Chapter 1: PrologueChapter TextOur story starts in the year 2138, in the country of Japan.
Though in truth, this story is influenced as far back as the early 2000's. No one knows exactly when it started, how, where, or even who it started with. All contemporary history remembers is that humans began to be born with anomalous genetic superpowers, deemed 'Meta Abilities'.
The initial reaction was the same as the world's always has been to new things. Immediate and merciless quashing, at least on the surface. Miles below it, men in suits and lab coats worked tirelessly to be the first to understand this new phenomenon, to control it. The powers that now could rest in a single pair of hands were too much to allow, far too risky to let the wrong hands take.
But these abilities cropped up too quickly, to the point where no person didn't know at least one person with a quirk. The people started to fear these Meta-Abilities less, but the nations of the world still feared what such things could do, given the chance. They didn't need to fear for long.
One person, with the right quirk and the right motivation, destroyed an entire nation in an instant.
Conflict didn't break out immediately, but there was blame to be had, and tensions were taut as violin strings. Whether it was Israel or Iran that launched nuclear weapons first, history still does not say. Regardless of fault, the nations erased each other quite thoroughly, and the world followed suit with a symphony of war.
Civil wars abounded, and continents clashed. Geopolitical giants quavered and crumbled under their own weight, smaller nations were handed back and forth in pushes for ground between those above their weight class. And through it all, the abilities known as Meta-Abilities made their presence and power known. Single individuals burned entire countrysides, buried whole cities, slew thousands with technologically amplified psychic power, and crashed the entirety of the Internet. Eventually, the wars did end, almost by a miracle.
The days that followed were dark, and near hopeless. Governments world-wide were starved for control and resources, having expended much of their means to both- but the people could hardly care less, being starved in a more literal sense. Crime skyrocketed, violent crimes especially so. Caught between their own people lashing out in despair and the grip of uncaring, over-stretched governments, the citizens started something that would change hearts and minds the world over.
The first one named himself Kick-Ass. The second took the moniker Cyclops. The third Owlman. All of them vigilantes. All of them, using their Meta-Abilities to enact street justice. They called themselves Heroes. The only difference between them and the common thug with a superpower was that the people rallied around them, as if a symbol. These self-proclaimed Heroes grew in popularity and population, as more and more folk that had been pushed around too much found the spine to put on a mask.
It happened first in Rhode Island, but the idea eventually took root everywhere.
Countries came to the realization that they could not convince or force their people to put down their symbols, and so adopted them. The best and kindest vigilantes became Pro Heroes, sponsored by the government and provided with certain protections. The crueler thugs that claimed the mantle of 'hero' were ostracized, named 'Villains'.
The world slowly healed, with Meta-Abilities coming to be more affectionately known as Quirks. With integration into the collective whole, these physics-defying powers were put to work in restoring the burnt and battered body of mother nature, who had taken the brunt of the wars and recovery. Pro Heroes became a national sensation- and with sensationalism followed all the trappings of a world ready to capitalize upon it.
Endorsements, speeches, merchandise, television shows, games, books, toys, and more. The same people that fought at the government's behest to put superpowered criminals behind bars became more. More than just people, they became something of living legend.
The world prospered, even while men and women wielding the laws of nature as their playthings fought over money, land, and ideals. But no system can last forever, just as all empires are doomed to fade and fall. Sharp eyes and hidden teeth remain abundant, even now, in this world of fantastic superpowers and caped saviors. Nations poise and posture, each vying for every extra inch of control, even as hands shake in windowless rooms.
But this is not a story that speaks in regard to Nations.
This is a story about a boy.
This is a tale about love and hate, the drives that propel people through life, and the apathy that convinces them to throw it all away. This is a telling of grit, hard work, pain, and abject misery. Choice and control; freedom and fear. This is the course of Midoriya Izuku's heartfelt wish. This is a story about Determination.