A new story. Something I've been working on for a bit by now.

There is no shortage of fics where Izuku awakens his own Quirk. Sometimes it is something awesome. Other times, it is something that he needs to make awesome.

In this one? It is a bit of both.

On the outskirts of Musutafu, there is a patch of land cut off by the wired fences and rotting walls known as Debaron Forest.

Its numerous apartment compleses were converted into shelters when Quirks first emerged. It was far enough from the center of the city that it bought the fleeing citizens the days of peace and rest.

As chaos washed over the prefecture like a tidal wave, it too was abandoned. Unlike the other parts of the city, its distance and lack of any important production or cultural value meant that it had a lower priority in restoration.

Years turned decades. The streets were overrun with plants and whatever critters decided to leave here.

These days, the only people who lived here were the homeless or the criminals.

Which is why Kyouka wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Seriously, haven't you guys got enough footage already?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dokomo groaned. "We haven't seen anything good yet! How am I supposed to build my channel if all I show people some boring trees and a few old shacks?"

"What's the matter, Jirou?" Junko grinned. "Afraid of the ghosts?"

Yes.

"No," she scoffed. "I just got better things to do at home."

Practicing her guitar, training her Quirk or just mindlessly browsing through the Q-Tube. Anything would have been better than aimlessly marching through the haunted forest. She didn't believe in the ghosts or monsters. But she didn't want to risk running into whoever was crazy or desperate enough to hide here.

Still, these were her friends and her Quirk could alert her of anyone approaching.

"Holy shit!" Dokomo's cry echoed from ahead. It was an excited cry, thankfully. "Guys, get over here! Hurry!"

The two exchanged a cautious glance before following after the voice. The trees and bushes ended suddenly and abruptly, almost as if the plant life just decided to stop here. Kyouka noticed the strange burn marks around the area. Weird.

But not as weird as the apartment complex standing in the middle of it. It was relatively small, just six stories high. It was old, its grey walls dusty and dirty. But it was not abandoned.

Not if the lights in one of the apartments at the very top floor were any indication.

"Let's go in."

"Hell no!" Kyouka hissed at the boy and tugged on his collar. "Are you crazy? Why would you go in there?"

"Kyouka is right," Junko said, suddenly nervous, her eyes glued to the windows. "I have a weird feeling about this."

"Exactly!" Dokomo grinned from ear to ear. "Come on, guys, are you seriously telling me you are not curious? The place shouldn't have any power at all. Which means that someone is in there!"

"Yes, that's why we don't want to go! Seriously, what if it is some crazy homeless guy?"

Or worse, an actual villain.

"Hey, we all are training to be heroes. We can handle this."

"We plan to be a heroes," she emphasised the second word. Dokomo shrugged as if it was one and the same. "We don't start training until next year, you jackass."

And she was afraid. She didn't want to admit it but she was scared of going in.

"Look, I've done this before!"

"Like hell you have!"

Before they got into an actual brawl, Junko's panicked scream echoed through the area.

"Guys, look!"

The two stopped arguing and looked in the direction of the top floor. One by one, the lights were switched off. A part of Kyouka hoped that it was just some electric malfunction. Who knows, maybe someone tried to get the power into the building but failed and left. An unlikely but not impossible explanation to what she was looking at.

And then, in the last room, she heard something crash and someone cry out in pain.

"Fuck this," Dokomo laughed. "I am going in!"

'Wait, don't you da-"

"Koki, please!"

But the boy had already run inside. The two girls shared an uncomfortable glance and a moment of heavy silence. He would be alright. Even if he didn't train, he was still one of the bigger boys in their year. And his Quirk was strong enough to buy him time to get away. They could just stay here and wait.

"Shit," Kyouka hissed in frustration before running after the idiot. "Junko, stay here and wait. If we don't come out in ten minutes, call your brother."

The girl nodded meekly. A part of Kyouka hated that it was her who had to get in there. They both wanted to be heroes. So why did Kyouka have to get in here alone?

She pushed those thoughts aside. That was fear talking. Just that.

"Hello?" her voice echoed through the empty and dirty corridors. "Dokomo, stop this bullshit and get down here! I am serious!"

No answer. Not good.

"Shit."

She ran up the flights of stairs, ignoring the growing sense of dread. But with each step that she took, it grew stronger. Her skin felt cold with sweat and her heartbeat was loud enough to drown out any other sound. She choked on her own sobs as she finally made it to the top floor.

The entire floor was shrouded in the dark. But some of the sunlight creeped its way in through the windows and cracks in the wall.

The girl honestly wished that it hadn't.

The complete darkness would spare her the sight of freshly-spilled blood and mauled body of her friend.

"No... No, no, no!"

She rushed to it, ignoring her very instincts screaming to run. She knelt down by his side and reached for his wrist. There, she could still feel his pulse. Dread was replaced with relief, horror turning into hope.

"K-Kyouka..."

She could save him. Junko would've called for help by now.

"D-Don't talk," she managed to say through the sobs. "I-I am going to-"

"B-B... B-Behind... you..."

The two words washed over her like cascade of ice. Her body felt just as cold, gripping onto Dokomo's body. Not to comfort him, however. But herself.

She felt a warm breath against her neck. It smelled of blood and rot. It smelled of death and pain.

"P-Please..." she started crying, her entire body overtaken by fear she didn't understand. And she hadn't even seen the monster. "P-Please, let us go..."

Slowly, she turned around.

Dokomo's body hit the floor.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

She ran.

Sobbing and screaming, she fled the floor. It was behind her, its heavy steps and hungry howls echoing in her ears. One floor, then the next. Each step brought her only closer to the beast. But she was finally on the first floor. She could escape. She could escape!

She prayed. She cursed. She-

She tripped. Fuck, she tripped and fell down the stairs before crashing into the wall. She heard it laugh. She felt its clawed hands on her legs. It was dragging her back. It wanted to make her death slow.

"Let go!"

She jammed her jacks into its flesh but it only laughed more.

"Let go!" she screamed, kicking it in the head. "Let me fucking go!"

By some miracle, it did.

It howled in pain and roared in rage.

But it left.

Oh God, it fucking left.

Her head dizzy and her body numb, she somehow managed to carry herself to the exit. She had only two steps left in her before she collapsed.

"Kyouka!"

Junko caught her before she hit the ground. The girl hugged her tight as if afraid that she was be dragged back into the damned building. And Kyouka held onto her just as tight, fearing the same.

She hated being emotional. She was always the one to keep it cool and let nothing get to her. But as the reality of everything that happened crashed down on her, she broke into tears. She screamed and wailed like a child, sobbing into her friend's chest.

"D-Dokomo!" she finally managed to choke out his name. "I left him! I left him and- God, Junko, his parents! We need to call his parents!"

"Kyouka, please, calm down."

"He is dead! He wasn't but now he is! I left him with that monster! I-"

"Kyouka!"

"Please, just call them! Someone! Anyone!"

She felt the second pair of arms wrap around them. Still shaking and sobbing but no longer screaming, Kyouka looked up at the familiar flat nose and uneven teeth. The thick chestnut hair not coated in blood.

Dokomo was alive. Not just alive, he was unhurt.

"How..." she asked weakly. "I saw- I saw you dead..."

And then she left him.

"So did I."

The boy was just as shaken, she saw it now. Just as confused and terrified.

The three took one last look at the abandoned building. They were hoping that this was some fucked-up dream. A hallucination shared by them or something. Then they saw the shape of something in the windows, its haunting green eyes staring them down.

They ran.

H

In the end, no video from Dokomo surfaced online. But yet another anonymous post was added to the forum about all things supernatural. As he read through the recount of what the teen and his friend saw, Izuku couldn't help but groan in frustration. And he was just starting to like this place.

Ever since his Quirk awakened, housing has been a problem. Even if the money mom and dad sent was enough to pay for a decent apartment, there was nobody willing to rent to him once he revealed what his Quirk did. Not without charging him for other tenants that left once he moved in, at least.

Which made abandoned places like this perfect for him,

It was far enough from the other people so his Quirk wouldn't affect them. Far enough for him to be able to relax and work on his studies without constantly holding his Quirk back. But close enough to the city that he could still get to school as long as he left early enough in the morning. There was even a small river and a lake not too far away.

Guess it was time to look somewhere else again.

"Wait, so she actually kicked you in the nuts?"

Izuku was lucky to be wearing a mask. He refused to give Kacchan the satisfaction of seeing how red in the face he was. Izuku slowly nodded and his friend exploded with laughter.

"Stop laughing, Kacchan."

"I will when it stops being hilarious."

"It wasn't hilarious to me," Izuku groaned as he looked at his bandaged hand. The girl's jacks were a powerful weapon indeed. "Or her."

He didn't blame the girl. Neither she nor her friend deserved to be hit by it. Not in such high concentration. Not at such close distance. Not when he was distracted and just let it run wild.

She did what any reasonable person would. She was not to blame. As always, the blame was solely on himself and his Quirk. And whatever messed up God thought to give it to him.

If only he never had this damned Quir-

"Nope."

Kacchan smacked him over head with a book.

"Oww! What the hell?"

"You had one of those 'Everything is my fault' faces again. Makes me sick to look at you."

"I am wearing a mask, you can'y see my face!" he groaned at the casual shrug. "And it was my-"

Another smack.

"Nah," He was about to protest when Kacchan picked up an English dictiionry. The thickest book in his arsenal. "Not your fault that some moron decided to get into an abandoned building. I mean, seriously, it's Creepypasta 101. You see an abandoned building? You avoid it like a plague. Especially if you see that the lights are on or hear someone in there. That's not even knowing your horror movies, that's just common sense."

"You are sitting in an abandoned building right now, though. What does that say about you?"

"That I am a badass," he smirked. "You are talking to the future Number One in the world, Deku. You think someone as strong, smart and capable as me is gonna die to some cheap horror?"

"You forgot humble," Izuku noted dryly.

"I don't like to brag but yeah, I am humble as God. Now seriously, you gotta let go of blaming yourself for everything if you are going to get in U.A. with me. I am going to be busy kicking ass to look after you"

Izuku chuckled. It was a hollow and tired sound. Kacchan still believed in him, huh. But why?

He didn't have much faith in himself.

"I just don't think my Quirk fits the heroes, Kacchan."

He could see other people's fears and even make them experience those. That was when he focused on controlling his Quirk. Without focus? All his Quirk did was make people experience anxiety, paranoia and terror before all but attacking their minds with the horrific visions from their own imagination.

"Bullshit. Villains should be scared of heroes, dumbass. That's how you keep them in line. Hell, do you have any idea how many criminals are terrified of All Might? I watched this interview last night - a retired mob boss talked about how his gang would run at the sight of the man."

"All Might and I are different."

"No shit. I am still right."

"He can do more than just scare people, though."

All Might saved people. He stopped crimes and disasters with the bright smile on his face. He gave people hope.

The only thing Izuku's Quirk could give was horror.

"So? Neither of us is going to be All Might. Granted, I am going to surpass him," Humble as always. "But just because you are not going to be All Might, it doesn't mean that you should just give up on it."

Izuku looked quietly at his notes.

He knew that Kacchan meant well. He was the only friend he had left after everyone else was driven away.

But it was almost impossible to imagine himself as a hero.

"Do you think I can be a hero?"

What?

"Of course," Izuku said, not quite sure why this was even a question. "Your Quirk is awesome. You don't exactly keep quiet about it."

"But isn't it dangerous? One wrong move and I could seriously hurt some civilians. Whether by blasting them myself or resultant debris falling on them."

Ugh, this is where he wanted to go?

"You can control the size and strength of your explosions, Kacchan," he groaned. "My Quirk-"

"Which you haven't named yet."

"I make people afraid. I make them live through the worst things they can imagine," he jabbed a finger at his mask. "And if they look at my face? They don't even see anything! They just fall apart in fear!"

He sank into his chair, frustrated and, ironically, afraid.

What if he never got his Quirk under control? He could go to U.A. and train there. Yes, that was the main reason he hasn't given up on his dream yet.

But what if his training only made his Quirk stronger? He has already all but driven his parents away. The only reason why he could even go to school was because he spent every minute in the class mentally commanding his Quirk to stay down.

What if it only got worse?

"Deal with it."

"Huh?"

"You were talking out loud again, weirdo," the blonde rolled his eyes. "You are asking, what if your Quirk grows stronger? My answer is that you deal with it."

"Kacchan, I-"

"Let me finish. I get why you are being a pussy about it. But are you seriously going to just live like this? Keep lying to your parents about where you live because you don't want them to worry? Barely pass classes because you are too afraid you will make others feel uncomfortable? Hide away behind the mask until you forget what your own face looks like?"

"It's not that simple."

It just wasn't.

"So that's it?" He sneered. "You are going to just crawl up in some dirty little corner and wait for death?

"You think I want to live like this?" Izuku hissed. He wanted to be normal. Hell, even being Quirkless would be better. "I didn't ask for this Quirk, asshole!"

"No, you didn't. But it's not like God is accepting any complains, is it? Which is why you need to deal with it yourself."

He jabbed a finger at his chest.

"With the help of yours truly, of course."

"You've been trying to help me ever since I awakened my Quirk," Izuku scoffed. "What is going to be different now?"

"I was going soft on you all this time," Kacchan grinned. "Tried this sympathetic and supportive bullshit dad mentioned. Well, tonight, I realised something. Sympathy is overrated."

"I don't like where this is going."

"Think about it! That girl saw your face but still ran, right? In all your previous cases, everyone who saw your face fainted instead. So what was the difference this time?"

Izuku opened his mouth to explain but no words came out. He didn't know.

"I-I don't know."

"And when she left the building, she was coherent enough to talk, right? What happened all the times before when someone left the building?"

They kept running.

"So there is hope," Izuku whispered to himself. "I-I could get this under control?"

But how? Where did they even start?

He looked to Kacchan for answers.

And judging by his shit-eating grin, he was not going to like them.

"I have no idea how or what you managed not to get those morons sent into cardiac arrest," he admitted. "But now that you know that there is a possibility, don't you just want to try everything?"

He did.

If there was even the smallest of chances that he could get his Quirk under control, then he had to try it.

He owed it to the others.

But more importantly, he owed it to himself.

"So what do you say, Deku? Ready to do this?"

For the first time in what felt like years, Izuku smiled.

"Bring it."

And there we go! First chapter of the new journey!

I've been playing around with the idea of an Alternate Quirk idea for quite a while. I wanted to do something a bit different from giving Izuku a conventional or simple power. And I hope to explore what kind of effect this would have on him and others.

And hey, first chapter and he already traumatized the shit out of Kyouka. I call that a win.