Paradis: The Savior of Humanity

Disclaimers: My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) and all associated characters are owned by Kohei Horikoshi. I make no claim to ownership.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) and all associated characters are owned by Hajime Isayama. I make no claim to ownership.

I only own my original character, Zack Miller and his family members. Any other original characters are based in both of the above mentioned universes which I have no ownership over.

Note: This story WILL contain manga spoilers for both My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan, so be warned.

Chapter 1: Starting Line

2165, United States of America

"Congratulations, it's a boy!" a young doctor announces as she hands a newborn to a nurse prepped with a blanket.

"You did great honey, you did great! He's finally here!" the newly titled father exclaims. He grips his wife's hand reassuringly as she pants, sweat still on her brow. The young child starts crying in the background as he is being swaddled, a nurse cooing over the new life in front of her.

The young brunette woman in bed looks over to her son and his growing cries. "Kyle, I want to hold him," she states as she holds her arms out expectantly.

Kyle, not one to ignore his partner's request, turns to the nurse who is holding the newborn out to him carefully. He nods his thanks and gently takes the child. Then he turns and maneuvers the bundled infant into his wife's arms. "Here Rachel, look at him."

Rachel cradles the boy in her arms, her creation slowly wriggling in its blanket like a caterpillar. She giggles at his attempts to gain freedom. "He is perfect. He is everything I could have imagined."

"Congratulations you two," the doctor says, wrinkling her tired eyes as she smiles at the new family. "He'll need a name before you are discharged. If you would like to wait we can create a temporary certificate with just your last name Miller-"

"No, I think we are ready," Rachel states, turning towards her husband. The man nods back in agreement. "The two of us have been discussing this for quite a while. His name is-"

"FOUND YOU ZACHARY!" Rachel shouts as she picks up her son from his awful hiding place behind the couch. Unfortunately, young Zack couldn't grasp the concept that even if you couldn't see an adversary during hide and seem, there was no guarantee that you were completely hidden and that they couldn't see you, or more notably, the shine of your bowl cut hair that reflected the ceiling light as you tried to hold in your giggles. But still, you have much to learn when you're 4 years old.

Jumping in mock fright, The boy tries fruitlessly to get out of his mother's grasp. "No mama, put me down!"

"No can-do little bird. You lost~," she says in a singsong voice. "You know what that means~," she mentions as a faux-malicious grin forms on her face.

Zack starts doubling his efforts to escape and trembles. "No mama please!" he pleads.

"Too late!" Rachel says, as she lays her son on their living room floor and starts tickling his sides and belly.

"Ha ha - ahh stop mommy I'm going to pee!" Zack squeals in delight, tears in the corner of his eyes as he tries to escape the onslaught of his mothers affections.

"Ok you little squish," she finally relents and sits him upright.

Zack begins to pout, but the effect is lost with the baby fat still on his cheeks. "I'm going to be a hero one day, I can't be ticklish," he declares.

Rachel tries to smother a giggle and comically raises an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" Zack nods ecstatically. "Well, I don't know if you can. Most heroes don't have squishy cheeks like that. It's unacceptable!" At this she blows raspberries into Zack's cheeks as he tries to bat her away.

"Stop it mama," he giggles again. His eyes widen and he jumps up to his feet. "Wait, we're going to be late to the doctor! I want to see what my quirk is!"

How could I forget about this day? Zack thinks. I can finally find out what my quirk is going to be. Everyone has one, and mine can help me become a great hero! I can look cool and help people, like All Might and Stars and Stripe!

His mom gets to her feet as well, quickly straightening out her clothes. "We have some time little bird," she states affectionately. "Let's get ready and start going. Then we can let dad know the good news when he gets back from work!"

As Rachel gets her purse and keys to make the commute to the doctor, Zack starts pondering the possibilities of the next few hours. Mommy has a quirk called Photographic that lets her remember everything she sees or hears. She is great at finding my toys when I can't! Daddy's quirk is called Muscle Maker, it lets him add more or less muscle to himself whenever he wants! I wonder which one I will get? Maybe a combination of both? Or maybe something new, a mutat…matition? Oh, mutation! He starts giggling to himself with the possibilities.

"Zack, come on! I have your sister too." Zack breaks from his daydreams and looks over to his mom by the door, his little sister Alice in his mother's arms. Rachel had gone upstairs and retrieved the two year old infant while Zack was busy contemplating.

"Right!" Zack quickly gets up on his feet and runs towards his mother. "Let's go, I can't wait to hear what the doctor has to say!" The boy opens up the front door, and takes a step towards his future.

"I am sorry Mrs. Miller, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm afraid Zack doesn't have a quirk," the doctor states with a grimace.

For Zack, it's like the whole world freezes in that instant. There are a few moments of silence, only broken by the gurgles coming from his sister in his mothers arms. But… that… that can't be right!? Maybe it was a mistake? I must have something!

"Are you sure doctor?" his mother says, eyes widened in shock. The doctor picks up his clipboard again looking at his files.

"It says here that you are a fourth generation quirk user, and your husband is third generation correct?"

"Yes, so I would think that our son would have some quirk when the genetics should allow it," Rachel scoffs, trying to prove a mistake has been made.

The doctor stands up to go to his desk, then swivels his computer screen towards us, turns it on then taps a few of the keys. "Here," he says, pulling up an x-ray of Zack's feet. "If you look closely, you'll notice he has a double jointed pinky toe on his feet. This is the standard test that the medical community has been using for years to determine quirkless status."

"Are there any other tests?" Rachel asks frantically, trying to avoid a disaster.

The doctor hesitates. "Yes-"

"AH-HA" Rachel jumps up triumphantly, jostling little Alice who had just started getting comfy, blissfully unaware of the catastrophe forming around her. "Then run them immediately!"

"Mrs. Miller, I ran them already!" the doctor states with a hint of professional exasperation. Rachel deflated back into her chair at this. "We did a Garaki indicator test, we even ran blood tests twice. Each test came up negative. I'm sorry, truly I am, but Zack here just doesn't have a quirk."

With that, silence bears over the room. Zack is slouching back in his chair, looking down at his hands spread flat across his legs, his lip trembling.

"However," the doctor starts with a small smile, "there is one more test we did run." Zach's and Rachel's heads snap up, eyes locking on to the doctor, yearning for some chance of a miracle. "The test is rather new, and it has an accuracy rate of 95% when it comes to determining quirk status. It's called the Halters-Boore exam and it works by calculating probabilities of individuals having quirks based on their family's quirks and generational numeral, and geographic location.

"The results show young Zack does have a weak quirk factor, but we just don't know what the quirk itself is. It is possible that the activation conditions for it are vague or unknown. For instance, a person's eyes can change color under an unknown spectrum of light. Or a person can breathe underwater for an extended amount of time, but only if the full moon is out. There have been cases like this where people do have the double toe joint and negative test results for a quirk, but many people go their entire lives without realizing their quirk. But don't give up hope," the doctor is quick to reassure, "he may just one day find out his quirk! Also, he is special. How many people can say they have a quirk so special they don't know what it is?"

With that weak justification, Zack feels his dreams fracture. Not quite broken, but they aren't whole anymore. But…how… how can I be special? How can I do anything to help people if I don't even know my quirk? What if it never comes? He starts thinking of the fallout of this day, one he so looked forward to. He might have a quirk, but he might never know what it is. No longer can he be a hero. No longer can he save people like he dreamt of for nearly half his life. He looks up to his mom and lets out a small gasp. Her jaw is stiff and she is biting down hard out of grief and anger.

"Thank you doctor. Please keep in touch."

"You as well." He gets up to shake her hand which she accepts with what professionalism she can manage. Then she gently grabs Zack's hand and leads him out of the examination room, which shuts behind them with a resounding thud.

As soon as Zach arrives home, he plops himself down on the living room floor in shock while his mom takes Alice to her crib upstairs. He just sits there, staring at the wall. After a few minutes, he starts shaking, letting out little cries, and fat tears start forming in his eyes. His mom comes down the stairs, eyes widening as she looks at him and immediately rushes towards him, enveloping her child in her arms as she skids on her knees to get to him.

"Oh no little bird don't cry," she coos, holding him to her chest. Zach continues sobbing, gripping the sides of his mom's shirt, tears and snot staining the brand new blue blouse. Despite the devastation in the moment, Rachel cracks a small smile. Ironically, the death of two things that day, the first being her son's dreams, and the second being the fabric of her shirt, is lost upon her bawling child. As quickly as the thought comes to her mind, it vanishes, and she turns her attention back to the distraught child on her lap. "It's not the end of the world sweetie," she says. You don't need a quirk to be special. You might get it later, just like the doctor said."

"Yes I do!" Zack screams out, his voice in visceral pain. "I want to be a hero! What kind of hero doesn't have a quirk?! Who can be a hero without even knowing their quirk."

At this, Rachel opens her mouth then closes it shut. She tries to think of an answer, half truth, a lie, anything to reassure her son. But for all the knowledge her quirk allows her to retain, she has no answer that can help. The only thing she can do is hold her son tighter as he doubled his crying.

Suddenly, the front door is unlocked and opened causing the pair to jump. "Honey I'm home! How are the kids," Kyle states as he walks through the hallway into the living room, looking down at his phone. His smile is visible as he comes into view, but upon seeing his family on the floor, it quickly drops. "What's wrong, what happened?" He questions, and walks up to his beloved wife and son.

Rachel bites her lip in dismay. "Honey, we got some bad news at the doctor today."

"What's wrong?" Kyle lowers himself into a crouch, putting one hand on his son's shoulder, and brings the other one up to ruffle his hair in comfort. Zack, in desperate need of said comfort, obliges his father and leans himself into his large warm hand, eyes closed from the stress he has experienced.

"Well, the doctor said that Zach has a weak quirk factor but they don't know what his quirk is. He is essentially quirkless."

Kyle freezes, and stops rubbing his son's head. Wondering at the halted motion, Zack opens his eyes and he looks up at his father's face. What he sees is a look has never seen on his father's face before. What usually portray jovial expressions, large grins, crinkled eyes from smiling and even tears after binging the occasional kdrama, now depicts visceral shock. His dad's eyes are wide, mouth open carelessly as he stares at his wife.

In his stupor, he unconsciously activates his quirk on his left hand gripping Zack's shoulder, increasing his muscle mass and slightly tightening his grip.

"Ow," Zack murmurs softly, not wanting to cause more upset as he has been the cause of enough already.

Rachel notices, and with her ever present maternal instincts, bats Kyle's hands away, shooting him a glare that would force mountains to crumble. Snapped out of his shock, Kyle shakes his head.

"I'm so sorry Zach I didn't mean to," he quickly apologizes, letting his hands hover close to his son, in fear of hurting him further.

Overlooking the accident, Zach quickly leans forward and hugs his father's midsection, pushing his head against his father's chest. "It's ok," he mutters, only caring for attention. His father, reassured, envelops his son's quivering body in his arms, and rests his chin on his child's mushroom cap hair.

Meanwhile, Rachel scoots behind Zack and completes the hug, momentarily enveloping the child from the hurtful real world.

"I just want to be a hero," Zack murmurs. "I want to help people."

At this, Kyle tilts his son's head up and looks at him, smiling gently. "You don't need to be a hero to help people. You can do that in other ways. Like being a politician. Or a lawyer like your dad," he adds on with a grin. "Just wait and see what you can do kid."

Zack swivels slightly to look at his mom, seeing her beams down at him, slightly nodding her head at her husband's good attempt to soften the blow of today.

Seemingly reassured, Zack gains back some of the hope he has lost in such a short time. Perhaps there would be a future for him. One where he could help people, even without a quirk. He might even get a quirk in the future! The doctor hasn't ruled it out yet.

Unfortunately, Zack was too young and shielded to realize the cruelty of this world. That people would judge you on quirks or lack thereof, even if no one had a decision in the matter. Blissfully unaware of this, Zack held his head a little higher, unknowing of the hardship wrought future that lay in store for him.

AN: Hello readers, it is I, AkaDeca. I hope you have enjoyed this first chapter. I have a lot more in store, I just need the time to refine my ideas before I post them. Please feel free to leave comments, and be sure to let me know if you would like to beta read.