Prologue Chapter
1: The Agent

Izuku was ten when he met the long-nosed man.

He'd been walking home from school when the limousine pulled up beside him. For a moment he'd gaped, before a little girl in a sapphire dress appeared beside him.

"Would you mind? My master would like to have a word with you." Her voice was light but her eyes, a pair of solid gold circles around an unmoving pupil, held him captive. In that moment Izuku couldn't deny her anything. Before he'd realized what was going on, he'd climbed into the limo. Sapphire blue velvet made up the interior, with black lining and carpet. The seats were long, and while Izuku and the girl sat on the side near the door, the long-nosed man sat across from them with steepled fingers and a wide, inhuman smile on his face. Izuku did his best to ignore the fact that the man's eyes were larger than his head.

"Hello. My name is Igor. My apologies for picking you up like this, but I'm very curious about a few things and hoped you may be able to help me, Mister…?" The man leaned forward, elbows on knees.

"M-Midoriya…" Izuku murmured. The girl beside him reached out and set a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Midoriya-kun, my master is a good man. You don't have to be afraid." She didn't quite smile, but her expression softened. "My name is Lavenza. I will protect you, as is my duty."

"O-okay…?" Izuku murmured again. He glanced back to Igor, who was leaning back in the car, looking out the window as the streets passed.

"If you don't understand my questions, I understand. But please, bear with me. Your world seems to have power flowing through it quite freely. Do you know anything about Personas?" Igor asked, glancing out the corner of his eyes.

"Oh… I've never heard of that. Is it like a quirk? Do people call those quirks where you're from?" Izuku asked. The long-nosed man's grin widened, somehow.

"I suppose you could say that. They seem similar, which is why I felt the need to ask. But you… you caught my eye. You don't have the same presence as the others."

Izuku's eyes widened.

"You have a perception quirk? Can you see people's quirks?!" He exclaimed. Igor laughed, and the girl beside Izuku sighed.

"No, my boy, nothing like that. You could say I'm looking at something else. This world has a strange duality, one I'm used to seeing but not one that people usually cross so easily. Regardless, you lack the same power as everyone else. Are you perhaps without power? Or are you hiding?"

"I'm quirkless." Izuku wilted a bit, fiddling with the backpack in his lap. "Some people are born without one."

"Ah… Not everyone is born awakened, then. Such a shame." Igor's voice didn't change, but he nodded somberly.

"B-but that doesn't mean I can't help!" Izuku sputtered, making sure to smile as much as he could. He leaned forward, trying not to let himself shout (mom said shouting at people was rude). "I'm gonna be a hero, and I'm gonna save people just like All Might!"

"All Might… heh heh… So, one of the Wild Cards is a hero, in this world. I thought it was strange that two already existed here, but the World tends to create them in pairs. At least that much is the same." Igor nodded sagely, steeping his fingers across his knees again. "And you… you would become a 'hero' even without power? What do you have to offer?"

"I…" Izuku paused. He'd been asked how he would save people… But that didn't sound like what the long-nosed man wanted to ask. "I don't understand what you mean."

"I'm something of… a neutral party." Igor stated. "Sadly, I can't remain here long, but this world is interesting, to say the least. And you… You are the kind of person whom I have a soft spot for."

Lavenza giggled from Izuku's side. Izuku frowned.

"If you want to become a hero, how will you do it without power? How will you do what must be done? Will you take power into your own hands, and create things to help you? Will you learn to charm people with your words? Perhaps you'll learn, and become smart enough to help? Or steel yourself and succeed with raw strength of will…" Igor spoke knowingly, but his eyes hid amusement, as if he were making jokes that Izuku didn't understand, "You, though… you are already exceedingly kindhearted. I almost wish you were one of the people I had the pleasure of making a contract with. Normally they start off so… bland."

"I… I just want to help people." Izuku frowned. Why hadn't he ever stopped to think about what kind of hero he would be? All Might had super strength, but Izuku didn't even know how to throw a punch. "I study heroes… I know how they take down villains. But I'm not very strong."

"There are different types of strength. My words were not meant to discourage you." Igor's hands fell, draped almost to the floor from their sheer length. Everything about him seemed a bit too long, though Lavenza didn't seem bothered. "Think about them, but perhaps don't dwell on them. You know this world better than I, though we see them differently. It seems that the Wild Cards have hurt each other, and that both lie on death's door."

"W-wait!" Izuku's eyes bugged out of his head. "You… You called All Might a Wild Card, are you saying…?"

"Clever child!" Igor laughed. "He's hiding it, perhaps, but it's obvious to anyone who can see this world for what it is."

"All Might… But… All Might can't be…" Izuku whimpered, staring at the carpet.

"How curious," Igor's voice trailed off, and a finger tapped his knee as Izuku's eyes slowly began to water. "…You don't seem to belong to any sort of fate. Very few people exist as raw potential, the way Wild Cards do, but you seem almost…

"Undecided."

Izuku glanced up. When he leaned forward, Igor seemed to nearly close the distance between them, and his overly large eyes were peering at him curiously with a manic, inhuman smile.

"W-what do you mean…?"

"I believe… that I have a little bit of time before my next appointment. Arriving early would do nothing, and I'm curious about this world. Could I perhaps continue this discussion tomorrow?"

Izuku blinked in surprise. Lavenza stood, stooped through the space between them and opened the door to climb out.

"We seem to have arrived at your home." Igor hummed, steeping his fingers again. "If you'd like, wait for us at the same place that we met today. I'd like to hear more about your world. And… of course, in exchange… perhaps we can speak a bit about your future?"

Izuku stood staring down the street after the limousine for a long while. He felt like a lot had been said, and not a lot of it made sense. But Igor almost sounded like he thought Izuku could do something.

Izuku wasn't sure what to do with that.

Lavenza was waiting on the corner for him when Izuku was walking home the next day. They spoke of little things, school subjects mostly, and after a few minutes a sleek black car pulled up. When Lavenza opened the door, Izuku decided not to question the fact that it was much, much shorter than the limousine. Unlike before, the seats were short and faced one another across the cab, but the color scheme was the same. Rich sapphire blue, black lining and a black carpet.

"I'm glad we were able to find you again, young Magician." Izuku frowned as Lavenza shut the door and took the seat beside him.

"I… I'm not a magi… magician." Izuku frowned as he worked out the word.

"No, no, I suppose you aren't." Igor chuckled. "I'd like to ask you some questions about Heroes."

For the next three days, Izuku met Lavenza and Igor after school. During the drive, he noticed that the car was slowly changing. Blue to black, black to red, then to gray. Neither of them commented, and Izuku wasn't entirely sure what to think. But it could have been different cars, after all. Izuku wasn't sure why he had the sinking feeling that it was the same car.

Talking with Igor and Lavenza was a very strange experience. Both of them were nice. Igor tended to speak in riddles and Lavenza tended to remain quiet most of the time. More often than not, they asked about the history of quirks and heroes. When he knew the answers, Izuku was almost always spouting answers word from word out of his textbooks and the online forums he browsed after school. Sometimes, though, Igor would ask his opinion, and Izuku would show Igor his notebooks. He'd started bringing them after the second trip, and both of his companions found his work interesting. Lavenza seemed to enjoy his art and his ideas, while Igor enjoyed the questions and the possibilities Izuku thought out.

Despite only spending a half hour or so with the pair, Izuku found himself looking forward to each trip. Talking to someone about his theories was nice, and Igor had some interesting opinions about how quirks and people worked and thought.

One day, a full week after Igor and Lavenza had first picked Izuku up, he found Lavenza standing beside a blue door instead of simply standing on the corner. She offered him a smile when he shambled up, obviously looking at the door but not asking questions.

"I'm glad you trust us so much, Midoriya-kun. Please, come with me. Our preparations are finally complete, so we will be leaving this world soon. We cannot wait any longer before we leave, or another world may fall to ruin." Lavenza opened the door, walking down the stairs as she spoke. Izuku followed without question. Her expression seemed… almost sad. "But it seems that my master has grown fond of you, as have I, and he wishes to speak to you one last time before we depart."

Izuku's chest ached.

At the base of the stairs was a wide, circular room lined with eight doors. Right in the middle, Igor sat behind a heavy desk, fingers steeped before his unnatural smile.

"Ah… my friend. Welcome. It seems today will be your last visit to the Velvet Room." Igor said, tilting his head to one side. Izuku frowned but didn't respond. "I'm curious about one last thing, though, if you'll humor me again today."

A chair appeared in the space between the door and the desk, a small leather backed armchair made of faded red leather. Izuku didn't think about it much before he took a seat, and Lavenza moved to stand beside him, as she always did.

"I… I don't mind." Izuku murmured.

"Tell me, my friend, what do you think of the time we've spent together? What have you learned of me and my aide, of the Velvet Room?" Igor waved a hand at the walls, as if any of it made sense. Turning his eyes to the floor, Izuku took a deep breath. "Even if you only have ideas, theories… I'm curious how honest your eyes are."

Izuku glanced up at Lavenza's kind smile, then back to Igor's grin. He hesitated, not because he hadn't thought about these things. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about them. But…

"You… you're not from my world, are you?" Izuku asked softly. After a short pause, he began speaking again, because he knew Igor only spoke when he was satisfied with what he heard. When the long-nosed man didn't speak, it was almost giving permission for Izuku to ramble. "You always say the same kind of things. I did a little bit of research, and I think they're tarot things? Maybe that's your power, or how you talk about it to sound vague, but you always drop hints. Wild Cards seem to be important people, people who change the world, since All Might is a Wild Card, and you only ever make deals with Wild Cards.

"You asked about quirks and heroes. You talk like there's something going on that people don't see. Something about personas, which are almost like quirks, but they're more than that somehow. This… I think, you called the limousine the Velvet Room, too, so this place must change depending on where you are, and who you're speaking to, maybe. But you're not used to a lot of people having powers all at once, like quirks, which is why you stopped me. You're used to finding people and then teaching them how to use their power. You said I'm almost like those people, and you say it like I could be a Wild Card person, but… but instead I'm…"

Someone without powers. Izuku thought. He coughed, trying to force his way through the knot in his throat.

"Um… was any of that right?" He asked softly. Igor chuckled.

"Far more than you know. You never cease to amaze me, my young friend. Now…" Igor's grin pulled at the edges until it was far wider than it should have been. "Shall I tell you the truth?"

"Th-the…" Izuku bit his lip hard, hard enough to stop himself from cutting the man off entirely. A storm of questions, possibilities, things he'd half dreamt up over the past week flooded his mouth, ready to spill out at a moment's notice.

"You're right, in a way. There are other worlds than these. I pass through several different worlds between my destinations, but I'd never seen a place where power was so freely given. Most of the time, power is split between strength of body and strength of spirit. Only a few select individuals can traverse a world of spirit." Igor chuckled as Izuku's eyes widened. "In my experience, people tend to fall into several categories of fate, the things you call the Tarot. The Tarot are a vague understanding of what might be, but it works well enough. Wild Cards are people with the ability to connect others, take hold of great power, and, occasionally, unlock the power of The World. I usually only deal with those individuals, aiding them in their pursuit of the greater good. The World always has more than one entity pursuing it."

Izuku felt something cold rush through him for a moment.

"In your world, this All Might person, he is a Wild Card. But he has not reached the full potential of his power, while his opponent has already been given free reign. Ironically, it seems that the latter created the power of your savior. I can't say I'm surprised: power begets power. My agency exists for that purpose alone…" Igor leaned forward, peering at Izuku carefully. "Which is why you are so peculiar to me."

"P-p-pe…"

"Everyone else here exists in both body and spirit but you… For whatever reason you don't seem bound by that rule. Your arcana changes by the day. I've seen that of the Fool, the Magician, the Chariot, even Death… but at the same time, you lack the overflowing potential of a Wild Card. Even to me, an agent of The World, you are an enigma."

Izuku's shoulders slumped in the chair. After a moment, Lavenza's hand reached out and fell gently on his arm. Before she could say anything, he frowned and looked up at Igor with a small frown.

"I… I don't care what you say. I'm going to be a hero, n-no matter what anyone has to say about it!" Izuku stood up, fists clenched tightly to keep him from shaking. "I'll be a hero, and I'll help All Might! And then…"

"I don't doubt you at all, my young friend." Igor chuckled again, leaving Izuku even more confused than before. "I was never going to leave you here alone. No… you've entertained my curiosity out of the goodness in your heart, and I will reward you for that."

"Reward…?" Izuku's words trailed off as Lavenza stepped forward and handed him a silver cube.

"That is all that remains of my last two contracts. Normally, those items would disappear into Lavenza's books before we reached our destination, but I've a feeling that you can make use of them. Once you leave this room, they will adapt to your world. Maybe that won't do anything at all, or maybe it will gift you with the power you seek. Who knows?" Igor waved a hand dismissively, as if that was the end of it. As if Izuku didn't have a dozen more questions. Before he could say anything, Igor giggled and pressed his fingers together. "Oh yes, I can see why you humans enjoy breaking the rules so much. This is a thrill, isn't it?"

Izuku's questions died on his tongue.

"I'm afraid our time together must end, my young friend. I doubt I will pass through this world ever again in my travels, but… should you become someone worth my time, perhaps one day you and I will forge a contract." Igor chuckled and shook his head slightly. "How interesting that would be. I never get to re-visit my clients."

"That's… That's it? But I don't understand. You said there are two Wild Cards, that someone nearly killed All Might!" Izuku gripped the card delicately, clenching his other hand till it turned white. "You have to tell me who! Maybe… Maybe I can at least tell someone!"

"My only connection to this world is you, Midoriya Izuku." Igor chirped. "I will not interfere in the contract of your two Wild Cards. I've never seen someone who could do such a thing, in defiance of The World's Order..."

The man trailed off at the end and, for the first time in their week of talking, frowned at Izuku.

"That would be impossible, wouldn't it? Someone, an independent third party who could reach The World on their own. Someone like that… would have to be someone just so. With just enough potential to take whatever role is necessary. The perfect blank slate..." Igor's smile returned slowly, and the man stood up, leaning far over his desk in an effort to look at Izuku more closely. "Perhaps you will be someone very, very interesting, Midoriya Izuku."

"I don't understand." Izuku murmured, shuffling backwards beneath Igor's stare. The chair became smoke as he walked backwards, passing through it and leaving Lavenza glancing back and forth between them with wide golden eyes.

"I don't believe anyone does, yet." Lavenza sighed. "Goodbye, Midoriya-kun. I believe I'll miss you in the next…"

The room jarred badly enough that Izuku fell over his feet, and Igor's expression turned dark. Lavenza's book glowed, but the panic on her face was clear.

"No one would dare stack the odds in their favor like this." Igor muttered darkly, as black smoke seeped up from beneath the circular rug laying across the floor. The light dimmed, as if suddenly tinted red, and something looked at Izuku. He felt its eyes scrape over him, as if he were something unimportant and irritating. He scrambled to his feet, torn between sprinting to grab Lavenza and Igor or just leaving in the first place.

"Go, Midoriya-kun! You are not a part of this!" Lavenza was there, between Izuku and the thing in the room. A form of gathered black fog was the last thing Izuku saw before he was shoved back, and Lavenza's scream played in his ears long after he hit the sunbaked concrete of the corner where he'd entered the Velvet Room.

Only the cube clutched in his fingers assured him that it wasn't a dream.

-000-

-0-

A.N.: This is just the beginning! Any idea what might be in the cube? For anyone who knows nothing about the Persona series, don't worry about it too much: Igor and Lavenza are now busy with the events of the game, so you won't need to learn tons of Persona lore to figure things out. From here on it's very much an exploration of how My Hero might work using Persona themes.
This story has been kinda hard to write, but it's on my backburner and I'm really happy with the idea of it, so I'll probably start pushing out more chapters once I'm done with my other main projects. Lemme know what you think!