"Chapter 1: Echoes in the Void"
The summer sky had been a clear canvas of blue, but for Izuku Midoriya, it felt distant and unreachable. He sat alone on the playground swing, the rusted chains creaking as he rocked back and forth. His small, freckled hands gripped the metal tightly, his eyes staring at the empty ground beneath him. Yesterday still echoed painfully in his mind, the cruel words Katsuki Bakugou had hurled at him in front of their classmates.
"You're not my friend, Deku. You're just a worthless, Quirkless loser!"
The words had stung like a slap across the face. Izuku had idolized Katsuki, his friend since childhood, the boy who seemed destined for greatness. But Bakugou had grown more distant over the years, especially after his Quirk emerged. Izuku, however, remained powerless. And now, even his one hope for friendship had been snatched away by the same harsh reality that followed him everywhere.
Now, the other children played in the distance, their laughter ringing through the park as if mocking the silence that surrounded him. Izuku didn't move to join them. He sat, the rhythm of the swing rocking back and forth, lost in a world of self-doubt.
The touch came so gently that he almost missed it—a pair of soft arms wrapping around him from behind. A familiar warmth enveloped him, and before he could turn around, he heard the soothing voice of his mother, Inko Midoriya.
"Izuku," she whispered softly, her breath brushing his ear. "What happened? Why are you sitting all by yourself?"
Izuku hesitated, feeling the weight of his sadness bubble up again. He didn't want to tell her, didn't want her to worry about him. But he had always been terrible at hiding his feelings from her. His voice cracked slightly as he replied, "Kacchan... he doesn't want to be my friend anymore. He called me... Deku."
Inko's grip tightened slightly, and though he couldn't see her face, he could feel the surge of protective anger she was struggling to contain. But when she spoke, her voice was calm, warm, filled with the love only a mother could have for her child.
"Oh, Izuku," she said softly, her lips close to his ear, "Don't let what others say define who you are. Don't follow their words, no matter how much they hurt. Follow your heart. It will never lead you wrong."
Her words wrapped around him, chasing away the ache in his chest. He closed his eyes, letting her embrace and her wisdom sink deep into his soul. That day, those words became a part of him—a compass he would never forget, no matter where life led him.
Suddenly, Izuku gasped, his eyes snapping open.
The warmth of his mother's embrace was gone, replaced by an eerie, cold silence. His body floated weightlessly in an endless void, an ocean of black stretching out in every direction. He blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings, but there was no ground beneath him, no horizon, nothing. Just emptiness.
He tried to move but found that his limbs were slow, heavy, almost as if he were being pulled deeper into the abyss. Panic rose in his chest. Where am I? What's happening?
Before he could spiral into fear, something strange began to happen. The black void around him began to shimmer, flickering like distant stars. Gradually, the darkness gave way to an ethereal expanse, revealing galaxies spiraling and dancing across the horizon. Nebulas swirled in shades of violet and blue, glowing with a faint, mystical light that illuminated the space around him. It was beautiful—like something out of a dream.
For a moment, Izuku was mesmerized, his heart pounding in awe. He had always dreamed of being a hero, but nothing could have prepared him for the sheer grandeur of what he was seeing. The stars twinkled in silent harmony, as if welcoming him to this cosmic stage. He floated there, weightless, a tiny figure in the vastness of space.
But then, something changed. He felt strange, lighter than before, almost as if the space itself was pulling at him. His body was shrinking. He glanced down and saw his hands—small, thin, not the hands of the older teenager he had become. The swing, the memories, even his Quirk—everything felt distant, out of reach. Panic surged through him as he realized what was happening: he wasn't just floating aimlessly; he was reverting, getting younger. His mind raced as the weightlessness pulled him deeper into this space-like void, but now his body was smaller—he was no longer the 16-year-old Izuku Midoriya who had faced countless trials and enemies. He was becoming... twelve again.
The galaxies continued to whirl around him, oblivious to his fear. Time had no meaning here. There was no up, no down, just endless floating. He tried to reach for something—anything—to stop the strange shrinking sensation. But there was nothing to hold on to. He was shrinking, becoming more of his younger self with every passing moment.
Is this the effect of the void? Or is it something else?
Then, without warning, he felt a tug—a powerful force pulling him from the endless expanse. The galaxies around him blurred, stretching like streaks of light, and the stars disappeared from view. The space around him began to warp and bend, like the fabric of reality was being stretched beyond its limits.
The tug became stronger, more insistent, pulling him toward an unseen destination. He couldn't resist it; the force was too strong, too overwhelming. His heart pounded as he tried to make sense of what was happening, but the answers eluded him, slipping through his grasp like sand.
Before he could react, the void ripped open, and he was sucked through a vortex of light and darkness, spiraling uncontrollably. The beauty of the galaxies, the awe-inspiring vastness—all of it faded into a blur of chaos as he was pulled toward something unknown.
His vision swirled, and then there was a blinding flash of light.
And then, there was nothing.
Izuku's mind reeled as he tried to make sense of his new reality. The words of his mother echoed in the back of his mind—"Don't follow what others say. Follow your heart."
And once again he closed his eyes due to the pressure of void he faced but Izuku's eyes snapped open as the blinding light faded. The comforting arms of the stars and the cold emptiness of the void were gone. Instead, he was falling—plummeting fast through an endless sky. The wind howled in his ears, and the ground was racing toward him at an alarming speed.
"What happened? Where am I?!" Panic surged through his veins. He instinctively reached for the powers he had created, the many Quirks he had designed over the years, but to his horror, they were gone. All of them. He had no time to create a new Quirk; he couldn't even think straight.
"No... no, no, no!"
His mind raced. Creating a Quirk took time. Basic Quirks could take minutes, but more complex ones, like his dimensional Quirk, could take hours, even years. He didn't have that luxury now. The ground was closing in fast, and if he didn't do something soon, he'd be nothing but a stain on the landscape below.
"Think, think, think!" Izuku muttered desperately. "I need something—anything!"
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force his brain to come up with a solution. But there was no time. Every second counted. His body was getting closer to the ground, and his heart raced in sync with the wind roaring around him.
But then... something changed.
A strange sensation erupted inside him. It wasn't the familiar process of creating a Quirk—it was something entirely different. A pressure, intense and powerful, flared up from deep within him, as if an unknown force was trying to break free. It felt like fire surging through his veins, threatening to engulf him. His skin tingled with energy, and he gasped, barely able to contain the sudden surge of power.
"What... what is this?!" Izuku's eyes widened in shock.
He could feel it now—something was entering his system, something beyond Quirks. It wasn't his doing, but it was undeniable. The pressure increased, and for a moment, Izuku thought he might explode. A brilliant, otherworldly aura burst from his body, illuminating the sky around him in a golden light.
Far across the world, something shifted. Wizards and witches, magical creatures, even non-magical animals—all paused, sensing the same overwhelming force. It rippled across the magical communities like a tidal wave, sending shivers down the spines of all who were attuned to the supernatural.
In the Ministry of Magic, Aurors halted in their tracks, feeling the sudden surge of magic that made the very air around them hum with raw energy. "What in Merlin's name..." one of them whispered, his wand raised in confusion.
In his office, Albus Dumbledore sat upright, his piercing blue eyes narrowing. He exchanged a glance with Fawkes, his phoenix, whose flames flickered with renewed intensity. "Something has changed, old friend," he murmured, stroking his long beard. "Something... powerful."
Far below the castle, in the Mirror of Erised chamber, Harry Potter was locked in battle with Quirrell and the disembodied spirit of Voldemort. But suddenly, Voldemort's voice cut through the tension. "Quirrell, stop!" he hissed, his red eyes narrowing with intrigue. "Something is happening. I can feel it."
Quirrell faltered, confused. "M-Master?"
Voldemort's gaze shifted upward, sensing the strange, powerful magic that now radiated from the sky above. "Something far more dangerous than you, Potter, has appeared," he muttered.
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, students and professors alike were frozen, all of them feeling the sudden spike in magic. Snape stood in the dungeons, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he muttered, "What is causing this? Who could possibly wield such raw power?"
Up in the Gryffindor common room, students clutched their wands, faces pale as the strange energy pulsed through the air, filling the room with a sense of dread and wonder.
But back in the sky, Izuku had no time to consider the effect his presence was having on the world below. The pressure was growing unbearable, and his body trembled as the unknown force continued to flare outward, creating shockwaves that rippled through the air. The magic coursing through him was almost too much to bear, but he fought to stay conscious, to control the raging power within him.
He needed a Quirk—something simple, something that would save him from plummeting to his death. But the force inside him was interfering, making it nearly impossible to focus.
"I have to compress this power..." Izuku thought, gritting his teeth. "I need control!"
With a deep breath, Izuku pushed against the overwhelming pressure, trying to suppress the flaring aura. It wasn't easy, but slowly, the intensity began to lessen. He focused on creating something simple, something that wouldn't take long—a Quirk that would allow him to survive the fall.
His mind scrambled for a solution, and finally, it came to him: "Power Compression." He could feel the Quirk forming within him, condensing the immense energy into a manageable force. It wasn't perfect, but it was something. At the same time, he tapped into one of the few remaining Quirks he still had—Float, a gift from One For All.
To his surprise, One For All had not been destroyed in the void. Its power, along with the Quirks of its previous users, was still intact, burning brightly within him. The feeling was both familiar and comforting, a reminder of the strength he had always relied on.
With a surge of determination, Izuku activated Float, and his descent began to slow. The ground, which had been rushing toward him at an impossible speed, now seemed less threatening. He hovered in the air for a moment, his heart pounding as he tried to stabilize himself. The immense pressure from the unknown force had been compressed, and with Float keeping him aloft, he finally managed to land safely.
Izuku collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. His body was drenched in sweat, and his muscles ached from the strain of controlling the wild power that had threatened to overwhelm him. But he had done it. He was alive.
As he lay there, catching his breath, he couldn't help but think back to Shield-san's words. The void is dangerous... total bullshit, Izuku thought with a bitter laugh. He hadn't truly understood how perilous it was until now.
But one thing was certain this world, this strange new place, was far more dangerous than he had anticipated. Yet, as he stared up at the sky, feeling the remnants of the immense power still coursing through him, Izuku knew one thing with certainty.
He was stronger now. Stronger than ever before. And whoever, or whatever, had caused this surge of magic, had only just begun to understand the force that was Izuku Midoriya.