the crowd, heading for the police sirens that were getting closer and closer, while the little kid weakly tried to free himself from the grip of the hero.
"M-mom! My mom! W-where is she?!" screamed Izuku trying to reach those flames without thinking, as the image of Inko in his mind was slowly burning down.
"Mom! Mom!" Izuku closed his eyes, missing the little flames dancing around his fingers but when he screamed again, his voice was different, more hoarse and powerful, sending a shiver down Death Arms' back.
"MOM!"
[ Jutendo Hospital – Tokyo / The next morning ]
"So you are the one who will take care of him?"
"Yes, I arrived as soon as possible. I'm not a relative of blood but I've filled out all the forms."
"You will have to sign others once he has come to live with you. Then there is also the fact of Inko Midoriya's will."
"Those problems can wait, I want to first make sure Izuku's okay."
"Fine, just try not to do stupid things. Your criminal record is not clean and you know it well."
"I know I know! Geez, you're even worse than those cops in America."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Now wait, he's waking up."
Izuku opened his eyes slowly, finding himself facing a completely white ceiling.
"W-where...?"
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, catching his attention. Looking at his left, he saw a young man with black hair dressed like a policeman "Don't worry, you're fine. We are in a hospital. Do you feel any pain right now?"
Izuku stood still for a few seconds but then he whispered "My head..."
"You took a bad blow to the head. Nothing serious but the doctors say that you will have a bit of a headache for a day or two, at least if you will not be healed by some Quirk." explained the policeman with a little smile "My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi and I'm the one who brought you here urgently yesterday after Death Arms handed you over to the police. I know I ask you a lot, especially now that you've woken up, but do you remember something before you fainted?"
Izuku looked at him with confusion written on his face, but then the memories of the day before bombarded his mind, forcing him to hold his head in pain.
"A-an explosion...and my...my mom...!" he looked up at the policeman "My mom! Where is my mom?!"
Naomasa looked at him with sad eyes, not knowing how to give him the tragic news. He was just a kid after all.
"Izuku, I'm sorry to say this but...your mom is dead. she was killed in yesterday's attack by some villains. The heroes defeated and arrested them but there was nothing to do for the people too close to the origin of the explosion..."
Predictably, Izuku seemed to die at that moment, crying uncontrollably and calling his mother's name in vain. Naomasa did not know how to console him without turning out to be a cold and heartless person but it was at that moment that the third person in that room decided to speak.
"You really know how to talk to a child. Come on, stand aside." said a young male voice as the newcomer sat down next to the bed, hugging Izuku, who continued to cry uncontrollably for several minutes while the new person whispered something in his ear.
"Come on, kid. This is not the time to cry, you know? You must be strong like a hero...no, not like a hero, but like the best hero! Like All Might? He's your idol, right?"
Still crying, Izuku managed to nod once, shaking in the man's arms. Said man smiled a bit, before asking "Then you will know what distinguishes him from the other heroes, is not it?"
Izuku nodded again "He...he...h-he a-always...s-s-smiles...!"
"Yes, he always smiles, because he knows he must always be strong and those who can smile in the hardest moments are the strongest of all." said the man patting him on the back "Now, I can't ask you to smile, not after what happened, but I need you to be strong. Can you do this for me?"
Izuku sobbed again for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to stop crying. Slowly, the man let him go and Izuku could look him in the face, noticing his reddish blond hair and his blue eyes, but above all the black biker jacket.
"Glad to see that you're a strong kid, Izuku." said the man smiling at him "My name is Johnathon Blaze, but you can call me Johnny. I was a friend of your mother and from today on I'll be your caretaker."
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 1: MEETING THE NUMBER ONE
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's it! End of the prologue!
So, what do you think of this idea? I want to start right away from the fact that this story was not born by itself, but I was inspired (so to speak) by Zedref12's "The Spider of Peace", a story that I recommend you go to read! There are obviously many differences between mine and his history, first of all the Marvel hero used for the story (Ghost Rider for me and Spider-man for him), and as a second important thing, while in Zedref12's story, Izuku replaces Peter Parker, in my Johnny Blaze will be a character present in the plot, albeit not like in the comic book.
Speaking of Johnny Blaze, I'm using the version of the Earth-616, but the plot for this prologue and part of the story is that of "Ghost Rider" the 2007 movie. Some of the events in the movie will also reoccur in this story but the story will not end with the final of the film, in fact it will go on both in the Marvel universe and in the My Hero Academia universe, following the manga for the most part.
I hope you will follow this story and feel free to propose ideas or some of the things you would like to see here, such as the relationship for Izuku, his alignment (Ghost Rider isn't exactly a hero), and so on...
See you around and have a good day/night!
