PARADOX- EPISODE 1: THE JEAN JACKET
People say that god works in mysterious ways. The reality is that the universe works in mysterious ways. Both science and religion think they know how it all works. The only difference between the two is that science is still looking for answers while religion believes it already has them all.
Speaking of hubris. The human historical definition describes it as arrogance before the gods. The Metradothians of Metradoll IV, define it as being an evil arrogant dick and getting curb stomped by the universe for being an evil arrogant dick.
For example. During the age of quirks on Earth. The most evil man ever produced by this turbulent time, known in name only by his quirk, All For One, was dealt a very bad hand because of his hubris. At the moment of his ultimate victory over the number one hero, suddenly a smart mouthed traveler dressed in a rather stylish jean jacket (we'll meet him in a moment), piggy backed on to the man, used his time traveling quirk, and dropped the man off three thousand years into the future, directly underneath the point of impact of a large meteorite about to destroy what was left of the then abandoned earth. Many philosophers who study the mysterious abstract forces of the universe say that this sort of thing is happening all the time.
In the years to come the story became rather popular and All For One, once the worst villain produced in the age of quirks, then became one of the biggest laughing stocks in human history. So much so that he was often used as the punch line of jokes throughout the known universe.
Now our story begins with a boy. An earth boy to be exact, with a rather interesting quirk. Whose life took a different turn due to what some might call a random encounter. Others might call it destiny. While a select minority would call it a paradox.
A blonde gaunt man, secretly known as the number one hero Allmight, clutched his chest in pain as he jogged to catch up to the crowd. He had been chasing a sludge like villain for the past three hours through the sewers when his quirk suddenly gave out and he was reduced to his true form.
Unfortunately the villain gave him the slip and from what the hero could see over the crowd had taken a middle school student hostage. The boy had an explosion quirk and was causing destruction as he struggled to escape, preventing the other heroes on the scene from doing anything.
'I'm out of time. What do I do?' Toshinori panicked. 'Why aren't the other heroes doing anything?' If nothing was done that kid would die. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud slurping sound from right next to him. His eyes glanced over and caught the sight of a plain looking boy with messy dark green locks, trimmed short on the sides, emerald eyes and a light dusting of freckles over his cheeks. The boy was dressed in a black t-shirt with the words 'Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster' printed in big gold elegant font, and a pair of tight skinny jeans with rips and holes. His feet were clad in red high-top converse shoes. Allmight's eyes were drawn to the denim jacket the kid wore, decorated in pins and patches. The mysterious kid, who couldn't have been older than sixteen, took another loud sip from his milk shake.
"Really? They're just going to let him die?" The boy said aloud. "Alright, you owe me one universe." He took a step forward and rolled up the sleeves of his jacket. It was then that Allmight noticed the strange device on the boy's wrist and forearm. It looked like a complex piece of technology far more advanced than anything he'd seen in his time. Neon green sparks began to emerge from the kid's skin. It was then that the aged hero realized that the boy intended to get involved with this catastrophe.
"My bo-" He reached out to try to stop him, his fingers briefly touched his shoulder when everything around them suddenly stopped. All color vanished from the world, the air became almost impossible to breathe, and all movement ceased. Toshinori also noticed that his body could barely move. It was as if he was deep under the ocean and struggled through the massive pressure of the water. His eyes watched as the boy slowly climbed up over the frozen crowd, walking on the people's heads like stepping stones.
'Did he just…' It suddenly dawned on the hero what was happening. 'He stopped time.' Toshinori realized that he wasn't frozen. 'Was it because I briefly touched him? Is this his quirk?' He watched the green haired youth reach the now halted sludge villain and yanked the blonde boy out, dragging him closer to the heroes. He wondered how the young man could breathe like this. He got his answer when he saw his freckled face start to turn purple from lack of proper oxygen. Once the hostage was safe the boy struggled to climb back over the crowd. It was only when he was good distance away that he deactivated his quirk and time resumed.
The heroes were gob smacked. One instant the villain had the hostage and in the next the blonde boy was plopped on the street in front of them. They didn't bother questioning it, instead they pulled the middle school student to safety. Without his hostage the sludge villain was relatively easy to apprehend. The crowd cheered for their victory, all except one. Toshinori's eyes stayed on the denim clad boy who was doubled over trying to catch his breath. He only glanced back at the previous scene just to make sure it was taken care of. The mysterious kid righted himself, brushing stray bits of sludge off his jacket before continuing on his way.
Allmight followed him at a distance, wanting to get some answers, but also to congratulate and praise him for his act of heroism back there. The fact that he didn't stick around to take credit and glory, proved that he had the heart of a true hero. The mysterious boy slipped into a nearby alley and started fiddling with the device on his wrist. Toshinori turned the corner and was just about to call out to him when a flash of green interrupted. The light left as soon as it came and the young man was gone. Vanished into thin air.
That was the first time Toshinori encountered Izuku Midoriya. The soon to be hero of our little story. And it left him with more questions than answers.
The second time came much like the first, by pure random chance. He was out late one evening helping keep the peace as he was the symbol of it. Toshinori was about to power down for the day and head back to U.A. He was supposed to be there right now working on a lesson plan as ordered by the principal. But he just couldn't ignore when people were in danger.
Before he could take a break his eyes spotted something familiar quickly moving through the crowd. He'd recognize that jean jacket anywhere. It was kind of hard to forget such a fashion statement. Hopping down from the building the hero pursued the odd kid.
"Young man!" Allmight shouted after him. Izuku was surprisingly agile as he swiftly leaped atop of the cars and ran for the alley. As he followed after him he finally noticed the shadow that was also chasing after the boy. It was just a silhouette, at first he thought it was a trick of the light, but at second glance it was definitely something there. Something sinister by the way it moved. His instincts were telling him the boy was in trouble and needed help.
Izuku ran and ran until he ended up in a nearby construction zone, empty and devoid of people. Perfect. Throwing off his jacket he tossed it on a piece of equipment as he waited for his pursuer.
"Come on!" Izuku called out. "Come get your lunch slime ball!" Something heavy landed behind him and he spun around, hand poised to snap his fingers with an aggressive look in his eyes.
"Young man." Allmight said again as he grabbed his wrist.
"Oh hey! Allmight!" Izuku's eyes widened at this turn of events. "Look I'd love to get an autograph, but I'm kind of in the middle of something." He tried to pull his wrist free.
"I've been meaning to speak with you…" He still didn't know this kid's name.
"Izuku." The teen introduced. "Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you. Let's talk later." He spoke with urgency.
"That was you that saved that other young man from that sludge villain wasn't it." The hero started.
"How did you?" Izuku looked at him puzzled. "I stopped time for a moment, you shouldn't have seen that."
"So you can stop time." It looks like his hunch was correct.
"Sort of." Izuku replied. "Look its complicated." As they spoke, a shadow slithered along the ground, inching closer to the boy's foot. "I can explain, but first you need to get out of here Allmight sir. I can't…" A hand reached out of the shadow and gripped his ankle. "GAAAHH!" Allmight was shocked when the boy started screaming in agony. Izuku looked down to see the thing had a hold of him. Steam was spraying out from where they made contact, as he thrashed in pain.
"What's happening young man!?" Allmight noticed the boy's body was starting to flicker, like a poor signal on an old television.
"Get if off! GET IT OFF!" Izuku screamed as he tried to pull his leg free. The hero finally noticed the shadow and quickly pulled the boy from its grasp with his superior strength. The hidden creature let loose a horrifying shriek at being denied its meal. From out of the shadow the inhuman monster finally emerged. A long slender pale thing with pure white skin so transparent Allmight could see its otherworldly organ system. Long arms ending in four spindly digits, like claws. No legs, instead five gross tentacles that whipped about in a snake-like fashion as the creature hovered in midair. Its head however was what the hero couldn't look away from, round and bulbous, until seams suddenly appeared on the front in an x shape, splitting its face open four ways and revealing the vacuous toothless maw inside.
"It's after me!" Izuku panted as he tried to recover from this thing's assault.
"What is it?" Allmight asked as he stood protectively between the monster and the boy.
"They're called Entropheres." Izuku supplied as he got back up. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he prepared to deal with the beast that hunted him. The number one hero dived at it in attempt to punch this creature. The Entrophere merely dived back into its shadow to avoid the hit. "That's not going to work!" The boy called out as he glanced around frantically, looking for where this thing would pop out next.
"Where did it go?" The symbol of peace also looked around for it. They didn't have to wait long as the Entrophere appeared behind Izuku. The boy spun around and was about to snap his fingers at it, only for its claws to grip his out stretched wrist and then his neck. The creature opened its maw and started draining the boy of his time.
"RAAAHHH!AHHH!" Izuku screamed as it tried to feed off him. Allmight panicked and grabbed the monster by its tentacle legs and yanked it off the kid. "Little bastard." Izuku panted as he almost collapsed to the ground. The Entrophere screeched and hollered a ghastly noise as it thrashed and squirmed in the hero's strong grip.
"What do we do with this thing?" Allmight kept a tight hold on it.
"Keep it there for a second." Izuku commanded as he approached. "Now let it go." He raised his hand in preparation. The symbol of peace looked at the boy like he was crazy. "Trust me I got this." The hero did as he asked and released the monster. It immediately charged at the kid, mouth open and clawing at the air towards its prey. Izuku just smirked and snapped his fingers. "Gotcha!" In an instant the Entrophere was trapped in what looked like a transparent cube, completely frozen and unmoving. With a wave of his hand the cube shrunk down and fell out of the air, landing in the boy's open palm.
"What was that thing?" Allmight questioned him as he followed the boy over to his bag. It seemed he dealt with these things before.
"That was a bottom feeder from the fourth dimension." Izuku explained as he pulled another cube from his messenger bag similar to the other, except all black. "Unfortunately I'm like sugar to them, because of my quirk." He pressed the cubes together and watched as the Entrophere was absorbed into the black one.
"Young man." Toshinori looked at him curiously. "What is your quirk?"
"Woah! That's a trixie biscuit." Izuku started to deflect. "Well this was fun, but would you look at the time." His quirk suddenly activated and warped him out of there in a flash of emerald.
"Again?" Allmight was frustrated that once more the boy left him without telling him anything. Well that wasn't completely true. He now had his name. Izuku Midoriya. His quirk also had something to do with time. Powering down to his skinny form Toshinori Yagi looked around for any evidence the boy might have left behind when his eyes suddenly spotted the kid's jean jacket left on some equipment. Midoriya must have forgotten it. Picking it up, he carefully examined the article of clothing. Nothing special about it. Just an ordinary acid washed denim jacket with a lot of patches and pins, making it look very fashionable. Taking it with him he decided to head back to U.A. Classes started soon and he needed to go over his lesson plans again. He'd figure out the enigmatic Midoriya later.
Arriving at the campus he used his teacher's pass to enter the front gate and headed into the main building. The one good thing about his true appearance was that nobody recognized him as Allmight and he could get to the school unbothered. Sneaking into the teacher's office he was surprised to see principal Nezu already there, sitting at his desk and sipping a cup of tea.
"And just where have you been?" Nezu asked like a parent to a teenager that was out passed his curfew.
"There was some trouble in the area." Toshinori tried to explain.
"I know that." Nezu put his cup down. "What I want to know is why you were not here working on your lesson plans instead of letting other heroes take care of it for once?"
"I may be a teacher now, but that doesn't mean I've quit being hero." Toshinori tried to argue.
"Yes, but how do you plan to raise the next generations of heroes without a plan or methodology." Nezu countered. "As I've told you before, times have changed, and you don't have to shoulder the burden of the entire world anymore."
"Your right." Toshinori sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just not in my nature to ignore cries for help. Sometimes my body just moves on its own."
"I understand. Just try thinking it through and assess next time." Nezu smiled up at him. He then noticed the jacket in the hero's hand. "What's that?"
"This kid I've been trying to track down. He left this behind by accident." The gaunt man held up the jacket. He then told the principal everything he knew about the kid. Both the encounters with Midoriya explained in all the details he could remember. At the end of it Nezu just scoffed in disbelief.
"A time quirk? Monsters from another dimension?" The small chimera chuckled. "Obviously this boy must have an illusion based quirk and is just messing with you."
"I don't think so." Toshinori disagreed. "It seemed pretty real to me."
"Yes most illusions do." Nezu nodded. "Honestly if a time manipulating quirk did exist it would upend almost everything we know about science and quirks."
"If you say so." The hero still doubted it.
"Let me see the jacket. Maybe I can track this boy down for you and find out what his actual quirk is." Nezu offered. Anything to keep Allmight here and working rather than running out his energy in the city.
"Fine here." He placed the jean jacket on the desk. "I'm getting dinner before I get back to it." Toshinori decided to go get something to eat rather than stay here and get chewed out more for his mistakes.
"Now let us see." While examining the jacket for any clues on this Izuku Midoriya he eventually found, in the inner pocket, a leather bound notebook with pen sticking out of it, marking a specific page. Nezu opened to that page and read the entry.
-Entropheres are a species of fourth dimensional parasites. Invisible to the naked eyes of most species and nearly undetectable by most technological instruments. They only become visible when they attack and feed. These creatures consume potential time. Meaning that whatever amount of time a living being was supposed to live is sometimes cut short through accidents or random chance. The Entropheres feed off all that left over time they were supposed to live.
Underneath that. Written in aggressive angry letters, with a small splatter of blood.
-The Entropheres: annoying little pests that should consider themselves lucky I don't destroy them.
-Side Note: hope you little assholes like being trapped in a box forever.
"Interesting." Nezu noted as he flipped through the boy's journal to find more random entries in seemingly no discernable order.
-Note to self: Don't ever poke weird looking eggs you find in a crashed spaceship ever again.
-Otto says he might have figured out a way to get into the fabled Death Dimension. A plane of existence theorized that all living sentient consciousness goes to after death. Otto thinks it might be possible for me to physically travel there. Something about going to the edge of the universe to where the laws of reality start to end. If I push hard enough, he theorizes I might be able to get through the veil into the Death Dimension.
-The butterfly effect is kind of bullshit. I tried messing with it and the friggin universe just course corrected anyway. So it really is impossible to change fixed time?
-The ancients called it Solaris the Devourer of Worlds. Don't know what it is, but it sounds cool and dangerous. Note to self: Find Solaris and get a selfie with it.
-DESIGN FOR THE MATTER COMPRESSOR Ver.2-If this one works I won't have to carry a bag with me everywhere I go.
-Otto programmed AM to sing Daisy Bell today. Hilarious
At first he thought these were the ramblings of a delusional teenage boy, however. The more he read the more things were starting to come together. Not only did the pages have information about historical events, they mentioned things that had yet to come to pass. He also found detailed information on a highly advanced quirk support device, more advanced than anything in the present time, called the 'Chronogate'. What it does. How it works and how to repair it.
"Oh my goodness…its all real." Nezu suddenly came to the conclusion that Allmight was right. He continued to read the journal and was amazed at how intelligent this Izuku Midoriya is. He also seemed to possess knowledge that Nezu did not and that made him quite envious. "I must have him." The principal said with a greedy gleam in his eyes.
The third time Allmight met the strange boy, was during the USJ incident. The League of Villains ambushed class 1-A during a rescue exercise at one of U.A's facilities. Lead by Tomura Shigaraki, secretly Tenko Shimura, and Kurogiri.
Erasurehead put up a good fight and dealt with the minions very easily, but unfortunately was no match for the Nomu. A hulking monstrosity made specifically to kill Allmight. Just as things looked dire and the villains were going to win our smart mouthed traveler protagonist suddenly invited himself into this situation.
"Excuse me!" The villains paused as a green haired boy in the exact same outfit as the other two incidents, minus the jacket appeared on the battlefield. "Hi! Hello! Has Allmight showed up yet or am I too early? I think he has my jacket."
"Nomu. Kill him." Shigaraki ordered dismissively. The muscle bound creature charged, aiming a punch right for Izuku's head.
"Hm." The boy simply snapped his fingers and the Nomu's fist was suddenly encased in a transparent cube. Even the force of blow that should have been there was contained safely inside.
"He stopped Nomu, that not possible." Shigaraki growled. Even Kurogiri was confused.
"How utterly rude." Izuku smirked, tilting his body around the cube to look at the hand covered villain. "I simply asked a question. I know you are villains, but that's no excuse to act like uncivilized ruffians." The beast screamed as it ripped its own hand off, leaving its severed appendage still trapped inside that cube. "Wow hardcore!" Izuku commented holding his own hand out as the cube shrunk down and landed in his palm. The Nomu's appendage regenerated instantly and then retaliated with another punch. Only for the same thing to happen again with a simple snap of the fingers.
"What the hell is going on here?" Shigaraki demanded as he watched his pet tear its own hand off to escape once again. This time it used its other fist to smash into the still smirking boy. The same thing happened again and again and again. "What kind of cheat code is this!?"
"You know by definition insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Izuku lectured as he rolled around the handful of shrunken down cubes containing severed Nomu fists in his palm like dice.
"Shut up and die!" Shigaraki screamed at him.
"I think I'll respectfully decline." Izuku taunted back.
"Kurogiri! Bring him to me! I want to kill this interfering NPC myself!" Before anyone could act, the front gates of the USJ burst open and the number one hero himself stomped into the building. A frown settled on his face seeing his students put in danger. Knocking out every villain he passed he landed in front of the so called leaders of this attack.
"About time you showed up." Shigaraki grinned behind the hand that covered his face. "You must be getting slow in your old age."
"Excuse me." A tap on the heroes shoulder interrupted whatever banter was about to happen. Allmight turned his head and spotted the mysterious boy that he'd spent months looking for. "I think you picked up my jacket last time we met. If you could be so kind and give it back and I'll get out of your hair."
"I wasn't finished!" Shigaraki screamed childishly.
"Get some MOISTURIZER!" Izuku screamed back, with a point and a scowl.
"You little shit!" The villain was growing more and more petulant the more things didn't go his way.
"Oh ouch! Nice smack talk!" Izuku said with extreme sarcasm. "Where did you learn that? How to suck at being a villain 101?"
"GRRRR!" Shigaraki stomped his foot and ordered the Nomu to attack him, completely forgetting that All Might was standing there. The hero intercepted the monster and the two began an intense and fast fist fight. No one seemed to notice the boy sneaking away from the battle
"Psst!" Izuku crept over to Tsuyu and Mineta while carrying an unconscious and heavily injured Erasure Head over his shoulder. "Let's get to safety."
"Your right." She croaked out as she got out of the water, dragging a terrified and confused Mineta along with her. The frog girl just watched this boy face off against these villain's before their teacher showed up, without an ounce of fear. Something about him just told her that he was trustworthy.
The battle between All Might and the Nomu eventually ended with the monster being launched out of the USJ facility by a plus ultra punch.
"Here take this strange hobo." Izuku said as he handed off their homeroom teacher before running back to the battlefield.
"This isn't over!" Shigaraki yelled about to dash at the hero. "Nomu may have failed, but I can still kill you symbol of peace!"
"Actually you won't be killing anyone!" Now it was Izuku's turn to stand between the hero and villains. "Take this!" He pulled out the shrunken stasis cubes that he collected earlier from his pocket and threw them down at Tomura's feet.
"Young man! Stay back!" All Might ordered. Even if he used up all his strength for the day, he would never want someone else to risk their own life for his. Izuku merely turned to look back at him, giving him a wink before turning to face the villains again. 'Does he know?' He wondered. Did this boy somehow know about his time limit?
"You better skedaddle hand man!" Izuku taunted. "Before you get hurt!"
"I'm going to enjoy turning you into a pile of dust." Shigaraki never hated anyone more than he did now.
"You won't be turning anyone to dust." Izuku smirked at him arrogantly. "Do you know why?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Because those punches your little pet tried to hit me with…haven't happened yet." Tomura, Kurogiri and even Allmight were extremely confused as to what he was talking about. Izuku just snickered and pointed down at the stasis cubes beneath Tomura while making them dissipate. In an instant the ground where the villain stood erupted from the force of a dozen super powered punches. When the dust settled Allmight was shocked to see the villain on the ground, bloody bruised and defeated.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Tomura screamed laying in a scatted pile of his family's hands, the severed Nomu fists and shattered rubble. "RAHH!" He continued to yell in both pain and rage as he struggled to scoop up his collection of hands, which was difficult with a broken arm. "Y-You little…cheating…hax using…bastard!"
"It's called gitting gud, you pathetic casual!" Izuku yelled back at him.
"Tomura!" Kurogiri quickly enveloped his charge in mist.
"I'll kill you! I swear I'll fucking kill you!" Shigaraki's bloody face snarled at him.
"More intelligent assholes than you have tried." Izuku replied, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.
"And you too symbol of peace. I'll make sure to kill you as well." Shigaraki said before disappearing in the portal.
"Punk ass had to get the last word." Izuku muttered aloud. "Anyway about my jacket." He spun around so fast that Allmight actually flinched.
"Who are you!?" The hero demanded. His frustration after spending months trying and failing to find any scrap of information on this boy finally reaching an end.
"I thought I introduced myself already." Izuku cocked his head. "My name is Izuku Midoriya."
"No. Who are you?" Allmight asked again as his body began to deflate and shrivel up without him realizing.
"Oh. I'm just a traveler." The boy supplied nonchalantly. "My jacket please." The blonde hero just stared at him confused. What kind of kid throws himself in the middle of a fight between good and evil then asked for his jacket like a casual Tuesday. Allmight turned around as his fellow teachers finally showed up. When he turned back Izuku was gone again.
It was only later. When the villains were rounded up, the students were checked for injuries and statements were taken, Izuku eventually reappeared asking again for his jacket. Allmight relented and brought him to U.A's main building, all the way to the faculty section. Unaware that he was leading this boy into a trap.
"Ah there it is!" Izuku quickly ran across the teacher's office and picked his denim jacket off of Allmight's desk.
"What's so special about it?" Toshinori asked, wondering what the obsession with a fashion statement could possibly be.
"It's my lucky jacket." Was all Izuku had to say on the matter. The hero wanted to fall over at how simplistic that answer was. As Izuku slipped it on, a small mouse, bear, dog thing popped out of the inner pocket and climbed up on the boy's shoulder.
"Hello." Nezu said excitedly at finally coming face to face to the boy he wanted to meet for months.
"Um…hi." Izuku looked nervously around. "What were you doing in my jacket?"
"Oh just hanging out." The principal shrugged. "And while I was in there, I found this." Nezu held up a small leather notebook.
"Oh yeah, that's my travel journal…Oh…I uh…mean my science fiction idea journal." He lied awkwardly. "I must have left that in the pocket."
"Science fiction yes." Nezu eagerly agreed with his lie. He was holding something behind his back while he continued to stand on the young traveler's shoulder. The teen was growing uncomfortable with how this talking animal was looking at him.
"Anyway. I better get going." Izuku made to leave. "It was nice meeting you All Might and strange creepy grinning hamster person."
"Wait before you go I have a question for you." Nezu revealed what he was hiding, a cloth that he held over Izuku's mouth. "Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?"
"A little bit." Izuku said after taking a whiff. He instantly fell unconscious to the floor.
"Why did you do that!?" Toshinori screamed as he watched the whole thing go down.
"Sorry, but I'm not letting a quirk like this slip through our fingers." Nezu laughed maniacally as he clapped his paws together. In walked Allmight's friend Detective Tsukauchi and his fellow teacher Present Mic.
"Tsukauchi! You're a part of this!?" He yelled in surprise.
"I'm sorry Yagi, but this is bigger than you know." The two of them picked Izuku's unconscious body up and dragged him away.
An hour later Izuku awakened to find himself sitting in a chair in what looked like an interrogation room with a metal table, blank concrete walls and a one way mirror off to the side. He looked down at his wrist and noticed that his support device was missing.
'Great now I can't warp out of here.' He thought with a frown. He also noticed his bag and side pouch was missing. After a few minutes of contemplating his situation the only door opened and in walked the detective that he spoke with earlier.
"Hello I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi." The man greeted, setting a folder down.
"Why are you dressed like Inspector Gadget?" Izuku said quickly. "Why am I here? All I did was help out. No one got hurt, except hand man obviously."
"I'm going to have to ask you some questions before we decide anything." The detective started ignoring his own questions. "Please answer honestly as my quirk allows me to detect lies."
"Really?" Izuku cocked his head curiously. "Can you turn it on and off? What are the limits?"
"I'll be asking the questions here." Naomasa tried to regain control.
"Fine, but I'll only respond if you answer mine too." Izuku offered.
"Fair enough." The man agreed. "Let's begin. Your name is Izuku Midoriya right?"
"Yes that is my name." Izuku answered. "Does your quirk detect half-truths?"
"Yes. How old are you?"
"Fifteen…ish." Izuku pondered for a moment.
"You don't know?" The man looked at him strangely. How could someone not know their own age?
"When you have a quirk like mine and don't really celebrate your birthday, it becomes a bit difficult to keep track of your age." The teen frowned. "Your lie detector quirk. What would happen if someone believes what they're saying is true?"
"Then it would come up as truth, but I'm good at working around that." Tsukauchi smiled at him. "That's why I'm a detective. Now speaking of quirks. What is yours young man?" Izuku stared at him silently then looked over at the mirror that he knew others were observing him from.
"That mouse thing read my journal obviously. You all must have figured out what my quirk is." The boy sighed. It was also written in his journal how his support device operated and anyone with a brain could figure out from those notes that he needed the device to precisely and accurately warp with his quirk. Without it there was no telling where or when he would end up.
From the other side of the one-way mirror Nezu was examining the contents of the boy's messenger bag.
"What do you mean he can time travel?" Toshinori was more than confused.
"Just what I said. His quirk must allow him to travel through time and space." Nezu pulled out a small black mysterious cube and set it aside on the table from the bag. Following that were a bunch of snack packs, small flashlight, a screwdriver, a picture of a woman with a striking resemblance to the boy, and a copy of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy' by Douglas Adams. Then a strange red rectangular machine with a button. Nezu pressed it and watched as it transformed and expanded into a small coffee machine. "Extraordinary." Back in the interrogation room Izuku shifted restlessly in his seat.
"We need confirmation from you, before we proceed." Tsukauchi stated. "Please tell us your quirk. Nobody here is going to harm you, but we need to know." Izuku squirmed a bit uncomfortable with this whole situation, but didn't see a way out of this. So he decided to give in and figure out an escape later.
"Fine my quirk is called Time Lord." He started. "Basically I can travel through time and even manipulate it to a certain extent."
"That's amazing." The detective said, detecting no lie in his words.
"Not really." Izuku locked his fingers together. "First time I used it was accidental. I thought I was quirkless until then. One minute I'm in my room, playing with my All Might figures and the next I'm in another place and time all together."
"Oh." Tsukauchi realized how terrifying that must have been for a child to go through that.
"Yeah no dip." Izuku looked away. "I spent the next six years of my life randomly hopping from one point in time to another. Through sheer luck I ended up about a hundred years into the future from our present time."
"Why was that lucky?" The detective questioned him.
"Because by that point technology had become so advanced that the scientists were able to develop support devices to help control unstable and powerful quirks that half the population possessed." Izuku explained to them.
"So the device we confiscated." Tsukauchi realized what that must have been for and why Nezu took it away so quickly.
"The Chronogate. Yes I need that to travel accurately without getting flung into a random time." Izuku supplied with a huff. "Can I please get it back?" The doors suddenly opened and in walked a cocky principal and remorseful Allmight.
"I'm afraid that's out of the question. For now at least." Nezu smirked. "Your simply too valuable to let go."
"What the fu- Valuable?" Izuku glared at him. "I just travel around. Occasionally visit my mom in this time, but that's it. I'm not some sort of prize to be won."
"Two reasons why you'll be staying with us and attending classes at U.A." Nezu stated as a matter of fact, leaving no room for argument. "First. Do you have any idea how amazing a quirk like yours is? According to your journal you've been to the future and the past. To worlds beyond this one!" He exclaimed while jumping up on to the table so he could be eye level with this boy.
"Loses its excitement after a while." Izuku just shrugged. "Every dessert planet I go to is always infested with giant worms. Not like Dune. Much more horrifying."
"You're going to be an amazing hero." The principal grinned showing his teeth. He had such great plans for this boy.
"I'm not a hero. I keep telling you people I'm just a traveler." Izuku was growing more and more frustrated with them.
"Second reason. Believe it or not we want to help protect you." Nezu told him honestly.
"Protect me from what?" Izuku asked. "Worst things I have to deal with are those Entropheres and sometimes those who want to get into my pants. I thought the baby face was a turn off, apparently not. Lord Byron almost got me once and I never leave my drink unattended around Rasputin." He tapped his finger on the table in thought. "Though King Tut was dreamy. Oh I should have took him up on his offer." He got a blush on his cheeks and faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the encounter.
"The safety commission." Nezu interrupted.
"What about them?" Toshinori inquired suspiciously.
"Only the higher ups in the commission know this, but they have a secret policy in case someone is born with a time related quirk. So far no one has been. Every registration office has orders to tell the commission if such a quirk were to manifest and report the child's address." The principal explained to them. "Now that such a quirk has appeared, well you don't want to imagine what they would do to young Midoriya here. They won't ask nicely either." The heroes and the detective paled when they realized what lengths the commission would go to gain a quirk like his on their side.
"Just give me back the Chronogate and I'll be out of here." Izuku said through gritted teeth.
"That won't be happening. Like I said you're too valuable." Nezu shot him down. "Here's your syllabus. Classes start on Monday morning. Be at the room listed at the top on the time listed below." He smiled triumphantly as he handed him a packet of paper
"I'll make you regret this." Izuku threatened, but took the packet. "Do you have any idea what I'm capable when I put my mind to something?"
"I'd like to see you try." Nezu challenged him with a laugh.
"You just made yourself an enemy for life." Izuku laughed with him.
"Good. I like enemies. I know where I stand with them." The principal of U.A was not at all concerned. In fact he welcomed a worthy opponent. This was all part of the dance. "Toshinori. I believe you have a couple guest rooms in your apartment."
"Wait. Me? Why does he have to live with me?" The number one hero questioned.
"Because you recently purchased an apartment a stone's throw from the campus and that will make it easier to keep an eye on our new student." The white chimera explained.
"You mean prisoner!" Izuku shouted while slamming his fists on the table.
"Our guest must be tired. Perhaps he needs to rest." Nezu spoke pleasantly. "If you would be so kind as to escort him to your place and we'll sort out everything tomorrow."
"Right." Toshinori looked unsure of the situation, but relented. "Young Midoriya." He awkwardly gestured at him to follow.
"This isn't over." Izuku stood up and followed the deflated hero out of the interrogation room. Roughly grabbing his bag along the way, while checking that it had all his stuff.
"This is a dangerous game you're playing." Detective Tsukauchi said after they were gone.
"But if I win this game then we'll gain a powerful ally." Nezu replied. It wasn't just because he believed Midoriya would be a great hero. There was something in the kid's journal. Something he noticed about all his travels and adventures. He was always alone in each of them and often lamented that he had no one to share these times with.
-There is nobody like me. I went all over the timeline and never found anybody with a quirk even remotely similar to mine. I'm completely alone.
MUSUTAFU- APARTMENT DISTRICT
"And then I'll go into the future and kick his children in the face!" Izuku ranted as he followed the hero to his apartment. "Then I'll go further into the future and kick his children's children."
"Here we are." Toshinori opened the door to his top floor apartment. It was surprisingly modest. Not a penthouse, but enough space for a few people to live comfortably. It also had a wide window in the back that gave them a nice view of U.A.'s campus.
"Please tell me you have a coffee machine." That was all Izuku cared about at the moment. Especially after the day's events
"Kitchen." The hero responded, pointing it out to him. He watched the boy stomp into said kitchen to make himself a cup. Toshinori plopped down on the sofa. What a day. From the small time villains he stopped this morning, to the USJ, and with everything that happened afterward concerning Izuku Midoriya, he was completely exhausted. However before he could rest he needed to know something.
"God I love coffee." Izuku came back and sat in the chair across from him. "Greatest invention in human history. At least in my opinion."
"You shouldn't drink that before bed." Toshinori told him as if he was a concerned parent.
"Its fine. It takes a lot of caffeine to actually have any effect on me. Same thing with alcohol." The time traveler shrugged. "I think it has something to do with my quirk. I metabolize certain substances differently than other people." The two of them stared at each other awkwardly after that. The only sound was the slurping sound from whenever the boy took a sip.
"I know this situation doesn't seem ideal." Toshinori finally broke the silence. "But Nezu actually does mean well." Izuku just sipped his drink louder as he talked. "He clearly finds you interesting and wants to help you."
"I was doing fine before I met you or him." Izuku argued as he set his cup down. "I can take on the commission just fine by myself."
"You can't do everything on your own." The skinny man almost chuckled to himself. Those were almost the same words the principal kept trying to impress upon him. And now he was trying to get this boy to see reason and accept help. The irony. Now he realized why Nezu wanted Midoriya to stay with him.
"Keh." Izuku just snorted at that.
"I've been meaning to ask you." Now was finally time to ask the question that had been bugging. "About ten months ago. You saved another boy from that sludge villain."
"Has it been that long for you?" The denim clad teen raised his brows at that. "It's only been a few hours for me."
"Why did you do it? Why get involved?" He had a hunch but wanted to hear it. Izuku just silently stared at him before replying.
"Because I could." He adopted a serious look. "That's all."
"But you're not a hero. You said that repeatedly that you're just a traveler." The man pressed further.
"What does being a hero have to do with anything?" Izuku asked. "We're not characters in a comic book. We're just people." He then stood up from his chair. "I did what I did, because it was the right thing to do. Because it was decent. Because it was kind. That's all. Just kind." The gaunt shriveled hero felt his lips bend in a smile. Not a forced one like always. This time a true genuine smile. "Bathroom?"
"Last door on the right." Toshinori pointed down the hall. His sunken eyes watched Young Midoriya walk away.
'Kid's got a good heart.' He thought to himself, starting to see what Nezu must have already seen in him through just a journal.
-Count Down until All for One is Crushed by Meteorite: 3 Months, 2 Weeks, and 4 days.
This oneshot is a bit different to how I normally do them. I usually do the oneshots around a middle point in the story. This time I started right at the beginning. However if you pay attention I did set up a lot of future things. I completely spoiled the fact that he defeats All for One, which happens very soon after this episode by the way. Like episode six or seven I think. Its that event where Paradox Izuku's story as a hero truly begins. Hence why it happens so early and why its so important.
Originally I wasn't going to do a oneshot for this Izuku. If anybody read my multiverse story 'When Worlds Collide', he debuted in that. Some people seemed to like him, so I started writing it. Main inspiration was Doctor Who, but I recently listened to an audio book of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and that kind of inspired me. Still a great classic by the way.
A lot of my alternate takes of Izuku whether hero or villain are heavily inspired from existing characters in fiction. I'll freely admit that. For example in Apotheosis that Izuku is kind of a mix of Thanos and Tony Stark from Marvel. There's also a bit of Ozymandias from The Watchmen in there. Brain Izuku was obviously inspired by The Brain from DC, but there's also a lot of Cobra Commander in there.
Paradox is obviously inspired by the Doctor. There's also some Doctor Strange and just a dash of Ford Prefect in there. I try to avoid just making Izuku a carbon copy of one character and try incorporate elements and aspects of multiple characters is what I'm getting at. I'm not criticizing anybody else's way. I'm just giving incite on how I prefer to do it.
I'll explain the quirk now. Its called Time Lord. He can travel through time and space, however without the Chronogate, its just random. He can stop time, but to a limited extent and when he does it's hard to move and oxygen doesn't work for him when he does. By snapping his fingers he can trap people, things, objects, and even moments inside stasis cubes that freeze time within and will resume when dispersed. He can even compress those cubes down and carry them with him for as long as he needs them. I have a lot of fun ideas for that aspect of his quirk actually.
I'm so tweaked out on coffee right now. I think I missed something, but whatever.
Thanks for reading.