Chapter 1: Power
"normal voice"-'thought'-"whisper"-"higher being"-sound(sometimes)
It was fairly peaceful day in Musutafu, not much trafic, low crime, and not to mention perfect weather.
"S-stop Kacchan, t-there is no need to be a b-bully".
Or at least it was for anyone who wasn't named Izuku Midoriya. For you see the small boy still hasn't gotten his quirk, and almost everyone else in his kindergarten class has one-with one exception. That being the boy behind him, it was ironic in a way that a small boy with no quirk, would be the first to stand up for others in need when many with powers did not.
"And what are you going to do about it Deku?" Case in point, another young boy and his goons. Their leader, an explosive blond with a short fuse, that will get worse the older he gets. His name, Katsuki Bakugo, and old "friend" of Izuku.
"I-I, uh, will f-fight you." The green haired boy stood defiantly, or at least tried. His stance was poor and his face showed obvious terror. And the moment Bakugo demonstrated his quirk with quick punch into his own palm, causing a minor explosion, it faltered even more.
Without much hesitation, the troublesome trio went to work trying to put Izuku back into his place once again.
It never worked, but it's a dishonest living, simple as that.
Overall, a pretty normal day for Izuku, the beating included. At least it wasn't raining like last time. This was what he mused as he found himself staring up at the clouds, of course this is a simplification, as when one is beaten as badly has Izuku is now, thinking can be hard.
Eventually, the greenette came out of his daze to see Bakugo looking down at him. The other boys chased the one he tried to protect.
"When are you going to learn Deku," The blond asked as he leaned in closer to Izuku, "That you can, no, will never be a hero. So just stay down, or else I will make it worse tomorrow."
"S-s-sorry Kacchan, but I c-can't, I will be a hero no matter the cost." Izuku started to shakily stand up, all while Bakugo just starred at him. "I will never give up!"
"You better bring some bandages tomorrow then." The explosive blond was about to turn away, when though of one other thing to say. "And while your at it, try to get yourself a quirk, cause without one all you will ever be is a useless freak." Bakugo then turned away to wrangle in his goons.
Now that had stung the poor greenette more than the beating from earlier.
Inko was tired, has been ever since Hisashi got a pay cut at his job, which was somewhere over in America. Now she has picked up a job at a local diner as a waitress, it was a reasonable job with an alright pay, though some of the customers could learn some manners. But it didn't matter now, she was home, she could rest.
That was until the door to the apartment opened, revealing a small boy who was covered in dirt, scrapes, and bruises. His green hair more messy than usual, with tears on the verge of spilling over his eyelids.
'MY BABY!' Was the first thought in Inko's mind as she ran over to Izuku to look over his injuries. "Please Izuku, just tell me who is doing this to you and I will get them to stop." She pleaded to him.
"It's alright Mama, I took care of it because I am a hero, just like All Might." The shake in his voice didn't help to sell the act, Inko knew that she couldn't get him to talk, it was always the same.
"Yes, you are a hero like All Might, now let's get you cleaned up." She enjoyed to feed into his love of all things hero, and All Might, related (especially All Might). It made him happy, and she loved seeing her baby happy.
As they walked over to the bathroom, the small wanna be hero asked a question that had been on the back of her mind for a while. "Mama, when will I get my quirk?"
"Don't worry Izuku, you're just a late bloomer most likely. I used to know someone whose daughter didn't get a quirk until she was five." She tried to reassure him. "And when she got her quirk it was very impressive one, and I am positive yours will be even more so."
"You really think so." He looked up to her with big eyes full of love, and curiosity.
Oh, she hated how that look made her feel. "Yes dear, and if you are really curious to find out, I can set up an appointment with a quirk doctor the day after tomorrow."
"YES!" He shouted with excitement. "But why so long?"
"I have to work double shift tomorrow".
"When I become a hero, you and daddy will never have to work again." Inko looked at the sweet little boy with a smile, he still didn't fully understand world just yet, but it was the thought that counts.
She kisses Izuku on the forehead. "I look forward to it, but for now you have to take a bath," She patted his head, "Stay hear I'll go turn on the water".
He stood there and waited just as his mother asked, and eventually she called out to him again. "Izuku your bath is ready, oh, and does chicken and rice for dinner sound good?"
"Yes, Mama." He said as they switched places, with his mother going to the kitchen, and him to the bathroom.
Overall, a fine day. And he had a feeling it was only going to get better once they go to the doctor, yes every thing was looking very bright.
"Sorry kid its not going to happen".
"I'm sorry, Izuku".
Both of these memories rattled around in his thoughts throughout the night. The tears had long passed, proven by the red streaks going down his cheeks. All he ever wanted was to be a true hero, but now he couldn't even be like his mother. Shame was one of the prominent emotions, for he had failed to uphold his dream.
However all was not lost, maybe he "could" be a hero even without a quirk, that would show the world what he was made of. And if that, by chance, didn't work, well the support path was always ready for the intelligent and talented to make something new. And if that didn't work, well. . . he didn't know what he would do.
The other thing that grinding his gears was that, yesterday the boy he tried to protect got his quirk. It was a simple telekinesis quirk, but with it came more bullying, and the worst wedgie Izuku had ever received. Not even Bakugo could do it like that, which allowed that boy to join Bakugo's goons, to say Izuku felt betrayed would be a understatement.
No matter how hard the greenette tried to fall asleep in order to escape his new life, it never came. When he checked his clock to see the time, and it read ten-forty five. He just wanted to sleep now.
squeak, squeak
Well that wasn't good, now the apartment did have the occasional rat, or mouse, sneak in. But most of the time his mother was there to handle it, and if not, then he would lure the rodent out of hiding and then lead them out of the apartment, he never liked to hurt them.
But this was the first time it was happening in his room, and it sounded like it was under his bed. So with a cautious movements he began to hang off the side of his bed to look under it.
From what he could see it looked like a rat, but a lot bigger. It was hard to tell with how dark the room was, but that wouldn't stop Izuku from get a better. So, he tried to coax it out ever so gently.
"Come on out little guy," He whispered to the rodent, "I am not going to hurt you".
The rodent seemed to have taken the bait, though most likely from curiosity than a genuine feeling, if it could even feel at all that is.
As the rat got out from under the bed, Izuku could see a lot better and by All Might's golden hair, it was the most interesting and horrifying thing he had ever seen. It was way larger than a normal rat, and had sharp spines going along its back. Its beady red eyes displayed a unnatural cunning.
'Even the rats have quirks now." He thought to himself, or at least thought he did, until the rat responded with chittering squeaks and motions that could be perceived as a "follow me" motion. Then it scurried off toward the bedroom door.
"Hey, where are you going?" He followed the vermin up until the door which was still closed. "You want to leave? Very well, here let me open the door for you." With the door open, the rat looked back at the boy waiting for something.
"Why are you staying, I thought you wanted to leave?" The boy inquired from the rodent, which on its part just squeaked. "Do you want me to follow you?"
The rat bobbed it head up and down in the universal affirmative manner, and then scurried out the door to the front door of the apartment, with the green haired boy not far behind it. Who then opened the apartment door, but then he stopped, was he really going to follow a rat out of their apartment? He would get into massive trouble if his mother ever found out, and it was about five till eleven. The dark streets were no place for a four year old boy with no quirk, but he steeled himself, he was going to be a hero in the future so he had to be brave, just like All Might.
Who knows maybe the rodent needed a hero, a position only Izuku could fill right now. So without anymore thought to it, the young boy followed the vermin out of the apartment complex, and down to the street right in front of it. Where the rat lead him to was one of those grates that you see on the side of the road, that rain water flows into. Though for some reason the grate had been removed, leaving now a deep hole (for a four year old anyway).
Izuku was having second thoughts now, but asked himself if All Might would run from a hole in the ground, and thus came to the conclusion that if his idol could do it then so could he. With no more thought on the matter, Izuku climbed/fell into the hole.
The rat then lead him to a small gnawed out hole in the side of the wall, it was barely big enough for him to use, but he crawled through the long, dark, and narrow tunnel anyway. The trip in the tunnel was not that fun, it was a bit damp, and sometime he would bump into a sharp rock, or worse land on something that was very soft and squishy. It didn't help that he couldn't even see what was in front of him, causing even more trouble and doubt.
At one point during his crawl his hand slipped downwards, it startled him just a little, but as he felt around where the tunnel sloped down. He noticed how much smoother the stone and dirt was here, this knowledge also gave him an idea. He got to the edge and got ready to slide down the slope, after the final push Izuku slid down the stone slope, it still hurt and greatly ruined his All Might pjs.
When he reach the near end of the slide he saw a faint green light at the end of the tunnel, and the chittering of many rats.
He exited the tunnel with a thud as he landed on the floor, when he got up and looked he saw something that not many would ever want to think about. Rats, hundreds of rats, it was like a living blanket of rats. Some were larger, others smaller, some were chilling, while others were cannibalizing each other.
He then look around the new room he was in, it was a medium sized circular room. At the center stood a pedestal, was about as tall as him. On the pedestal laid a bell, this bell glowed a soft green that was giving off a sense of unease to Izuku. But he subconsciously started to walk towards the bell, to get better look at, he had told himself.
squeeeaak
A loud cry came from behind him, he turned around to see the large rat that lead him here. And now that there were other rats Izuku could see just how much bigger it was, and more intimidating it was with its sharp spines. Either way it had a sense of control over the other rodents, as they quieted down and slowed their eating.
The spined rat then scurried ahead of the greenette, up the pedestal, and in front of the bell. The rat beckoned to the boy to come closer, and he did just that, Izuku got close enough to be face to "face" with the spined rat. The rat moved to the side and motioned the boy to touch the bell.
"You want me to touch it, why"?
The rat just squeaked in response.
The alarms in the boys head were going off like crazy, but with his young age and curiosity, he ignored it.
He picked up the bell with both hands, it wasn't that heavy but it definitely wasn't light either. Izuku then inspected the bell more in depth, he noticed how it was missing pieces, the two most prominent was the lack of the bell clapper, and what he once thought was a divot was actually a carved out pit for a piece of the bell. The shape was simple, but one he would to fear and respect very soon.
An upside-down triangle, made with three slashed lines.
Not long after he picked up the bell did it start to glow with deeper green, the chittering of rats started to pick up again, but it was slowly consuming his sense of hearing. He started to feel woozy, his eyes felt heavier, fell over bell still in hands. His eyes now refused to open, the dark consumed him as everything went black.
Dark, that was all that he could see, it was weird though, he could see his hands and his feet. Yet, all around him was a black void, no wall, no floor, and no ceiling. It was just him.
Until a green light pierced the void, breaking down a non-existent wall. And from the light, and from the light came a pulsing green rift.
Izuku was scared, he had no idea what this was, and no idea where he was.
"Be not afraid little man-thing." A voice came from the rift.
"W-who are y-you?" The boy asked stutteringly.
"What I am is not much of a concern, for now at least." The voice said, it was deep and calm.
"Uh, then c-can you p-please tell me where I am," Izuku looked around into the void. "I really need to g-go home now".
The voice chuckled, "I will tell you, but first you will tell me something".
Izuku was nervous, what could this voice possibly want to know, and what if he couldn't give the answer. So many fears swirled around in Izuku's mind of "what if" scenarios, all he wanted now was to go home. Away from this void and whatever this voice is.
"You are safe here little man-thing," The voice reassured, unnaturally smooth, "I can't hurt you even if I wanted to, if you wish not to speak then say so".
"N-no, I can tell you what you want to know".
"What is the world like," The voice asked as it circled around Izuku, "Outside of this void I can not see. I can only whisper to my children from here".
"Your children are rats?" Questioned the boy, though he regretted it once the voice got closer to him.
"Yes, they are my children, but they can't tell me what the world is like. But you can," The voice said, "You are no rat, a shame that may be, but you have some insight despite your age. Knowledge for knowledge, such a simple price, no?"
Izuku thought, what could he possibly say, he a child that knew nothing but hero facts, though limited due to age, mostly were not what the voice wanted to know. But it was worth a shot.
"Uh, I don't know that much, but I do know a lot about heroes if that will work for you." The voice thought it over for a bit, which cause Izuku to fidget with his hands.
"How important are these 'heroes' little man-thing"?
"Only the most important people on earth." The boy now forgot what he was talking to, and merely saw someone who didn't know what a hero was. And if there was one thing that got the boy talking, it was heroes.
"Their so cool, and they save people from all sorts of bad stuff," He talked, "One time me and mama got in line for a autograph form Fatgum, oh and-," And talked, "But out of all of them, the greatest hero to ever live can only be All Might," He pointed to his pjs, or at least a part not ruined, "He has never lost a fight, and on top of that manages to save everyone when he shows up. I saved a video of him when he debuted in Japan, which is where we are by the way, but that video of him is when he saved like one hundred people in ten minutes. And when I get my quirk I am. . ."
"Something the matter little man-thing?"
Yes, of course there was, but he couldn't say that, could he. Lying to a stranger didn't sit well with him, so maybe it would hurt to be honest. "Yes, you see quirks are very important in order to be a hero, with the right quirk you could save a lot of people, or be very famous. But I don't have a quirk, or at least that is what the doctor said. I may never get to save people, I may never be a hero."
Such a line of thought saddened the greenette, he didn't want to think about this, but it always lead back to it. He just wanted to normal, he just wanted a quirk.
"Hmm, that is quite the problem." The voice thought for a moment, "Say, what if I give you a 'quirk' as you call it."
"Can you really do that!" The excitement and desperation in his voice were painfully sad, but it didn't matter to him, all he wanted was a quirk, to have the power to save people, the power to be a true hero. It was all he ever wanted in life.
"I don't fully know, but in order to find out I need you to do something for me, if you would be so kind."
"Yes, anything."
"Over the course of the next twelve days my children will bring you pieces of the 'holy' bell you hold in your hands." The voice instructed the boy, "You will insert the pieces into the slots, and when it is complete, I may have enough hold on your reality to grant you a minor quirk. But fear not, I will provide other means for you to be a hero."
"Why are you doing all of this for me, a nobody." Izuku questioned the voice, "What did I do to earn all of this."
"You are right, you didn't do anything to earn my good will. So, in exchange for the quirk, you will be my eyes and ears in your world. I wish to know everything there is to know."
Izuku shifted a little, it was quite the request, but to have a quirk. He would do almost anything at this point.
"Yes, I can do that I think."
The voice all but laughed, for it was truly delighted if the tone in its voice meant anything. "Very good, I will get things arranged for then. I truly look forward working with you in the future."
The boy felt quite happy, this was his chance to be something now. If only mama was here to see him make the deal, she would be so proud of him.
"And Izuku," The boys face paled, "Welcome to Skavenblight."
The green rift swallowed Izuku, once through the sensation of falling quickly consumed Izuku, and when he opened his eyes he saw the ground approaching very fast, but something else caught his eye during his fall. Massive spires, ramshackle buildings packed in as tight as possible, sprawling roads and poorly built bridges. Green smog billowed out of some the massive chimneys, bells screaming all over the city, and yelling of people he couldn't see rose above from the streets. The boy didn't know what to think about this, though the correct answer was he didn't have time. Because not long after his staring in awe at the city did he realize the ground was about ten meters away, Izuku didn't even have time to start screaming again, he just wished he could see his mo-black.
"Gasp!" He bolted up in his bed, wait his bed? "How did I get back here?"
He patted himself down just to feel if it was real, that he was back. And it was, his sheets felt the same as always, but more oddly his pjs were fixed. It was like nothing every happened, and that scared him, was it truly all just a dream. He hoped not, cause if it was then he'd never get a quirk, then he could never be a hero.
knock, knock
"Izuku, are you awake?" His mother asked on the other side of the door. "I know that yesterday was quite hard on us both. So, I was thinking about going to the beach, or maybe the mall."
Izuku thought, though it wasn't about what his mother said, he was perfectly fine with going. No, it was rather if he should tell her about his dream, after all if it was a dream then there would be no harm, but if it wasn't then who knows what would happen, would she be proud or fearful. 'What would All Might do, hmm, he would probably tell the truth.' That thought alone didn't completely sell the idea of honesty, but he would do it, because All Might would.
First things first however, he needed to get dressed. He rushed around his grabbing clothes for the day, one of which was his favorite All Might T-shirt. When he got to his door he looked back to his room, trying to remember anything he may have forgotten. When he saw something sitting on his desk, the bell.
How he didn't notice it before was beyond him, but this was the proof that what he saw was real. But what to do with this knowledge, show off the bell like a trophy, or hide it away like a dragon with a hoard of treasure. The bell also further made it harder for him to think telling his mother was a good idea. Cause now that the bell was in a somewhat brighter room it looked far more looming, the dark metal refusing to shine in the light of his room. The metal itself was much older and worn down then he originally thought, as a form of rust, or maybe oxidization, has formed round the edges of the metal. The triangular slot in the bell seemed to hurt his eyes whenever he tried to look at it.
Honesty, it no longer seemed like a good idea to the boy, yet he couldn't pin point why. Was it the voice that he had met, was it the bell that had once glowed a deep green light, and now no longer does so.
It didn't matter right now though, so without any further thought, the boy slipped through the door of his room, ready for a fun day ahead
And ready for the first piece of the bell.
Inko was concerned, it has been five days since the beach, six since the doctor visit. At first everything was normal in a way, but after the day at the beach something changed in her son, even if it was only subtle.
"Izuku, can you come here for a minute." Inko called out to him.
The pitter patter of tiny feet could be heard in throughout the apartment, along with whispering that stopped dead in its tracks once the green haired boy turned the corner to she his mother standing there.
"So what do you need me for mama?" The little boy asked, while he messed with his hands.
"Sit." Inko didn't want to seem harsh, but it was needed in order to get a straight answer, hopefully. "Now Izuku you are not in trouble, but we need to talk."
"Oh, ok." The greenette didn't sound all that convinced.
"So Izuku I, uhh, wanted to talk to you about your new little mumbling tick," She also didn't want to be overbearing, so she degraded her speech, if only a little.
"Doesn't everyone talk to themselves at some point in their lives?"
She was only half prepared for this, while the question wouldn't be hard to answer, it also wouldn't be that easy for her. This is why she wanted to hire a therapist, but when ever she tried to set an appointment the building would get a rat infestation and be forced to shut down for a time, in fact, all of Musutafu seemed to have a massive rat problem nowadays.
"Yes they do, but there is a point where it is too much." She started to explain. "People talk to themselves to hear their idea out loud, or they don't realize they are saying it out loud. But you aren't talking to yourself are you?"
The boy thought for a moment, as an answer formed within his mind. "I find that talking to myself as if I was another person kind of helps me focus my thoughts, and it may even let me see flaws in my plans."
Inko was slightly confused, not because the answer didn't make sense, but because it was very well thought out. Maybe not so much for an adult, but for a four year old kindergartener, it was quite impressive.
"Very well then, but there is one other matter." Now this part was far more upsetting to the young mother. "Earlier I saw you eating some chocolate when I walked past your room, was it the same bar you asked me to buy, and I told you no."
"Uhh, no." Izuku didn't look her in the eyes.
The young mother pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. What was happening to her son, he gets bad news and now he turns his world view around, even if only a little.
How could she even begin to solve this.
This was it, the last night.
Izuku was very excited, for twelve nights the rats came to give him a piece of the bell. And now it would be complete tonight, with the only piece left being the bell clapper.
It was quite fun putting the bell together, it was like a puzzle, a bit more complex for his grade but still fun. There was one downside with the pieces though, being that they were made with some weird glowing green rocks. This weird stone that was carved to fit in the slots, this stone slightly hurt his eyes when ever he looked at it. But it was a worthy price as he worked with it quickly. It was only an instinct, but he felt that he shouldn't really be touching it, though when he gets that quirk it would all be worth it.
Squeak, squeak
And here it was, the bell clapper, held within the jaws of the rat he met when he got the bell.
The clapper itself was beautiful, to him at least, the main body was the same metal as the rest of the bell, but with the weird stone acting as the head, and while it wasn't easy to see. Carvings were embedded into the weird stone, adding to its already mystical feel.
Ever since he put in the first piece of the bell he began to hear voices in his head, though not but whispers at first, they grew with each passing night. They would tell him how to put the bell together, how to plan for the future, and whisper secrets of their world. Promises of power like no other, the ability to be a hero like All Might, if not more. His dreams of being a hero now coming ever closer, though now it will be heralded with a choir of gnawing and screaming rats, not exactly what he though it would be like, but it didn't matter that much in the this moment.
"Put-attach the bell clapper now-now," One voice commanded in the back of his mind. "The plan-schemes must come-come to fruition."
The greenette didn't need to be told twice.
He went work, carefully attaching the clapper, the voices guiding him as he did. Such a task was surprisingly simple compared to some of the other more complex pieces of the bell.
And then it was done, the bell was complete, many of the voices were chanting, some shouting complements at his work. One familiar voice were laughing, laughing oh so slowly.
The bell started to glow brighter, the deep emerald green light filled the room. Then the bell started to float, not that high, but high enough to start ringing.
Ding, once.
Dong, twice.
Ding, Thrice.
Dong, at the fourth toll, Izuku felt fear creep slowly into his heart. Part of it being if he woke up his mother.
Ding, five.
Dong, six.
Ding, seven.
Dong, voice grew even louder, almost deafening, but never over powering the bell.
Ding, nine.
Dong, ten.
Ding, eleven.
Dong, on the twelfth stroke Izuku was put through pain, so much PAIN. It felt as if the voices were trying to gnaw their way out of his head, they were ravenous in there pursuit. The greenette fell on his knees as he clutched his head, the pain getting worse, as if his very being was doused in hottest fire not known to man.
DING, THIRTEEN.
A green swirling rift in reality opened in front of the bell, now silent. The boy looked up to the rift, as if it could save him, if only.
From the rift comes a multi-tipped barbed lash that rapped around his head, the spikes digging into his head and hands, drawing blood and something else he couldn't identify. He wanted to scream, cry, and call out the betrayal, but for some reason he couldn't. Without warning the lash reeled back, and it was with such strength, that before he hit the portal everything went black.
Izuku groggily opened his eyes, he was tired, yet he couldn't remember why. As he rubbed his eyes he realized that he could see. . . right through his hands, and eyelids, in fact it seemed that he was now entirely transparent. The only thing he could see was a vague blue outline of himself, and even then it was tricky to see.
As he got over this new revelation, he slowly noticed his surroundings, and noises all around him. He was in some sort of town square, or at least he thought he was, the buildings around him were ramshackle in design, to the point that it looked like a good breeze to knock them over. Another defining feature was how over crowded they were, and when ever he looked up he could barely see the green cloudy sky.
What was truly the most interesting part of this was the bustling streets, because all of the passersby were all large rat-me, it was an odd, yet terrifying, scene. Everywhere he look there would be at the very least ten of them, and each one of them looked like it was on the verge of starving to death. Some of them where better feed, though not by much, however these ones were always armed with rusted sword and worn shields.
Groups of these rat-men would walk by, not once ever realizing that the greenette was there in the middle of junction.
During his pondering on what kind of status these armed rat-men had, a small scuffle started in the street not far from him. Two rat-men came running out of a building, one chasing the other. The chaser caught the the one ahead of it, and then proceeded to drag the other by the tail to one of the armed rat-men. These one seemed to be of a higher "rank", the boy guessed, because this one had better armor, a light to medium plate armor and helmet that had a metal mohawk that was far larger than any other of the armed rat-men.
The two from earlier started to argue in a language that Izuku didn't know, both pointing and blaming the other. The armored rat-man looked annoyed, at least Izuku thought so, but at one point during the arguing the rat-man that was caught subtly dangled a bag in its left hand, and out of sight of the other. Within mere moments the armored one took its rusted blade and slashed it across the accuser. Not even seconds after it hit the ground, bystanders rush the still warm body, stripping it of its ragged clothes, any valuables, and finally the meat. The feeding frenzy had also caused a few other rat-men to be killed, which added more fuel to the fire.
Izuku felt sick to his stomach, he had to turn away, or else he may throw-up. This was not the best idea, cause as he turned away he more of the same, shadowy dealings, murders, and corruption. It was all too much for the young aspiring hero, it was utter hell for him, he couldn't save anyone even if he tried, and the innocent themselves were nightmarish.
There was nothing he could do as evil just did what ever it wanted.
But then he heard chanting, the soft sounds of chains swaying and the rhythmed marching of feet.
From one of the streets he could see it, or should he say them.
Marching in order were more rat-men, but these ones were different. They wore green robes and bandages that covered some of their limbs, or even faces. Their skin and fur were blighted with all sort of diseases, boils dotted their forms with some appearing to have burst leaking puss and other filth. These rat-men held in their hands what looked like a modified flail, for it had a long wooden handle and a long metal chain coming down from the tip. On the end of the chain was a hollowed spiky metal ball, and in the ball was weird stone chiseled into the shape of a ball.
It also seemed that the weird stone in the flails had something added to it, cause the flail emitted a green smoky haze that added to the sickening aura of these rat-men.
Either way they most likely were not good news, and it seemed that the other rat-men knew this as well cause once some of them caught a wiff of green haze, they double over dead. The haze gave them such a strong dose of concentrated plague, that some of the corpses started to turn into goop.
The crowd started to run away as fast as possible, leaving behind the dead and half-eaten corpses.
As the robed rat-men passed by, one of them stood out. This rat-man stood up straight, white fur, and wore gray robes of better quality than the others. The most notable feature was that he had goat horns, The one on his right was broken off half-way down, while his left horn started to branch off near the tip. His face looked scarred, some tuffs of fur were missing, his teeth were pointed and sharp, while still having the traditional rodent incisors. The rat-man's beady red eyes were filled with cunning, and a sharp intelligence laid just beneath his nightmarish form. In his right hand he held a wooden staff, and on the tip of the staff was the upside down triangle, that he saw on the bell. Suspended in the center of the triangle was a piece of weird stone, it glowed an ominous green.
Izuku couldn't help but feel drawn to the horned rat-man, as his transparent body moving on its own.
After following the horned rat-man for quite some distance, they stopped in front of a building. This one was a bit different than the others, it was not nearly as ramshackle as the other buildings, its spires looming over above all below, threatening pierce to the sky. Ominous chanting creeping out from the deeper parts of the building, like a choir of gnawing, hungry rats.
The green robed rat-men split up and started to enter the build through some side doors, while the horned rat-man stood in front of the large door that the front of the building.
He fished around in his robes for a flask, he took a drink from it and then proceeded to exercise his throat. When he finished, he got ready to enter the building, though not before he turned his head to he side. Izuku was worried that the rat-man could see him, and he didn't want to know what they did to outsiders.
Unfortunately, for the boy, that is exactly what happened, as the rat-man winked at the boy. The greenette didn't know what he could even do, he could run of course, but that wasn't a guaranteed to work. Too busy thinking about what do, he completely forgot on the doing part, as the rat-man turned away from the door and was now walking over to him.
"Are you lost-astray little man-thing?" The horned rat-man asked in a surprisingly deep voice.
"H-how can you see me?" Izuku asked, with his own question in response.
"Eheheheh," The rat-man chuckled, "Because you have business-affair to deal with here-here. I was made aware-informed of this deal-deal, and was even given-gifted with a few of my own, one-one of them was being able-able to see you-you."
"O-oh really?" The boy was puzzled, cause he couldn't exactly remember how, or why, he was here.
"Do you not-not remember little man-thing?" The rat-man had small smile form on his scarred face. "If you don't-don't remember I-I can tell-squeak you where to go-go."
"I-I would like that a lot."
"Very-very good, now listen carefully," The rat-man started to explain. "You will-will follow-trail me through the front door, and when you do-do turn right and go-go up the stairs and then up-up the ladder to the high-highest point. That is where-where you're supposed to be, you understand-acknowledge?"
"Y-yes." The boy stuttered.
The horned rat-man nodded, and then proceeded to walk back to the door.
Izuku, slowly, began to follow the rat-man into the massive building. The floor boards squeaking as he and the rat-man stepped on them.
Once the hallway spilt the boy took the right which led to the stairs the horned rat-man spoke about. The stairway itself was narrow and crooked, but at the end of it was the ladder, just like the rat-man said.
Izuku climbed the shoddy ladder, trying his best to have good footing and ignoring the fact that this ladder was poorly fastened to the wall.
When he reach the highest part of the building, which was a very large room, he was met with. . . nothing.
Not one soul was up there, just some old furniture and lots of dust. Some parts of the floor was broken, other parts missing altogether.
Voices could be heard from the holes in the floor, and when he looked down one of the larger holes it revealed two things. The first being that he was very high up, the second being that there was practically a carpet of rat-men below him.
He could see the plagued rat-men off to the sides of the crowd, but aside from them, it was hard to tell where one rat-man started and another ended. Many of the rat-men were either joking, or arguing, with very little in between.
It wasn't until a loud booming voice came from the front of the crowd did they quiet down. The voice came from the horned rat-man from earlier, who was standing on a platform flanked by to large rat-men, both in near full plate armor.
The horned rat-man started to speak more and more, seemingly captivating the crowd, the diseased rat-men most of all. His words even capturing Izuku's young mind, even though the boy couldn't understand what the rat-man was saying. Just something about it called to him, rather it be the rat-man's charisma, or something else, he didn't know.
During his absorption in the speech (whatever it was) something grabbed his feet. He screamed and kicked as the thing dragged him back over to the old furniture, it then grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted the boy like he was nothing.
"SHUT-SHUT UP LITTLE MAN-THING!" The thing yelled in its demonic voice. "I AM HERE-HERE TO GIVE-GIFT THE BLESSINGS OF THE GREAT HORNED RAT, SO HUSH-QUIET." The thing pushed him into an old chair, and then dragged a old table over in front of the boy.
The boy nearly fainted, face to face with this thing of nightmares, it was at least two to three times the size of All Might, and just a muscular if not more so. The thing was similar to the horned rat-man down below, but had six massive and ornate horns, covered in small bells and trophies. It wore some plate armor, but not a lot to hide its skin and fur, and as for the fur. It was a blonde-ish color rather than the browns and blacks of most rat-men. On its hip was a large and worn book, with some other things like some weird stone trinkets. And unlike the other rat-men it had two tails that split at the base, and cloven hooves instead of feet.
Its face was rather unique, not because it looked like a rat (everyone here did), but because it had no scars, or any signs of past and/or current problems. Its eyes were a solid green, much like the weird stone that the boy was familiar with. Yet, the thing had a piercing gaze, as if the thing wasn't looking at him, but within him. Those eyes displayed a cunning very similar the horned rat-man, though there was also something else in those eyes, something the boy wouldn't until much later, the look of sheer utter cruelty.
"Now are you calm-pacified?" Izuku nodded. "Good-good, now let's get-get to business-dealings."
The massive rat-man grabbed the book from his hip and placed it on the table in front of Izuku. He reached back to his hip to grab one of the weird stone trinkets, more specifically, a weird stone orb and a dark metal stand to place it on.
"W-what's all of this for?" Izuku asked as he shrank into his seat from the gaze of the thing.
"You-you made deal-bargain with the Great Horned Rat," The thing said. "Now I-I am here to fulfill-deliver our end of the deal-deal. So that you-you can take-take up yours."
"He will-will give you power-strength to be-be a hero," The thing spat. "But in return-repayment you-you will be subservient-obedient to Him, understand?"
"Y-yes." Izuku hesitated, he tightened his grip on the arms of the chair. "B-but how c-can I b-be sure that you all are not v-villains? S-so far I h-haven't seen anything g-good here."
The things face grew softer as it some how slicked over to the boy's side and placed a massive arm around Izuku's shoulder.
"My-my kind, it's skaven by the way, has always-forever been cursed-plagued with inhuman cruelty, and our-our god keeps trying-attempting to free them of this problem-trouble, but-but fails each time-time."
The massive rat-man slumped back dramatically, with its other arm laid it across his face. Its did close its eyes, but opened them again to see if the boy was paying attention.
"W-what does this have to do with me?"
"For ages He looked-searched for some one to be a hero-saviour for skavendom to look up to, but-but none could ever fulfill that task-mantle. The other man-things spat upon us-us, viewing us-us as not worth the time, or saying that we are not-not redeemable. But now-now the Horned One has found-found someone who can be-be that hero."
"Really, who?" The boy asked.
"You, you are that hero He-He found," The verminlord pointed his clawed finger at the boy's chest. "He saw-witnessed your heart, He saw good in you-you like none other He has ever seen-seen."
"H-how could he, we've never met?"
"Who-who do you think-thought gave you that bell-bell in your world?"
"That was him." The boy said incredulously. "But surely there were better choices then me?"
"Doesn't matter-matter," The verminlord looked at his nonexistent watch. "Now-now are you ready-ready to receive-obtain the gifts of the Great Horned Rat?"
Izuku thought, what would be best? He could accept and become the hero he wanted, but at was cost, seeing these rat-men, these skaven, didn't make him feel confident in what the deal truly was. But what if the massive rat-man is right, that the skaven are cursed and need a hero. If he rejects then he could doom these poeple to a life of constant crime and suffering.
What would All Might do?
So the boy thought and thought, and thought some more until he finally made his decision.
"OK I WILL DO IT!" Izuku was filled with determination, it a god wanted him to be a hero for his people he would do it. They may not have an All Might of their own, but Izuku was more then willing to be their All Might. After all, All Might said himself that he would always try and save those he could reach, how could Izuku not try to save the skaven.
"Very good-good, here-here is this book-tome as a way for you-you to learn a little of skaven history-past." The Massive rat-man handed the tome over, a twisted grin forming on his face. "Now-now place a hand-hand on the warpstone orb."
'Oh, it's called warpstone.' The boy thought, as he placed his hand on the orb.
"Like this?" The verminlord smiling at this display.
"Yes-yes, now repeat after me-me," The massive rat-man cleared his throat. "I-I Izuku Midoriya-"
"I-I Izuku Midoriya-"
"Will-will give my-my life-"
"Will-will give my-my life-"
Green warp magic swirled around Izuku's hand he continued.
"To the Great Horned Rat-"
"To the Great Horned Rat-"
"For-for I am His-His tool and pawn-fool-"
"For-for I am His-His tool and pawn-fool-"
The magic became more unstable as it swirled around him.
"Oh, Horned One give-gift me strength-power thirteen times over."
"Oh, Horned One give-gift me strength-power thirteen times over."
The magic reach critical as it wrapped around Izuku's ethereal body, the verminlord chuckling as Izuku vanished in a bright green flash.
"Eck, now-now I smell of man-thing."
Izuku woke up.
He was back home in his bed again, but it was still night unlike last time.
As he looked around he saw the bell still floating above his desk, but now there was an old tome laying right next to it.
Izuku got up and walked over to the artifacts, curious as to what was in the book, and to see why the bell was still floating.
"We meet again little man-thing." A familiar voice came from the bell.
"You."
"Yes, it is I, the Great Horned Rat."
Izuku quickly fell to his knees, after all this was a god. One that also gave him a quirk, at least he thinks he got one.
"M-my l-lord, m-may I-I ask w-what quirk y-you g-gifted me?" The boy asked with baited breath.
"It was a simple one really, it will allow you the same resistance to warpstone as my children. And, as a bonus, I have given my children's advanced learning abilities, along with other modification to your form." The Horned One explained.
"What modification?"
"Take a look." A mirror appeared in front of the boy.
It showed him that his body was changed, though mainly it was his face. And even then it wasn't that obvious, because what was changed was his teeth. Which were now more rat like, all in all, he was kind of disappointed.
"Now boy comes the next step towards our shared goal."
"What am I to do?" The boy ask, though it felt more forced than normal.
"Learn little man-thing learn, for I will send unto you four teachers. One will be a gray-seer, another a master warlock-engineer of the clans Skryre, another will be a master moulder from the clans Moulder. And lastly will be a death-master from the clans Eshin." The Great Horned Rat said.
"The gray-seer will teach you of skavendom, it history and its culture. And the first major teacher will be the warlock engineer, as to make use of your younger mind earlier."
"M-my lord, how will you be able to accomplish this plan of yours if they can't get here?"
"Oh, you will see Izuku, cause now I am here."
Author's Notes: Yes, I know I am starting a second story even though I already have on in progress. I am doing this so I can bounce back and fourth between them so I don't get too burnt out.
As for a comment on the work for this story, uh, I put a lot more work into thinking this through (if only barely). And yes, I am using Age of Sigmar lore for the skaven here, mostly because of the gnawholes.
On a sidenote I can't decide if Izuku should be lead along (as in he doesn't fully have skaven morality) and lied to constantly, or be lied to constantly and be a true skaven in mindset. Though I am sure I can figure it out.
Oh, and if anyone wants to be a beta reader for this story (or any of my stories) please ask.