"Child of the Mudokon Moon"
Author: rawar15
Okay, I will keep this short.
This is my first fanfiction ever and also written in english which isn't my first language, so please be merciful (or at least just a little).
Short summary: Basically this will be a crossover between My Hero Academia and Oddworld series (mainly "Abe's Oddysee/New 'n' Tasty!" and "Soul Storm"). In this story Izuku and his parents (yes, Hisashi Midoriya will be here and he will be a good father) will be transported to the Oddworld. To survive they will learn from Mudokons their way and when time will come, they will come back to their world.
I think that's enough for a summary (I am bad with summaries), now two things.
Warning: story contains themes about religion, mysticism, violence, murdurer, gore and other things. You were warned.
Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia nor the Oddworld franchise and their character besides my OC's.
Chapter 1.
In this world no man is born equal.
That is the lesson that Izuku Midoriya learned very quickly.
It is now the year 2142, humanity reached the next step in their evolution and gained the superpowers that once were nothing but a fantasy, now it is commodity. Everyone by now has their own unique quirk…. Everyone besides people like Izuku.
It is a known fact that 80% of the world's population has quirks but there is also this 20% that wasn't so lucky. This group of people are known as quirkless.
In the world filled with superpowers, to be quirkless is something rare but also not pleasant. Quirkless are basically seen as subhumans by the majority of the world population and to be born as one means that from the beginning your life will suck. For many this treatment lead to suicide.
Truly "magnificent'' times.
Quirkless… This one word crushed Izuku as he heard it from his doctor.
It should be his big day, it was his fourth birthday and he should get his quirk, just like everyone. But it seems that the universe decided to make him suffer.
Why? He doesn't know.
He wishes he could know.
"Quirkless!? Doctor, are you sure? There has to be some mistake!?" His mother asked the doctor with concern in her voice.
"I'm sorry Ma'am but your son is quirkless, there is no mistake. As you can see on this X-ray image he has a second joint in his toe." Said the doctor. "We even had his blood tested, but we didn't find anything that would indicate that your son has any quirk."
Sighing, the doctor said "I'm sorry young man, but you will never have a quirk".
This was it. This was the moment when Izuku's hopes and dreams were shattered, like his young and fragile heart. The last sentence of the doctor was almost like death penalty. And much later in his life he will find out that it was basically death penalty, even if not for his life but more for his social life. Afterall being quirkless in this era means you are as good as dead. But let's not go too much into the future.
Inko was shocked at first. Her son, her sunshine, her baby boy who was her pride and joy was after shock passed, her heart broke when she realized what this meant.
Her son will never fulfill his dream, he will never become a Hero.
She knew how much it meant to him. Izuku was a kind and helpful child who above everything else wanted to help others in distress and make them smile when they were afraid or hurt. For her Izuku was already a hero.
But now knowing that he has no power that he could use for protecting others or himself from danger… There are no words for how she felt at that moment. It was terrible.
After they left the doctor's office there were no words between them. They couldn't find any strength to say anything. Both of them were not only still shocked but also the emotional fatigue was finally catching them.
When they arrived at home Izuku went straight to his room, Inko stayed in the living room sitting on the couch. Even though it was now an hour since they heard the news she still didn't shed any tears. She still tried to stay strong for her son. But she also knew that on edge of breaking down.
Minutes have passed and nothing changed. Until there was the sound of opening the door and "I'm home" coming from the hall.
Inko smiled slightly because she knew that her beloved husband, Hisashi Midoriya, had returned from his work.
"Welcome home honey!" said Inko as she saw her husband.
Hisashi Midoriya was a tall man (1,75 m. [As I am European I will use this metric system]) in his late twenties, with short dark brown hair and blue eyes. With a sigh of relief he loses his tie.
"Tough day?" Inko asked.
"You wouldn't believe honey." Said with a tired voice Hisashi. Then,when he sat comfortably on the sofa near Inko, he proceeded to tell his wife about his day, which was pretty crazy because he was tasked with repairing a printer where he wasn't even a technician, long story short it was a mess. Hisashi worked as a simple clerk that tried to climb up the career ladder. It wasn't an easy task, but Hisashi was determined to do this for his beloved family. Technically he could get a better job at a heroes agency with his quirk, Fire breath, that was considered flashy and powerful but he didn't want to. For him a simple job where his life or privacy wouldn't be targeted by other people.
There was also another reason for this, more personal. He just despises people that use their quirks as a quick way of getting what they want, for him it was cheating. Especially if the person who cheated is nothing more than a scumbag that has ego the size of the mountain. That kind of person just can't stand it at all. Those people are the reason that his friend is... Let's get back to the story.
One of His only regrets is that he doesn't have a lot of time for his family. Because of that when he is able to spend anytime with his family it is a moment that he would forever remember and cherish. But it also meant that he was very protective of his family and always made sure that nothing bad happened to them.
So when he was in the middle of telling his story, he began to notice that something wasn't right. At times like this his wife would interrupt his story with her comments or even slightly teasing his clumsiness, but he couldn't hear anything like that. There was only silence.
Then he noticed how Inko looked like the weight of the entire world had been dropped on her. She looked tired and heartbroken and he didn't know why.
"Is everything alright honey? You are awfully silent today. Did something bad happen?" Hisachi asked in a warm voice filled with concern. Inko went stiff, like she was hit by lightning. Then she began to tremble.
Inko tried desperately to hold on her tears, but now when she was with her loving husband, she couldn't do that anymore. Slowly tears began to drop from her eyes.
Now Hisashi was really worried. He moved closer to Inko and hugged her tightly.
Dam had broken and Inko cried freely. All of the pain and stress finally catched to her. But at least she was in the arms of her beloved and that comforted her.
"Inko please, talk to me!" Beg her Hisashi, "I want to help, but I can't do this if I don't know what's wrong."
Inko gathered the little amount of strength that she had and still sobbing she told him.
" *sob* It-it is about Izuku *sob*" Hisashi's blood ran cold. "What happened to Izuku?" He asked with worry, his mind was already filled with dark scenarios.
"W-we were a-at the hospital *sob* and his test results came."
Hisashi then finally remembered that today his son would be tested if he has a quirk. Judging by Inko's reaction, it wasn't good.
"What are the results?" asked Hisashi.
In a trembling voice Inko said.
"H-h-he was *sob* diagnosed quirkless!"
It was done, the truth was revealed. Now Inko waited for her husband's reaction. Even though she loved Hisashi deeply, she was afraid of his reaction. Afterall it wasn't something strange when a husband or wife left their family because their children turned out to have a villainous quirk or to be quirkless. It is unfortunately the reality of this world.
Hisashi on his part was shocked and then saddened. Not because his son didn't have any quirk, he could have even a quirk that would label him a villain and still Hisashi would love him. No, he was saddened because he knew what that meant for Izuku. He knows that from the moment he learnt how to interact with the world, Izuku craved to become a hero like the All Might. To not have any quirk meant only one thing.
He couldn't become a hero.
For a few minutes there was only silence.
"Where is Izuku?" Hisashi asked with a quiet voice.
"He-he is in his bedroom." Answered Inko who finally stopped crying, yet still was sheked. "Why do you ask?"
Hisashi lifted his arms from her and slowly began to stand up when he felt that Inko grabbed his hand.
"Honey, please answer me!?" Pleaded Inko.
Inko now was both scared and worried at her husband's silence.
"Hisashi-kun, what do you want to do?" Inko asked.
Hisashi looked at her. Seeing her so shaken up made him realize how it looks and he began to mentaly kick himself. He was so silent because he was simply analyzing the whole situation, not because he was disappointed or worse angry. He may be a hot tempered, that first does then think after at times, but by any means he wasn't stupid. He wasn't a genius but he was a very hard worker and fast learner, always curious about the world which made him study a lot in his free time. At last before his marriage. Thanks to that he developed a quick analyzing skill that he gladly uses in difficult situations. Disadvantage of this skill is that he becomes silent and almost unreadable, which is both good and bad depending on the different circumstances. Right now unfortunately it was the second option.
He realized that to Inko it must look very similar to the cases when a father hears that his child is quirkless, quickly turn his frustration and disappointment into violence. Because after all this is a wonderful World of Quirks and of course people that don't have any power are no better than rats in this society.
Just thinking about that always made him scowl inside. He saw long ago what people think about quirkless. He saw their cruelty and ignorance towards the ones that are in their opinion weaker than themselves, that are useless. He knows all of that because he witnessed it first hand. And he hated every second of it.
After that he made a promise in his heart that if he ever again would be in a situation like that, he would behave differently than in the past. He wouldn't stand by and do nothing when innocent people would suffer at the hands of so-called superhumans. He wouldn't quiver in fear and hide, so he wouldn't get involved. He wouldn't be a coward again. He would do the right thing.
Hisashi slowly sat down and with one hand, because the other was still held by Inko (truly his wife has an iron grip), he began to wipe gently away her tears.
"Don't worry Inko-chan. I know you are scared by my silence, thinking that it could be anger or disappointment. But it is none of it…" Said with a small smile, Hisashi. Then he said with a little awkwardness in his voice. "You know that I have this habit of overthinking. Which ends with me being almost mute for a few minutes.*sigh* What I want to say is that I was only thinking how I could help our son with all this mess. What I should do to make him feel better. That's all love. I promise you."
Inko calmed down by this explanation, it even made her smile a little and chuckle.
"You were always overthinking everything, even when you were buying ice cream for an hour. Poor shopkeeper, he was so annoyed that I thought he would kick you out of his shop just to let others choose their ice cream." Said Inko, causing Hisashi to blush profusely.
"In my defense they had a lot of good flavors and I didn't wanted to regret my choice"
Hearing this made Inko giggle. Then she calmed down and looked at him with kind eyes.
"I suppose that you know what you are doing?"
Hisashi smiled.
" Yes, yes I know." He said with confidence.
Inko finally released him.
Hisashi got up from the sofa and began to walk to Izuku's room.
"Hisashi!" he heard his wife and stopped.
"Yes?"
"Just.. Just show our son that no matter what we still love him." She said with a smile.
Hisashi smirked.
"I will."
Izuku silently watched one of the All Might's fights on Youtube, trying to distract himself from dark thoughts. Doctor's words still echoed in his ears.
Quirkless.
One word and yet in this world carry huge weight.
Izuku since his arrival home, he has tried every possible way not to break down.
Sorrow and doubt waged war in his heart with last specks of hope. Hope that even though he is quirkless, he can still become a Hero.
He clinged to this hope like a lifeline.
Suddenly he heard as someone opened the door.
He looked through his arm and saw someone that always made him smile and laugh, someone that made him feel safe.
He saw his dad.
"Dad!"
Izuku quickly ran to his dad and hugged him with all his might. Feeling his dad's strong but gentle arms closing around him, Izuku for a moment forgot all of his worries. For a moment the hard truth of his quirkless state was forgotten. There was only him and his dad, and unconditional love and care between them. Izuku wanted to stay like that forever.
But then he remembered everything and in that moment his joy was gone, replaced by doubt and sorrow.
"Dad." Izuku whispered with a raspy voice.
Izuku turned away a little and pointed to his computer where All Might's fight was still streamed on.
"Dad. E-even when he is in great danger he still rescues people with a smile on his face." Said Izuku, holding back his tears. "He is so cool."
"Dad…. Can I be a hero, too?"
Finally this dreadful question was voiced aloud. Now Izuku only waited for his dad's reaction.
For Hisashi on other hand this one question brought him back to this fateful day where he was confronted with a hard choice. Choices that he regrets to this day.
Flashback.
Two young boys were standing at the river bank, one taller than the other. One was wearing white t-shirt, black shorts and gray sneakers . Other one wore a blue t-shirt, red shorts and red boots. The first one had messy brown hair and the second one had short black hair.
Both were just standing and watching the river in the last rays of sun.
"Ne Hiashi-kun!" said the Black haired boy.
"Nani Takashi-kun?"
"Do you remember what day it is?" asked Takashi with a calm voice.
Hisashi smirked. "No I don't, what day is this? No wait! Let me guess. It is the day when you finally cleaned your room!" Said Hisashi with mirth in his voice.
"Hey! I want you to know that my room is good, thank you very much!" Replied Takashi with fake hurt.
"Heh I know. I'm just messing with you." Said amused Hisashi, "Today is the day when we find out what quirk you have."
Hearing this Takashi frowned a little.
"Well, the funny thing is that I was already in the hospital and…"
"And?"
Takashi took a deep breath.
"And turns out that I…. That I don't have a quirk." Takashi said with a grim expression.
"...What?" Asked bewilderment Hisashi.
"I said I am quirkless." Said now a little annoyed Takashi.
For a few minutes they were both silent.
"Ne Hisashi-kun."
"Nani?"
"Do you think I can be a hero?" asked Takashi, his voice full of worry.
"I…."
"I…. I don't know."
End of Flashback.
That was his answer then. If only he knew what the consequences of his words would be. If he only knew what would happen next, then perhaps he would tell his former friend that he could be a hero. But he didn't.
Few months after this day Takashi moved in with parents to another town. The cause right now isn't important, but the effect of the decision is. Not long after their departure something horrible happened, Takashi was found dead.
No one truly knows what happened, some say that it was an accident. But Hisashi knew what happened. It was a suicide.
How does he know? He received a letter from Takashi, the same day when he was found dead, his body mutilated by train. Takashi wrote that what will happen isn't his fault, that he doesn't blame Hisashi for doubting him. He wrote that he blamed and cursed only the world for its unjust judgment over him and his fellow quirkless kin, for its coldness and cruelty towards people whose only fault was not having any power, whose fault was only that they exist.
No matter how many times Hisashi read that letter he always broke down in tears, silently weeping and cursing this world that took his best friend away.
Now it is happening again. Again in his hands life and dreams of his precious person are leid. Again he becomes a judge and executioner whose sentence could change everything for better or worse.
Dammit, he is wasting time on his musing. He can see that with each second hope in the eyes of his son is dying. He must say something now!
"Izuku… I think- I think that…'' Izuku closed his eyes waiting for final words.
"I think that you can be a hero."
Izuku opened his eyes wildly, looking surprised at his father.
"Realy?...Do you really think so?" Asked Izuku barely holding his tears.
"Yes, I really think so." Said Hisashi with a loving smile on his face. Then with his eyes sparkling with determination and passion, pating softly his son's hair he said: "But to become a hero you will have to work really hard, learning as much as you could to fight even without a quirk. Also always remember who you are and what you want, keep in your heart the desire to protect everyone, to make them smile, and I promise you that you will become The Greatest Hero in history."
After this passionate speech from his dad Izuku couldn't hold his tears any longer. Suddenly Hisashi heard someone's sobbing behind him, so he turned his head and he saw his wife in tears. She heard and saw everything and couldn't contain her joy and love any longer. He knew what that meant.
His son has created a river, but his wife now created a tsunami. What happened next was basically a miniature version of Biblical flood.
Hisashi once again asked himself if his wife and son didn't have any water quirk. Because the amount of tears that they produced was nothing but normal.
It wasn't the first time he had a small flood in his apartment, it wasn't a funny experience and every time he had to apologize to his neighbors and then clean out the mess. Mostly he would do that alone because the rest of his family would be too tired after their "ultra" crying. After a few years he and even their neighbors, bless their souls, got used to it.
So when he had to clean the mess he hadn't heard any complaints from them. Heck they even helped him with cleaning so he and everyone could go back to their apartments and finally rest.
After this he and his family would go to sleep, exhausted by the previous events of the day. Normally he would already fall asleep like his lovely wife that slept next to him. But this time he couldn't fall asleep for a while.
In his head he still had images of this day, repeating themselves over and over again like a broken record.
He didn't regret anything that he said to Izuku, he spoke only the truth. But as a father he still was afraid about his son. He knew that for Izuku, Inko and himself hard times were coming. Times where they would be mocked and despised. He knew that he would survive it, but he was afraid his family would survive it.
He could take on some mockery and humiliation, his heart was strong filled to the brim with love for his family.
But he wasn't so certain about his family.
Hisashi silently stood up from bed, trying not to wake Inko. Then he went to the window in their bedroom and looked at the sky.
View of the moonlit sky was calming him a little, but fear of the future was still in his heart.
Alone with his thoughts and doubts he uttered a single prayer, even if he wasn't at that moment very religious, in which he included all of his emotions with hope on top of it.
"Please… If someone is up there I have only one wish, help my family." After saying that he went back to the bed and finally fell asleep.
When later asked when Hisashi would reminisce about this night he would say that he didn't know from where this prayer came from, but he knew that it just felt right at that moment.
At the same time when prayer was said, somewhere else someone had stirred awake.
The same man came out from his poor tent, which was surrounded by other similar tents, and looked in the sky.
After a while he heard someone approaching him from behind, with the sound of bare feets rustling among the grass.
"You felt that too huh?" He asked his companion.
"Yes… Someone just send prayer to the Heavens"
"Do you know what it was about?"
For a second there was silence and then there was an answer.
"It was request for help from Higherer Wills"
"... What do you think will happen now?"
"I…I don't really know… And you… What do you think will happen?"
The man only shrugged.
"I also don't know." Then he smirked. "But I know that things are about to get…"
"Odd."