Title: Marionette
Summary: In her dreams, she was a normal, quirkless human. In reality, she was a doll, a lonely dreamer of a doll, born from parents who were quirkless.
"I'm sorry, there is no way to remove a quirk."
"B-but why is she like this? Her father and I are both quirkless!"
The doctor sighed, removing his glasses and placing his clipboard on the desk. "The first-ever quirk user was also born from quirkless parents." He said with an exasperated voice.
"But-"
"Honey, let the doctor finish, please..."
"Your daughter will never age, she will never experience the basic needs of a human, she will never have children. Simply put, her body is a completely inorganic material and the only part of her that is organic is her brain."
She watched her parents talk to the 40th doctor they have been to over the years. It was always the same whenever they consulted with a doctor.
She will never experience the basic needs of a human.
She will never age.
She can never have children.
"Mother-"
"Shut up, Elizabeth!
She clamped her mouth shut as her mother glared at her while her father sent her a blank look. She looked at the doctor who looked at her with something akin to pity. She lowered her head, unable to cry, or form an expression.
She hated herself.
Elizabeth was drawn from her thoughts as the chatter of other applicants increased in volume. She observed the famous school that created many heroes. A neat wall surrounding the school, and the main structure of the building formed a huge H in the center. There were several other buildings in the area along with forest areas and gardens.
The weather was cold today as she glanced at other applicants bundled up in warm cozy scarves and all of their imperfections. Most people either had scars, blemishes on their skins, and different things that defined their appearance.
With her perfectly groomed straight blonde hair that reached her mid-back, perfectly sized clothes, perfect skin, and blue-grey eyes, she easily stood out among the other applicants. Just as she observed those around her, the applicants, boys mainly, openly pointed her with blushes on their faces while the girls envied her.
It was always the same wherever she goes. She didn't want to be here but she was required to do so by the Principal who graciously helped her out when her parents didn't want to deal with her anymore and threw her into a high-class apartment They had her baby brother now, who was perfectly normal to take care of.
She entered the building, following the signs to get to the exam hall along with the other applicants. From what Principal Nezu told her, the written test didn't need to be passed. The practical part of the examination was the deciding factor for entering the hero course.
"I really hate written exams!"
"Me too, I cant wait to get it over with so we can really show out in the practical exams."
Elizabeth listened to the applicants around her complain about the written exam while some others were enthusiastic.
"The written exams are just as important, don't you think?" Elizabeth turns towards the voice. "Sen Kaibara is the name, what's yours?"
Average black hair, dark eyes, blemishes on his skin. He was nothing special, Elizabeth concluded, but she envied him or she would like to envy him. She wanted his humanity and all of its imperfections. "Elizabeth Darling." She watches as he grins sheepishly and looked over her form. "You're not Japanese?"
"My mother is Japanese, my father is American," Elizabeth said, growing bored of the conversation already and rudely turned away. She didn't care about her parents just as they didn't care about her.
He coughed and stood closer to her. "That's really cool." He said, embarrassed by her actions but she didn't really care. "By the way, what is your quirk? My quirk is Gyrate. I can rotate any part of my body at high speeds."
She wanted to get angry, her mind knew what anger was but it was impossible. She just couldn't feel it. Her quirk felt like a curse. She remained silent, not intending to answer him. Her quirk is a mutation quirk called; Doll. It was the reason for her current body.
Her quirk changed her body from being made up of organic matter to that of inorganic material. When she was born, her quirk immediately activated changing her body. The only part of her that remained organic was her brain which is, according to numerous doctors, surrounded by a diamond-hard shell.
They later found out that she could never grow, age, eat regular food, have kids, and perform basic human needs besides sleep. She accidentally discovered some potential of her quirk when she was mentally exhausted constantly one day. Regular foods would never work with her but she found out she had to nourish her brain or her core with inorganic material which replenished her energy and stopped her from feeling mentally exhausted. She could also reconstruct her body using materials from stuffed animals and leather to look her age. She still didn't know the full potential of her own quirk because she avoided using it completely and only when it was necessary.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry-"
"I do not like speaking of it." Elizabeth interrupted, "it is no fault of yours."
Sen chuckled, looking away in embarrassment. "Well, good luck on the written exam."
"You too, Kaibara-san," Elizabeth replied before walking away.
The written exam was easy – considering she had a private tutor most of her life – and nothing like the college papers her tutor had her doing. When it came to languages, she already knew three; Japanese, English, and French. Her parents didn't love her as they should but they never once slouched on her education.
When the exam was over many applicants were groaning and complaining at how hard it was. She sat down just staring at the varying expression they made. She wanted to feel sad, she wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She looked perfect on the outside but her skin was made of leather that looked like skin that her father acquired for her and on the inside of her was nothing but fiber and threads.
She stood up from her seat and walked out of the room, ignoring the pointed looks Sen sent her way.
She was seated among the crowd as Present Mic stepped up on the stage in the auditorium.
"WELCOME TO MY FABULOUS SUPER FANTASTIC LIVE SHOW!"
Elizabeth was stared blankly at Present Mic as the people around her winced at his loud voice. She saw him on the news before and he was going to be the one giving them instructions for this examination.
"NOW LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY.
Present Mic's voice carried through the auditorium, capturing their attention, "As it says in the application requirements you will have a preparation time of ten minutes. After that, you'll head to your specified battle stations!"
She looked to her left when she heard his muttering next to her. He was average with a bit of charm with his defining features being his dark green curly hair and freckled cheeks. He was blushing with excitement and for some reason, he seemed the most human out of everyone here. Her brain was telling her to feel envy, jealousy, anything but as usual, she couldn't feel anything.
"To be here at U.A where all the pro heroes are! The voice hero, Present Mic! This is so cool!"
Elizabeth stared at him intensely until he noticed her staring and blushed in embarrassment and she decided to put him at ease. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed. I just couldn't ignore your enthusiasm. It's contagious."
"Oh, I uh-uh"
Elizabeth placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just calm down."
He looked at her with widened eyes before calming down. "S-sorry, it's a habit of mine!"
"That is perfectly fine," Elizabeth said before looking back at Present Mic, "you really seem to like heroes."
He blushed and nodded. "I really do..."
"My name is Elizabeth Darling." The blonde replied expressionlessly.
"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya."
"It is nice meeting you, Midoriya-san." Elizabeth said, looking at him, "Do your best." She didn't know why she was being so nice to him but she knew he was different than the others here.
"Y-you too!" He stuttered, sending her a smile.
She sat unmoving, staring straight at Present Mic expressionlessly even when Izuku was being scolded by another applicant for muttering so much. She was so immersed in her thoughts, that she didn't know that she too was scolded by the same person. She was daydreaming, dreaming of a place where she was a human.
She would be smiling with her friends, eating tasty food, enjoying time with her family. Before she could fully immerse herself in her daydream she was pulled away from her dream by Present Mic who concluded the brief presentation.
Everyone was already leaving to change into practical clothes. She looked down at her own outfit which consisted of a blue blouse, pleated pink skirt, white socks, and white tennis shoes. She had no other outfit to change into and decided to head to her battle station.
Ten minutes later, she stood at her required battle station. Present Mic had already explained the instructions. They were supposed to destroy the enemy robots to gain points and the giant robot was worth zero points. She didn't know how the exam was marked.
Her biggest problem was that she didn't know how her quirk could help in battle. She lowered her head and looked at her perfectly manicured hands. There wasn't much she knew about her own quirk. Maybe, she was supposed to feel embarrassed but she couldn't.
"HELLO AGAIN!" The murmuring crowd was silent when a hologram of Present Mic showed up floating above them. "I shall go through the instructions once more. Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle station. You earn points from each of them based on their difficulty level. Your goal is to use your quirks to immobilize the villains."
Present Mic disappeared and Elizabeth looked at the imposing game that separated them and the faux villains. She could hear the whispers directed at her from various people.
"She doesn't show any expressions at all."
"God, look at her skin. It's so perfect."
"I'm going to impress her with my quirk!"
The gate started to open, silencing the whispers of those around her. Elizabeth didn't know how she would earn any points at this rate. She thought about it some more before deciding that it was better to rescue other people. She didn't really care about being a hero. So if she failed it wouldn't matter. She would find a regular job and settle down.
Cameras were placed all over campus, along with drones that captured the footage of the exam. The members of the faculty were all paying close attention.
"I love seeing the young ones battle it out." Nemuri Kayama, also know as Midnight said. She licked her lips as she jumped up and down creating a lewd image. Her expression was one of excitement as she watched the screen.
"You've always riled up at these things," Ectoplasm grinned.
"Because it's so much fun!" Nemuri smirked.
Toshinori looked at the screen. "There seems to be a lot of talented kids this year." He said, making sure to keep an eye on Izuku.
"I see what you mean." Ken nodded.
"The girl though, the blonde-haired one with the doll face. She is only helping out the others. She has so far avoided all the robots." Nemuri raised an eyebrow.
Principal Nezu. "I would like you guys to watch out for her."
"Why?" Ectoplasm yawned, "She doesn't seem like anything special."
Toshinori looked at the Principal and knew that the mouse knew more than he let own. "What is her quirk?"
"Her quirk is rather unique. It's a mutation type called Doll." Principal Nezu, "I don't know much about it other than her being a living doll and neither does she due to her circumstances but I suspect we might see something amazing today."
"Doll?" Toshinori questioned before looking back at the screen.
Elizabeth stayed back while those with stronger quirks destroyed the robot villains. She would quickly rescue any applicant that was trapped beneath rubble or injured. She would carry them to safety before heading back into the battlefield.
She carefully followed a boy who was destroying robots left and right. She could tell he didn't care for other applicants so it made her job a lot easier when they were put in danger. The robots didn't seem to have any real offensive ability making it easier for others to take down. Unfortunately, she too didn't have much offensive ability either.
She didn't know how long she was rescuing others but time felt prolonged. She carried a girl to safety who muttered thanks before running off once again. Suddenly, the ground began shaking violently as an earthquake had occurred.
Some people around her began to stumble around, trying to find their footing. As she ran deeper into the city, the thunderous footsteps start to become clearer. However, the screams of other people became evident as well. As soon as she turned the corner of a building, she could see a stampede of people running in her direction.
"RUN! AHHH!"
She looked up at the massive zero-point robot coming in her direction. The robot slammed its metal hand into a building next to it, sending it crashing to the ground. She watched as the applicants forgot about the practical exam and ran for their lives.
She couldn't feel the fear that they were feeling but weren't heroes suppose to protect the people and the city. If this were a real situation, the people that were in the building the robot just crushed would've been already dead.
"HELP ME, PLEASE!"
The voice was like a beacon and her eyes zeroed in on a girl that was on the ground heavily injured with broken legs. She was running before she knew it and it was only a matter of time of who reached the girl first.
In a control room, the teachers watched the examinees run through the city. "The examinees have no idea where the villains are," Principal Nezu explained, "They have a limited amount of time and must cover a vast area and hunt down as many targets as they can.
Some use information-gathering ability to plan out strategies. While others rely on speed to pull ahead of their peers. Of course, remaining calm under pressure could be a huge advantage as can pure power and combat abilities.
The most successful students use a combination of all these tactics. They're the ones rack up the highest scores."
"I'd say this group looks promising though"
"Well, the real test is about to come. Let's see how they react."
They watched as the giant robot emerged from deep within the city and all the students running away from it.
"We have one here in Station A!"
"Wait, that green-haired boy is running towards the enemy robot!"
All Might felt like a proud parent as he watched Izuku destroy the Executioner Robot with a single punch to save a girl. "You did well, Young Midoriya," Toshinori whispered.
"Huh? That girl with the doll quirk in Station D." Nemuri said and everyone looked at the screen.
Elizabeth managed to reach the girl in time but it was too late to carry her anywhere. The robot was already upon them, ready to crush them underneath its foot.
"J-Just leave me!"
"Shut up!" Elizabeth raised her voice, interrupting the girl, as she tried to carry the girl away but the girl slipped from her arms and fell to the ground. The way the girl was so eager to give up her own life, the precious human life that she so badly wanted.
"LEAVE ME!" the girl started crying.
Elizabeth looked down at the crying girl before looking up at the robot. What could she do? Her only ability was to break down inorganic material for nourishment. The only things she ever used were stuffed animals. Could she do it against such a foe? She didn't know but she had to try since it was inorganic material as well.
She raised her hand and immediately the robot ceased all movement, its body creaking loudly before breaking down into smaller pieces so it could be absorbed into her body.
"Oh my god..." The girl that she saved whispered.
Elizabeth stood rooted in her spot as her brain activity increased exponentially. Her body was getting more nourishment than it had in her years of living. When she fully absorbed the robot, her body crackled with electricity. She could feel the difference inside her body. Instead of fiber and threads, there was only metal, electrical circuits, and electricity, the same electricity that was eager to be unleashed.
She ignored the murmurs behind her as her eyes locked onto the army faux villains in front of her. She barely moved and she was already nearing the robots, leaving a plume of dust and rocks behind her. Her brain couldn't comprehend her newfound speed and she sped past the robots and crashed headfirst into a building.
"It seems that I'm way stronger than before…." Elizabeth said as she stepped out of the rubble with unblemished skin and dusty clothes. She was still processing the change in her body. However, she was soon surrounded by robots and one attacked her.
She drew her fist back in self-defense and punched the robot hard. Her fist pierced the robot, coming out of its back, and released an electrical pulse. The robots around her short-circuited and started smoke from the electrical pulse. She pulled her hand back out before looking at the robots around her.
She cursed the examination and herself.
She was more inhuman than before.