Date: November 27th, 2014 (4 years before UA)
Gary. That fucking asshole.
Gary was a pompous classmate that had been in Dakota's class every year. Unlike Dakota, who had to live off of the house of his dead family, as well as only getting money from the government for "hush money" to not take the case up about his family to survive, Gary was rich. Rich parents, mainly his dad, with a gold digger mother. Their rivalry had been going on since the 3rd grade, and they're 12 now. It all started when Dakota absolutely destroyed him in a fighting tournament. After all, after seeing the corpses of his family members sprawled in his living room, who would trust humanity after that? That's why Dakota started training when he could afford it, at age 4. Dakota was an early bloomer, and even though people do sometimes get their Quirks early, his was...unstable, according to the doctors when he was born. Technology around his time had allowed doctors to predict the Quirk of a newborn child, and Dakota had a good arsenal of abilities- his mother's shadow manipulation had turned into a different version, with the black tar-like substance that flowed in his digestive system, which gave him a faster metabolism, could allow him to use that instead of actual shadows. Due to having the demon wings, like his father, he could fly as well. He also got his father's demonic aura, though Dakota managed to find out that using these abilities gave him a couple drawbacks…mainly draining of energy and wounds randomly opening on his body when he overexerted himself. Sure, it hurt like hell, but Dakota had eventually done it so much that he not only became a hospital regular, but he stopped feeling as much pain, making his pain tolerance something most Quirk users could only imagine. However, when the doctors DID try to use the machine, it filled with TV static and stopped working for 2 whole days, so it was weird, but it was just a glitch…right?
(Editor's Note: His Quirk is called Brimstone btw. The Binding of Isaac reference yayyyy)
As for Gary, he was an average-height caucasian male with brown hair, a relatively fair face and a lean build. He looked so much better than Dakota physically- after all, Dakota had been stuck at 3'10 and was only 77 pounds, making him look like he hadn't eaten for weeks, though he ate 3 times a day…it was his training, mixed with his faster metabolism, that made him look poorly fed. Gary hated Dakota for being partially demon, always calling him "freak", making fun of him…nobody tried doing anything because of Gary's Quirk- Etch-an-Edge. Etch-an-Edge allows Gary to summon a knife that does permanent damage to anything it can cut- wood, tires, people, you name it.
Dakota was walking out of his 7th grade class. It was the final one for the day, so he was able to go home. He usually took the longer route to avoid people, as he looked at his mom's phone, which he had factory resetted and used for himself. He was about to get out of the school perimeter, before he saw Gary. Gary stood there smugly, with that same shit-eating grin he always had. He brought two of his little friends with him. Dakota sighed, "Look, I'm not looking for any trouble. Leave me alone and all's cool."
Gary glared. "Why the hell would we wanna leave you alone? You're a freak. A nobody. All you can do is cry about your life and fly." Dakota glared. "Oh shut up. Just because you're rich, and have a cool Quirk, doesn't mean you can go bul-"
Gary yelled to his friends as they ran at him, "PIN HIM DOWN!" Dakota tried to dodge their sudden attack, but got grabbed by the legs and left arm. Gary chuckled, summoning his Etch-An-Edge. "You know, for being hellspawn, you're kinda weak." Dakota started thrashing, trying to break free. "GET ME OUTTA HERE! LET GO!" He kept yelling, trying to get pulled off as he even fired a couple of beams of demonic aura to try to hurt one of them. Gary easily dodged. "You know, this is kinda funny. You do realize my friends have super strength?" He said, before he ran over and tried stabbing Dakota in the head. (yeah, if the parents being murdered wasn't enough for an M-rating.)
Dakota had dodged in the nick of time, as the knife, instead, went through his right arm. He cried out in pain, the knife having ridges all over for maximum pain. Gary glared, looking at the twins that were holding Dakota down. "WHAT THE HELL!? WHY DID YOU MAKE ME MISS!?" The twins sighed. "Sorry, boss." Gary yelled, "YOU BETTER BE! GO, I'LL HANDLE HIM!"
As the twins let go and walked off, Gary kicked Dakota in the throat to keep him down. He slowly, agonizingly carved "FREAK" in Dakota's right forearm. Each movement of the knife was hell. Dakota cried, yelled, and screamed, and when Gary was done, Dakota had lost at least half a liter of the pitch black blood that leaked from his body. Gary spit on Dakota's leg. "Disgusting." He said, before he pulled out the knife and walked off, leaving Dakota to die.
RIght as Gary was out of visible sight, the principal and school nurse had run to the scene. They saw Dakota, balled up against the wall he had been pinned against, crying as the blood leaked onto the newer asphalt. The nurse picked him up, as the principal called for an ambulance. At the hospital, when Dakota was taken in, his usual doctor, Laufy, walked into the room. She was a nice older woman, around 28. She was tall, always wore stilettos, had long, brown hair and a voice that could soothe anyone. (yes, this is Laufey). She sighed. "Dakota, is it y-" She stopped in her tracks, seeing Dakota cry, the tears of TV static dripping down his face. She rushed in, as the principal and nurse stayed in the waiting room. Laufy looked at his wound and gasped. "Holy….sorry, let me try to fix that…." She said, applying the proper treatment, wrapping it in bandages. When she tried to stitch it, however, the stitches immediately broke. "...You got hit by a really bad Quirk, huh?"
Dakota sniffled, nodding. "Yeah….Etch-An-Edge…." Laufy gasped, sighing as she wrapped the wound, hugging the little guy. "...it's okay, I've dealt with wounds like these before. They'll stop bleeding, but that's gonna be permanent…" Dakota shakily sighed. "Like…forever?" Laufy nodded. "Yeah…however, I know you can hide it easily. There's a whole collection of hoodies in the lost and found. Once you recover, I'll take you there..better than wearing the one your mom made once a week. Okay?" Dakota nodded. When the wound eventually stopped bleeding, they headed to the Lost and Found. Dakota finally got some new hoodies- and sure, they might all be gray or black, but it was better than nothing.
Laufy sighed, gently patting Dakota's head. "...You're a good kid."