Sunburn

Izuku ran all the way back to his house. When he got there, he just stood in his doorway, his heart racing, trying to calm down.

"Izuku, honey, is that you?" A voice from the kitchen startled him out of his thoughts. Looking to the kitchen, he responded. "Yeah, Mom, it's me."

A smaller, plump green-haired woman walked into the living room. This was Inko Midoriya, the mother of Izuku Midoriya. She looked at him in a concerned manner.

"Are you okay, dear? You look like you just ran a marathon."

"I'm fine, Mom. I just, uh, saw a villain attack on my way home from school." He decided to omit the fact that he was almost the victim. He wasn't ready to face all that happened yet.

"GASP DID YOU GET HURT?!" Inko was hysterical upon learning that her son witnessed something so horrible.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a little rattled. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit, actually," he told her.

"Oh, okay, dear." With a smile, Inko turned and walked back to the kitchen. "I'll call you later when dinner's ready."

…

Once he got to his room, Izuku took out the golden vial that he'd put in his pocket.

So, what the heck was all that about? No, more importantly, why didn't I do anything?! That man was hurt and then attacked by a villain, and all I did was run away!…How can I call myself a hero after that? Maybe Kacchan was right after all…

His thoughts darkening, Izuku stared at the vial. The scientist-looking man had asked him to protect it, but he had no idea what it was or who was after it. His immediate guess was that it was a new drug and that some addicts had attacked the scientist. It made sense, after all. Though, it would've probably been easier to just destroy the vial, but who knew? In any case, Izuku Midoriya was distraught and caught up in self-hatred. Kacchan's earlier words telling him to jump off the roof came back to them, and he found himself agreeing with his friend.

If I've already proven myself unworthy as a hero, I've really got nothing else left, huh? Izuku uncapped the vial. Might as well go out with a bang. Thinking that he had nothing left to live for, he drank the golden liquid. He expected to pass out or at least get high-whatever that entailed-but he didn't feel any different. Huh. Thought that would be a lot more drastic. Ah well.

"Izuku! Dinner's ready, sweetie!" Hearing his mom, he put the vial down on his desk and walked to the kitchen.

As it turned out, his mom had made his favorite meal, katsudon. Ordinarily he would've been delighted, but now he was too depressed.

"So, how was school?"

"It was fine, nothing too special." Izuku then thought about his life up to that point. For ten years, everyone had mocked and ridiculed him for wanting to be a hero. Even his mother didn't believe in him that night, but she'd been a bit more supportive since. Maybe…if she believed in him, he'd at least have someone to live for.

"Hey, Mom…" Izuku began. His mother looked at him, but before he could continue, his chest started burning. "HRK!" He clutched his chest, grunting in pain.

"IZUKU!"

Izuku got up from the table. "I'm fine…"he grunted, though his sweating face told a different story. "Just some heartburn. I'm gonna go get some medicine at the nearby store." He walked toward the door, quickly putting on his shoes and racing out into the night. Before he could make it across the street, however, he felt it. Something inside him was bubbling, demanding its release. Izuku had no idea what it was, but it felt like he would explode, and he didn't want to be around people when he did. Luckily, he knew of a beach that was so polluted with trash that no one came there, so he rushed over there, his body heating up steadily.

It took all of Izuku's willpower to keep the heat inside, and he just barely made it to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park. With nothing else to focus on, Izuku couldn't keep the heat inside, and it expanded throughout his entire body, burning him alive.

"AARRRRGH!"

BANG!

If anyone were nearby, they'd have seen a supernova go off in the park.

…

Slowly, Izuku groggily opened his eyes. He was looking at a black sky, and he was laying down on a cold surface.

Is this the afterlife? He figured that he'd died in the explosion and passed on.

"Ah, good. You're awake!" A cheery voice interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he had to shield his eyes before the…sun? No, that couldn't be right. Whatever it was just talked to him, and it sounded like a man. His eyes adjusting while still behind his hand, Izuku could make out more of this person's features. What he'd thought was the sun was instead a man with an immense aura that rivaled the his accent, the man sounded American, and Izuku could make out long blond hair and Caucasian skin, though not much more than that.

Before he could even process this man's overwhelming presence, the aura disappeared.

"Whoops! Ha, ha, sorry about that!" The man laughed, hands on his hips and a wide smile on his face, similar to All Might.

"W-who are you? Where are we?" Izuku asked the man, whose smile never wavered.

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me that. After all, I'm you! As for where we are, why, we're in our mind, of course!"

"Hah?" Izuku had a blank expression on his face. He's never been this confused before in his life. "W-what? How're you me?"

"Well, to be more precise, I'm the power you drank merged with your heroic aspirations. Since I was just born, I was hoping you could name me, although I kind of like 'The Sentry' as a superhero name."

"…H-hold on! Slow down a minute! You're saying that I have power?" Izuku asked, wanting nothing more than a quirk of his own.

"Well, didn't you drink the Golden Super Serum?"

"…" Izuku thought back to the golden liquid he thought was a drug, and paled at the thought of what he'd done.

"…You mean that liquid was a quirk?"

"Technically speaking, the serum couldn't be a quirk because quirks are genetic, but I think you're more or less correct," The Sentry said.

"Oh crap! I drank something that wasn't mine! If that scientist is still alive, he'll probably have to start all over!" Izuku froze, remembering how he left the man to , the Sentry interrupted him before he could blame himself any more.

"Young Izuku!" Izuku looked up, startled. "It's true that what you did was wrong-that much is undeniable! BUT! What's done is done, and you cannot change that! Instead of looking down to Hades, you should look up to see the way to Heaven! In other words, seeing as you cannot get rid of me, you should instead ask yourself what we're going to do now."

Izuku was awestruck. Taking a breath, his expression changed to one with more confidence. "You're right, Sentry. All I can do now is use the most of what that scientist gave me, regardless of if he meant it. I left him to die due to my powerlessness, but I will not leave anyone else! I'll save them all with a smile on my face! No, WE'LL save them, with our smile!" At this, he gave the Sentry his widest smile. The two of them just stood there, smiling for each other, until Izuku realized something. "Hey, wait. You said we're inside my-our mind right now, right?"

"That is correct, Young Izuku!"

"Uh, how do we get out? OH! AND THE BEACH!" Izuku suddenly remembered the beach he exploded at.

"Not to worry! No one was harmed at that beach, for your intuition was correct; it was empty! Also, I can easily get us back home if ou let me take control for a bit. You'll wake up on your bed in the morning!"

"Oh, okay…" As soon as Izuku gave Sentry permission, he passed out.

…

"Izuku, wake up dear!"

"Ugh-uh…" Izuku woke up to the sun assaulting his vision. Looking around, he was in his room. The Sentry seemed to be telling the truth last night. Getting up, Yung Izuku got ready for school, before noticing something on his desk.

"Hero Analysis for the Future…Didn't Kacchan destroy it yesterday? Don't tell me the Sentry was nice enough to rewrite it for me. Heh…" Putting it in his backpack, Izuku left for school.