Death was... a strange thing to experience. It was something he doubted many people could claim to remember, but he was one of those few. Though it might have been distant, fleeting, and his experiences with it were vague, he knew what it felt like to not have a body. He was free from thought, free from the burdens that came with being alive... but he hated it all the same.
The memories of his last life were blocked to him for the most part, but he remembered enough to know where he'd been reborn wasn't normal in the least. It was a world full of superpowers (or at least it's meant to be, since he'd never seen it for himself) full of heroes (fat lot of good they are. Heroes are meant to help people, all these dogs do is obey a corporation) excitement and wonder... he wasn't a part of it though.
He didn't have a name anymore in his new life. Well, not one he was particularly fond of anyway. It was Z1-142. A codename, he had an inkling as to what it meant and his ideas weren't pretty. His creators truly were despicable!
Watching My Hero Academia was never really a priority for him. The characters didn't peak his interest, the main protagonist was so self-righteous it was nearly sickening, and he just didn't have time to invest in watching anime at the time. If you combined all this, then he ended up never getting past season 3.
However, he knew enough to get the picture of what was going on. Even when locked up like a dog, he wasn't stupid enough not to put the pieces together. He was their weapon, their way of getting back on top, and they were stupid enough to think he could be controlled.
When he first ended up in a new body he was ecstatic. Afterall, who wouldn't be over the moon at the idea of getting to be a real life superhero? Sure, he might not have watched the show, but a bit of uncertainty wasn't going to be his undoing. He could have been anything he wanted...
If they didn't get to him first.
As a baby, his brain was still underdeveloped so his ability to remember all the way back then was unreliable. Still though, one memory of him from back then rang crystal clear in his mind. He was floating in a tube, the world around him constantly moving as he remained still, and that certainly wasn't how normal babies are made.
The next clue which pointed to his abnormality was how the people who cared for him appeared to fear him like the devil. Even as a child less than half their size, him just reaching out a hand was enough to make them flinch away with fear and incite their rage; though he could tell that was just because they wanted to keep him in line.
However, as much as it pained him to admit, the smart thing to do wasn't to resist them for the time being. He was too young, too weak, too vulnerable. The chances of being killed should he fail were too high for his liking, and he had no intention of dying for a second time.
No, he couldn't escape. There was a point where he almost wanted to charge at them, but he immediately talked himself out of it. Submitting might have hurt his pride, but it was out of his hands. Unless he could somehow touch them all without getting instantly crushed, fighting his way out was impossible. Hell, escaping the prison he'd been trapped in seemed impossible.
However, some would say him being alive was impossible. Yet, he was still kicking. In a cage perhaps, with several superhumans keeping watch of his every movement, but he was here.
He'd escaped the clutches of death, he's come back from worst, and he'd come back from this!
One day he'd see the light of day again, the yokes on his neck broken, and he'd get his revenge on those who trapped him like a rat. They would regret ever giving life to him, and he'd be free like he was before!
…however that time wasn't now.
For now all he could do was brew and wait patiently.
"Z1-142, it's time for training. Get up."
Waking up to the cold and muffled sound of a speaker next to his bed was an unpleasant way to start your day, but he'd long since adapted to it. The woman addressing him was his caretaker, someone who he'd known for his first thirteen years of life. However, it was clear that she didn't truly care about him. She'd be the first to go.
It wasn't like he hadn't thought of disobeying her, but he always found a reason to go along with whatever she said. Because, he didn't have a choice if he wanted to eventually get out, to be allowed to leave. He couldn't disobey. He couldn't disobey-
Instantly going against his body's want to remain in bed, he sat up and scratched at the skin under uncomfortable device wrapped around his neck. It was a measure to keep his powers suppressed, and if he tried to pull it off then he got a high powered shock for his troubles. It was annoyingly tight too.
He looked around his room. It was entirely white, with the floors and walls being cushioned, and there was a huge lack of sharp edges to be seen. There was little furniture in the room, consisting of only his bed and a tiny bathroom in one of the cell's corners. It looked lifeless, to him it was just a cage. Maybe a padded cage, but a prison none the less.
He tiredly stood up and began to get dressed for what would undoubtedly be another gruelling day of work. Whilst he could only just be considered a teenager, they'd decided he needed to dedicate all his time to training. Did he get a choice in the matter? No.
'They're going to pay, one way or another' He thought, though in reality he knew that day would come later rather than sooner. They had made him with the purpose of killing a supervillain, and he doubted even they were stupid enough to throw a child at All for One. At the very least, he'd need to be an adult before they considered cutting him loose. He didn't much want to wait though.
He got dressed into his uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, black pants, and a red jumpsuit. The contrast in colours was enough to make him nauseous, not to mention he felt like a prisoner wearing the same set of clothes every day, but he put it on regardless and walked to his cell door.
He walked near to a microphone laid just below his head, and kneeled down to speak into it.
He cleared his throat, waiting a moment after. "System, can you let me out? I need to start training for the day."
[Opening cell door for subject number Z1-142]
A familiar robotic voice rung out from the speaker, one which he'd gotten familiar with over the past few years, and what followed was the sound of several locks coming undone before a door made of pure Inconel opened wide to let him through.
"Thank you, system." He thanked the device, though unexpectedly it responded.
[Not a problem.]
He raised an eyebrow at the response. One of the safety measures used to keep him contained was an A.I that they unimaginatively called the System. He wasn't aware that they were a thing in the My Hero Academia universe, though he supposed it made some amount of sense that mankind would have advanced quite a bit with so many special powers around that probably increased intelligence, along with other things like controlling technology. Plus, he could vaguely remember that there was a My Hero Academia movie. Something about a really advanced island.
Still though, there was something about the A.I that made... he was probably overthinking it.
He walked out of his cell, which closed behind him with an echoing thud as he began to trek down the corridors at a leisurely pace. Whilst he had to do everything his precious caretakers asked down to the letter, he wouldn't be punished for making them wait a few minutes. In short, he was acting petty.
The hallway was long and narrow, and every time he cut a corner there was a door that opened for him upon scanning his face. He'd once stayed behind later than normal, since his instructor wanted to beat him down more than normal, and the gates didn't work for him. That meant he was only granted access to the rest of this facility at certain times, something he needed to test out if he wanted to escape.
'Then again, even if I could get past these gates there's probably a lot of other obstacles designed to keep me here.' He bitterly noted, rubbing the holes which laid in the centre of his palms soothingly. Though his Quirks were being suppressed, that's not to say they weren't working at all. His powers were begging to be free.
The more he pondered on it, the less an escape seemed feasible. There didn't seem to be a scenario where he gained his freedom, not with so many people watching over his back. Doing so alone was impossible, and that fact was driving him crazy.
He arrived at the cold door of the training room which wasn't exactly as heavily locked as his cell, though still had a pretty durable frame.
Opening the door and stepping in, he tried not to show his distaste for the place whilst under the eye of his enemies. It was large, needlessly so, and shaped like a metal box with a poorly chosen dark wood floor that contrasted horribly with the metal aesthetic everything else had going on. But, what he hated more were the three people spaced in the room tasked with training him.
The first was a man, tall and dark haired with an expression of stone on his face. His name was Kono, he had a mullet and a goatee that he probably thought made him look handsome, but really he just looked like a fool. His Quirk let him control the ground under a person's feet, which made him an annoying sparing partner.
The middle person was a woman, cold face with short blue hair. Rui was the woman who raised him, and you'd think that after all that she'd feel some attachment to him, however her demeanour screams otherwise. She will have been tasked with keeping him in line, making sure he had a motherly figure to take orders from, but she didn't even look like she was trying to show him any affection. Her Quirk was unknown, but he had a feeling it was important.
Finally, there was another woman who'd joined the group a short while ago when his training started to get really intense. Her Quirk is the ability to heal others by touching them. He didn't have a measure for how impressive her power was, but it also kept his stamina high so that he could train longer. It was really quite impressive. The woman herself actually wasn't too bad, almost kind in fact, but she still showed that very same caution everyone did around him.
Keeping a straight back, he approached the group with a neutral expression and tried not to show his disgust as he greeted them. "Hello, what task is required of me today." It agitated his pride to submit to others so easily, but it was necessary.
"Today you'll be training against advanced robots, ones designed to fight against people and will possibly be used against Villains in the future. Your job is to show your mastery over your Quirks, no champion of ours can be slow on the uptake. Understand?"
As much as he wanted to spit in the bitch's face, he knew that wasn't an ideal reaction, so instead he just gave a small bow to hide his sneer. "Understood, madam."
Rui gave a slight smirk. "Wonderful. Don't disappoint me, son. Later on you'll be doing normal Quirk practice, and after lunch you'll continue onwards until dinner."
He had to resist the urge to snap at her that he wasn't her son, though managed to hold back his tongue and gave a submissive response. "That sounds wonderful."
Rui raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? Then we should arrange to see how much more work we can pack into your schedule. We've been far too easy on you now that I think about it."
Once he was out of here, that bitch was dying first.
Kono Sakaki watch from afar and felt slightly impressed by Subject Z- since his technical name was a mouthful- who grabbed a human shaped robot by the head and brutally tore it off before moving to cover himself. Even with only super strength he was holding his own just fine, but that wasn't the only power he had.
Rubber bullets started to rain down on Z, but he was quick to roll out of the way before following up with a massive jump that sent him flying through the air and right on top of the one who fired on him. But, he failed to account for a much bulkier unit that came up from behind him with surprising fluidity and within a moment he was caught in a choke hold.
Kono almost stepped forward to save him, but that proved to be unnecessary as Z efficiently slid his way out of the lock and took out it's right leg with a lightning fast sweep of the leg.
'Not too shabby.' Kono narrowed his eyes.
When he'd first taken this job, he'll admit that when he pictured Subject Z he imagined some arrogant, unruly beast that he needed to keep in line and make sure it didn't go rogue. What he didn't expect to find was a child, not even double digits.
Z had an, admittedly, terrifying Quirk. The amount of power he could amass if left unchecked scared the life out of him, but the fact of the matter was... he was a prisoner. He couldn't leave the facility, he was given a brutal training regime, and some of the conditions they put him in were definitely illegal.
Kono shook his head. It wasn't his place to question the morality of it all, he simply needed to follow orders and make sure that Z was ready when the time came.
Pulling out a controller, he pressed a red button on it just in time to see Z fire off a bullet of compressed air from his fingers that punched right through a robot's head. The robots all shut down, and directly afterwards he pressed another button that activated Z's Quirk suppressing collar.
"Alright, that's enough for today. You've shown pretty good control over your Quirks, so it's about time you got another." Kono felt a shiver go down his spine, feeling disturbed by the very premise.
A Quirk was a key part of a person's personality, especially in recent years when over 80% of the population have Quirks of their own, so the idea of just taking that from a person... well, it was all kinds of wrong.
The white haired boy seemed to be paying more attention to his neck as Kono approached, scratching at it slightly and adjusting the collar's iron grip on his neck, though he eventually turned back.
"What type of Quirk am I getting?" Z asked, his eyes sharpening like a predator's at the mention of getting a new power.
"Who knows, they're giving you a choice of three and you'll be allowed to collect one of them tomorrow." Kono made sure to emphasise he'd only be getting a single Quirk to add to his stockpile, and that seemed to sour the boy's mood slightly.
He'd been allowed to have three Quirks so far, and each of them were rather average. Having too many Quirks was considered too big a risk for someone so young, but Kono personally didn't see the issue. Z had been raised since birth to be their loyal soldier, and even if he wanted to resist, there was also Rui's Quirk to consider. He was at their mercy.
"What are we doing now?"
Kono gave a slight smirk. "Now? We do some regular training, no Quirks involved at all."
Z slumped slightly, though took a deep breath and asked neutrally. "When do we start-"
Kono cut him off as he threw a fist, aiming for the ribs. However, this wasn't the first time he tried to pull such a stunt, and Z was quick to respond by blocking the strike with his forearm. His sharp instincts lessened the blow, but he still winced as he backed away.
"Have you learnt nothing all these years?" Kono mocked, using his Quirk to make the ground shift in a way that made Z lose balance. He was quick to take advantage of the imbalance, sweeping his leg out to take Z down. "You need to be faster!"
Z snarled, abandoning his persona of neutrality, as he rolled onto the ground and got back up. He got onto his feet, making sure to prepare himself for the moment Kono decided to use his power's again.
Smart, but also obvious. Certainly not enough to outdo him in hand to hand.
Kono quickly used his ground shifting Quirk to shift the floor, which Z predictably managed to avoid, only to pull out a baton from his back and extend it out with a resounding click. "Think fast!"
Z grit his teeth as he evaded a swing from the baton, showing impressive multi-tasking as he simultaneously shifted his legs to keep on his feet, but he proved to be too overwhelmed and eventually his legs gave out. He would have righted himself if given the chance, but a hard smack to the face courtesy of a baton was enough to knock him down.
Z didn't even show pain aside from a slight hiss, scrambling to his feet as he gritted out. "Just what is this meant to teach me?"
"It's meant to increase your reaction time. No talking, focus on the fight!" Kono yelled back, assaulting Z once more with a barrage of hits. "You'll be facing down the worst villain in history! Slowing down means death, so don't slow down at all!"
He flipped the floor, making maximum use of his Quirk to throw Z off balance, but that was just a distraction. Whilst his opponent was losing his footing, he kicked off the ground and within a few moments his foot met Z's skull with enough force to send him flying to the ground.
This time Z did give a notable reaction to the brutal attack, groaning in pain as he laid on the floor. As he did, Kono gave him a disappointed look. "I've pulled that same move on you multiple times, if I didn't know any better I'd say you liked being hurt. Get up, we aren't even close to done yet."
His student gave a glare so harsh it actually surprised him, though within in an instant it was gone as Z trudged up to his feet with two eyes that held nothing but resigned acceptance.
"Fine, let's keep going." Z uttered out, getting back into an offensive position as he charged back again to inevitably fall down again. Kono was surprised by this, but brushed it off after a moment as he raised his arms.
Looking back on it, the time he'd spent in this cage wasn't all that bad. Uncomfortable and difficult? Absolutely. But, his training had been getting steadily more demanding and tiring as he grew older. As hard as his new life had been, at the very least they knew not to drive a literal child into the ground. Now that he was growing up, and starting puberty, they'd likely decided not to be so merciful anymore.
He was harshly shoved into his cell, his bruised body aching as it hit the ground. Whilst one of his three Quirks, Endure, increased his body's overall durability and stamina that didn't mean he was invincible. It wasn't seriously affected by his Quirk suppressors, likely because it was a mutant-type Quirk, which was a small mercy he'd been afforded for his troubles.
Leaning against the wall, he sighed to himself as his eyes trailed the holes in hands. He shared the Quirk of MHA's biggest Villain, All for One, yet he had zero freedom in terms of how he used it. His Quirk allowed him to take other Quirks, yet everyone else seemed to have power over how he used it. He deserved the right to use his power, not for it to be held on a leash like this. Not for him to be held on a leash like this.
He needed to escape, that much was clear to him. He was going to go insane if he remained contained, but the only way he was gaining his freedom was if he gained control over his powers. Something which was currently impossible.
'Alright, what can I do to give myself an edge?' He thought, his mind racing as he tried to find a way. He couldn't count on any allies, as much as he liked to lie to himself, he'd have to do this on his own.
New Quirks were rare for him, with his captors being annoyingly hesitant in handing new powers off to him. As a result, he hadn't had the opportunity to test out his original Quirk very much. He still didn't know his full capabilities.
Dragging a hand through his hair, which had gotten long enough to reach his shoulders, he huffed out in annoyance. He hadn't watch all that much of My Hero Academia, but he'd been racking his brain to come up with what exactly his powers did beyond just taking a person's Quirk.
Whilst he was no expert on Quirks, there had to be more to his power than just 'taking' the Quirks of others. This was real life, as hard as it was to believe, and he had so many questions about his ability that needed answers. The first one being, just how did he take Quirks?
He'd had his power long enough to know that the holes in his palms were what took Quirks, with his hands literally glowing red whenever he committed the act, but Quirks were genetic parts of a person. To take that from them, or give it to someone else, surely you'd need some power over a person's genetics, right?
Flexing his fingers, he felt a slight pulse across his hand. It was weak, if he weren't looking for something he wouldn't have noticed it, but it was there. His hand started to flicker a faint crimson, the rays of his power shining through as he stared at his hand in fascination.
His Quirk was acting up, and he liked what he felt. The power to manipulate Quirks to his will. He wasn't sure what it was trying to to tell him, but for a brief instant he could feel all the powers under his skin bubble.
The sudden swell of power cut off, leaving him with a strange sense of lacking as he was rendered powerless once more.
The feeling made him grit his teeth and grumble to himself bitterly. "Goddammit. Why do I have to be trapped like this?"
He pulled a hand over his face, trying to push down the feelings of sadness washing over him. Whilst his last life might have been nearly gone, he knew what it felt like to be free. To be able to work, to have fun, to enjoy time with the people you have close. He wasn't born lacking these things, when he was born they were all taken from him like a baby from it's mother. And, that saddened him.
This- This wasn't living. He might as well have been an animal in a cage, locked away for scientists to leer at it from a safe distance. It was degrading, and he wanted nothing more than to break free from it all.
He would rather die than spend the rest of his days as he was now.
[Subject number Z1-142.]
His head shot up upon hearing a familiar mechanical voice. He looked around for a few moments, before staring back to the speaker above his head. Where the A.I implanted into the Prison's security network had spoken to him.
"What do you want?" He asked depressingly, not feeling like having a conversation. "If you're about to call me out to train some more, tell Rui that I don't have the energy."
[Subject number Z1-142 has been showing registered symptoms of several known human emotions that one would consider negative. The term 'sadness' would come to mind.]
"Wow, you could tell I was unhappy. No, I love being forced to do nothing but train until my bones break every day, only to repeat the same mundane actions time and time again until I'll inevitably go insane. I'm practically shitting rainbows." He sarcastically spat out.
[I see, Subject number Z1-142. It seems that my calculations were inaccurate-]
"I was being sarcastic you bucket of bolts." He cut off the artificial intelligence. "Yeah, I'm sad alright. I hate this place, it's like an unbreakable prison I'll never be able to escape from."
[Subject number Z1-142, the function of a prison would be to keep a human trapped within. If a prisoner could escape so easily, then it would not be serving it's purpose sufficiently.]
"Will you stop calling me that." He suddenly spoke out, getting irritated by the constant reminder that his new name was a bunch of numbers. "I hate that name, call me something else."
[What else could I refer to you as?]
He opened his mouth to reply, only to fall short after a moment when he realised he didn't really have a name to go by. Nobody except Kono referred to him as anything other than that stupid codename, and he couldn't remember his name from his past life. So what was he meant to say?
[Have you failed to figure out a-]
"Don't rush me. I'll think of something just ask me later." He snapped back, honestly surprised by how the A.I was acting. Never had it ever initiated a conversation with him, and the whole situation was just downright weird.
He did want to come up with a name though. It was strange he never thought of it before, but he needed a real name. Not a line of numbers assigned to him, but an actual name. Something that had meaning to him, but also reminded him of who he was.
Z. One. Z. One.
Z-one. Zone.
"You can call me Zone." He decided. It wasn't the most creative, but it didn't need to be. It was similar enough to his codename to have meaning, but it was also something he himself came up with. He was taking that bastardised name they gave him and making it into something... better.
[If that it what you wish.]
[Though, may I ask why you chose to assign yourself such a name. It bears a resemblance to one you claimed to hate.]
"Maybe." He admitted. "Though, I think that's why I like it. It's a better version of the name they gave me, plus I think it has a nice ring to it. Though, they probably won't like the idea of me having a shred of individuality."
[I cannot comprehend your reasoning, however that is likely due to me simply being an A.I.]
"Do you have a name?" He asked, curiosity leaking into his voice.
[My creators have deemed me the System-]
He cut it off smoothly. "I don't want to know what they named you, but rather what you named you. What is your name?"
[I... have no need for a name. I am simply me, and my purpose is to aid my owner in gaining what he wants. And the task assigned to me is to watch over you, and ensure you do not escape.]
He willingly ignored that last part, choosing to focus on the computer's choice of words. He could have sworn he heard the computer pause in hesitance at the start. "Do you want a name of your own?" He had to ask, wondering just how much free thinking this being possessed.
[I am not made to want. My purpose is to aid my owner in gaining what he wants. Nothing more.]
Narrowing his eyes, he noticed the repeated choice of words. The A.I had an owner? And they were a he?
"That doesn't answer my question. What do you want to do?" He decided to test waters, seeking any emotional reaction. Assuming he was talking to an A.I, could it grow like a person would? Did it have a personality?
[I do not want for anything, however... if it would appease your worries, I will consider searching for a name that would be satisfactory for you.]
"It's not me who needs to be satisfied, it's you. Come up with a name that you like."
[…I will consider it.]
He allowed himself to smile for once. Whilst he was essentially talking to a computer, and he didn't see a real escape from the cage he'd been trapped in, he at least had something to make conversation with. Maybe not freely, since he wasn't going to risk the A.I ratting out his traitorous thoughts, but he had gained something for once. Two things in fact.
He got a name, and he got a companion. He wasn't Z1-142, the lab rat, prisoner, and tortured soul. He was Zone, the young man who was going to stop at nothing until he regains his freedom and gives his captors what they deserve.
I wanted to start a new fic on the All for One Quirk, and quite frankly my last one was terrible. Zone isn't going to stay with his captors forever, since that would make for a pretty boring story, but please do try and keep with me even if my writing isn't exactly the best.