AN: JCrowe here, and with yet another release this month... well at least the trend is improving, right? Anyways, I was both happy, yet not, with how this chapter came so easily to me, but this chapter is not a happy one... Well without further adue~ I do not own 'My Hero Academia' or 'Destiny,' they are owned by thier respective creators and studios, etc, etc...
Chapter 3
Musutafu, Japan, Outside the Midoriya Apartment:
It had been a long walk for Izuku to finally reach his home. In the end, after finally coming to terms with what he had done to Ghoul, Izuku had been reminded by Sagira that he needed to wash as much of the blood that coated his uniform as he could before he re-entered the city. Only responding with a nod, the green haired boy remembered a nearby stream and proceeded to scrub as much of the blood as he could from the fabric of his clothes before drying them with a small burst of [Solar, much to the Ghost's surprise at the young boy's talent and control.
Now here he was, two hours later and most likely sometime near midnight, and Izuku was sure as soon as he opened this door he would be smothered by his mother's worried embrace, and possibly washed away by said mother's tears.
As if responding to his thoughts, Sagira spoke up with a teasing tone in her voice in an attempt to break the silence.
"Well~ what are you waiting for kid? An open invitation? Hurry up and get in there!!"
Almost jumping in fright from the sudden voice of his partner, Izuku grumbled something that sounded like 'Alright, alright' and put his key in the door before unlocking it.
Then like it was the horn of the apocalypse, the door was slammed open as Izuku was pulled into an all-encompassing embrace. Trying to breathe through the pressure, Izuku could only barely understand the proverbial waterfall of words that was falling from the woman's mouth while the quite literal waterfall of tears soaked him from head to toe.
"Izuku! Where have you been, I was so worried, I thought something had happened to you again… wait… what happened to your uniform… IS THAT BLOOD!!!" Now said young boy found himself dragged into the apartment and was summarily checked over for any wounds on his now changed frame.
If it hadn't been obvious already, the woman fretting over Izuku at the moment was in fact the boy's mother, Inko Midoriya. In another time, another world, Inko would have been well on her way to eating herself into an early grave due to the stress of raising a quirkless son while trying to keep her already fractured family and friendships together. This was not that Inko Midoriya, after her divorce with Hisashi, Inko had made it her mission to protect her son from the world that was set to make his life a living hell.
Where once there was a soft domestic housewife who fretted over every little thing, there now stood a woman who can, and would, move heaven and earth for her only remaining family. Her figure, similar to the one she had when she had taken Izuku to that quack of a doctor four years earlier only dressed in a smart businesswoman's attire that she wore for her new career as a defense lawyer for those ostracized by their society. Unlike in the past, Inko's eyes were now a touch sharper from her experience in the court room fighting for her many client's rights. It was only now when she was within her own home and with her baby boy that the green haired woman could let down her walls and show the caring side of her.
Now here she was with her little boy, who had apparently gone through some sort of instant growth spurt and even somehow grew muscles, then there was the obvious signs of previous injuries judging from the holes in her boy's uniform. Before her mumble storm, one of the many habits her son had inherited from her, could continue Izuku looked up to her with now tear filled eyes causing Inko's words to freeze in her mouth.
Izuku, unable to hold in the sudden rush of emotions from the events of that day, began to bawl his eyes out while holding onto his mother for comfort. Then he began to speak, just like before when he had his falling out with Katsuki, everything began to spill from his lips on how he had almost died that day. How those upperclassmen had chased him into the woods and their horrible intent to get rid of him while feeding his corpse to one of the worst of the bunch.
Inko was horrified at what she was hearing from her boy, then came the righteous fury, how could anyone allow this to happen? Where had the heroes been when her son had been chased by such a large group of delinquents… no villains? These and similar questions rushed through the single mother's head until it was brought to a halt by Izuku's next part of the explanation.
"A-after I fell into the hole, I passed out and found myself in some sort of cavern. I was still hurt, and I was b-bleeding a lot, so I tried to find a way out… then I found it-"
Izuku then explained how he had found the large lake and the massive mysterious shard glowing within it. Inko's nerves were beginning to fray as he explained how he had, almost in a hypnotic daze, approached the shard and touched it. Then came the fantastical explanation of the shard's origin. To be honest, if Inko had heard of the events of Izuku's visions from anyone else, she would have asked when the movie was coming out because that was something only found in science fiction. Izuku then seemed to notice his mother's disbelief, because the next moment a small machine materialized and introduced itself.
"Hello there Ms. Midoriya, my name is Sagira and I-" that was all the Ghost got out before she had to dodge a flying frying pan that the mother had seemingly summoned from the apartment's kitchen and began to swing with skill alluding to a history of tennis if Izuku was right.
The game of 'Smack Sagira' continued for almost five minutes until Izuku stopped his mother in place by using a weak version of the Shackle Grenade, to suspend the woman in place. Inko could only look on in shock as she was held in place by strings of emerald energy, the origin of which was obviously her now glowing son. When the still teary eyed boy noticed that Inko had finally calmed down, Izuku released the energy he was using to sustain the suspension effect and slowly let his mother down.
Inko, now having no way to debate the truth of her sons story to this point, moved to the couch and gestured for Izuku and Sagira to continue their story. The boy and living machine then turned to each other and seemed to have an internal discussion before Sagira continued to explain while Izuku began to get a worried look on his face while the tears built up again in his eyes, much to Inko's worry.
Sagira then picked up the story where Izuku left off, explaining their first meeting and Izuku's first use of the various light abilities up until they began their trek back to the apartment. It was at this point that Izuku began to speak up again in a low tone, almost a whisper, not meeting Inko's eyes.
"W-when we had almost made it back to the city limits… we were attacked by one of the thugs who had cornered me earlier… H-he said things… horrible things, that he was going to kill me then find you and do worse."
Inko gasped as Izuku spoke, it wasn't enough for her baby to be attacked and almost killed just once, then some little shit had the audacity to come and try to do it again. Any further anger was quickly smothered when Izuku reached the part of the little monster's plans for her. While this hadn't been the first time she had heard threats such as what Izuku was implying. Inko thought back to some of the more heated cases she had worked on where similar threats were made when she had won her cases. Inko was broken out of her thoughts when a sudden chill filled the room, looking at her son Inko had to hold back a gasp at the sudden aura that surrounded Izuku. The dark and cold aura that surrounded the boy was so intense there was now a circle of frost that built around the boy, even the boy's tears were beginning to freeze as they left his cheeks. Inko was about to get up and try to comfort or help any way she could, only to be stopped by Sagira who floated in front of her.
"Wait Inko, Izuku needs to finish, I promise that if his abilities go out of control that I will stop any harm… just please listen." Inko took a deep breath to steady herself, the burn of the cold that built in the room not even registering to the distressed mother.
Calling out to her son, Inko pleaded, "Izuku, baby, please tell me what happened… I promise, no matter what I will never leave your side."
With her words, the aura around Izuku seemed to dampen, the temperature slowly returning to normal, the ice that had begun to build up quickly melting then evaporating. Looking up to meet his worried mother's gaze Izuku blubbered out the next statement causing Inko's heart to skip a beat in dread.
"W-when he said those things… I lost control… I-I lashed out and sliced his leg off before freezing, then shattering the other one… Sagira was finally able to bring me back to my senses before I did anything else, and I was about to leave… then Ghoul yelled out at me and swore that I would pay and that he would hurt you to do it… So I acted on instinct and k-killed him wi-with an energy construct…"
Izuku then collapsed to his knees as the sobs returned shaking his small frame. Shocked at what she heard, but not wasting another moment, Inko rushed forward again and pulled her son into another embrace. Returning his mother's embrace, Izuku's sobs began to sputter as he tried to speak up.
"M-mom, does… does this ma-make me a v-villain?"
Tears once again started to spill from the mother's eyes as she pulled her son deeper into her embrace. They cried for a few minutes until Inko pulled Izuku back and looked into his tear filled eyes showing her son her determined gaze.
"No Izuku, you did what you had to, I will never blame you for defending yourself…" Inko's eyes hardened along with her tone as she continued. "Especially when you were faced with an animal like that!"
Seeing the relief in her son, Inko finally came to a decision that she had been much to slow in coming to. Brushing some of her son's messy hair out of his face, Inko spoke again.
"Izuku… I think it's time for you to be pulled from that sorry excuse of a school. It's obvious that the staff and students in Aldera are nothing more than a cesspool poisoning everyone and everything it comes into contact with… I mean I wouldn't be surprised if the whole district believed in Destro's stupid manifesto as gospel!"
Hearing that name caused a memory of the afternoons events to pop up in Izuku's mind. Needing clarification, Izuku quickly wiped his tears away and looked up to his mother again.
"Mom… if I remember right Destro was the leader of that r-rev-revolutionary group the Meta Liberation Army right?" Receiving a nod from his mother, Izuku continued his thoughts. "What was the name his followers used for quirks and the quirkless?"
Brows furrowed in worried contemplation, Inko thought on her son's words for a moment until the terms popped up in her memory.
"Well Izuku, the MLA designated quirks as 'Meta' abilities… and if I remember right… they called those who weren't able to develop a quirk as a 'Null' I believe." Looking back at her son to see the expression on his face, Inko asked, "Why do you ask sweetie?"
Izuku's expression darkened, and a small golden glow began to glow in his iris, until it was snuffed by the violet of Void making his features placid.
"It's just I remember those students that attacked me using those exact terms when referring to me and their quirks… and if they learned this at Aldera… and how the teachers have been conditioning the students in the younger years… I also think I once saw a copy of that MLA book in the teacher's lounge on multiple teachers desks when I was blamed for something one of the other students did."
Sudden realization filled Inko, this had explained so much. While it was an acknowledged fact that most places in Japan had begun to show more and more quirkest views, primarily against both the mutant types and the quirkless, it had only began to escalate after a sudden boom in 'Quirk-Lifestyle-Advancement' companies about twenty years ago… Even the shoes designed for those with a second pinky joint, the main physical marker of those who were designated as quirkless, had to be specially ordered from a single company in Japan and only came in one color and style.
Inko's complexion continued to pale as more and more things began to connect in her mind. If what her son was telling her was correct then there had been an unknown group that was slowly shaping their society to the views of the MLA's quirk superiority dogma. Quickly and mentally going through her options, Inko was making plans to ensure that both her and her son would be safe, as well as ensuring the right people hear about what has been happening under their collective noses for decades now.
Izuku watched his mother's expressions as they flew across her features, when she seemed to have come to a decision, the young eight-year-old finally spoke up again in a solemn tone.
"Mom… I think that it would be a good idea to pull me out of public school for now and go for home schooling."
Inko was knocked from her thoughts by the serious tone her boy was speaking in and turned to him. When the words he spoke registered, she could only agree with the idea, seeing as this would be the safest option. She knew, even though her boy now possessed a power that could likely push him even further than his idol All Might, that both his peers and the staff at the school would never allow a person they had already deemed to be inferior to rise above is so-called "station" in life. If her baby were to show those who had previously put him down that he now had a powerful "quirk" they would do anything to ensure that he would never rise to his potential.
Finishing her thoughts quickly, Inko spoke in agreement to her son's idea.
"I think you're right Izuku… it just isn't safe for you right now to be in that sorry excuse of a learning institution." A sudden thought flicked across Inko's mind at the implications of her son's newfound strength, and she looked at Izuku again before continuing.
"Izuku, please tell me, do you still wish to become a hero?"
Said boy froze at the sudden question. While it was no secret, even with everything that had happened to him over the years since his diagnosis, one thing Izuku always aspired to do was to become a hero and save people. The young child then raised his hand and let a small amount of the various energies that flowed though him to raise to the surface creating a ball of everchanging energy.
Yes, with this power he could become a hero… No, the greatest hero there ever was, even greater than All Might or the American number one; Stars and Stripes. As if in response to his internal declaration, Sagira spoke up once more, having returned to Izuku's body when he and his mother were having their 'tearful embrace'.
"You know… if you want to become one of these Pro-Heroes Izuku, there are some things we are going to need."
Both Midoriyas looked to the now reappeared Ghost with looks of confusion.
"What do you mean Sagira?" Izuku asked while his mother only gave a contemplative nod.
Sagira only sighed before making her way to float in front of the young boy and his mother.
"What I am saying Izuku, is that even though you have a near prodigious amount of control with the powers you gained from the Traveler, there are still tools and supplies that you will need to accel and reach your full potential."
Still seeing a look of confusion on her partners face, Sagira moved a bit further away and began to project a series of images of different weapons, gear and vehicles in the air in front of the mother, son duo.
"Luckily for all of us, The Traveler ensured that I was uploaded with many of the various schematics commonly used by the Vanguard across the ages. Hell some of this stuff even dates back to the Golden Age of my universe's history, this means that even with the resources available now I could manage to put together any equipment or weapons you may need while out in the field."
Izuku and Inko could only look on in awe at the various images of items being shown within the deluge of schematics. As the greenette duo continued to look through the various images, one of the schematics caught Izuku's eye and he had to question his partner on it immediately.
"Sagira… is this an actual blue print for a real spaceship?" Sagira turned to observe the schematic then turning back to the boy, then she began to chuckle at the amazed and wide-eyed look that filled the boy's features.
The Ghost then responded, "That's right Izuku, this was a more recent model of a Guardian Jump ship capable of interplanetary travel in a matter of minutes... I believe it was called the Vapoorwill Spin."
Inko gasped at what the small machine was saying, "I-if that's true, then does this mean there are other machines that could help facilitate space exploration within your databanks?"
The resurrected Ghost only gave an exasperated nod and responded to the older Midoriya woman.
"Yep, if what I'm reading here is correct, and if I were able to get access to the correct materials and facilities, possible space travel could be finished in less than five years for the general public."
Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing, here was the possible answer his people had been looking for the last two hundred years to finally push them out of earth's embrace and to travel among the stars… then it all to suddenly hit him.
"Sagira…" the worried tone of the young boy alerted both the mother and Ghost instantly, bringing their attention to the boy once more. "I-I don't think we can use a lot of these items as they are now."
"Why is that Izuku? I mean to be honest it surprises me that your people haven't already pushed for at least lunar expansion or even possible terraforming operations on either Venus or Mars. Just the varying abilities of quirks alone could facilitate the terraforming process at a heavily acerated rate compared to my own universe."
Both mother and son could only look at each other, Inko's confusion clearing almost immediately, then turning to face the noticeably confused Ghost.
Inko spoke up first, "You see Sagira, the fact is that almost all pushes for interplanetary exploration was almost ground to a halt at the advent of the Quirk Era due to the civil unrest that ruled the first one hundred years post quirk manifestation. In fact society as it is now had only really stabilized around the beginning of my own parent's generation, about sixty years ago." Izuku could only look on in awe as his mother began to enter a lecture mode only a step below his own mutter sprees, Sagira on the other hand, was listening to the Midoriya matriarch with rapt attention.
"Then there is all the trouble we have to deal with now with all of the general chaos caused by the fights between Heroes and Villains. So in all honestly, even though we likely could have reached space as soon as a hundred years ago, the fact is that we as a species are almost single-mindedly obsessed with our own world now due to our now quirk based society,"
Sagira was floored at what she was hearing, and she wasted no time in voicing it.
"Holy crapbaskets! Well, then I guess it was a good thing that my version of earth never developed powers like that or else they would have likely been wiped out by the first Collapse, or Traveler forbid the Vex."
While wincing at the way that sounded, Inko couldn't help but agree with what some of the threats Izuku had explained from the visions this Traveler had passed to him.
After that small deviation, the trio continued to speak through the rest of the night and through most of the morning discussing what Inko and Sagira could contribute to accelerate Izuku's training to eventually become a hero. when all was said and done the mother and Ghost duo looked to see that Izuku had ended up falling asleep on the couch, Inko then picked her boy up and walked him to his room with care. When the boy was finally tucked into his bed, the mother's gaze sharpened as she closed the door.
The anger that had been hidden from her son after his tale of the previous evening, mixed with the worry for Izuku after what he was forced to do on his journey home, pushed Inko past her exhaustion from being up since the morning before. Walking to her in-home office, Inko proceeded to pick up her office phone and punched in a number of someone who could begin to unravel this fucked up tangle of bullshit that had been going on for far too long. Three rings later and the line was picked up.
Taking a deep breath to gather herself, Inko spoke up with a no nonsense tone.
"Hello there Principal, I have somethings that you might want to hear…" The sudden cackling on the other side of the line did nothing to deter the mother from digging the graves for what was likely multiple school districts.
-Time Skip-
Three Years Later…
Walking down the streets of Musutafu towards his home, was the now changed Izuku Midoriya. The now almost twelve year old Guardian had changed quite a bit since he had discovered the Shard of the Traveler two years ago. He now no longer stood as the weakest or smallest of his age group, standing at a respectable height of one hundred fifty-four centimeters(or just over five feet for those who don't use the metric system,). Due to his accelerated training under Sagira, Izuku's build could now be compared to someone who had been an avid martial artist from a young age, the young preteen being capable of both extreme stamina and explosive physical power. The Ghost had later explained that the build that she had been planning for Izuku would be perfect for combining all of the different specialties of the Guardians while also minimalizing the normal shortcomings of said specialties.
Speaking of the Ghost, Izuku and the sassy living spark of the traveler had also spent a large amount of time working on recreating tools and machines from her world. Their first project had been to create the framework for one of the staples of any self-respecting guardian, otherwise known as the Sparrow. Of course, the original plan was to begin with a few of the more exotic pieces of weapons tech from the Ghost's archives, only to be immediately shot down by Inko. Said mother's reasoning of her son not needing a rocket launcher that fired lines of napalm or a literal laser rifle that worked by condensing light through a temporal prism then launching it in a ray of burning death to immolate his foes… yeah not even Izuku's masterful use of the 'Puppy Dog Eyes' could convince the mother to budge, other than making a concession that Izuku would be able to work on any mundane weapons when he turned fourteen and was preparing for the U.A. entrance exam.
Speaking of Inko, the now thirty-eight year old, but still youthful, woman had been working hard in the past few years. Along with working with Izuku and Sagira to ensure that her baby boy was adjusting to his training and didn't fall behind with his online courses. With the combined support, the mother was proud to say that her boy was well on his way to the half way point of his middle school education and would likely be finished with that before he turned thirteen if he kept up his current pace. Inko honestly didn't know why she hadn't pulled Izuku out of his classes even earlier when the Aldera faculty had begun to systematically sabotage her son's school work from the time that he had been in third grade.
Speaking of the school, Inko had been an integral part of the case and investigation that had been launched against not only Aldera, but also many other schools that had shown similar patterns of quirk discrimination. The records that she had helped to uncover, along with the help of a certain high school principal of indeterminant origin, had only broken the surface of the problems that had been slowly encompassing their society. While she couldn't share any of the major details with Izuku or Sagira, though the living machine had made sure to let Inko know that she (Sagira) could hack the systems and retrieve any of the relevant information at any time, the mother would reassure the young preteen that everything was going well in the case.
Izuku's only response to these reassurances was to just make sure she kept safe and didn't overwork herself. Inko, while feeling her heart explode in pride at her son's belief in her, never could bring herself to tell of the possible dangers this sort of high priority case had placed on her head.
Back with the young hero to be, Izuku was having a small internal conversation with his partner.
'I can't believe you actually forgot something as simple as ground sausage when you were planning on making an Italian dish like lasagna Izuku… I mean, it's like forgetting sugar in a cake or-'
Groaning to himself, Izuku cut off Sagira's mental rant
"I know, I know Sagira! You don't have to give me a headache over this, it was just one item, an optional one at that!"
Sagira went silent at that, seeming to pout if the young greenette's senses of the Ghost's emotions were right. Reaching the street the young boy's home stood, Izuku was just about to try and change the topic of their inner conversation, only to be cut off by a suddenly serious Sagira.
'Izuku… we need to hurry back to the house now… I am sensing a hostile near Inko!"
It only took a moment for the words to register for the Guardian child, then the boy was off like a shot channeling a small amount of Arc energy to enhance his muscles and reflexes. When the apartment building was within view Izuku, knowing time was of the essence, threw his arm out and manifested a tether of Strand. Launching the technique and embedding the energy tether into the wall just above the entry hallway of his floor, Izuku was pulled at speed and released it just as he was at level with the opening.
Izuku then used glide to slow his speed and landed while running towards his apartment door, only to get a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the door was gone, seeming to have been kicked in with force.
Just as he was about to call out his mother's name, a scream was suddenly heard from the open hall, recognizing the voice as his mother, Izuku burst forward in a Blink and appeared in the entryway…
What he saw there would haunt the young boy for the rest of his days.
There standing over his mother's prone form, was a large, bulky, and highly muscular man with short, spiky, sandy blond hair and small black eyes in a maroon muscle shirt and black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots. Around his exposed arms and neck, there appeared to be strands of writhing muscle fibers wrapping around his body like a living suit of armor, but it was the look on the man's face that knocked Izuku out of his shock at the scene. The man was smiling at the boy with a sick and twisted grin that showed that he was loving every part of the actions he was taking.
The man, seeming to only just then notice Izuku in the doorway, seemed to grin even wider if it was possible and spoke in a jovial tone.
"Well, well, well, isn't this just a great day for me?" The man then gestured to the fallen form of Inko before continuing, "Here I was, just finishing up with my first target, when my second target just happens to show up!"
The man then began to walk towards Izuku while cracking his knuckles, strands of muscle fiber beginning to re-encase his arms making him seem even larger than his two hundred centimeter height.
"heh, don't worry kid, I'll be sure to send you to your mother fast, but do try and make it fun for me will ya?"
Those words sent a shock of fear through the boy at the implication, not caring about his own safety, Izuku then Blinked again and appeared next to his mother's still form much to the now identified hitman's surprise.
Izuku then wasted no time and called out to Sagira mentally.
"Sagira… please tell me we can help her!"
Sagira was silent for a moment, then responded with audible sadness in her tone.
'…Izuku, I-I'm sorry… she's already gone.'
Like that, Izuku's world seemed to shatter, his mother, his only solace in this twisted world that only seemed to wish to put him down… was gone… before the boy could even finish contemplating the loss of his mother laughter began to echo through the room.
"Hehehe… Hahaha… HAHAHA!!!! Oh this is just precious, the order only said that the mother had a quirk, and the brat was quirkless, but here you are using teleportation or something! So what's it going to be brat?" That sick grin only continued to grow, now seeming to split the man's face, "I'm sure you already noticed but that bitch is already dead, so what are you going to do about it!?"
The monster in front of Izuku then continued to laugh uproariously at the sight in front of him, not noticing in his hubris that the boy had begun to stand and face towards him. This had been what almost caused his death, the man only had an instant when his instincts screamed at him to dodge to the right… but it wasn't perfect. A lance of golden fire speared through the murderer's shoulder, instantly cauterizing the wound and making the villain cry out in sudden pain.
The man, a deranged murderer named Imasuji Gōto also known as Muscular, looked down in shock at the perfect hole that had just been burned into his right shoulder and looked up to lock eyes with the now glowing emeralds of his second target.
This wasn't the only thing Muscular noticed though, in the brat's hand and pointed directly at him was what appeared to be a glowing golden revolver that made the air shimmer from the heat. Unable to believe what he was seeing the murderous villain yelled out, his smile wiped from his face and replaced with a snarl.
"What the fuck?! You were supposed to be quirkless, and then just used a teleportation quirk? How the hell is this possible for you to have multiple quirks?!"
Spittle began to foam at the man's mouth from both the pain in his shoulder and the ever growing anger, activating his quirk [Muscle Augmentation] again, the villain's wound was covered by a new layer of muscle fibers. With the wound covered Muscular decided to finish this before the brat had the chance to retaliate and prepared to launch himself forward to smash the little green haired piece of shit into a stain on the wall.
Izuku, well and truly enraged by his mother's death, prepared another shot for his Golden Gun, not planning to miss this time and would obliterate this bastard who had taken his only family from him. Just as the young preteen was about to fire he was suddenly launched back out of the apartment, the boy flew for well over three blocks and landed within a familiar park, the same park that he and Katsuki had played in what seemed to be a lifetime ago, ending up embedded in a tree.
Coughing up blood, Izuku attempted to move, only to find that himself unable to due to the damage to both his chest and back. Not even his accelerated healing, a byproduct of his training with the Well of Dawn, could repair the damage fast enough to replace the blood he was losing. Within his mind, Sagira called out to the young Midoriya in an attempt to push him to activate said super ability to heal his wounds, only to despair when the boy informed her that he couldn't move or concentrate enough to activate his Solar energy.
Sagira could only internally curse to herself for the pain her partner was experiencing, this boy never deserved to have this happen to him. While she knew that there was still another option to 'save' Izuku, the Ghost had no idea how this would effect the boy. Unfortunately she had no time to think on it further as a gurgling gasp came from the boy as he began to cry tears of despair.
"M-mom… I-I am *Cough-Cough* s-sorry that I *Gasp* couldn't save you…"
And with that final whisper of regret, Izuku Midoriya passed from his injuries…
Less than a minute later, the lumbering form of Muscular made his way to the boy's now cooling corpse and only gave a tsk of disappointment before spitting to the side and turning to leave.
As the murderous villain made his way away from the scene he pulled a burner phone from his pocket and dialed the only number that was saved on it. The phone rang twice and was then picked up, before anyone could speak on the other side, Muscular spoke up with an annoyed tone.
"Hey, it's me, just letting you know that the deed is done… and I expect that money at that drop point in no less than three days or I'll be coming for you next you hear me?"
Not even bothering to listen for a response, the sandy, haired blond hung up and walked into one of the many dark alleyways that ran through the entirety of Musutafu. Just as the shadows finished engulfing the villain, Muscular couldn't help but think how much of a disappointment it was that he couldn't have fought that boy when he was in his prime. Reaching up to the still warm hole in his shoulder, the psychotic man engraved the look of despair and rage that had filled that boy's face when he had tried his best to kill him.
'What was his name again… Ahh! That's right! Izuku Midoriya… I'll be sure to remember that name… Well at least until the next great fight comes along that is!'
Swallowed by the darkness, Muscular's cruel laughter could be heard echoing through the various alleys of Musutafu.
-Line Break-
'…It's so dark… where am I? What happened? The last thing I remember was returning home and-'
Springing up from his prone position, Izuku Midoriya panickily looked around the room he was now in, only to fall back in light-headed exhaustion. Landing on the bed he had been previously laying in, Izuku attempted to look around and found the iconic look of a generic hospital room. Uncomprehending of just how he was still alive, remembering the damage he had received at the hands of that bastard that had killed his mother, Izuku began to hyperventilate from the thoughts rushing though his head.
Before he could continue to spiral further the soothing voice of his partner broke through the haze of his confusion.
"Izuku!! Thank goodness you're awake! I didn't know what would happen when you died, and I would have to use the Resurrection Protocol… I-I am so sorry about what happened to Inko… If I were able… I would have done the same for her, but…"
Sagira, materialized from the moment Izuku had awoken, moved around Izuku while subtly conducting various scans of the boy's now shaking body to ensure that he was, at least, physically healthy. She knew, from her time with Osiris, that many Guardian's first deaths and resurrections could be traumatizing to say the least… but that had nothing on what Izuku must be experiencing right now. The Ghost could only hope that her partner could push through this tragedy without it pushing him over the edge. The living machine was about to speak again in an attempt to get the boy to speak to her but was cut off by the sound of sniffling.
There in front of her, Sagira bared witness to Izuku's breakdown as the boy began to sob and draw in on himself in grief.
Drooping in sadness for her partner's loss, Sagira could only stand by and be there for Izuku in his moment of weakness. She waited there for the next hour as the boy cried, when Izuku's sobs finally ended the boy kept his knees in a drawn in position, hiding his eyes from Sagira. Sagira thought for a moment that the boy had maybe fallen asleep in emotional exhaustion and was about to return to the boy's body, only to be caught off guard when Izuku spoke up.
"Sagira… what do you know about… what do you know about what happened?"
The Ghost seemed to contemplate the question for a moment before she sighed and replied.
"I don't have any concrete information Izuku. In the two days you have been unconscious after the revival the only ones to visit have been the doctors and one time a detective by the name of Tsukauchi." Izuku's gaze rose at this, showing the now dark forest green of his pupils devoid of any visible emotion.
"Did the detective say anything when he was here?"
Bobbing up and down in a semblance of a nod, Sagira explained.
"Yeah… from what the man said when he had been speaking with the doctors in charge of your case, the whole thing has been determined to have been a random act of violence at the hands of a notorious serial killer named Muscular."
Hearing the alias of his and his mother's murderer, Izuku's body began to light up in waves of Arc and Solar energy, only to then be smothered ruthlessly by sapphire shards of ice around the boy. Izuku, knowing that if he didn't control himself he could hurt others in the hospital, reigned in his stasis energy causing the built up ice to almost immediately evaporate into nothingness. Breathing deeply to contain his rage and despair, Izuku returned his now sharpened gaze to a visibly worried Sagira.
"That was no random act of violence… that bastard said that my mother and I were targets… that means that someone sent that monster to our home and had my mother killed…" gripping his bed's railings, and unknowingly crumpling the metal in his grasp, Izuku came to a decision at that moment.
Looking up to take in the surroundings of his hospital room, Izuku first tried to find his clothes that he had been wearing, only to find nothing, the preteen then called out to Sagira.
"Sagira, do you happen to have anything in the inventory that we could use for clothes?"
Confused but slightly worried why her partner had asked this question, the Ghost silently complied and searched her and Izuku's inventory to see what may have been there, then answered.
"Yeah Izuku, we have a few changes of clothes that your mother had you pack away when we shared the news about the storage space-" Sagira paused then spoke up again, "… Izuku… what are you planning?"
Grimacing at the worried tone of his partner, Izuku's hard gaze softened a touch and he attempted to explain.
"Sagira… the fact that my mother and I were attacked at our home and the one who did it confessed to being hired…" Izuku had to once again fight down the anger that attempted to rush forward at the mention of Muscular, "Then there was the fact that there were no heroes in the area when the attack happened… We just aren't safe; we need to disappear until we are strong enough to ensure that anyone close to us isn't hurt like… like mom was."
As she floated there and took in her partner's words, Sagira contemplated what Izuku had told her… and she hated to say that he was right. At this point if Izuku were to stay here there was no doubt that he would be put in the foster care system, and with his current 'Quirkless' status the boy wouldn't survive if the people that hired muscular found his whereabouts.
Finishing her thoughts, Sagira only nodded and proceeded to activate the [Equip] function of their inventory switching Izuku's hospital wear for a simple, yet rugged outfit made up of sturdy grey cargo pants, one of Izuku's iconic shirts that read 'Camping' and a dark green, sturdy jacket. Tying together the outfit was a pair of specially made black combat boots that were made to accommodate his second pinky joint.
Looking down at the outfit, Izuku only gave a light nod to the once again vanishing Sagira, before moving to leave the hospital. Opening the window, Izuku looked out and only made a note of the fact he was only on the fourth floor, looking around he found a nearby rooftop around two hundred yards from his position.
Backing up slightly to give himself room to build up momentum, Izuku channeled his energy to his legs and rushed forward before launching himself out of the window. At the apex of his jump, Izuku then channeled more energy and used one of the more stealthy abilities of the Hunters and double jumped in mid-air just making it to the rooftop.
Taking a small moment to catch his breath, Izuku then took a short moment to orient himself and began to make his way towards his destination using a combination of Hunter and Warlock jump and glide techniques while keeping a low profile. He would then stop at his home to grab some of his necessary supplies; such as his laptop, extra clothes, emergency money his mom had left in a safe, food, and his analysis notebooks.
Just as he was about to leave the deserted home, Izuku stopped at the entrance before he reached to one of the only remaining photos of him and his mother that hadn't been destroyed during his short fight with Muscular. Fighting back tears once again, Izuku carefully removed the photo before storing it away as well, then without another look to the place that had been once his home, the young Guardian disappeared in a blink of Void Light not to be seen in Musutafu for some time.
AN: I know, I know, you probably are all upset with me for killing Inko, but you need to understand that this story won't be exactly a happy one. Also for those of you that think that Izuku should have been able to take out Muscular... well that's your opinion, but let me explain my thought process. Izuku in the anime and manga had only been able to defeat Muscular the first time by basically almost killing himself by overclocking OFA and doing irrepairable damage to his arm. Now, whereas in my story, Izuku has only been trainning in his abilities for three years and has a basic idea of how to use his abilities in combat, but; HE IS ONLY ABOUT TWELVE YEARS OLD!!! I don't know about you, but not every protagonist could be like Son Gohan, and be a planet buster at the age of nine, ya know?
Now that the rant and explanation is over... next chapter will begin with a timeskip, I don't know if I want to implement the Slime Villain Incident and introduce Izuku to All Might before U.A. or just jump directly to the Entrance Exam. Comment or DM me if you want to write your two cents into the ring.
JCrowe out!