Outsider Chronicles: A Split in Time
Getting reborn into a world of superheros is annoying. Getting reborn as a powerless protagonist is even worse. Well, I thought I was powerless at least. This could be either really good or really, really bad.
And we're back with another superhero idea, this time based on MHA and with Worm nowhere in sight...sort of. You'll see what I mean about that shortly. I love working with worlds that already use the multiverse idea. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
When I found out I had been reincarnated, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I wasn't dead, so that was nice, but one the other hand, I was a baby again and there's a bloody good reason that you don't remember that! Still, there was one good thing that came of my new life. The world I had been reborn into is FUCKING AMAZING, if a little dangerous. After all, with people with powers running around, its only natural to be worried. So, which fucked up world full of Supers have I been reincarnated into you ask? Marval? DC? Nope, try My Hero Academia. This is gonna be so fun!
Or maybe not. As it turns out, I'm apparently rather unlucky. Why? Well, I've been reborn as Izuku Midoriya, the Quirkless protagonist of the story. Now, I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Why? Well, I'm not anything like Midoriya, so the chances of me impressing Almight was much lower. Besides, I don't have anywhere near as hero crazy as my canon counterpart. On the other hand, without me, Almight would have to look elsewhere for a successor and countless other events would go down differently.
The problem is, while I might be lacking a Quirk, I wasn't lacking a moral compass and my future knowledge certainly didn't help. I spent a good deal of my childhood thinking about whether or not I could reasonably just turn my back on the world and live a normal life knowing what I did. Unfortunately for me, the conclusion I came to was a big fat no. Thats why, in the doctor's office, when told I'd never get a Quirk, I didn't just sit there frozen.
"So what?" I said.
"Hmm? What do you mean kid?" asked the Doctor, an elderly man with slicked back hair, scarred hands and a goatee.
"I mean that I won't let the fact I don't have a Quirk stop me," I said, "There are plenty of Pros who's Quirks aren't that useful in battle yet they manage just fine. With enough training and innovation, anyone can be a hero! I won't let the fact I don't have a power stop me, not now, not ever!"
By this point I was on my feet and both Mum and the Doctor were staring at me in surprise and no small amount of derision in the Doctors case.
After that day, I started working towards achieving my goals. Oh don't get me wrong, I was under no delusions that I would be able to face off against any of the really powerful Villains or become like Saitama, but I could at least become strong enough to do something and learn enough skills to be able to do more than simply kick arse and take names. I learnt all I could about...well, everything, from fighting to medical to technology and even hacking, although I kept that particular part of my skillset on the downlow.
It was around that point when I realized that something was up. I was learning way, WAY to fast for it to be normal and I couldn't help but notice that I seemed to be guided towards certain things. I found myself avoiding certain areas where I'd later realize Bakugou and his friends were waiting to ambush me and the few times I did get into a fight, I found myself being able to easily evade his attacks and often turned them back on him.
Combine all that together and I realized that I wasn't Quirkless at all, a fact that was proven during a checkup where I brought up the strange changes in my mentality and got a recheck. It turned out that the Doctor who'd done my last one had ballsed up the check up somewhere down the line because a second X-ray revealed that my toes were indeed missing the extra joint.
With the reveal that I did have a Quirk, I put it to work and quickly figured out that it was even more broken than One For All or even All For One. Why? Well, my power basically let me win by giving me whatever I needed to complete a task I set myself. It was pretty close to the Quirk of a Hero based in America. I called my Quirk Cheat Mode, but she called hers the Path to Victory.
Yeahhh, as it turned out, I lucked out. During my research into other people with Thinker based powers, I stumbled on several in America, many of whom I recognized despite the fact that they had no business whatsoever being in the MHA world. What do I mean by that? Well think about it, if the Path to Victory exists, it stands to reason that the owner would be Contessa. Who happened to be a high ranking member of the premier American superhero team, the Proctorate, along with Legend, Alexandria and Eidolon. Bloody hell, I am SO glad that this world just seems to be an utterly bizarre combination of the two that thankfully lacks Endbringers and Scion. I have no idea if we're connected to Bet or not, but this world most definitely isn't it.
Thats mostly irrelevant though. What was important was the fact that I did have a Quirk and very little to stop me from achieving my goals. That said, I kept my gob shut about it and kept on ignoring Bakugou's many attempts to put me down. Instead, I set my goal to getting into UA and let my Quirk go nuts. In the process, I discovered several things about it. To start with, despite the similarity, my Quirk wasn't anywhere near as broken as Path to Victory. Instead of guiding me through step by step instructions, it instead guided me to the tools I needed to achieve my goals and increased my learning and retention skills. It was kind of like a combination of Contessa's, Ubers and Tattletales power, the latter due to the fact it gave me some impressive insight into my target. Just by studying the past entrance exams for UA, it was able to put together a pretty good model of what would be expected of me for mine. So yeah, not an instant win, but still pretty broken.
Anyway, after nearly five years of using my power to spoof the system and going to school, it was nearly time. Just ten months remained until the start of the new year at UA and when I'd be shooting for the top spot.
"Well, I'd ask you to hand in your career sheets, but theres really no point," said the Teacher, "You all want to be Heroes, don't you!"
The class cheered and started showing off their Quirks, ranging from stretchy fingers to being able to pull their own eyes out. I on the other hand simply continued to shuffle the deck of cards I was playing with with an impressive display of dexterity and sighed in boredom.
"Yes yes, very impressive, but using your Quirks during school time is against the rules," said the Teacher, "And put those cards away Midoriya, you can show off your card tricks later."
I harrumphed, but flicked the cards back into their pack and put them away. I'd learnt a few card tricks while experimenting with my powers and they served as a good way to distract me at times.
"HEY SENSEI, DON'T LUMP ME IN WITH THESE USELESS MORONS!" shouted Bakugou, getting growls and glares from the rest of the class, "You can't compare those weak ass Quirks with mine! I'm gonna get into UA and become the best damned Hero on the planet, beating that loser Almight, no problem!"
A low murmur of conversation started up at that, many believing that Bakugou could actually do it.
"Oh, thats right, Midoriya wants to go to UA too," said the Teacher.
The classroom froze and all eyes turned on me.
"What?" I asked.
I kicked my chair back as Bakugou suddenly spun around and slammed his fist into my desk with a massive explosion.
"EAT SHIT DEKU!" he roared, "THERES NO WAY A WEAK ASS QUIRKLESS LOSER LIKE YOU COULD GET INTO UA!"
"According to whom?" I asked from where I was balanced on the back of my chair with one hand, "I'm a better fighter than you are Kacchan, I'm faster, have better grades and don't have ten years worth of bullying on my permanent record."
"Grrrr, DAMN YOU DEKU!" roared Bakugou, taking another swipe at me.
I pushed off, flipping over the explosive blond, grabbed him by the collar and tossed him back into his desk.
"Seriously Kacchan, don't you ever learn?" I said as I landed back in my seat and put my feet on my desk.
Bakugou growled and started to get to his feet, clearly intending to try and pound me into gravy.
"BAKUGOU!" snapped the teacher, making the blond twitch.
He growled, but dropped back into his seat with a huff.
Once class got out, I was one of the first people out the door, mainly because I didn't feel like dealing with Bakugou and my power was feeding me some handy information as to what he was planning. Besides, I had work to do and time was running out. Besides, I needed to pick some things up in the shopping district.
About an hour later, I was on my way back home with some bags of stuff my power had helpfully informed me that we'd run out of (yes, its that good), when a sudden explosion made me jump. I turned and saw a large pillar of smoke rising from over the buildings. I eyed it for a moment, before I shrugged and turned to keep heading home...only for my power to blare in my ear that I should probably go and see what was going on. Considering I didn't get outright demands like that very often, I'd learnt to heed them since they always led me to exactly what I needed.
It didn't take me long to find the source of the explosion, which turned out to be the Sludge Villain who was...attacking Bakugou? How did that happen? I narrowed my eyes and scanned the crowd, quickly picking out a rather sorry looking Almight in his true form. I frowned and overclocked my power.
Chased villain through sewers, done more hero work before hand, villain managed to keep away long enough for Almight to run out of time.
I blinked. Well...that was certainly interesting. Still, at least I wasn't responsible for this. I turned my attention back to the 'fight'.
Heroes unable to deal with Villain, no suitable Quirks, three minutes till suffocation.
I froze at the last one. In three minutes, Bakugou would be dead and the Villain would probably be able to escape. Unfortunately, I doubted that anyone would arrive in time to help. Now, I don't like Bakugou, not in the slightest, but that didn't mean I thought he deserved to die. The only problem was, I didn't really have any way to help and I somehow doubted that charging in would be a good idea. My power conquered, although it did throw up an interesting observation.
Villain possess biological core. If struck, Villain will be rendered powerless. Core tiny and constantly moving, as well as protected by body that absorbs impact. Vulnerable to electricity.
"Huh, thats interesting," I muttered, "Alright, lets do this."
I took a deep breath.
"Cheat Mode...activate."
Immediately, the world blurred and countless paths appeared before me, each showing a possible future and what would happen if I took the path. I could already feel the headache that came with my power starting to press down on me and I knew I had seconds to pick a path. My eyes shot around, parsing apart each path and gaging their chances of success. Most were pretty low, but one showed promise. I quickly chose it and let my body move.
I dropped my shopping and bolted forwards, brushing past the nearest cop as I did and swiping the stun gun that was strapped to his belt as I shot towards the villains. I tuned out the crys of the crowd and heroes as my focus narrowed, following the path laid out by my powers. Side step to avoid a strike from the villain. Stop for two seconds to avoid being decapitated by a falling beam. Jump back to evade a water tendral from Backlash. Duck under another swipe from the villain. Target 30 degrees to the right above the left shoulder. Grit teeth and plunge in arm. This was gonna hurt. Grab Bakugou and activate stun gun.
There was a crackle of electricity and I gritted my teeth even harder as the 2 million volts flowed through me from the villains body. I ignored the pain as I pulled on Bakugou, yanking him from the ooze, just as the villain let out a horrible scream of his own and exploded, throwing the two of us away and leaving an average looking man to slump to the ground, steaming lightly and completely unconscious.
I groaned as I shoved Bakugou off me and sat up, only for the world to go into a spin as my head reported that it was NOT happy with me using my Quirk like that. Thinker Headaches SUCK.
"Ohhh, I shouldn't have done that!" I moaned as I curled up, covering my ears in an attempt to block out the loud shouting from the crowd.
Even the aftershocks of the stun gun hitting me didn't hurt this badly! A big hand on my shoulder made me look up to see a concerned looking face looming over me. Considering that my headache was bad enough that it was distorting my vision, I'd have had trouble figuring out who it was if it wasn't for the yellow and black striped headband.
"Hey kid, are you OK?" asked Death Arms.
I whimpered as the Heroes loud voice stabbed into my eardrums and made my head flare even more.
"Not so loud," I whimpered, "Give me a sec…"
Thankfully, although it would take awhile before my head stopped hurting completely, the pain did lower to a dull throb within a few seconds. I wouldn't be able to use my Quirk properly for the rest of the day, but I was well enough to talk.
"Urrg, that hurt," I said.
"Are...you OK?" asked Death Arms again, sounding even more worried.
"I'll be fine," I said, rubbing my temples, "Its just a side effect of putting to much stress on my Quirk."
The Hero looked relieved, before he scowled.
"That was reckless," he said, "There was no need to put yourself in danger like that!"
I scoffed.
"Danger? The only danger I was in was of this headache," I said, "I'm a precog, I already knew exactly how to beat that guy."
I jerked my thumb at the still Human sludge villain as he was carted away by the cops.
Death Arms blinked.
"A...precog?" he asked.
I nodded.
"My Quirk works by showing me the paths I can take to get the best possible outcome," I said, "Normally, it guides me gently to the best option, giving me the tools I need along the way, but if I need an immediate solution, like just now, I can basically force it to show me all the options I have. Naturally, the Human brain isn't really meant for seeing all that information, so it overstresses my Quirk and the backlash is...painful."
By this point Death Arms looked stunned and I could see why. Precogs were rather rare after all and my powers were definitely up there in terms of power levels for a Thinker. Sure, it wasn't that flashy, but I could easily use it to gain an advantage in just about any situation. Contessa proved that on a regular basis.
"That may be so, but it was still reckless," said Death Arms, "You should have left it to us. That said, you did do a good job. Do you plan to become a Hero?"
I grinned and nodded.
"Yep, taking the exams for UA this year," I said.
Death Arms nodded.
"Alright, in that case, make sure you look me up first," he said, "I'd love to have someone with a Quirk like yours for a sidekick."
I nodded.
"I might just do that," I said.
I got to my feet, stumbling slightly as my head throbbed.
"I...should probably be getting home," I said.
Death Arms nodded.
"Alright, I don't think we need anything else from you," he said, "Oh, but before you go, why did you do it? If you knew your Quirk would hurt you that much, why did you use it like that?"
"Because it was the only way I could win," I said, "And no matter what, a Hero will always save the day. No matter the risk."
I walked away, retrieving my shopping as I went and ignoring the two sets of eyes that were burning a hole in my back. One set was full of fury, while the other was curious and more than a little impressed. I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my lips as I walked away. Lets see how this affects the future. I could hardly wait.
And done. Well, that was certainly interesting. Let me be perfectly clear, this IS the world of MHA, so theres no space whales, no Scion and the Cauldron, while it does exist, isn't into kidnapping and inhumane experiments. Instead it serves as an underground shadow operation for the Hero side, dealing with particularly nasty villains from the shadows.
I'll also be making some alterations to certain characters natures and powers to fit on the Worm side. For example, Eidolons power didn't give birth to the Endbringers because hes not as mentally unstable and Dragon isn't an AI and is instead a Human with the Quirk Digitization, which basically allows her to enter and exist within the digital world.
That said, I'm mostly going to be working from the MHA side, so its not really a full crossover as much as me plonking a whole bunch of characters into this world from another. That said, I will be using some characters for future arcs, both Hero and Villain.
Yeahhh, Cheat Modes pretty well named considering what its really capable of. That said, the trick he used to beat the Sludge Villain is it being applied at its maximum level, bypassing the natural limitations. As such, its a last resort and he can only use it once a day without being knocked unconscious for a few days and likely suffering quite a bit of damage. Hes still more than capable of bullshiting his way through most situations though!
And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review!