Chapter One: A Field Trip Goes Awry
Izuku Midoriya wasn't anything unusual, and that was meant in the worst way imaginable in a world like the one he's in. Superpowers dominate the globe, a place where heroes fighting villains have become the norm. Much like something out of an old comic, one might expect heroes and villains to fight with extraordinary powers on the regular.
Yet for all of that bewildering wonder, there was still those without Quirks. As rare as they were in his generation, Izuku was born Quirkless, which, in an odd twist of fate made him the most 'normal' person out there, even if normal by most people's standards had grown to encompass superpowers.
In his class, Izuku was the only one to be cursed with such a fate. As a matter of fact, he had yet, in all 13 years of his existence, to meet someone born without a Quirk. Either people got good at hiding at some point or Izuku had gotten really unlucky. He wasn't sure which was worse.
Said class was on a bus heading through the heart of Mustafu, a city in Japan known for how secure it was due to the surplus of heroes who patrolled the streets, more than most cities in Japan. Japan had a higher rate of heroes to citizens than most countries in the world, save the States, where heroes were as, if not more, popular than they were in Japan.
Their destination? A branch of Oscorp Industries, a company founded by a businessman from the United States. Oscorp was a research based company. with divisions covering many facets of life. There, they were meant to go on a tour to see the work behind the great inventions they were responsible for.
Was Izuku excited? Yeah, but not for the reasons his classmates were. They were more excited to see the Quirk Development division of Oscorp, but there was another that piqued Izuku's interest.
There was little known about the Species Development branch of Oscorp, but what had been leaked to the public from anynomous sources was promising. Supposedly they were hoping to evolve animals to the point humans were, which of course, would include Quirks.
One of their uncomfirmed projects was Yuuei High's own Principal Nezu, though that was purely speculation on the internet's part. Of course, that was one of the only explanations as to how a rat, bear, or whatever he was could develop sentience like that, but just about anything seemed possible in the weird world they all lived in.
Even as the bus lurched to a halt Izuku found himself running through all the possibilities such experiments could result in. Could dogs with powers be trained to protect the Quirkless from attack? Could there one day be a way for their research expand to human subjects?
Perhaps that was wiseful thinking, but the idea was a humorous one. He would always be worthless little Deku, a fact Izuku didn't see changing anytime soon. Though he didn't think that would stop him from trying. No matter how drastic the measure, he would become a hero and prove Katsuki wrong.
Izuku stood up from his seat, then receiving a spit wad in the back of his neck. He didn't even turn around, because he knew who had done it. One of Katsuki's 'friends', the one who could elongate their fingers, Akira. Izuku plucked the wad from his neck, dropping it onto the floor without a second thought. Akira's howling laughter echoed throughout the bus, though no one else seemed amused. "Akira, settle down!" called the teacher, Ms. Sato.
Izuku stepped out into the aisle after letting the girl next to him go first out of courtesy. As he exited the bus, his name was checked off by Ms. Sato on her clipboard. The class was gathering at the front door to the massive Oscorp structure, which stood far taller than any other building in Musutafu.
The architecture was very modern, as one would come to expect from such a cutting edge company such as Oscorp. It was a pure black, which stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of Musutafu, though it gave it an odd intimidation factor. Izuku figured that wasn't the intended effect, and that he was just overthinking the design.
When the bus was emptied, Ms. Sato joined them as they entered the massive glass doors, which slid open as soon as one of them came within three feet of the door. Inside the sprawling lobby, the floors shining white in the bright lights of the facility, there was a guide awaiting them.
"Are you the group from Alderra?" asked the guide, who lacked a nametag to indentify him. Ms. Sato nodded, presenting the man with a tour pass, one that had been sent in the mail to the school. "Alright then, right this way," he said, walking past the front desk. Izuku noticed the secretary stare at them as they walked by, which made him slightly uncomfortable.
'This is why everyone calls you a baby, Izuku. You're fine, everything's completely fine,' he told himself, fighting the rising emotions in him, which were a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Izuku figured the best word for how he felt was apprehensive, but he kept pushing forward, following the tour guide, remaining at the front of the pack.
They entered a rather spacious elevator, one with enough room to fit a group twice as large as theirs. The guide took out a card and swiped it into the console on the right side of the elevator, which seemed to activate it. He then pressed the button for the next floor, which caused the elevator to rise.
There was something on display on the back wall of the elevator, but Izuku couldn't quite make it out over the heads of his classmates. "That's badass!" exclaimed Katsuki gleefully, making Izuku wonder what could be so cool. Still, he saw no reason to fight through the crowd to get a better view of whatever it was.
Izuku had learned that drawing unnecessary attention to himself only led to a bad outcome. Katsuki had beat that into him over and over again. The odds that Katsuki would find a problem with him if he tried to see the marvelous sight were high, and quite frankly, Izuku stood no chance against him.
It was the sad reality of being Quirkless, but it was all Izuku knew, and it would remain that way for the rest of his life. He would overcome such an obstacle, one way or another.
The elevator came to a stop, and as it opened, it revealed a man with brown hair swept over to one side awaiting them. "Thank you for taking them this far, but I'll take this from here," the scientist said.
"Of course, Dr. Connors," the guide said without a second thought. Dr. Connors smiled in thanks as the tour guide returned to the elevator, which departed as quickly as it had arrived to the floor. "Now, you all are the Alderra group, correct?"
"Yes, we are," Ms. Sato confirmed, a sweet smile adorning her face. "Are you the one we'll be with?" she asked, seemingly already growing tired of the shifting guides.
"Yes, I am. I saw your group arrive and I knew I just had to show you what we've been working on, it's truly marvelous!" Dr. Connors exclaimed.
It was at that moment that Izuku noticed that their newfound guide was lacking a right arm. A part of Izuku wanted to know what the story behind that was, but he thought better of asking. Dr. Connors seemed like a nice man, and he didn't want to offend him.
Dr. Connors led them past a door labeled 'Quirk Development,' much to the chagrin of Katsuki. "What the hell!" he exclaimed. "The cool shit's gonna be in there!" he protested, to which there was a murmur of agreement.
"Oh I disagree," Dr. Connors responded, his smile never leaving his face. The next door on the right was the one he stopped in front of. Izuku was at the front for the first time in who knew how long, so he could read the label. "Species Development," he read aloud. The doors slid open, and Dr. Connors stepped through. "The gateway to the future, or at least, that's what we like to call it."
The windows were tinted, allowing hardly any light in, yet just enough to make everything visible. "Sorry about the light, some of our animal friends are quite sensitive to light," Dr. Connors apologized sincerely.
Izuku found he didn't mind the darkness quite as much as everyone else in his class. "This stuff is so cool!" he said, in what sounded like a hushed yell. Dr. Connors looked down at Izuku, a warm smile plastered across his face. He adjusted his glasses for a moment.
"If you think this is cool, you should come see this," Dr. Connors said, leading Izuku to a habitat that was well lit compared to the rest of the room. Inside was a single, rather large green lizard. "This little guy is part of a little experiment of ours. Watch."
Dr. Connors pressed a button and a buzzsaw attached to a robotic limb descended. "What're you doing?" Izuku asked, concerned for the alarmed lizard. Dr. Connors put a finger to his lip, quieting Izuku. His eyes were transfixed upon the lizard as the buzzsaw lowered.
Izuku's gaze averted the enclosure, falling to Dr. Connors' missing arm as the buzzsaw sliced through the lizard's tail. When the sawing ceased, Izuku looked at the lizard again. It's tail was gone, wriggling on the ground next to the lizard grossly, and yet the lizard had a smaller tail growing from where the original was.
"It's fascinating, isn't it?" Izuku nodded, though he wasn't sure if he shared the interest. "The ability of select reptiles to regenerate their limbs provides an excellent opportunity for humanity," Connors explained, though Izuku had a feeling the reason was a bit more personal. "If we could harness that ability, the jobs of healthcare workers would be made tens, if not hundreds of times easier! The life expectancy of humanity could potentially skyrocket!"
Izuku just smiled and nodded, too awkward to say anything about his obsession. "Oh I'm sorry, I just realized I never asked for your name," Dr. Connors said, looking down at Izuku, who was only a couple inches shorter than him.
"Izuku Midoriya!" he answered eagerly.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Izuku Midoriya. I hope you enoy the rest of your time here at Oscorp," Dr. Connors said, walking off to talk to the rest of the class.
It was then that something caught Izuku's eye. It was a relatively small cage, one with sticks digging into wet dirt. Izuku approached it, noticing that there was a sign, though Izuku couldn't quite make out what it said in the poor lighting.
It took Izuku a moment to figure out what was inside the habitat, but then he saw it. An awfully large spider with an odd pattern on the back of it. It was easily the size of his hand.
It was at that moment that Katsuki appeared behind Izuku. "The hell are you looking at, Deku?" he loudly questioned, causing the spider to run away to the cover of a leafy stick. He shoved Izuku into the enclosure, knocking him off balance and into the glass walls.
The glass shattered, causing the roof of the enclosure to fall upon the terrain. For a moment, Izuku felt worried about the spider inside, but before he could really think about it, Dr. Connors rushed over. "Move, out of the way!" he called out, and Izuku moved out of his way as he barreled towards them.
Izuku felt immense guilt about the enclosure, even if it hadn't really been his fault. So ashamed that he managed to sneak out of the room, sitting outside the room. Taking a moment to breathe as the room exploded with noise, Izuku stared blanky ahead of him.
It was at that moment that he felt a twinge of pain on his hand. He pulled it into his body on instinct, looking at it and seeing the same spider from the enclosure. Without even thinking he smacked the spider, knocking it to the ground. It landed on it's back, it's legs curled in.
Izuku began to panic, looking around for a camera. Fortunately for him, there didn't seem to be a camera in the hallway, so before anyone came by and saw him, Izuku returned to the Species Development sector.
As soon as the door opened, he was met by his class. "Come on, Izuku!" Ms. Sato exclaimed. "We're leaving!" Izuku stood on his toes, seeing Dr. Connors rushing around, trying to clean up the mess. At the same time, more Oscorp staff approached.
The return trip was far more awkward. As Izuku sat in his seat, there was a silence that wasn't broken by even the squeak of someone's shoe on the floor. His head ached, though he had no idea why. It wasn't like it was the spider bite, because the pain was already gone. In fact, the bite mark had quickly disappeared soon after it had occured.
It was at that moment that one of his classmates spoke up. A blonde haired girl with blue eyes named Gwen Stacy. She was originally from America, but her family had moved to Japan when she was 10. Sometimes her Japanese slipped, but for the most part she spoke it well.
"Are you alright?" she asked. Izuku nodded. Gwen was the only one in his class that didn't make fun of him. Izuku figured it was because she was still relatively new.
"Just a little light headed," Izuku answered. "I'll be fine." He felt very awkward, not used to actually social interaction, especially with girls.
"What happened back there?" Gwen asked, her eyes analyzing Izuku. He felt a little uncomfortable, but he kept his cool as best as he could.
"I don't even know," Izuku answered. "Kacchan-"
"Katsuki," Gwen interrupted. "You need to quit calling him that, it makes you seem immature."
"Alright, fine. Katsuki knocked me into the enclosure on purpose, and of course that made it break."
"He's such an asshole," Gwen stated matter of factly.
"Pretty sure he has a thing for you," Izuku said offhandedly. To that, Gwen made a funny face.
"Never in a million years," Gwen denied. Izuku laughed a little, the first time he genuinely had with a classmate since preschool. "He's only popular because he's got that fancy Quirk."
Izuku nodded as the bus took a sharp turn, causing Gwen to go flying through the aisle and landing in Izuku's seat. "Sorry!" Gwen loudly said, stumbling to sit down, taking the seat next to him. "That was totally an accident, I didn't mean-"
"It's fine," Izuku said, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. "I think our bus driver almost wrecked."
Gwen laughed, a sound that filled Izuku with great joy for some unknown reason. He smiled, knowing that even if he might be getting sick based off the headache, today had been a good day.