I can't be a hero...
All-Might was crystal clear about that. No quirk, no chance at being a hero.
Izuku Midoriya slowly walked towards his home, a long a stressful day that only seemed to get worse weighing on his mind. The bullying, his notebooks, his dreams being crushed by the number one hero, it was more than his soul could bare. All his life he was told he couldn't be a hero. That he couldn't make it. He was quirkless, powerless, useless. He would never be anything more than a useless Deku. His childhood friend had told him that over and over again without fail. Even his nickname meant useless.
He was hoping that his last bastion of hope, his idol, the Number 1 Hero himself: All-Might, would support him. The hero who saved people with a smile on his face that never faded. The man who encouraged people everywhere to be heroes. He would have to support his dream. He would stand up against all his bullies and tell them the one thing he desperately wanted to hear his whole life: you can be a hero. But even All-Might turned him down, crushing his dream on that rooftop like all the others before him.
So now here he was, walking towards his home, his eyes locked to the floor. Not even All-Might believed in me. I guess it was always a dumb dream that some quirkless loser like myself could be a hero. He was dragged out of his thoughts by a sudden loud noise. Glancing over at an explosion off in the distance, a small thought prodded at him, telling him to run there, to see what was happening. He turned to go, trying to fill this day with something, anything he could do to take his mind off of his now ruined dream, when a small whisper, seemingly from nowhere, entered his mind. Whispers of sorrow, whispers of broken dreams, whispers of unfulfilled goals, and louder than all of them, whispers of power. A power denied to him, and one that may be given. The power to be a hero. He slowly turned away from the explosions, the blasts fading away into silence.
A dull music began to play is his head as his feet carried him along a path he didn't recognize. Into the forest, deeper and deeper, the trees forming an endless maze as he marched further into the abyss. The music swelled in his mind, the haunting carnival tones guiding him forward. He couldn't tell where he was going, nor did he have any idea what forest he was in. All he knew was that haunting melody that seemed the caress his inner failures was calling to him, and he had no choice but to answer. The twisting path finally came to a stop, the music ceasing in his brain. When he finally came to his senses, he found himself face to face with an odd sight. A strange pole, black as the night, rose from the earth. Towards the top, the pole splayed out, unraveling outwards. Glancing downwards, a brazier took up the base of the pole, with blackened logs and coal filling the space inside.
Looking up and down, Izuku Midoriya could not see what had led him to this strange object, nor could he pinpoint where exactly that music came from, as he saw no such speakers adorning the structure. Glancing around, his eyes came to rest upon an unmoving figure. Moss had overtaken the body, and he could not make out any discerning features from it. All he could make out was the pitch black outfit the person was wearing, and the strange mask that adorned their face. Pure white met scarlet red where the eyes would be, with black lines piercing through both. The mask came to two points, all in black, at the top, almost like horns. Kneeling down to check on this strange body, his finger moved to check the person's pulse. How long has he been here? And how did nobody find out about him? The moment his fingers had brushed the mask, a voice spoke.
"Light the lantern, heed the call, consume the flames of dreams, and fall."
Midoriya flinched back, his mind recoiling at the sudden voice that penetrated his thoughts. He looked around wildly, desperately searching for the source of the voice.
"Light the lantern..."
His eyes once more landed on the structure before him. The voice, he could now hear loud and clear, was coming from it.
"Heed the call..."
His hand gripped the side of his head, his eyes shut tightly as he struggled against the voice in his head. "W-What do you want from me?" The voice echoed once more.
"Light the lantern...heed the call..."
His eyes opened slightly, his gaze unbroken from the lantern. "I-I'm quirkless. What would you need me for? I-I can't do anything..." Soon, the whispers began to creep back. Promising change, a way for him to attain his goals, his dreams. Power. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I-I want to be a hero. Someone who saves people!"
"You would not need to take lives, nor hold you back from saving them. All you would need are the broken dreams of those around you. The sweet flames of failure and fall. You need not be the one who makes them..."
Izuku Midoriya ran through the sentence over and over. Yes, this power came with a price. But...he could be a hero. He could finally have his chance at saving people, despite what all of society had told him before. He didn't have to hurt the innocent. He didn't have to kill anyone! He just had to swallow the...flames...of their dreams...that wasn't that bad...right? Whatever that meant, that is. As his mind loosened the chains protecting his will, his eyes drifted down to the brazier once more, a fire poker resting just beside it.
"Light the lantern..."
His fingers twitched as he slowly inched towards the lantern, his hand reaching for the poker. Surely, what was a few dream flames for the chance to be a hero?
"Heed the call..."
His grip tightened around the metal rod. The old iron felt blazing hot to the touch, and yet his hand did not shrink away from it's warmth. He could be a hero. He could stand with the rest. He could finally be worth something!
"Consume the flames..."
His arm rose, the rod glowing a faint red as his eyes refused to break away from the lantern before him. No matter what, I will be a hero! I can be a hero! Despite what they all say, I can do it!
"Of dreams, and fall!"
Red embers flew through the air as Midoriya's hand brought down the poker into the brazier. His arm reared back, and brought down blow and blow, all while the voice continued to chant the line, over, and over. As he brought down the poker one last time, his breathing becoming labored at the strikes, the poker struck true, and a massive swell of crimson flames spewed out from the bottom of the lantern, knocking the young teenager through the air. The last thing he remembered was a bright flame lighting above the once quiet lantern...
The first sense to come back to Midoriya was his hearing, as the soft tune of that sweet carnival music drifted through his ears and faded once more. Next came his sight, his eyes cracking open slowly to the sight of the now blazing lantern before him. Strangely, the sight of the lantern brought some odd comfort to him, like... this was the way things were. The way things have to be. Slowly rising from the ground, he stumbled forward towards the now lit lantern. Grabbing hold of the structure to steady himself, he glanced around the surrounding forest. It seems no one had noticed the flame yet, nor the clanging he had stirred up. Sighing in relief, he look back to the lantern, before recoiling.
Midoriya slowly brought his hands up to his face, his breathing becoming ragged as he began to shake. These aren't my hands...are they...? His fingers had grown longer and black, each digit narrowing into blade-like points on each end. Clenching his hands open and closed, he found he still had completed control of them, and yet...they didn't feel like his hands. Looking back to the lantern, his gaze fell onto the scarlet flame floating above it, desperately searching for answers in the flickering glow. Finding no answers, he looked back to the body lying nearby the lantern, hoping to find some clue as to his current status, only to find an empty spot, a dry patch of earth as the only sign of it every existing. Glancing back to the lantern, he found it, too, missing from its spot. Panicking, he looked everywhere for the strange object but to no avail. "W-Wait! What am I supposed to do? W-Who are you? Where are you?" He called out into the dense forest, waiting for answers that never came. Sighing in frustration, he picked up his backpack and began to trudge back the way that looked even slightly familiar.
He came out of the forest in mere minutes, a surprising fact considering he swore he wandered through it for at least an hour before. Chalking it up to just another weird occurrence, he walked back in the direction of home. Noticing that it was now night, Midoriya began to job. His mother would be worried sick about him and he didn't want to cause her any more stress. His mind wandered as he moved quickly towards his apartment. Well...it seems I finally gained a quirk. Claw hands, but I can't make them vanish. Maybe some kind of mutation quirk? He raised his hand to his eyes once more, not noticing the looks people were giving him. Sure, it's useful. Sharp claws would give me an advantage in fighting villains. But what about what that lantern was saying? Consuming flames of dreams? How would I even do that?
Whispers brought him out of his thoughts, his eyes snapping to the creeped out faces of those around him. Confusion met with paranoia as Izuku began to look around at the various people whispering to each other and staring. Some people were avoiding his gaze altogether. W-What are they whispering about? Is something wrong with me? N-No! I have a quirk now! I'm just like them! D-Do people still think I'm worthless? Are the claws that bad? I-I thought this was normal! The panic set in as he began to shield himself from their view with his arms. As the whispers of their comments grew louder, his heart began to beat faster and faster in panic. Monster. Villain. Freak. Weirdo. The names spun round and round him as he desperately sought a way out of there, a way to just get home. He begged for it all to just stop.
A flash of red, a spark of heat, and then, silence. Slowly, very slowly, his eyes opened, the scenery having transformed into a quiet, darkened room. One quick scan revealed a plethora of All Might memorabilia, from posters to figurines. I'm in...my room? H-How did I get here!? As his mind raced at the possibilities, he heard a shuffling from the other side of his door.
"Izuku? Honey, is that you?"
His ears perked up at the sound of his mother's voice, relief washing over him. His mother was the one person in the world who didn't hate him for who he was, the one person who loved him, his one and only friend. She would help him, she had to. He motioned for the door, but before he could reach it, the doorknob rattled before opening, light filling the room as his mother walked in.
"I didn't know you had gotten home! I was worried you had been caught up in that villain attack earlier and I was..." Her face froze, her eyes locked in an unending stare as she began to tremble. She slowly brought her hands to her face, her arms trembling and she covered her mouth in horror. Confused, worried, and morbidly curious, he slowly turned towards his mirror, dragging his gaze away from his trembling mother to the reflective surface in front of him.
His eyes met scarlet eyes, a white face with black lines piercing through. Two black horns threatening to touch one another. His hands slinked up, his clawed fingers dragging along the length of the mask. His hands began to tremble as he tried ripping the mask from his face.
"W-Who are you?"
His body began to shake. It woudn't come off. "Light the lantern..."
"W-Where is my son?"
A crack began to form through the mask. "Heed the call..."
"WHERE IS MY IZUKU?"
The mask split apart, pointed teeth like daggers sprouting between the crack as an unearthly scream rang out through the Midoriya household.
His scream. "Consume the flames of dreams, and fall."
Hey y'all. Writer(Not Writer) here. Hope y'all enjoyed this little story. I took out the standard intro as most people are used to or know about the backstory already. This is essentially a one shot just to try out the idea, but if y'all like it enough, I wouldn't mind continuing the story. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed it!