So I'm setting up a (sort of) update schedule. It's essentially the order in which I work on my stories. It's gonna go Puppeteer(this), Frozen Blades, and Run Away. I think that it'll help me make better content for all of you, so have fun reading!
Izuku Midoriya woke up in a hospital bed for the first(but definitely not the last) time in his life on July 9th, 2148. Gasping, he sat up amidst the white, trying to remember where he was. Everything looked unfamiliar, the white walls of the room, the blank sheets of the bed, the gray tiled floors. It was only until he saw the IV near another bed that he realized he was in the hospital.
His hands were free, everything felt fine, so why was he here?
Again, a massive migraine hit, causing him to hunch over and clutch his head. It ended just as soon and suddenly as it started, allowing him to collect himself. Panting and sweating slightly, he looked up, once again taking in his surroundings with a wary eye. Nothing had changed from when he last looked around, except for the colors. Everything was the opposite. Black walls, midnight black bed sheets, bright red floors. It was as if a high contrast mode had switched on in his mind, changing the way he perceived everything.
Blinking twice, Izuku hoped, prayed that the colors would change, revert back to normal. Nothing changed. A slight buzzing developed at the back of his mind, but Izuku gave it no attention, and stood up.
A wave of dizziness washed over the boy, his knees buckling and his arms heavy. On shaky legs, Izuku stood up, using the bed frame as a support structure. Letting go, he found himself slightly disoriented standing up, but paid it no mind and walked out of the room. The buzzing increased, and Izuku winced, but still Izuku paid it no mind, and walked out of the room.
The outside was very weird, and covered in snow for some reason. Izuku was barefoot in the snow, but he didn't feel anything cold. He didn't feel anything at all. Walking forward, Izuku explored his surroundings. There was a single tree near the base of the mountain, an evergreen spruce standing tall and majestic despite how lonely it was. The mountain seemed to have had a portion excavated, there being a whole section of it that was a vertical plane just existing, completely unnatural and unnerving. Izuku scanned his surroundings again, but was mystified when he saw the shed was no longer there. Just what was happening here?
A sliver of brown peaked up amid the white, and Izuku walked over to it and brushed off some of the snow. It was a lever. A lever, out here, in the middle of the snow, no civilization in sight. Scared, but also curious, Izuku flicked the rod to the other position, allowing magic to happen. And oh boy, did magic happen.
A rumbling shook Izuku from his thoughts, a rumbling originating from the flat wall in the mountainside. Izuku stood up, and watched as the wall was pulled down, intact, and fell into some sort of hole. A light shined, too bright, from behind the walls, blinding Izuku and causing him to look away. The buzzing in his mind increased once more, to the point where Izuku could no longer ignore it, but his attention was drawn to the room that he had accessed.
Skulls. Skulls everywhere. Skulls, gray and black, lined the walls in neat rows, being held up by some unseen pins. Skulls, hollow and lifeless, watched Izuku as he gazed upon the horrifying contents of the room. There must have been dozens- how did this get here? How did he get here? Izuku took a step back, and continued looking, regretting it almost immediately.
In the center, three figures were attached, skeletons minus the head, still dripping with blood and bits of flesh, blackened due to some unseen force, made of what looked like brown sand. The buzzing increased as Izuku looked around, gathering more and more details of the room, like the honey yellow walls and the obsidian decorations. Two armor stands were behind the skeletons, holding some weird purple glowing armor, something that caused Izuku to start when he saw they were holding swords of the same material.
"-uku, Izuku, Izuku, Izuku," the voice in his mind chanted, as his breathing increased. He was stuck here, surrounded by unfamiliar territory, looking upon remains of people, and Izuku fell back on his ass, looking at the sight, transfixed in horror and unable to look away. A shattered visage of the sword appeared, slicing through the air, about to collide with his chest, the blade endlessly sharp and ready to kill.
And then Izuku woke up, startling the Todoroki brothers when he jumped up, panting and sweating, before curling up into a ball.
"Izuku, bro, you okay?" Natsuo asked, putting a hand on the younger's shoulder. Izuku stilled, took a deep breath and nodded, before uncurling and sitting up properly.
"Yeah, fine, just a nightmare," Izuku responded, wiping a hand on his head. "It's over, and I'm fine," he said as he leaned back on the bed frame, looking up at the ceiling. Swinging his legs over the side and standing up, Izuku was relieved when he didn't fall, supporting himself correctly. "I'm just gonna get some air right now," he said, walking to the window.
"Let us know if you need anything," Natsuo returned, before smiling and walking out of the room with Shoto. The two toned boy didn't say anything, but was clearly worried for Izuku given the expression on his face. Izuku shook his head at their worry, before climbing onto the roof, where he'd remain for the rest of the four hours of the day, a fine place to be before you sleep.
"What was that all about?" Izuku asked before relaxing and looking up, admiring the setting sun and the small stars in the sky. He stayed like that for a very long time.
"We really should stop meeting like this," Izuku told the pair approaching him, not even looking in their direction. He simply wanted to test range and found two people nearby, but he recognized the two so he slightly altered their movements to come this way, but they didn't need to know that.
"It's only twice that this has happened," Shota Aizawa stated, raising an eyebrow. He was in his yellow sleeping bag, bunched up and comfortable for a long night of stalking and crime fighting. "That doesn't require an intervention." Next to him, Toshinori Yagi nodded, trying to emphasize his friend's point.
"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is a habit. I'd prefer we stop it before it gets to the third," Izuku replied, sitting up and turning to face them. "Come, sit, I won't bite. How are you?" he smiled.
"Quite good, Midoriya. How about you?' Toshinori civilly responded, while Aizawa grumbled something about sleepiness.
"Oh, I'm fine," Izuku responded, before turning his gaze back to Aizawa. "Well, you should get on with your patrol, problem adult," Izuku snarked, causing Aizawa's glare to pop up and snap to him. Izuku was unfazed, grinning, and leaned back against the roof wall.
"You take that back right now," Aizawa growled, sitting up the best he could in a sleeping bag. Izuku shook his head no, smirking all the while, agitating the underground hero even more.
"Uh, Midoriya," Yagi pleaded, looking his successor in the eyes. "I suggest you take it back."
"Aww, you too?" Izuku frowned, before bouncing right back with his cheerful, demented smile. "Oh well, I guess I'll just take a bag," Izuku said, intentionally mispronouncing it, before flexing his fingers and maneuvering Aizawa out of the sleeping bag. Before either of the heroes could react, Izuku dashed forward and grabbed the yellow bag, before jumping to another roof. Saluting in mockery, Izuku ran away as Aizawa used his quirk to allow himself to move once more and jumped after Izuku, while All Might simply sat there, his finger raised and mouth open, before he resigned himself to sulking on the roof.
Meanwhile, Izuku was having the time of his life. He was free running across rooftops at night, while being chased by a feral pro hero with the ability to nullify his quirk. Nothing could feel better than this!
Sure, he was partially insane, but that didn't mean that this wasn't fun! The thrill of the chase, the adrenaline through his veins, the promise of pain, everything lined up for this being an excellent adventure.
Izuku took a sudden left, darting across the city block, a design intended to confuse the local hero with the pattern he was drawing. The sharp turn didn't faze his pursuer in the slightest, but it did make Aizawa wonder what he was doing. He darted and turned, jumping and weaving, the wind flowing past his ears, his heart pounding in his chest. Then, just as he was about to take another sharp turn, Izuku let go of the bag, allowing momentum to carry it forward into the street. Aizawa stopped his chase to go check where the bag had fallen, but it wasn't there; it had disappeared into thin air. Looking up, Aizawa saw Izuku disappear around another corner, the barest hint of something yellow there with him. Sighing and facepalming, Aizawa just went to where he knew Izuku would end up, and resolved to beat the crap out of the kid later.
When Aizawa got back to the Midoriya's apartment rooftop, he saw his bag, neatly folded in the corner of the area. Near the center, he saw Izuku, who he was going to kill, and Toshinori, who he was going to kill less severely, chatting about something.
"-and then the guy was all like 'All Might, I am so glad I got to meet you before I get captured'," Aizawa heard Toshinori say, before deciding that it was time to turn in for the day. He walked back to the sleeping bag and was about to get in when he felt something wrong. He looked towards Toshinori and Izuku, but both had perfectly good innocent faces, something Aizawa felt was wrong. Shrugging, he stepped into the sleeping bag and zipped it up.
As soon as his body had entered the bag, he felt a squishy substance in the middle that definitely hadn't been there before. Opening it up, Aizawa stepped out of the bag to find that the inside of his bag, and now him, was covered in slime. Looking up, he expected to see Izuku and Toshinori still having a conversation, but Izuku was in front of him, a bucket of glitter in hand. He threw it forward just as Aizawa's eyes widened, and the hero couldn't dodge the glitter bomb coming at him. Instinctively closing his eyes, Aizawa heard the flash of a photo being taken before he opened them and saw Izuku close his phone. Izuku ran to the other side of the building before Aizawa could kill him, and opened and closed the window, now safely inside. If Aizawa did decide to break in, he could use the law for breaking and entering to incriminate him, but he hoped that something so drastic didn't happen.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you," Aizawa growled, glaring at Izuku from outside the window. It was scary, but it was also kind of hard to take him seriously when he was covered in glitter.
"Say that again, the camera didn't get it," Izuku giggled, stifling his laughs by forcibly keeping his mouth shut.
"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
"Not before the entrance exams you won't~" Izuku sang, waving his hands and shaking his body in a rhythmic fashion. He then proceeded to wink and shut the blinds on the one guy that could kill him in his sleep.
And thus we begin our timeskip to when the author finally realizes that he's an idiot.
Wait, that sends him back in time.
Forward three months to the UA entrance exams we go.
Izuku didn't care about the entrance exams, for he didn't have to take them. Instead, he got to watch the students with all the teachers of the institution and annoy the hell out of them by asking various questions which they would proceed to knock him out for. With a notable skip in his step, Izuku proceeded to fly(not literally of course(he doesn't have float yet)) across rooftops, jumping from one flat surface to another. Several ladies yelled at him, a feral cat attacked him, and he managed to run into several pairs of undergarments, but he was able to make it before almost everyone else.
Given his status as a ward of UA, he got a special pass that allowed him to travel to various other places, and he proceeded to use that pass to mess with Bakugou in the best way possible. By accessing the display screens, he put a larger than life version of the blond's face with the caption 'come closer, I dare you' on it, and allowed everyone to come into the school property after seeing the great spectacle he put on. He switched it off before Bakugou came, though, so the hothead was confused when everyone avoided him like he just told them he snorted their mother's ashes. Needless to say, Bakugou was pissed for the rest of the day. Chuckling slightly, Izuku left the displays once he saw the confusion and anger on his classmate's face, and went to the observation room where the rest of the teachers awaited his arrival.
"Ah, Mr. Midoriya, so nice of you to join us!" Nezu jovially exclaimed from atop Toshinori's shoulder. The skeleton nodded in confirmation of the rat's statement, while the rest of the staff(minus Aizawa) got their first look at UA's third ward in the past hundred years.
"It's good to be here," Izuku cordially replied, before leaning back on the walls. "But, I must blame my late appearance on the fact that your institution is built more like a labyrinth than a school, Mr. Nezu." Nezu nodded, a glint in his eye.
"And it had nothing to do with the giant face on the school walls?" Nezu asked, still maintaining his cheery disposition.
"That may have taken some time out of my day, but I assure you, that much was required for me to satisfactorily enter the premises," Izuku smirked. "Anyway, when is orientation going to start?"
"Now," Nezu said, pressing a button, allowing the curtains to drop and Present Mic to be revealed on the other side of them.
"HELLOOOOOOOO EVERYONE!" Present Mic shouted, causing all the chatter in both rooms to die down.
"Damn Cockatoo," Aizawa grumbled, in his characteristic yellow sleeping bag. "Shut up."
"Aww, is someone upset because they didn't get enough sleep last night?" Izuku sarcastically asked, looking at the hobo from the corner of his eye. He knew it was dangerous, but it wouldn't be him if he didn't piss someone off during every hour of the day.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Aizawa said, glaring back at the boy. "Now run before I engage in metamorphosis and chase you with my wings."
"Oh no, I'm so scared," Izuku snarked, before turning his attention back to the screen. Some idiot had stood up and yelled at the hero for what Izuku believed was 'talking too slow'. Shaking his head, Izuku watched the rest of the room for potential heroes. Another reason he was here was his observation skills, and Nezu enlisted him to check on the students and see who would fit properly. He spied Bakugou, sitting alone and away from everyone else, likely due to scaring them off. Orientation finished shortly, and everyone went to their assigned testing areas, including the teachers. This meant that Midnight, Vlad King, Cementoss, and Power Loader all went to their testing areas, leaving only Izuku, Nezu, Aizawa, and Vlad King in the room to observe. The rest of the staff was all elsewhere, including Recovery Girl, who was out in the fields, ready to help. The test started, and Izuku looked around for either signs of cheating or something that would give them away as a good student. A few finished their exams early, including the interruptor from earlier as well as Bakugou, but a good few people were still working extremely hard to finish. One such example was a small boy, only three feet in height, and with some extremely weird purple grapes on his head. He kept glancing around, his vision landing in seemingly random spots, but one of the things Izuku noticed from test takers was that they almost always looked in the same spot, if they moved their field of vision at all. Narrowing his eyes, Izuku paid more attention to where he was looking and quickly noticed the pattern.
"Nezu," he called, getting the attention of the rat. "Grape head over here," he said, gesturing to the examinee. "Don't let him in."
"Why?" Nezu inquired, before looking at him and noticing what Izuku noticed. "Ah, alright."
"Mind explaining?" Thirteen asked, her voice distorted due to her suit.
"Nope," Nezu and Izuku stated at the same time, shaking their heads. Izuku went back to browsing for other signs, and Nezu went looking for more fresh meat to bully and experi- nope, he has good intentions. To play- nope, still not good enough. To educate. Yeah, to educate.
The test ended, everyone handing in their sheets. A few others were caught cheating, but nobody worth mentioning or really memorable. As the students went to their practical exams, the teachers migrated with them, and Aizawa looked ready to migrate to his home in the polar caps in order to escape the endless pain and suffering brought at the hands of a teenager with too many questions and too much time on his hands.
"This does bring the question," Izuku started, getting the attention of the other three in the room. "This is just them fighting robots, right?" Izuku asked, receiving confirmation from Nezu. "So what about people with quirks like Aizawa's or mine?"
"What are you implying?" Aizawa said, eyes narrowing, hair floating, but he was stopped by a raised hand from Nezu.
"No, he raises a valid point. I presume you are talking about how this is geared towards those with combat related quirks, not those with passive ones?" Izuku nodded to Nezu's question. Aizawa calmed down once he realized his mistake.
"As well as those who have quirks specialized to affect humans, like Aizawa's here." Izuku added.
"Quite simple: this represents a field situation," Nezu started, before pausing. "A hero rarely ever knows what they are up against, and this is designed to replicate that. It's all about adaptability. Also, on your point on human-affecting quirks, we never know whether or not there will be a counter, so best to assume that there isn't." As Nezu finished his explanation, the fights started, students rushing in after being told that there wasn't a countdown.
Robots started to get destroyed left and right, points being racked up across a wide variety of competitors. Bakugou was admittedly a clear standout, achieving first and staying in it for a large duration of time, likely going to stay there for the duration of the test. Uncaring, Izuku turned to another screen, with three interesting competitors. The first was the interruptor from before, speeding around on legs much like those of Ingenium. Maybe brothers or related somehow, but they were basically the same quirk, meaning that they likely had the same strengths and weaknesses. Likely minimal control over sharp turns while fast, not very powerful, and relies on speed to keep himself safe.
The second interesting prospect was a brunette, about his height and with a permanent blush on her cheeks. She seemed to be able to make things float, meaning she would be perfect, or at least ideal for rescue operations.
"Nezu," he asked, getting the rat's attention once more. They both had eyes on the screens, but were conversing well with each other, when the need arises. "What about rescue heroes?"
"Rescue heroes?" Nezu asked, looking where Izuku was. "Ah. Well, since you asked, let me explain the second point system given here: rescue points." Izuku nodded, and listened to the basic idea of rescue points assigned to each individual competitor, given based on what they did and taken away based on what they didn't do, or what negative things they may have done. It was a harsh system, but a fair one, one that guaranteed success in the field.
A sharp crash drew his attention back to the screen, and he saw the third prospect take down another robot, smashing it into a nearby building, causing slight collapse. Using strings to move from one place to another, he swung from building to building in a black bodysuit decorated with red patterns, oddly reminiscent of a spider web. Punching a robot, Izuku saw electricity flow into the machine, and then the man disappeared, only to reappear seconds later.
"What do you think about Spider Man over here?" Vlad King asked, finally speaking for the first time since Izuku had been here.
"Support course," Izuku and Nezu spoke in unison.
"Okay, why?" Vlad King asked, slightly creeped out due to the unison in which they spoke.
"He displays three different proficiencies, each one too independent for it to all be one quirk, or even multiple," Nezu started, allowing Izuku to finish.
"Therefore, he clearly is using some sort of gear to do at least one of the attacks. If I had to guess, it would be the strings and shocks," Izuku observed. "Invisibility is likely not going to be faked anytime soon, and the others are too underutilized for them to not be specialized."
"Uh huh," Vlad King spoke. "I'm just gonna step over there," he said, pointing towards the empty area of the room, getting as far away from the psychotic rat and deranged teenager duo as possible. Izuku and Nezu smirked, their plan having been executed perfectly, the teacher not suspecting a thing.
Soon, the test ended, the scores being finalized as they waited for the rescue points to be added. Without them, Bakugou landed in number one with exactly seventy seven points, eighteen three pointers, ten two pointers, and three one pointers being destroyed. It still amazed Izuku how many robots UA was able to utilize in these exams year after year, so many being destroyed and rebuilt in a single year. Some other standout performances became apparent, a girl named Ibara Shiozaki ending up scoring forty rescue points for helping other contestants and repairing damage, as well as the spider man boy, who Izuku learned was named Miles Morales(weird name, was it English?) getting sixty for stopping the zero pointer with the help of his gear. It was an impressive performance, but because it was aided by gear, it would have to be discounted. Instead, they were allowing him to enter the support course, a much better alternative than not being accepted.
"Anything else on the agenda for me, Nezu?" Izuku asked, ready to leave.
"Only one last grade to be given, I'm afraid," Nezu responded, his face grim. "Katsuki Bakugou."
"Subtract ten," Izuku said without hesitation, causing Nezu to stop and look at him.
"I can understand not liking him, but subtracting?" Nezu asked, Izuku shaking his head.
"He's a bully, constantly hurting other contestants and using strong attacks with no care for collateral or damages done. Adding to that, his personality is worse than being hit by his explosions, and that's the most annoying part of him. He's a condescending, arrogant, belligerent and hotheaded bitch that thinks that he can get anything he wants because he has power," Izuku growled, his fist clenched tight. Nezu stared back in shock, but nodded and gave the score. The other teachers had long since left, having no care to hang back after most grades were given, leaving only a few to their smartest teacher and student pair.
"Very well then, Mr. Midoriya, you're dismissed," Nezu stated, holding up an arm for the boy to shake. Izuku did and left with a chuckle, waving goodbye.
"Thank you, Mr. Principal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to experiment with some of the students before I go home for the day," Izuku stated, Nezu cackling and giving a nod in response.
"Hope he doesn't think I'll actually do it," Izuku muttered as he walked through the corridors of UA, on his way out so that he could get back to his building.
"Of course I don't!" Nezu exclaimed, using the speaker systems and causing Izuku to jump. Still laughing, Nezu shut them off, allowing Izuku's heartbeat to slow down to manageable levels.
Damn that rat is scary…
Are the dreams relevant? No. Do they have any effect on the plot? No. Will I keep making DreamSMP references? Yes. You cannot stop me. Is Miles Morales gonna come back? Yes, but only briefly. He's not important at all, I just wanted to add him in since I watched the Across the Spiderverse trailer yesterday. Also Nezu is very scary and you cannot change this fact. Next chapter we have day 1 at UA, where a lot of fun occurs. If you liked the story, consider following to get updates and favoriting to let me know you care. Review to let me know your thoughts, and take care!