Slowly, bit by bit, everything snapped back into focus for Izuku. The burning knot in his stomach, the ringing in his ears, the taste of blood in his mouth; it was overwhelming him.
Then, all he felt was pain. The sound of glass shattering rang out before his back began to sting. It felt like it was on fire. His back was littered with shards of glass, all of them digging deep into his skin.
The floor soon came into contact with his back, pushing the shards even deeper, some even getting lodged too deeply into him.
He did his best to suppress a cry of agony, yet he still let out a muffled whimper.
It seemed like he wasn't done hurting yet, because a small green shard of some gemstone came hurling down onto his face, nailing right between the eyes, shattering as it landed and sprinkled away into his skin.
Now, the dam that was holding back his cries was broken.
"W-why, why did I have to run in there like an idiot!?" He wailed out, wondering why his poor body decided to play the hero. "...I s-should've gone home instead of coming here... I t-tried to save Kacchan, but all I did was make things worse…!"
The sound of rapid footstep approaching broke him out of his whining and brought his attention to the numbing sensation that was starting on his face, where it slowly numbed other parts of his body, before finally, making his back go completely numb.
"W-wha…?" He asked dumbly, noticing the green hue that surrounded him. He watched in astonishment as it numbed away the pain… then, in horror as the shards of glass burst out from his chest, caking him and his surroundings in his own blood. "AAAHhhhhh…?"
He still felt numb, he noticed. He was staring at the holes in his chest and still felt no pain. Only slight pangs of discomfort. W-what the…
As if mocking his shocked amazement at the feeling, a shard came barreling out from an awkward angle and lodged itself deeply into his forehead.
...
"I-is… the end?" He pondered as he felt his body go slack, his head slamming into the floor once more. "Is this my punishment? For trying to be something I'm not?!"
He noticed that he tried saying these things out loud, and yet no words came out of his mouth. Just complete silence.
Izuku wasn't sure what to do, so he just tried to scream, cry, and move his no longer moving body.
His vision slowly faded in response, making him grow worried. He was wailing, desperate to escape the fate that was surely delt to him. And yet, all he got his vision darkening and darkening until the only thing he saw was darkness.
…
It was silent. The void was silent, and it scared Izuku. For, what could wait for him, other than eternal darkness.
It was slowly driving him mad.
He tried to scream out for help, but he still heard nothing, not even his cries.
Then, almost as if in response to his constant yelling, sound started to pour in.
It did nothing to comfort Izuku, because all he heard was hushed whispers, a bell tolling, and some women singing a soothing, yet creepy, hymn.
It was scaring him.
Now he regretted his wish for sound.
"Oh, is this not to your liking? Hmph, picky, aren't we."
The sounds were silenced.
"H-huh…?!" Too shocked to notice that he could speak again, he called out. "W-who's there?!"
"Who, me? Oh, I'm just someone who really wants to go back to sleep, ya' see?" It yawned, making Izuku shiver at the voice's deep, constantly reverbing voice. "Ha, what do you think of this place? Pretty swanky, amirite?"
Izuku was dumbfounded. Who would find this creepy, terrifyingly dark place "swanky"?!
"Hehe, I take it that this is your first time here, huh." It mumbled out in a snarky, knowing tone, words coming out slurred. "Well, welcome to hell, brat. Specifically, my domain of hell."
"...huh?" Izuku pathetically murmured, feeling the previous numbness from his body recede. He felt a chill sweep over his body as he blinked.
He watched with a dopey, confused expression on his face as light started to pour in, lighting up his surroundings, or to be more precise, his lack of surroundings. All he could see was white. It was blinding, yet it didn't hurt his eyes.
He realized that he was still on his back, so he tried to sit up, only to fall back down as the ground rumbled below him.
...Wait… ground?
He looked downwards and stared at the marble flooring that encompassed the surrounding area with a goofy expression.
Wait… that person said we were in hell earlier, right? Is hell really… marble-floored?
"Oh, wow, you don't believe my claim about this being hell, huh. Now that you've seen my preferred flooring, it probably only reinforces the belief that I'm some lying liar who lies? Tch, whatever." The voice drawled out, clearly annoyed at that their claim wasn't taken seriously because of the floor. "And here I was hoping you finally entering the void was going to be somewhat entertaining. Pah, what hogwash, you aren't any fun to mess with…"
"T-the void…?"
…
…
…
Everything finally clicked in Izuku's mind, making his heart pound and his eyes water.
"Then does that mean I'm…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, and yet, he knew the answer. He, was without a doubt, de-
"No, you idiot. You're just dreaming! This is our void; a place where we hone our skills mentally!" The voice cried out, having enough of Izuku's idiocy. "While it may just seem like empty space, much like in your head, it is just a place for you to do battle with a foe you previously battled! Preferably weaker foes, because fighting those who you perceive as a great threat to your life will have dire consequences on your psyche!... I think."
"Wait, so I'm not dead?" Izuku asked hopefully, slowly getting up, before realizing the last thing he saw was a glass shard entering his forehead, probably piercing his skull. "N-nevermind…"
"HA, like a pitiful little spec of glass will kill us," It chuckled, making Izuku shiver. "We're made of sterner stuff, y'know?! Like hell, I'm not gonna let us die off after that pathetic showing you gave earlier… heh, you got bitchslapped so hard that you think we're dying, pfft, fucking idiot."
"Wha- Hey! It hurt, okay?!...wait, what'd you mean by 'us' and 'we'?!" Izuku questioned, finally picking up on what the voice kept saying and getting a sigh of exasperation in response.
"To put it simply, we are but two pieces of one puzzle. I am one half of yourself that was unceremoniously dumped into this shithole, while you, the other half, were given the chance to see the sights, breathe the fresh air, and feel the rush of life.
"To put it even simpler; I, a devil, am you, and you, a human, are me. We share this body, but it'd be a lie to say that we've actually shared it, you greedy body-hogging dickbag."
"I-...wha…" There was too much to unpack for poor Izuku. He heard those words, and yet, he still couldn't make sense of them. Share this body? He questioned silently, worried he'd gone and lost his mind while trying to save Ka-
"Kacchan! AH, I FORGOT ABOUT HIM!" He shouted, doing his best to calm himself down.
"...I wish to strangle you, then shove dirty socks down your windpipe, and watch as you die because of unwashed laundry." The voice muttered, making the void's white background transition into a deep red. Izuku's blood ran cold as he watched this happen and he felt his heart drop as the words finally registered. The seemingly unprovoked aggression the voice displayed shocked him to the core. "Hmm, yes, I will kill you, our parents for making us, that Kacchan brat, then finally myself."
It felt tense, so tense that Izuku actually started to hold his breath. He waited in silence, doing his best to not make a sound.
…
…
…
Then, the voice let out a chuckle that slowly evolved into laughter, before it transformed into haggard wheezing.
"D-damn… I thought I'd have more time… S-shit…!" Rather than being this intimidating, loud voice, it sounded weaker, out of breath, and desperate. The voice suddenly came from behind Izuku, scaring him into letting out a choked gasp. "H-hey, bastard, the world's seal is retightening. Grab onto me… please!"
Izuku turned, and almost screamed at how close the approaching creature was getting. He fell on his back scrambled to get away.
"I- JUST GRAB ONTO ME, IZUKU! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I'D RATHER NOT BE STUCK HERE FOR ANOTHER DECADE!"
XxX
Toshinori Yagi stared at the bloodied body of the green-haired boy with regret. After watching the boy get sent flying towards an old antique shop, he powered through in his weakened state and managed to defeat the villain holding Katsuki Bakugo hostage.
While he may have saved Bakugo, he wasn't there for that poor, idealistic, Quirkless boy that still went charging towards the villain.
It… didn't sit right with him. The boy, who was practically powerless, was the one running towards the villain. Not the pros, not the ones with Quirks, not even The Symbol of Peace. Just some kid who wanted to be a hero.
All Might watched as the blond boy with a blank stare looked on at Izuku Midoriya's corpse, and sighed as the boy became unresponsive to everything around him. Even when the other pro heroes tried to shake him out of his current state.
Ah, I'm out of time, He noted, smoke beginning to emit off of his muscular form. He took one final glance at the bloody body littered with holes, shook his head apologetically, and took off.
Had he stayed for just a second longer, he would've noticed the sounds of child-like laughter that came from the black puddle oozing into existence a few feet behind him.
Edit: I decided to give this chapter a proper end. It didn't sit too well with me to just leave it the way it was. Oh yeah, while not explicitly stated in the story, that green orb fragment wasn't just for nothing.
I also realize that I should've probably gone in-depth with the whole Void thingy, but I'd rather show off how little Izuku's other half knows about it. Considering that he's been trapped in there with only the memories of his demon half showing him a life that he isn't living, he's going off of what he knows. Which is to say that's he's got no knowledge of his own. All he's got is basic demon instinct. heh, I don't know where I'm going with this explanation, but whatever.
Good lord, I still despise the way I write but I'm still gonna give it a shot.
Bye.