Somewhere In Japan

A young boy will have his dreams crushed

It's a beautiful day outside, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a cool breeze permitted the air.

One might have thought it was a perfect day, a perfect day marred by the pained wails of a little boy.

"That's mean Kachan. Can't you see he's crying?"

The boy who uttered those words had green hair and a round non-violent face, his emerald eyes fighting back tears. The boy slowly raised his hands in an attempt to stop his friend.

"If you keep going. I-I-I'll never forgive you!" the green-haired boy yelled a show of both fear and defiance.

In front of the green-haired boy were three other boys, each his age, the leader had sandy blond hair and eyes that shone like rubies.

Behind him were two others, the blond kids' followers, each boy gained a malicious grin on their faces.

And for a brief moment, the three boys were replaced by others. People who were consumed by madness, one became a clown with decaying skin, its body mangled beyond reason, and yet it still stood. Another had wild long black hair and two swirling red vortexes for eyes and a golden halo floated over his head. The last one became naught but a silhouette of darkness, two neon read circles shining where its eyes are supposed to be. It was terrifying for the little boy.

Especially when the three lunged at him raining down constant blows, leaving him bruised and battered. And soon he was back, laying in soft grass that only seemed to magnify the pain he was in; the soft crying of someone in the background was the only thing he could hear.

Not all men are created equal

The same green-haired child from before watched in absolute glee at the video playing before him; On the screen was the debut of the world's greatest hero and the current Symbol of Peace.

All Might

The boy's smile widened and his eyes shone with excitement and pure awe as the hero came on screen, carrying a dozen people to safety away from the disaster behind him.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA"

But the most astounding thing was the Hero was laughing and held a full-fledged smile on his face.

"It's fine now. Why?"

The boy watched on in anticipation as All Might said the first words of his now-signature catchphrase.

"Because I'm here."

The boy was blown away by the simple yet reassuring words, despite having seen the video dozens if not hundreds of times the words never failed to fill him with unending joy.

The boy with All Might Action figure in hand raised a fist towards the ceiling, childish glee spreading throughout every fiber of his being.

"He's so cool! Once I get my Quirk, I wanna be like him, too!"

"You should probably give up."

Izuku felt like he had been punched in the gut, he could barely focus on what was around him and the ringing in his ears tuned out the conversation between the doctor and his mom.

He wanted to throw up, he wanted to get and run away; run as fast as his legs could take him, run away from the truth.

But he remained glued to the seat he was on, he couldn't move as if he was stuck in time.

And soon his vision became fuzzy and he was standing somewhere, it was loud and people were dancing in front of him. He wondered why he was there, and he pulled up this thing in his hand and pointed it at a man wearing a weird mask.

He was broken out of his daydream when he heard his mommy call him.

"Come on Izuku, let's go."

She held out her hand, whilst she glared at the apathetic doctor.

He grabbed her hand and followed her, unshed tears threatening to burst from his eyes.

Once the mother and son had left the doctor grabbed his goggles and took them off and sighed.

The tired-looking doctor rubbed his face and set about to make another cup of coffee.

"I hate this job." The doctor said to no one, in particular, he hated being the bad guy for crushing a kid's hopes and dreams, he hated even more how often he had to do so.

He became a doctor so he could help people, not to tell his patients that they couldn't be helped.

By year-end, he would retire and finally be done with this soul-crushing job. Maybe buy a condo near the beach, that would be nice.

He looked over the list of appointments for today and felt a headache come along.

Another Quirkless kid, two in a row, it's as if the universe really wanted to make him suffer for his sins, once again he donned his goggles and prepared his mask to try and make it easier on himself for when he ruined another child's dreams.

By god did he hate this job.

Izuku watched his favorite video, the one that seldom failed to brighten up his day.

Almost

Izuku silently shed tears as he watched his idol, knowing deep down that he could never be like him.

"Kaa-san" he weakly called out for the only other person in the room.

"He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they're in…" Inko turned to the chair her son was sitting in, the video was paused but he still faced the screen.

"He's such a cool hero…" the young boy sounded defeated, almost depressed.

The boy finally turned towards his mother, his eyes filled with unshed tears, his voice quivering, on the verge of breaking. Inko couldn't bear seeing her precious baby boy like this and soon her eyes began to well up with tears.

"Can I… Be a Hero too?" the boy sounded like he was on the verge of crying, he pointed a shaky finger towards the paused video

Slowly Inko walked towards the most important person in her life before wrapping him up in a tight hug, one he didn't return.

"I'm sorry Izuku. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"

Both Midoriya's broke down crying, Izuku's tears were far more silent than his mother's.

In a world where a person gets beaten down again and again and not even your own flesh and blood believe in you. Anyone would be at least a little mad; after all can you call yourself sane if you aren't at least a little bit crazy?

"Pro's are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say, 'You can become a hero without power."

Once again his dreams had been crushed up and ripped to shreds. Izuku hoped that All Might would tell him what he always wanted to hear, but a cynical part of him told him he was an idiot for having those expectations.

The now skinny All Might was talking about something but Izuku could barely listen to the Hero. A part of him felt like he was disrespecting the hero by not listening, but the ringing in his ears made it impossible to do otherwise.

He was brought out of his head when the door to the roof slammed shut, Izuku looked around and found that All Might had left.

Izuku felt sluggish, he couldn't move, he didn't want to.

'Maybe if you took a nosedive off a building you'd get a Quirk in your next life.'

Kachan's words rang throughout his head, repeating itself constantly. He looked at the safety rail of the building, 'Maybe…'

Suddenly Tv static surrounded him, becoming the only thing he could hear or see. The entire world was not important, what was the message the static had for him. A message much like every other message it brought forgotten shortly after.

FIGHT

KILL

SURVIVE

DIE

REPEAT

Soon the static was gone and in its departure left a confused Izuku wondering what the hell just happened.

His thoughts were interrupted by an explosion off in the distance. "A Villian!"

He started to jog towards the door but stopped halfway, 'What am I thinking? It's just some stupid dream.'

He opened the door and began to walk towards the elevator, though at a more sluggish pace than usual, perhaps it's the disappointment at being shot down by his Idol.

Though he couldn't blame All Might, deep down he knew his dream would never happen; he just kept denying the truth.

Before Izuku knew it he was walking out of the building and began to wander around aimlessly. With no direction insight, his body went and autopilot, his mind spent repeating the same words over and over again.

'Is this where the explosion from earlier came from.'

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts at the explosion nearby and realized just where he was, 'Hang on, does that mean I came out of habit without noticing? I really am pathetic aren't I'

He looked at the gathered crowd and shrugged, 'might as well. After all, what's the worst that could happen?'

As Izuku neared the crowd his eyes widened at the sight of it, of the sludge monster that had almost killed him.

He covered his mouth almost instantly, fear welled up inside him, he stood still like a deer caught in the headlights as he looked at the Villian in the destroyed Alleyway.

"Why aren't the Pro's doing anything?!"

"Haven't you heard? The Villain has taken some junior high schooler as a hostage."

"Not only that the Kid it's got hostage, but his quirk is also acting up, it's a fucking minefield in there."

Izuku's fear increased tenfold as he heard the talking between the people around him.

'This is his fault'

"This is my fault" his voice was an inaudible whisper

'If only I hadn't latched onto All Might this wouldn't have happened.'

"Hey isn't that the Villain All Might was chasing earlier!"

"Wait seriously!? All Mights Here?!"

"If he's here then why isn't he doing anything?"

'It's his fault All Might couldn't show up.'

Izuku's grip on his mouth got tighter, his fault, his fault, his fault. Izuku couldn't believe that he was so selfish if he hadn't been born none of this would have happened.

If his mom gave birth to someone other than him, someone who had a Quirk then maybe his father wouldn't have left the Inko; Then his mom wouldn't have to work two jobs to support herself and her useless son, then he wouldn't have been bullied and mocked by every person he met; then this villain wouldn't have terrorized someone who didn't deserve it.

He looked up at the Villain once more and saw the hostage for a split second.

He saw the hostage's eye's pleading for help.

He saw Kachan's eyes pleading for help.

Without a single thought, he ran towards the Villain. Even as fear seeped into him he didn't stop and continued his charge towards the villain keeping his only friend hostage.

The sheer surprise the hero's felt at seeing the boy caused them to look on in shock and horror as the young boy ran into certain death.

"IDIOT!STOP!"

"STOOOOOP!"

Death Arms tried to grab the boy and stop him from needlessly throwing his life away. Unfortunately, the Pro was too slow.

Izuku couldn't stop, he had to save Kachan.

It was then that the slime villain noticed the green-haired boy sprinting towards him.

"That brat…"

"Deku"

'Why did I run out? I can't save Kachan, so why am I running towards the Villain?'

The Slime villain reared his fist ready to kill the brat that dared to get close to him.

"DIE!"

'What do I do! What Do I DO!'

What comes Natural

The teenager grabbed his backpack and with adrenaline pumping through his veins he threw it with as much strength he could muster in his young body.

In this one moment fate seemed to be on his side as a soda can managed to poke one of the villain's eyes causing said villain to momentarily stop its attack.

This distraction on the villain's part allowed Katsuki to finally be able to breathe.

"Kachan!"

Izuku began to claw away at the sludge hoping to free his former friend, but deep down he knew he wouldn't be able to do so.

"Why are you here, Deku!?"

"My legs moved on their own! I don't know why though!"

It was a good question, one Izuku didn't know the answer to, why did he rush to Kachan's aid, there were multiple reasons he was sure, he just couldn't find out what they were.

"It looked like you were asking for help." his voice on the verge of breaking as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Enough of this!"

"NO!" a last desperate plea and leap from the gathered heroes as they tried to save the young boy. However, they were too slow.

The Villain no longer dazed backhanded the young boy, breaking Izuku's right arm in over a dozen places, dislocating his shoulder, breaking half of his ribs, and almost collapsing the poor boy's lungs as well as sending the boy on a collision course heading towards a still-standing concrete pillar.

The violence caused most of the crowd to gasp in shock and horror and caused others to look away in a feeble attempt to shield their eyes from what was about to happen.

Izuku's life flashed before his eyes, every single moment, everything that brought him joy and everything filled his eyes with tears.

And the most prevalent thing running through his mind was a single thought 'NO! I don't want to die!' He wanted to go home and be with his mom, he wanted his father to come back home and tell him he was proud of him. He didn't want to die!

However, as fate would have it his life did not meet an untimely end. Instead of becoming a red stain of the concrete, he was caught in the gentle hold of his idol.

"I truly am pathetic."

All Might.

"I scold you on what it means to be a hero, yet I don't follow my own teachings. And on top of that, I have failed you."

All Might handed the wounded boy to Death Arms, who still looked shocked at the Number one's presence.

Faster than anyone's eyes could track All Might sped towards the Villain.

Fear shining in the sludge monster's eyes.

All Might blocked a wild swing from the sewer creature and with his other hand grabbed onto Katsuki and freed him from the Villains grasp with a simple tug.

All Might his signature smile on his face reared back his fist.

"Pros are always risking their lives!"

"All Might!"

At the same time, the Mucus villain raised a tentacle to try and strike the Hero first but it was too slow to deal with the speed and power of All Mights punch.

"Detroit Smash!"

The resulting punch was so powerful that it caused the sludge villain to explode on contact. The wind pressure created by the punch was felt throughout the alleyway and on neighboring streets.

In fact, the Wind Pressure created by All Mights Punch was so great that it created a tornado above the Alleyway that lasted for a full minute.

Everyone gathered there watched the All Might in shock and awe at the immense power he exhibited.

Soon after a drizzle began to shower on all those in the Alley.

"Huh, rain?"

The shock and awe in the alley were multiplied by ten as everyone present realized what All Might had just done.

"He created rain"

"Was it because of the wind pressure?"

Death Arms looked at the forming clouds confusion written all over his face. 'He made… clouds… ?'

Izuku was just glad he was conscious enough to witness All Might in all his glory, "He's so cool."

The last thing Izuku heard was Death Arms calling for an Ambulance before he drifted into unconsciousness.

Izuku felt warm. Not the wired kind of warm, but… fuzzy. Like he was in a soft blanket or he was being hugged by his mom.

It felt nice to be told, he wanted to stay like this forever.

But all good things must come to an end, and his comfort was interrupted when two invisible hands clamped down on his ankles and before he could formulate a thought he was suddenly dragged away into the never-ending void that had suddenly formed around him.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

He flung about trying to grab onto something, anything to try and stop his sudden flight.

He got his wish when he slammed into an invisible wall, the air in his body being suddenly knocked out of him, his entire body hurt and it was a struggle to regain his breath.

How he was still alive he didn't know; slowly he forced himself up from his prone position and stood up.

He looked around at the empty void, looking for any way out of the place.

After looking around for what felt like an eternity he found that the void wasn't so empty after all.

The reason for this revelation was the two almost minuscule red circles off in the distance.

He looked at them for a while and he felt panic rise within him at the realization that the red circles were getting bigger every passing second.

He tried to run but his body refused to move as if he was paralyzed by fear.

He was hit with his third realization, that the red circles were eyes, and those eyes belonged to a monstrous-looking person.

Izuku couldn't see what it truly looked like due to the darkness of the void, all he knew about the Monster was that it was big, bigger than even All Might.

The worst part about the comparison is that the thing was moving as fast, if not faster than All Might.

Even if he could move his body Izuku doubted he'd be able to outrun the monster.

Soon the thing leaped towards Izuku, easily clearing whatever distance remained between the two, Izuku closed his eyes hoping that his death would be a quick one.

… But it never came.

Izuku opened his eyes and looked for the thing, but when he didn't see it anywhere relief flooded his bruised body.

Relief turned into sudden non-stop pain as he felt his right arm begin to swell up, boils and pus infected wounds appearing all across the limb.

Blood and pus leaked out of the arm in droves leaving a puddle of infected bodily fluids underneath the young boy.

Slowly but surely the arm began to decay, leaving Izuku to look at his arm in horror as it began to rot before his very eyes.

Pus and blood were replaced by a rancid smelling greenish fluid, and the boils began to split open and fall off leaving necrotic flesh in its stead.

Soon the entire arm looked like it had been plucked out of a cemetery.

Izuku began to throw up on the floor in front of him, the vomit mixing with the decayed blood and pus.

Slowly the boy stepped away from the puddle of rancid smelling bodily fluids.

He looked at his zombie-like appendage hanging limply at his right side and hoped that the worst had come to pass.

Oh, how wrong he was.

He felt pressure beginning to build up behind his eyes.

It felt like something was trying to squeeze them out.

He dropped to his knees gasping in pain, his visions getting blurry by the second.

He felt like his eyes were going to explode out of his head.

POP

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

He couldn't see, HE COULDN'T SEE.

Izuku tried to cry but tears wouldn't show up, he couldn't.

Why was this happening?

Please, just make it stop!

SUBJECT ADJUSTMENTS: COMPLETE

IMPROBABILITY ENERGY: INITIATED

MADNESS… ACQUIRED

And with that, he finally woke up.

"Well how about that, he's waking up."

A voice he'd never heard before spoke up, who the person was talking to he didn't know.

As Izuku slowly gained consciousness, he found that for some reason he couldn't see.

He began to panic, had he become blind!?

"Midoriya-kun I need you to open your eyes, alright, you're fine."

The same voice from before spoke up again

Oh, that's why he couldn't see.

Izuku felt a blush of embarrassment creep upon his face.

Slowly he began to open his eyes, his vision felt blurry, his throat was dry and scratchy, and he felt incredibly hungry.

"That's it Midoriya-kun open your eyes and-"

The doctor suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked at the teenager with a mix of confusion and horror.

Besides the doctor was a young-looking nurse who looked at the young boy with fear evident on her face. Soon the nurse passed out and fell to the floor.

The wizened doctor didn't notice that his colleague had fallen to the floor, enraptured by the boy's eyes.

Izuku felt confused as to why the two other people in the room looked at him like he was some wild tiger that escaped its zoo cage and began to terrorize the streets.

He didn't understand why they looked at him with fear, he didn't understand until he saw his reflection of the metal table next to him.

His eyes… they're gone.

Instead of the emerald green eyes, he had with him for almost every day of his life.

There were two blood-red vortexes, each giving off an eerie glow as the reflection of his face stared back at him.

It only then did he understand why; with that understanding, Izuku screamed.