Chapter 2: He's A Phantom Part 2
It might go without saying, but Izuku's favorite color is green. There's no real reason for this. It isn't because it makes him feel safe and warm. It doesn't remind him of anyone that he admires or loves. And even though he has repeated this fact multiple times over the years despite the fact he knows no one will believe him (he's not bitter, you're bitter), it isn't because his eyes, hair, and name are all green. No, he just likes the color enough to justify calling it his favorite.
However, that doesn't mean he wants to be surrounded in a seemingly endless void of the color.
Izuku isn't sure how long he's been here. He's not even sure where here is. All he knows is that everything around him is in different shades of green, swirling around each other like oil trying to mix with water. And he's in the middle of it, suspended in the void as the green liquid wraps around him like a cocoon, only leaving part of his face exposed. The teen knows that normally he would panic in a situation like this – to be fair though, he also panics whenever he needs to call the landlord to fix the thermostat, so that's not saying much – but all he feels is a strange calm. Like he is exactly where he needs to be. It's weird to say that what with Cthulhu's head cold wriggling around him and not letting him do anything other than think, but it's true. He just feels content with how it is.
Still though he wouldn't mind seeing something else besides green.
Alas though, the universe has never listened to Izuku's requests before and it isn't going to start now. Instead, what appears in front of the teen is a monstrosity in what else but green. The creature, while only a speck of dust to the rest of the void, still shadows over him with its enormous size. It looks like a mixture of a blob and snake, with a bulbous head that gradually transforms into a sort of spectral tail. Its fanged maw is closed in a gentle smile while it stares down at Izuku with fierce red eyes (hey look at that, looks like the universe did listen to him after all).
When Izuku realized what he was seeing, a big part of him was expecting for this creature to attack the defenseless middle schooler. So imagine his surprise when instead the beast opens its mouth and speaks. "It's time Izuku," the creature says in a deep yet soothing voice. "I wish you luck out there. You're certainly going to need it."
Those three sentences alone are enough to fill Izuku with a million questions. Time? Time for what? And what's out there that requires luck? But as he tries to ask, he finds the wriggling mass around him is preventing him from speaking. He tries to signal for the creature to wait a moment for him to figure out a way to communicate, only for his eyes to widen as the creature opens its mouth and pounces on the boy.
As Izuku is swallowed whole and the ethereal green is replaced by a black abyss, the teen can feel his eyelids beginning to grow heavier and his consciousness begin to slip. He opens his mouth to scream, only for the green mass to flow into his mouth and lungs. A panic he is all too familiar with begins to settle back within his body as he fights to not go under, but he feels himself losing. As he feels the last of his consciousness fade, he lets himself take his last breath as his eyelids close.
…Only for them to shoot back open as he finally lets out a proper scream. The teen pants as he feels oxygen flood into his lungs, realizing that in his fourteen years he has been taking the element for granted. He reaches up frantically to feel his face, relieved when he touches his skin instead of whatever that green slime was. His hyperventilating turns into an easy rhythm. He's okay. It was just a dream. With a heavy sigh, the teen lets himself relax again, lying back down in his bed so he can maybe get a few more minutes of sleep before he has to get up for the day.
Except as he lies down and looks at the ceiling, the panic returns full force as he realizes he isn't looking at his ceiling. Shooting back up, he looks around to see that this fact isn't particularly strange as this isn't his room either. But that also raises the question why isn't he in his room?!
The room he is in is a bit smaller that his own room, with white walls accented light blue. The bed he is in, which is much thinner and seems to be supported by a metal frame, is surrounded by a few chairs, one of which has his sleeping mother in it. Multiple machines are scattered around the room, all of which have cable that led up to the bed Izuku is in. Looking down, he sees that the cables specifically are traveling into his left arm.
"Wait a second…is this a hospital room? Why am I in a hospital room?
He doesn't even realize he began to hyperventilate again until the heartrate monitor next to him begins to go off. The loud beeping stirs Inko from her slumber, looking frantically at what may be wrong until her eyes land on her awake son. The two Midoriyas lock eyes for a moment, Izuku's panicked and Inko's filling with tears. "Izuku…" the woman says barely above a whisper.
Izuku opens his mouth to say something, but it seems this simple motion is enough to stir her from her stupor as she rushes forward and wraps her son in a bone crushing hug, crying enough tears that part of Izuku worries about it shorting out the equipment nearby. "Oh Izuku, I was so worried! I thought I would never see you again! Are you okay?! Do you remember who you are?! Are you brain-damaged?! Oh my god, my son is brain-damaged!" Izuku feels like he should tell his mom he is in fact not brain-damaged, but honestly right now he is too confused to do anything other than stare at the wall.
The door opens as a nurse comes in, likely coming to see why the monitor had begun beeping. However, her calm demeanor turns to shock as she sees Izuku sitting up. "Oh my god, you're awake." She then leans out of the room, shouting for someone to come in. A moment later a tired looking doctor walks in, whose eyes shoot wide open as he sees Izuku awake. The two immediately rush over to check over the teen, gently shoving Inko aside so they can do their examination.
"Pulse and heart rate seem abnormally low but are steady. Breathing sounds normal though. Airway seems to be unobstructed. Nurse, anything?"
"Pupils are dilating fine, so that's good. I would suggest we still do a CAT scan just to make sure there's no brain damage though."
"Good idea. He may be awake but there is no telling how damaged his neural receptors could be."
"Excuse me…"
"Midoriya, have you noticed any oddities?"
"N…no, I don't believe so. He was able to sit up on his own."
"Hmm, so his muscles don't seem to be too atrophied, but that could have just been a bodily reaction to adrenaline, not an actual conscious decision."
"Excuse me."
"Has he done anything else? Moved or said anything?"
"Not yet. He was breathing rather heavily though when he first woke up."
"Possibly a lack of oxygen in his system. We should go and –"
"Hey!"
The three adults in the room go quiet as they hear the scratchy voice and finally realize the teen they are fretting over has been trying to talk for the past minute. With panicked eyes Izuku looks between everyone in the room before speaking again. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"
The adults look slightly sheepish, as if they just realized that maybe crowding over a confused teenager and yelling in his ear wasn't the best idea. The tired doctor gives the nurse a quiet look which has her backing away before bending down to look Izuku in the eye. "Kid, do you know who you are?"
Izuku raises an eyebrow at that. What kind of question is that, and why does it make him so nervous? "I'm Izuku Midoriya…"
The doctor manages a small smile at that. "Good," he points at Inko. "And do you know who she is?"
"Uh, my mom…" What the heck is going on? What with all of these questions?
"Good job. And do you know how old you are?" he asks again.
At this point Izuku is starting to get frustrated again. "I'm 14– I'm sorry sir, but can you please tell me what is going on?"
"In a minute, let me just ask one last thing." Izuku wants to protest, but keeps his mouth shut as the doctor continues. "What is the last thing you remember before waking up?"
The last thing he remembers. Well, that's a weird question to ask. The last thing that happened to him was seeing Mt. Lady's debut and then going to school. "Wait though," Izuku pauses. "That can't be right. Nothing happened there that would have put me in a hospital, right? That means…did something happen afterwards? And if so why can't I remember?" Realizing the doctor was still waiting for him to answer, he spoke. "I…I was, uh, leaving a hero fight and then I, um, I just got to school. And then…nothing."
The doctor nods as if expecting that answer before standing back up. "Just like I expected. It seems you have a case of short-term memory loss."
"Memory loss," Inko says in shock. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He should be. This is fairly common with patients such as Izuku, especially those you have been in similar accidents as him."
"Accident? I was in an accident?" The green-haired boy again silences everyone in the room as he stares wide-eyed and pale-faced at the people around him.
This time Inko is the one to bend down to Izuku, a soft smile contrasting the woman's tear-filled eyes. "I'm so sorry Izuku. I…I should have been there."
Izuku can feel his panic increasing as he hears his mom's warbling voice trying (and sadly failing) to calm him. "Mom…what happened?" Inko tries to answer him but stops as she just stares at her son.
Wait, no. She's not staring at him. She's staring at something on him. Following his mother's gaze, he looks down only for his eyes to widen at what he sees. As the gown dips down just enough to show the teen's chest, Izuku sees a scar reminiscent of a tree branching across his skin. Shakily he takes the blanket off of him to see it continues to move down, traveling down his body to his feet.
The tired doctor clears his throat, bringing Izuku's attention back to him. "I'm sorry to say this Midoriya, but you were struck by lightning."
"I was…I was what?" the teen asks, his body fighting on whether he should cry or pass out after hearing that.
"Yes, I'm afraid it's true," the doctor explains. "A hero found you over in Aktu during a storm. You had severe electrical burns on your skin and some of your organs were in the process of failing. Luckily you were taken to the hospital relatively quickly, but the damage…" The man trails off, as if he doesn't know how to word what he needs to say.
Inko lets out another whimper, which causes Izuku's skin to turn from bone-white to nearly translucent. What happened to him? The doctor sighs before deciding it would be best to just rip the band-aid off. "You've been in a coma."
A second of silence goes past. Then another. Then twelve more. Before finally… "WHAT?!"
Izuku goes into an immediate coughing fit as the yelling was too much for the teen's weakened vocal cords. The nurse hands him a cup of water which he gulps down greedily before looking back at the doctor. "I was in a coma! For…for how long?!"
"One month." Izuku coughs again, the surprise feeling like a punch to the gut. "Well technically 37 days, but..." The doctor stops talking as he realizes his words have basically put the boy back into a coma.
"Izuku," Inko starts, grabbing her son's hand to help ground him. "Are you okay?"
Is he okay? What kind of question is that?! Of course he isn't okay! He was in coma for over a month apparently! Who knows what he's missed, what kind of damage he has to his body from the lightning! Not to mention the fact that he apparently has amnesia and can't remember what he was doing that day that led to him being struck by lightning in the first place! Is he going to remember eventually or is he going to start forgetting more about his life as time goes on?! Izuku is so confused and scared and just wants some kind of answer that will make everything make sense!
So of course what he says is, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit surprised is all."
Inko smiles at that, happy to hear that even if a big part of her is still very worried about the inevitable freak out that she is unaware has already begun.
"Well," the doctor begins, drawing the Midoriyas attention to him as he looks at his clipboard. "I'm happy you are taking all of this so well Midoriya, but you are not out of the woods just yet. I want to go ahead and run a few tests on you to make sure you are really okay. It's unfortunate to say that many lighting survivors tend to have some sort of side effects from their incident that may not be noticeable at first but could possibly be treated if we find it early on."
Izuku nods in understanding, not letting the panic of there possibly being some permanent damage due to this show on his face. Instead, he lies back as the nurse readies his bed for transport and pushes him after the doctor. The doctor tries to tell him about the tests that are about to be conducted and his mom tries to reassure him that everything is going to be okay, but Izuku can't find it in himself to listen. All he can do is stare above him and watch the ceiling change as he moves. All the while ignoring the fact that somehow, due to a literal act of God, he could end up being more useless than he has been his entire life. For right now, he just wants to be in his own little world and look at the ceiling.
Everyone seems to be in their own little worlds in fact, all trying to either keep the greenette calm or get him to where he needs to be. Which is why no one notices that for a brief moment Izuku's forest green eyes begin to glow a toxic green before turning back to normal, the first warning of what is to come.
xXDPMHAXx
It's unbelievable. Impossible even. Izuku has spent the past two days doing test after test and then waiting for result after result, and during that time he has thought about what kind of sick joke fate would end up pulling on him but he never expected this. There is no way the test results in Izuku's hands are his own because they…they just can't be. The odds of what he is seeing being true are too high to be calculated. The best way he can put it would be that it is as likely as him meeting All Might again, being given his Quirk, and going on to become the world's number one hero.
But the doctor has assured him this is real. Which means that for once in his life, the powers that be have decided to notpunish Izuku for his existence.
He is perfectly healthy. None of the tests were able to find any abnormalities. His blood and scans were fine. There is no evidence of any damage to his mind. His muscles barely have any signs of atrophy, and nothing that can't be fixed with a light workout regime he can do from home. The only thing that may have been troubling would be that his body temperature seems to be a bit low, but the doctor says that it hasn't affected him negatively in any way. He's perfectly fine.
(The teen makes a mental note to go buy a lottery ticket before his luck inevitably goes back to normal.)
His mom is talking off to the side while she packs up, saying how excited she is for Izuku to go home and that she'll be making katsudon for the next week to celebrate the good news, but Izuku is only able to half-listen as he keeps his ear out for the sound of the other shoe dropping.
The door to the room opens and both Midoriya's are drawn to the sound of a boot stomping down. "Oh my god, I didn't mean literally!" Izuku grits his teeth as he looks at who enters only for his mouth to drop open at who he sees. There, checking to see if he was able to step on the spider in the room, is the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead.
"Gross," the man mutters at his shoe before looking up at Izuku, only to flinch back by the stupefied look the boy is giving him. "Is this a bad time?"
Inko chuckles at her son before looking at the confused hero. "No, don't worry Aizawa. He just does this sometimes when he sees a hero. Just be happy he isn't frothing at the mouth-oh wait, there he goes." Ignoring his rabid appearance, Izuku locked on to one part of his mom's interaction. Aizawa?! Did his mom just call Eraserhead by his real name?! How does she know his real name?! Actually back up, how does she even know of him in the first place?!
"We met the night of your accident. I was the hero who found you and brought you in and waited with your mom while you were in surgery."
"He's also been very helpful, coming in every week to check on your progress and helping me with errands."
The man shrugged. "The hospital is on my way home from work, and I usually get groceries during that time. Just happy I could help out in some way."
Izuku stares at the two, wondering how he knew what the boy was thinking before realizing he had talked out loud again. Looks like he wasn't lucky enough for that lightning bolt to fix that little habit of his. His slack jaw closed as his cheeks turned red, Izuku finally looking away from the hero in embarrassment. Yet the hero either didn't notice the teen's embarrassment or didn't care as he continued to talk. "I will say though I am a bit surprised to see you recognize me. I don't tend to meet many civilians that know about me."
Like a switch Izuku goes from a blushing mess back to fanboy mode. "Well yeah, that's because you are one of, if not the best underground hero in Japan! The way you take down villains so fast they barely have time to react or recognize whose attacking. On all the forums I go on almost everyone thinks you're just a myth, but I did some digging and found a few videos of you online. Nothing great, just some blurry security cameras and a few social media posts that had you in the background, but I was able to use that to see what heroes may frequent those areas and after seeing that none of their routes matched up figured out it had to be you! I have so many questions! Like were you really the person who took down Muscular two months ago? Or did you fight against the Skycrawler in Naruhata or was that someone else? Wait before anything, let me get your-"
"Ahem." The cough snapped Izuku out of his rambling as the teen faded out of his stupor and looked at the hero who had cleared his throat. "I actually can't stay for long. I have meeting I have to go to. I just heard about the good news and wanted to check in to make sure you and your mom were okay."
Ignoring how his likeness has become like a tomato after realizing he had gone into a mutter storm, Izuku looks at the hero. Although he wants to just say he was fine, was he? To be frank he's not really sure. Despite being given a clean bill of health, he still hasn't made any progress of remembering what happened the day of his accident. The doctor assured him it would come back; it will just take some time. Yet when he looks down at the branching scar under his clothes, when he feels the strange chill inside his chest, he feels like it more than just missing memory. It's like he is missing part of himself.
While in his own head, he vaguely is able to make out his mom speaking. "Oh things are great actually. We just got the results back from Izuku's exams and were told he has a clean bill of health."
Shota gives the matriarch a disbelieving look. "Really?"
Inko just smiles wider. "Yep! The doctor's say it's a miracle! Struck head on by a bolt of lightning and he walks away basically injury free, besides the scar and bit of amnesia."
If Inko or Izuku had been paying more attention, they may have noticed Shota's face shift from disbelief to disappointment for a split second. "Amnesia you say?"
The mother's smile dims just slightly. "Yes. Unfortunately, it seems the accident left Izuku with a case of short-term memory loss. He hasn't been able to remember anything about what happened the day of his accident yet, have you honey?"
After a few moments, some part of Izuku's brain catches up and realizes the two adults in the room are waiting to hear his response. "Oh…oh yeah. I, uh, am having some trouble right now, but the, um, the doctors say they are, well, hopeful I'll remember…eventually I mean."
Eraserhead raises a brow at the teen's answer but doesn't comment on it as the sound of some old school rock music begins to blare from his pocket. "Damn it Hizashi," the hero mutters, barely audible to the teen, as he pulls out his phone and sighs. "I'm sorry but it looks like my time is up. Midoriya, I wish you the best while you recover." He turns to the Midoriya matriarch. "Thank you for your time."
"No thank you Aizawa for everything. Remember to call me if you ever need any help," the woman says, pulling the younger man into a hug. The man stiffens slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the physical contact, but still puts on a small smile. After a moment Inko pulls away, letting the hero step back and walk out of the room.
Izuku stares after the man, slightly in awe at how close his mother had to the Pro while he was comatose. It was nice though, knowing his mom had someone there for her during that time with her relationship with Aunt Mitsuki strained and with his dad… Anyway, it was nice to see his mom wasn't alone.
He smiles as he goes to collect his stuff from the bedside table before pausing, a look of horror making its way to his face. No, it can't be. There's no way. He couldn't. He didn't.
But he did.
The notebook slips from his fingers as he falls to his knees and lets out strangled cry that draws his mother to his side. Yet all he can hear is the sound of the other shoe dropping.
"Izuku, honey! What's wrong?!"
"…I forgot to get his autograph."
"…Do you need a minute alone?"
"Yes please."
xXDPMHAXx
As Shota steps outside the hospital, he groans as his phone begins playing that obnoxious song again. Clicking accept, he begins speaking before the caller can. "What have I said about touching my personal belongings?"
The person on the other line just laughs, clearly not caring about the violation of privacy. "Oh don't be like that. I was just trying to add a little flair to your life!"
Shota raises his brow. "And you think the best way to do that is with a ringtone?"
"Well you keep on vetoing all of my outfit suggestions-"
"Stop," the hero says with a sigh. "Unless the next words out of your mouth are actually important, I'm hanging up."
"I think what I say is important-"
"I'm hanging up."
"Wait stop. I'm just calling to get your ETA."
"I'm just leaving the hospital. I'll be there in 15."
"Alright sounds good! See you then! Oh actually real talk, what did you think of the song choice, just I'm wondering if maybe metal is-" Shota ends the call before Hizashi can continue. He loves the guy like a brother, but sometimes he wishes it was a brother who lived very, very far away.
He picks up the pace towards UA, already hating the idea of being late and wanting to get there to make use of as much time as possible. Still, it wasn't like he didn't have a genuine reason for his tardiness, seeing as he was just visiting their main lead to the case.
It's been over a month so far since the green lightning first appeared. The day after it happened, once Shota had left the hospital after the kid had been deemed stable, he was called in to Nezu's office. There the chimera had informed him of the fact that the phenomena had not been an isolated event; it had struck areas all over Musutafu that night, knocking out power in the city and damaging various pieces of property. By some miracle though it appeared that no one had been harmed by it…well except for one person that is.
Nezu had said that by looking into the city's electrical grid, he deduced the storm had to have originated from somewhere in Aktu, most likely from some kind of electricity-Quirked villain. And when he heard his favorite teacher (a term that still fills Shota with nothing but dread) had found someone suffering severe electrical burns in the area, the principal had concluded the teen may have encountered said villain before being attacked.
Since then, Shota has been assigned to monitor the teen, both so he can properly question Midoriya when he wakes up and to make sure that if he was attacked before then the villain wouldn't come back to finish the job. It hasn't been a very high priority though since the kid's involvement has been more speculation than anything, meaning Shota already only had to come around once every few days and to keep an ear open when he heard about any happenings at Musutafu General. Nonetheless the hero has taken his job very seriously, keeping a watchful eye over Midoriya and even spending time with his mother to make sure this possible villain may not attack her as well. He'll even admit he has formed something of a kinship with the kind family, befriending Inko while picking up groceries and learning about Izuku through the stories his mother would tell.
But still this has only taken about an hour of Shota's day two or three times a week, which has let him use the rest of his time to investigate the case from other angles. Since the initial incident there have been over a dozen more appearances of the green lightning in smaller amounts, displayed in events like knocking out the power in an apartment or damaging a light post. Nothing too worrisome yet but still more than enough for Shota to investigate, being able to canvas the area and see what any civilians may witnessed. When not dealing with that the man has spent his time investigating Amity Parkway, trying to see if maybe he can find any sign of where the green lightning originated. He initially suspected that maybe there was something in the factory Midoriya was found on, but after finding nothing despite multiple searches of the property (besides evidence of someone with a worrying fudge addiction), Shota has decided his time is better spent looking into other areas of Aktu. He has also been given access to the city's electrical grid by Nezu so he can monitor it and see if he can notice any sort of patterns the lightning may be exhibiting or where they any show up next. And after working on this investigation for over the past month, exhausting every lead and making sure he has examined every detail, Shota can say he has nothing. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis. One month of looking and not one beneficial lead has sprung up. Shota has spent over 12 years as an underground hero and in that time, he has never experienced a case that has gone cold this quickly. It's gotten to the point the man is sure that whoever is causing this must either be a criminal mastermind or just stupid lucky.
And with the kind of power they possess, he isn't sure which is worse.
So when he heard that the kid had finally woken up and was in a stable enough position to talk, Shota had hoped he could finally find something that could help him on this case. And yet, life decided to not only shit on the Erasure Hero but have it be shaped as a middle finger as he finds out the one person who may be able to shed some light on what is happening has amnesia. If the man was an optimist, he would hold on to the hope that Midoriya may get his memories back given enough time, but the realist in him knows that in these kinds of situations when someone experiences great trauma, the brain usually represses the memory to protect the person and even if the memory does come back its after many years and many sessions of therapy. Many things that he doesn't have time to wait for.
The lightning may just be coming in small bursts right now, but it has almost killed before and Shota doesn't have time to it to actually kill next time. Whoever or whatever is causing this is out there and must be stopped now before any more innocent people get hurt.
The hero sighs, sinking his head into his scarf. Hopefully Nezu will be able to come up with something during the meeting today and they can finally put this whole green lightning thing to rest once and for all.
Yet that's optimist talk, and as said before Shota is a realist. And as a realist Shota nearly slaps himself as he knows that its only when you hope things will get better do things tend to take a turn for the worse.
xXDPMHAXx
The door to the apartment swings open and Izuku follows his mother in, depositing his shoes in the genkan before making his way to the living room. It's weird to say but he's a little nervous being back. Yes, it's technically been a month since he's been here but to him it's really only been two days. That's no big deal really, people sometimes stay at their friend's houses for longer periods of times then that and come home feeling no difference (at least Izuku thinks they don't, but he doesn't really know since he doesn't, you know, have any friends…wow that got sad fast). Yet as he looks around the place he grew up in, he feels weird. Like he's seeing a friend he hasn't seen in a long time (hey look he does have a friend! Its house!...wow it got even sadder).
He puts his bag down as his mom goes to the kitchen, getting ready to make dinner. "Get ready Izuku because I am about to make the best katsudon you have ever had in your life!" Izuku smiles at his mom's display; it's nice to see her so happy after everything that happened. The woman takes the ingredients out only to pause, the smile slipping from her face. "Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Izuku asks as he goes to the kitchen to see what has his mom upset.
The woman simply pulls out an egg carton and opens it to show nothing. "We're out of eggs."
"Oh…well that's okay," Izuku says, a little disappointed they won't be able to make katsudon now but knows it's not a big deal. "We can just make something else."
Inko's disappointed face turns to determination as she hears her son's words. "No, I promised you your favorite meal and by God you are going to get it. We'll just go run to the store really quickly and pick up some up."
As the woman quickly goes to the front door, putting her shoes on and grabbing her keys, Izuku walks up to his mother. "Um actually, if it's okay with you could I stay here?" Inko pauses putting on her left shoe. "It's just that I, well, I'm still kind of tired from the hospital and want to lie down for a while."
Inko turns to look at her son and not for the first time sees the dark circles under his eyes. Contrary to what some may think, being in a coma isn't a relaxing experience. Its just a time when the body is so damaged that it has to shut down so it can have any chance at healing. And as a nurse, Inko has seen how drained a person is after waking up many times, sometimes taking another week going in and out of consciousness before coma patients are able to even think about recovery. So while her son is definitely a special case, Inko still can see the exhaustion radiating from her boy and, even though she doesn't want to let him out of her sight at the moment, realizes it might not be what Izuku needs right now.
With a sigh Inko finishes putting her shoe on and looks at her son. "Alright, but if you feel strange in any way call me right away, understand? I'll be back in 30 minutes, but that doesn't mean you should wait 30 minutes if something feels off."
Izuku nods his head in understanding, muttering a 'Yes ma'am' at the comment. Inko gives her son one last look before smiling, seeing he heard her. "Okay, now go lie down. I'll wake you up when dinner's ready."
"Thanks mom," Izuku says as he gives his mom a hug before going to his room. Inko gives her son one last worried smile before sighing as she heads out the door. Everything will be okay. It's just 30 minutes after all, right?
As Inko heads off, Izuku trudges into his room with eyes half closed, drops his bag unceremoniously at his feet, and flops down on his bed. He almost cries as he sinks into the mattress, not realizing until now how uncomfortable that hospital mattress was until now. He quickly gets under his blankets, not even bothering to change out of his t-shirt and sweatpants, too ready to let sleep claim him as its next victim. Pulling his All Might sheets over his head, he lets his body relax as he begins to drift away.
Only to slingshot back to reality as his body tenses to a degree that makes his bones ache. He looks around his room, wondering what triggered the sudden change in mood, before his eyes land on the smiling face of the number one hero printed on his sheets. Except as he looks at the smile, instead of feeling the usual happiness and hope it brings, he feels sadness and panic. "What the heck?" Izuku asks, now wide awake due to the small anxiety attack he is feeling. What's going on? Why would he feel so…so depressed after seeing his hero?
"Can you be a hero? Not without a Quirk."
The greenette clutches his head in pain, unprepared for the sudden headache that appeared. What…was that a voice? Why is he hearing voices? And why did it sound so familiar?
The migraine fades as soon as it appears, leaving nothing more than a dull throbbing in his skull. He breathes, hoping to get his panicked heartrate back to normal as he looks around his room, yet this proves hard to do as he sees All Might's face everywhere he looks. He can feel his fight or flight instincts kicking in, which in Izuku's life isn't an uncommon occurrence. It's just that whenever it's appeared in the past it's because he was being chased by bullies or something, but there's nothing threatening here. So why does he want to just disappear until the danger is gone?
He's just tired. Yeah that's it, it's been a long 2 or 39 days, depending on how you look at it. He just needs to sleep, that's all. He reaches his arm out to grab his sheets, only to stop as he finally sees a real reason to panic.
His arm is gone. And just because he doesn't truly believe it, he's going to say it again: his arm is gone!He flails, falling out of bed, but doesn't even register the pain because HIS ARM IS GONE!
What the heck? Izuku may not be a doctor, but he's pretty sure it's common knowledge that arms don't just disappear out of thin air! He gets off the floor, ready to run to the phone and call his mom or the hospital or maybe a scientist when he looks at his mirror and goes pale. Or at least he thinks he does but he can't exactly be sure as HIS WHOLE BODY IS GONE!
Wait, that doesn't make sense. Izuku's panic momentarily subsides as he realizes that if his body was gone then he wouldn't be here. But he knows he is, he can see his room and feel the floor under his feet and hears his heart ready to pop like an overinflated balloon. So he's not gone he's just…not visible. Like a ghost or something.
"'The Complete Guide To Ectoplasmic Entities'… Ectoplasmic entities... Wait, is this a book about ghosts?"
His fingers grasp at his viridian (or I guess translucent) curls, hoping it could somehow distract from the pain. There it is again, a voice but that time…that was his voice. But he's positive he's never said anything about ghosts of all things…right?
The headache leaves again, but the pain left behind this time is much stronger. Izuku breathes as he opens his eyes, only to yelp as he sees himself in the mirror. He takes a moment to poke and pinch himself while looking at his reflection just to make sure, and when he's confident he is looking at himself he breathes a sigh of relief.
Okay this is too weird and, seeing how he lives in a world where a washing machine is a major celebrity, that's saying something. He…he shouldn't be able to able to do that. He's Quirkless, and Quirkless people can't just turn invisible randomly. Does that mean…does he have a Quirk now? Instead of the excitement he should feel at that idea, something in him is telling him this isn't right, that this is something to worry about, and whatever that something is seems to be strong enough to stop him from nerding out and instead focus on getting help. He needs to go find someone, like a doctor or a hero or something but he just can't be here right now!
He takes a step towards the door, only to faceplant as he trips over something. He groans as he sits up, ignoring the pain that is now inside and outside his head to look at whatever he tripped over. Only for his eyes to shoot wide as he sees he tripped over the floor. Or maybe its tripped under the floor? Oh who cares, the point of the matter is that his leg inside his floor!
As he sees this, he can feel his other leg become tingly, almost like he had sat on it for a long time, before it too begins to go through the carpet. Panicking, he uses every ounce of nerd strength he has to stop himself and pull himself back out of the floor, where the tingling stops and he is able to lie in safety.
Two Quirks…that's two Quirks he has shown off in as many minutes, and two more Quirks then he had a month ago. What…what's happening to him?
Izuku barely feels himself writhing on the floor, too preoccupied with the intense pressure threatening to rip his head in half. There's no voice this time but Izuku swears he can see something. It hard to focus on with the pain but he knows it's a room and…there's something on the wall. Some kind of door or…something. Honestly, he can barely give it any mind, too busy trying and failing to stop himself from flailing on the floor. He rolls around, knocking into all of his belongings and knocking everything over, all the while crying as the pain doesn't leave this time, only getting stronger with every second. It hurts, it hurts so much. He can feel himself spasming on the floor as if there was electricity in his veins and can hear himself yelling for someone to come help. Parts of him start to turn invisible or fall through the floor, only to turn off when the squirming Izuku would move his arm back into empty space. A distinct burn begins to form on his body, and if the teen was in a better state of mind he would realize it was coming from where his new scars are. He doesn't understand what is happening, but he knows it's so much, too much to handle, and he doesn't know how much longer he can take because it feels like he is dy-
His body rams into something, but this time the object gets caught on the teen's shirt and begins to dig into his skin. Although the pain of that is infinitesimal to the pain in his body right now, it is something that grounds him to reality enough to realize he needs to get up if he is to get help. It takes everything in him to crack his eyes open and even then, he can barely see anything with his tears in the way. He looks over to his side, trying to maneuver his body to a place he can push himself up, when he sees what was digging into his side. Though it's hard to make out, the blurry image looks like some kind of book with green swirls on it. What is that? He doesn't remember that book. But then…why does it look so familiar?
In an instant the headache hits its climax as Izuku's body goes ramrod straight, everything coming back to him. The sludge villain, All Might, the book, the factory, the secret lab, the portal, and the pain. The pain of millions of volts of electricity burning him from the inside out. The pain of his ears bleeding from the sound of his vocal cords ripping apart. The pain of being ripped apart and being put back together in a way that took something away but left something behind.
The memories finish playing in his head and with that the pain goes away, leaving Izuku panting and sweating on his bedroom floor. Leaving the kid alone with the knowledge of what happened that day, and how it somehow changed him. Made him something different, something…else. The teen rasps out his breaths until his heartrate levels out, shakily gets to his feet…
And then immediately rushes to his trashcan, emptying his entire stomach into the white liner. Once he is complete with his task, he sinks back down, using the wall as a support and clutches the can like a lifeline. Okay, this…this is nuts. Like actually insane! Izuku is not one to curse ever, but even he can say this situation is pretty fucked no matter how you look at it. The portal turned on, and he was inside it. He can still feel like electricity tingling across his skin and the strange green energy poisoning him, the smell of his burnt flesh and the fear of feeling like this was the end. And he knows it should have been the end, that no one sans maybe someone with a very specific durability, healing, or energy absorption Quirk could survive that. He should be dead right now.
He can feel his body still as a thought occurs to him. In the past few minutes, he became invisible to the naked eye and went through solid matter. Aren't those two abilities associated with ghosts? Ghosts, which were being researched in that lab. And ghosts, something someone built a portal in order to find. A portal that turned on with him inside it.
Is…is he dead?
He barely is able to keep himself from spiraling again, clutching his trashcan to his chest to keep himself grounded to reality. No, no that doesn't make sense. He can't be dead. Dead people don't have heartbeats and he has a beating heart, he can feel it doing aerobics on his ribcage. And his breathing, it may be choppy and strained but he is still breathing. Plus the fact he can get sick and the tests the doctors took and the results saying he was fine. He's not dead, he can't be.
So then what is he?
His eyes stay locked on that book. The book that led him to the factory and that lab. The lab where the portal is. The portal that caused this. And the place that, if Izuku wants answers, he needs to go back to. Writing a quick note to his mom that he needed some fresh air and went for a walk, Izuku left the apartment and traveled back to Aktu.
xXDPMHAXx
Contrary to popular belief, Katsuki Bakugo is not always angry. Sure he may be an abrasive kid and he may snap at others if they get on his nerves, but he's not walking around town 24/7 simmering in rage. Usually, he just wants to be left alone so he can focus on things that actually matter, like getting into UA and finally earning his spot as the future number one hero. But as his hand sparks and begins to roast his training dummy, he is reminded that there is one thing that never fails to incite his fury: Deku.
That damned nerd. Ever since they could walk Deku has been nothing but a pain in Katsuki's side. No matter where he went, the loser was always there thinking he was better than Katsuki. Trying to prove he could match up. Always saying how he would be a hero that could compare to him even without a Quirk. It would have been sad if it wasn't so pathetic, and it would have been pathetic if it didn't fill Katsuki with such a murderous rage.
Who did that green haired shit stain think he was saying he was in Katsuki's league? He wasn't in his league; hell, the two of them weren't even playing the same sport! Katsuki was pitching in the major leagues while Deku was collecting trading cards in his mother's basement well into his 30's! Even with a Quirk Deku would never be half the hero Katsuki would be, but for the damned nerd to say he could keep up and possibly surpass him just…it just…! Another explosion rang throughout the basement, turning the dummy from rare to well done.
Deku has been and will always be nothing, that much is clear. His worthless ass will be nothing more than a pebble on Katsuki's path to greatness, and he should have learned his place long ago. End of story.
Except it wasn't the end, now was it? No, because while Deku was meant to die alone eaten by his small army of cats sixty years from now, he almost went and fucked things up like usual by being struck by lightning. Katsuki wishes he could say he was surprised to hear that news a month ago, but honestly if anyone could beat those one in a million odds it was Deku; after all, he did have a habit of being where he wasn't supposed to. Still, it was annoying as hell to have it hear about it every day, listening to his mom and Auntie Inko crying on the couch cause the nerd decided to climb on some building in the worst part of town like an idiot. And what's even more annoying if that was all for nothing because he was perfectly fine! Woke up from the coma two days ago and started walking around like nothing happens, not even caring about the people he hurt cause of his stupidity! Like seriously, what the hell had he been thinking going someplace alone where no one could find him and climbing onto some abandoned roof in the middle of the night?!
"Just pray that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life, then take a swan dive off the roof of the building!"
Katsuki grits his teeth so hard they threaten to crack, but he neither notices nor cares. It doesn't matter whatever had been going through the nerd's head, and it doesn't matter about whatever anyone felt over his mistake. All that matters is that he is fine. Now things can get back to normal with Katsuki being the best and Deku riding his coattails to obscurity. It doesn't matter about what may have happened, or what may have been said, or what may have been felt or screamed or dreamt or cri-
An explosion louder than the others rips through the silence and through the dummy's body, causing its head to be flung to the other side of the room. Katsuki pants heavily, not minding the smoke that pours into his lungs with every breath.
"Katsuki! I swear to god if I hear another explosion down there I'm turning that gym into my sewing room! You hear me?!"
"Shut up you old hag, I heard you!" Katsuki yells back to his mother before looking at the now headless dummy. It doesn't matter what happened. All that matters is focusing on getting into UA. He doesn't have time to think about some pathetic weakling when he should be training and becoming the greatest hero the world has ever known.
Which reminds him he needs to go and pick up some new weights before the store closes, especially now that sparring was… (a small fire ignites on the dummy's neck)…not an option. With a huff the teen goes upstairs to shower and change before heading out to the one place he knows will have what he needs: the Tatooin Shopping District.
xXDPMHAXx
Well, if this isn't a familiar sight, standing in front of an old fridge in the spooky factory alone in a part of town that's so crime-ridden even the pigeons mug people. And there Izuku is, shaking in his high tops and wondering if he needs to hire a life coach because he clearly can't make good decisions for himself.
He can still leave. The door is right there. No one is forcing him to do this. He has more than enough power to walk out, go home, eat some katsudon with his mom, and forget all about this ghost nonsense.
Except it isn't nonsense. The fact that his right arm keeps fading from sight confirms that. Something happened right here, right under his feet, and it's something that he literally can't ignore. If he wants to figure out what's wrong with him, he needs to do this. So going against his survival instincts, he types the code in, watches as the refrigerator slides away to reveal the secret elevator, steps inside, and presses the down button.
And he immediately starts screaming as he plummets to the lab. How he forgot that this happens he'll never know.
Groaning on the floor of the now open elevator, the teen crawls out and into the lab. Taking a second to find his determination (which he may have left 50 feet above him along with his kidneys), Izuku reviews the plan. He'll go first to check out the portal and see if there is something over there that can explain what is going on. Barring that doesn't work out though, he'll then turn to the books and papers lying around, knowing there must be some solution or at least a name to whatever condition he now has. He can do this. He can do this!
Izuku stands up straight only to deflate as he realizes that he cannot do this. However, for once it isn't because of him (well technically it is, but he needs a win okay). It's because the lab is in ruins. The room that was once only bathed in dust is now bathed in darkness as the overhead lights appear to have exploded, glass littering the floor. The stainless-steel walls are now very much stained by scorch marks scattered around the room. The desks are in disarray, the papers and beakers flung around haphazardly, many of them burnt or broken beyond repair. And before Izuku can even question what could have caused it, he sees his answer. Cause where it was once shrouded in darkness, the operating ghost portal now bathes the lab in a viridian light.
The teen is speechless as he moves through the room, barely paying attention to his surroundings as his only focus is on the green swirls coming from the octagonal gate. He walks in a daze like a moth to a flame before stopping right in front of the portal. For a second he just stares into the abyss. Then, he raises his hand and pokes one of the swirls. It forms a face and growls before being sucked back into its home.
It…it works. It actually works. Someone actually managed to build a machine that punched a hole into another dimension. Someone was either genius or crazy enough to defy the impossible! They knew that all this ghost stuff is real, and they proved it by making their dream a reality! And he, him Izuku Midoriya, was the one to find it and turn it on. The Quirkless Deku that everyone regarded as a pebble on their paths to greatness was the person who opened a gate into the Ghost Zone. He did this!
A laugh escapes his throat, followed by another, and before long Izuku is hysterically cackling. This is incredible! He can't even think of all the implications for this discovery! If what the books and papers he read before were true, then this could be a truly limitless source of energy! They could use this to power homes and machines, heck maybe even entire countries if they tried! And not to mention this proves the existence of an afterlife, which yeah Izuku will probably need to fully unpack later on, but for now he can only think about people getting a chance to reunite with their loved ones or how people can have hope that their lives won't just end! And that's just the beginning; who knows what could they could find in a freaking different dimension! If used correctly, this could be a beacon of hope for the world!
Izuku is so excited he hardly contain himself. He almost feels like he is flying he's so happy. "Wait a second," he realizes, "I am flying!" Looking down, he can see that he is indeed floating in the air and rising steadily towards the roof. Thinking fast, he quickly grabs hold of the nearest table, praying to whoever may be listening his body doesn't choose now for him to go intangible. He clutches tightly until his body decides he has had enough and lets gravity take hold on it once again, allowing the teen to drop back on the floor.
He takes a second to regain his breathing. Flight; that makes three. Three different Quirks he didn't have before he came into this laboratory. He looks down at his body again. For a second he sees his skin disappear, exposing his bones and glowing green veins, before returning to normal.
That portal isn't the only impossible thing that was made down here. Somehow being in it when it turned on made Izuku into something not human, but also something not ghost. Something somewhere in between. And unlike this portal which Izuku knows had to have been made after years of meticulous planning and careful engineering, he was an accident. And he doesn't know how long accidents are supposed to last.
With that sobering thought in mind, Izuku decides he better start looking. This portal has been working the past month after all, it should be fine for a bit longer while Izuku figures out what's wrong with him exactly. Right now he just needs to focus on–
Izuku stops. The portal has been here for a month. The portal into a dimension filled with ghosts has been turned on and unintended for an entire month. And if Izuku has access to it, couldn't that mean maybe that the ghosts…
The teen turns around to look at the portal, except this time his stare is filled with caution instead of amazement. The swirling void stares back at him, doing nothing but allowing the different shades of green to mix and mingle amongst themselves. After a few seconds, Izuku lets himself breathe. Maybe the ghosts haven't found it yet and everything is-
The greenette's train of thought is derailed as he gasps, a burst of vapor coming from his mouth and travelling towards the portal. Before he can question this, something shoots out of the portal and collides with the teen, sending him flying into a table behind him. Izuku groans as he picks himself up, hoping to catch the license plate of whatever hit him, when his eyes shoot wide at what he sees. Coming out of the portal appears to be a glowing green tentacle, with bits of it trailing into the air like embers from a fire. Its soon followed by a second, then a third, then a fourth, before finally a head pops out. A head with two glowing red eyes and a fanged maw. Izuku scurries behind the table as a ghostly octopus roars into the lab, hoping to find its next meal.
And a next meal it sees in the form of a shaking green-haired middle schooler. Knowing he has been found, Izuku does what he usually does when he's being targeted by a scary, red-eyed assailant and bolts, hoping to make it to the elevator. Except he is cut short as the ectoplasmic octopus (or what about ectopus-dang it Midoriya, this is not the time for puns!) shoots a tentacle towards the teen, Izuku ducking just in time to not get impaled. Sliding under the appendage, the greenette scrambles back up and jumps over another tentacle. He continues this pattern as he crosses the lab, jumping and ducking like a character in a video game. And it seems to be paying off as he can see the elevator just meters in front of him.
Just when he thinks he can escape though does it happen. Instead of another tentacle coming at him, this time an entire table is tossed at Izuku, crashing just in front of him. The teen stops before going to run the other way only for another tentacle to cut off his escape route. He turns to go back, only for a second tentacle to cage him in. Before he can do anything else, the remaining two tentacles come and wrap around Izuku, bringing the teen face first to the offending phantom.
Izuku tries to wriggle free but realizes soon his underdeveloped body is too weak to break out. Making eye contact, the teen gives sheepish grin to his captor. "How about we talk this out?" Surprisingly the ectopus (Okay screw it, that's its name now. We'll worry about a patent later.) doesn't seem to be the conversationalist as instead of speaking it begins to bring Izuku closer to its mouth. Panicking, Izuku begins to try and wriggle out of its grasp again. He cries for the beast to stop but they fall on deaf ears as he begins to feel the ghost's saliva dripping on his shoe.
Izuku clenches his eyes shut, hoping it will keep the tears in as his struggling increases. No, it can't end like this. Is that supposed to be it, eaten by a ghost in a secret basement somewhere no one would ever find his remains? Because if so he refuses to accept it. He can't die here. Not now! Not again!
His eyes shoot open, but instead of their usual green they glow a toxic color. With a final push Izuku's limbs shoot outward, finally weakening the ectopus's tentacle enough to let him go. The ghost looks on in shock but is unable to retaliate as a now floating Izuku grabs the appendage and with a strength his body should not be capable of flips it and the ghost over his shoulder. The dazed beat tries to get up, only for Izuku to throw a right hook in its face, throwing it into the nearest wall.
Although the steel wall stands strong, the ectopus does not as it collides hard, a metallic clang ringing through the basement. The ghost dizzily rises off the ground, only to panic as it makes eye contact with Izuku again. Except this time it is the one to recoil in terror, letting out a shriek before flying up and through the ceiling away from danger.
Izuku waits another minute to see if the ghost would come back before letting himself relax. That…what was that? Did he really just do what he thinks he did? Because if so, the strength that he would need to have… The teen looks down at his trembling hands, regarding them like they were some kind of dangerous weapon. That makes four different Quirks. Just how many powers did that portal give him?
No, he can worry about that later. Right now, his plan has changed. Because if the ectopus was able to find the portal in the Ghost Zone, who's to say other ghosts haven't stumbled upon it. And if this thing has really been on for a month, then who knows how many ghosts have gotten through. He can feel his skin paling at that thought but chooses to ignore it for now as he realizes he needs to shut this thing off ASAP.
Running over to the power cord, Izuku rips it out of the wall so he can end (or at least press pause on) this madness. Except instead of disappearing, the green swirls still move in the gate. The teen gulps as he drops the cords before rushing over to the control panel next to portal. He begins to press every button he can, hoping for something to work, only for nothing to happen as he presses every button he can find.
Okay so this is bad. Very, very bad. He needs someone who can help, someone who can help him find the ghosts and turn this off. What he needs is a hero.
The teen scrambles for his phone, but after a moment of searching remembers he left it back in his room. Making a mental note to slap himself later, Izuku turns and runs to the elevator, hoping he can find a hero to help before it's too late.
xXDPMHAXx
Katsuki is pissed, which is pretty par for the course, but this time he has a genuine reason. He's been to three stores already and so far all of them have been nothing but dirty cheats. $150 for a new weights…what, does he look like he's made of money?! He swears his new reason for becoming a pro is going to be to shut down those stores for goddamn highway robbery!
The teen kicks a nearby can as he makes his way back home, having decided it will probably be easier to just order new weights online then deal with those con artists. He barely pays mind to the bright lights and smiling faces that make up the shopping center, too lost in his own anger to care about anything or anyone else.
The hag better have dinner ready by the time he gets back cause he's starving (anger is great for a growing boy's metabolism apparently). What was it that she said she was making again? Oh right, katsudon, which is going to fucking suck since the hag can't make it for shit. The only good katsudon is from-
"Yum! Thanks Auntie, you make the best katsudon."
"Yeah, momma's food is the best!"
Katsuki grits his teeth at the memory that threatens to fully come to the surface. No, he's not doing this, he refuses! He doesn't want to think about him anymore, everything is back to normal! He just needs something to distract him until this passes.
Uproarious laughter fills his ears, the people around him starting to get loud enough to snap him out of his thought and to get on his nerves. Okay, maybe not that. Not wanting to have to deal with a bunch of rude ass extras, Katsuki makes a turn down a nearby alley. It'll be a faster time anyway taking the backstreets, and he's positive he can deal with any villain-wannabe who may try to attack him.
Oh how wrong he is.
He's about halfway down the alleyway when he hears it. It almost like laughter, except if the person had smoked a Marlboro factory while gurgling rocks. Not having the energy to deal with this, Katsuki raises his hand and lets off a few explosions so the person listening will get the right idea and leave him alone.
The laughter stops. Katsuki smirks as he thinks his message came across. He walks a few more steps before he hears it again. Except this time it's closer, much closer. So close its almost like its coming from right behind–
Katsuki spins around, hands at the ready when the teen does something he never thought he would do: he froze. For a moment, the only thing the aspiring hero could do was stare at the 15-foot-tall floating octopus that was looking right at him. For a moment, he can only listen to the voices of the Pros running towards him, probably in pursuit of whatever the fuck this thing is. And for a moment, Katsuki does nothing as the creature raises its tentacles and shoot them right at him.
xXDPMHAXx
Izuku runs through the night, not caring about the burning in his legs or the lack of air in his lungs. He just knows he needs to find a hero now. Except there is just one problem: where are all the heroes?!
So far, the teen has been sprinting for twenty minutes and has seen not one hide nor hair of any Pro. Granted he did start in Aktu, which is known for its lack of hero activity, but he's been in downtown for five minutes so far and has found no one. Had the teen been any less panicked or hero-obsessed, he may go ahead and question the customer service of this town.
Skidding around the corner, Izuku made his way down the street before his eyes widened. Over there, it's the Punching Hero: Death Arms! Izuku waves his arms to attract his attention and smiles as he sees the hero running over to him. Yes, over here, this is perfect! Death Arms comes up to Izuku…and then sprints on past, barely paying the teenager any mind.
Izuku freezes momentarily before reality catches up to him and realizes what just happened. He turns around to the direction the Pro just ran and calls out. "H-hey, wait a second! I need you!"
"Get inside kid, it's not safe here!" the man calls before turning a corner, disappearing from view and leaving the greenette by himself. What the heck? What was that about?
Izuku gasps as another burst of vapor escapes his mouth, this time swirling in the air in front of him before traveling forward. Curiosity getting the best of him, Izuku turns the corner after the condensed air and races down the street.
It only takes a minute before Izuku sees the crowd running around the Tatooin Shopping District, trying to escape something. Using the famous Midoriya common sense, the greenette jogs toward whatever these people are running from only to freeze in horror at what he sees. The area is in shambles. The once colorful lights and stands are now broken and set aflame. Smoke and soot fill the air, making it hard to look and breathe in the area. Broken glass and items litter the floor, all causalities of the chaos around them. But what makes Izuku's heart stop is the cause behind the ruin. Because right in the center of the district, a burst of vapor circling around it as it fights five different Pros, is the ectopus.
The phantasmal octopus roars as it swings its tentacles around, some colliding with the buildings while others collide and push back the heroes. Death Arms and Backdraft are pushed back into some inconveniently placed fruit stands, while Kamui Woods and Eraserhead leaps over the appendage before letting lose their own attacks which get easily blocked. However, this distraction does allow the now citrus-flavored Backdraft to shoot two streams of pressurized water at the ghost, only for it barely phase the green cephalopod who seems to enjoy the water. (Oh yeah and Mount Lady doesn't really do anything since she's too big to fight in this area.)
Izuku stares in shock at the scene before him. The ectopus did all of this? The beast that attacked him not twenty minutes ago was able to lay waste to the area in such a short time? All of this destruction, all of this chaos, is because it got out of the Ghost Zone?
An image of the Ghost Portal flashes in Izuku's mind. He breath hitches.
"This is all…my fault."
He did this. He was the one who turned the portal on and let the ectopus escape. If Izuku had just accepted his place in the world and hadn't gone sticking his nose in places it didn't belong, these four heroes (and Mount Lady) wouldn't be risking their lives to keep that monster from hurting people.
All Might was right: you can't be a hero without a Quirk. But apparently you can be a villain.
One of the people running stop as they pass seeing Izuku. "Kid what the hell are you doing?! You need to get out of here!"
Izuku can barely stutter out a reply. "B-but…the heroes-"
"The heroes already have one kid they need to worry about saving, they don't need to worry about two! Now get out of here!" And with that the man sprints away, not even bothering to see if Izuku is following.
Izuku blanches at what he heard, putting a hand over his mouth to hide the whimper that wants to escape. It captured someone? Oh, this just keeps getting worse. If someone were to actually die because of him, the greenette isn't sure what he would do.
"I did this. I'm the one to blame. And I'm sorry, so sorry. Please, whoever you are, just hold out a bit longer for backup to come. A real hero will come save the day, I promise." Izuku wipes his eyes, feeling like he was underserving of his tears. Instead he looks back at the battlefield, not wanting to but feeling he needs to see what he caused, when he sees them. There, behind the smoke and soot, he sees the eyes of someone stuck in the ectopus's grasp. A familiar someone who continues to struggle and let off explosions to free himself from this situation. For a moment, Izuku just notices the tears on the boy's clothes showing new cuts and bruises. For a moment, he just sees how the boy flinches as another tentacle sends the heroes flying back, away from the person who needs them most. For a moment, Izuku just sees Katsuki Bakugo's eyes widen in something he never thought he would see before: fear.
And then he runs.
Izuku is already halfway to the beast by the time he realizes what is happening. "What am I doing? Why am I running? Why can't I stop?" True enough, though Izuku focuses on slowing down, he can't stop going full speed towards the fight.
Looking up from his feet, the teen can see he is only a few meters away from making a bad situation worse. "Oh man, I'm getting close. What am I going to do? What would a hero do?" Right, what would a hero do? Izuku thought to every fight he has ever seen, every hero he has ever analyzed, and the answer became obvious. They would be strong. They would fight. They would save!
So caught up in his thoughts, Izuku doesn't feel the thrum of energy in his core as his entire world goes white.
xXDPMHAXx
Eraserhead really should consider switching to the day shift. Sure, the day shift is objectively worse. Limelight heroes are always in the eyes of the public, they have to play nice with the paparazzi, and while many would believe they do more work with all the villains reported there is actually less criminal activity during the day, meaning less villains apprehended, and less people saved.
But he didn't know anyone on the day shift that has to deal with giant, flying octopi so that's certainly a point in the day's favor.
He ducked under a tentacle before shooting his capture weapon out to wrap around it, only for the binding cloth to go harmlessly through the appendage. This was starting to become bothersome. He was already having a stressful day, what with having no new leads on the lightning case and the meeting at UA being a waste of time; he does not need the rule of thirds making this day any crappier.
Another tentacle goes to hit Death Arms, but instead of dodging it he allows it to hit him. Tanking the blow, he grips tentacle and pulls on it, hoping he can use this to his advantage and bring this beast down, only for the tentacle to raise into the air and slam him into the pavement, knocking him loose. The hero growls as he gets up. "Dammit, what the hell is with this thing's Quirk?" The Punching Hero then turns over to his compatriots, specifically to the Erasure Hero. "Eraser, what the heck are you doing? Use your Quirk on this thing already!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Eraserhead shouts annoyed as he glares at the ectopus again, though this only seems to make the beast angrier as it whips another tentacle in his direction. Luckily the hero easily dodges it again, but he is starting to lose steam. He needs to figure out why his Quirk isn't working here and take this thing down.
He turns over at the rest of the heroes, only to see them also beginning to falter. Gritting his teeth, the hero goes for his communicator again. "This is Eraserhead! We need backup in the Tatooin Shopping District! Do you copy?!"
"This is Slugger at the bat Eraser! We are five minutes from home plate, over!" A voice says over the comms causing Eraser to growl.
"We don't have five minutes!" the hero yells as he looks back at the ectopus, or more specifically to the child in its grasp. Even from here Eraserhead can see the scratches and bruises he has collected from being whipped around like a ragdoll. The curses and yelling that filled the district when the hero arrived have gone silent as the kid has since lost the breath needed to speak. The explosions that the kid has been releasing have started to decrease in frequency, which may be good for the surrounding property but is bad as an indicator of this kid's well-being. All in all, from what Eraserhead can tell, if that kid keeps taking the beating he's been getting then five minutes will be four too late.
"Eraser," Death Arms yells getting the hero's attention. "None of our Quirks are putting a dent in this guy! It keeps slipping through Kamui's branches, I can't risk getting a hit in with the hostage, and your basically Quirkless right now! Maybe we ought to worry about damage control until backup gets here?!"
Erasure accidently flares up as a surge of anger races in Eraserhead's body. He can't believe what he is hearing, that these illogical idiots want to give up just because their Quirks aren't helping, all the while a child is in mortal danger. The man goes to give the hero a detailed map of exactly where he can stuff his opinion, when he hears the air whip behind him. Looking back, he sees another tentacle coming at him, this time much too fast and close to dodge with how tired he is. The man braces for impact, only for a moment to pass with no hit. Wondering where the tentacle is Eraserhead cracks open an eye only for both to shoot open wide at what he sees.
Standing right in front of him is another kid, this one a bit shorter than the one currently in danger. Immediately three things stand out to the pro. The first is the kid's head. Nothing is particualry wrong with it, but Eraserhead can't help but look at the snow white hair and glowing green eyes and feel like he's seen them before. The second is what the kid is wearing. Wearing a black jumpsuit with a white collar and gloves along with neon green high tops, the kid almost looks like he is wearing a hero costume which is concerning for multiple reasons. And the third is the fact that he is holding on to the octopus's tentacle. While by itself this isn't abnormal as anyone with a strength enhancer could probably hold onto the appendage, the thing that stands out is the fact the tentacle is still being held onto by the kid instead of phasing through him.
He can almost feel the panic coming off of the octopus, almost like it recognizes this kid, before said kid pulls on the tentacle sending the octopus forwards. The kid quickly lets go of the tentacle and with a scream punches the octopus straight in its face. The beast goes rocketing backward from the hit, crashing into the wall and letting go of the kid in his grasp.
The kid on the ground (for simplicity's sake let's call him Problem Child 1 and the other Problem Child 2) begins to cough as his airway is now unobstructed. Problem Child 2 immediately homes in on this as he runs over to Problem Child 1, trying to offer help only to have it slapped away.
"Are you okay Ka-" the second problem child begins to ask, only to be cut off as the octopus comes up and slaps him away with all four tentacles. The kid flies into the air in a direct collision course with the side of a nearby building. On instinct Eraserhead shoots out his capture weapon to stop the kid before he can impact but pauses as his eyes catch something. Its small, barely noticeable in the fire's miasma, but his highly trained eyes can just barely see what looks like green sparks emanating from the kid. "Wait…is that…?"
The man is snapped out of his thoughts as he hears Problem Child's 2 scream as he gets closer to the building. Unfortunately, his pause means he misses his chance in catching the kid, but his intervention proves to be unnecessary as Problem Child 2 stops his momentum midair, now flying in place as he caught his bearings. Eraserhead lets out a sigh of relief, reminding himself to lecture himself later on the dangers of distractions on the job. But still, he swears for a second-
Again the hero is forced back to reality as the octopus flies in for another hit, only for Problem Child 2 to dodge it before giving it another punch. As the beast flies away the kid decides not to let up this time, instead coming in to give it another two punches before grabbing onto a tentacle. With a hefty swing around his head Problem Child 2 throws the octopus towards the ground. The beast collides with the ground, sending a wave of dust so powerful Eraserhead has to use his capture scarf to keep himself from flying back. When the dust settles the hero is able to look back only to stare in shock as he sees the surrounding fires have been extinguished by the force of the collision and the Quirked animal laying in a crater dazed, Problem Child 2 floating above the creature victorious.
Everyone is quiet as the look at what's before them. The heroes are in shock, having witnessed this child defeat a beast the four of them combined couldn't even land a hit on. Problem Child 1 looks at his savior not with the awe or appreciation one would expect to see but with annoyance and possibly some confusion. And as Eraserhead looks at this kid, panting in exhaustion from the fight he just had and surrounded by what he can definitely now tell is green electricity, all he can think is that he really needs to consider switching to the day shift.
xXDPMHAXx
Izuku pants as he clutches his aching fist and waits to see if the ectopus will get back up. After a few seconds and seeing no movement, the floating teen allows himself to relax as he drops down to the ground to rest.
As he touches the cement, he combs his now gloved hands through his white curls before realizing exactly what he is doing and gives himself a once over. He recognizes this outfit. It's different yes but he knows it is what he was wearing during the accident. Whether it's from the exhaustion of the battle or the exhaustion of the whole situation, Izuku can't find it in himself to do anything other than sigh. "Okay so a quick-change Quirk too. Sure, why not?" He'll have to just unpack that later. Right now all he can really focus on is the fight that just happened seconds ago.
He isn't sure what really happened. All he knows is one moment he was running, wondering how he was going to fix his mistake, and the next there was a big flash and he was filled with something, something strong. Something that gave him the will to fight that thing and somehow win. If it isn't for the fact he is afraid it might be true, Izuku would say it is like he was possessed by something.
You know what, whatever. This is all stuff that he can dissect later in his room in the dark alone like a normal person does. Right now all the matters is everyone is safe. Now he just needs to worry getting the ectopus back into the Ghost Zone before it hurts anyone else.
Izuku goes in to grab a tentacle of the ghost, only to drop it as he feels branches wrap around his body. The teen gasps as he tries to wiggle out but is unsuccessful as he is yanked backwards to stare into the scowls of four Pro heroes (five including Mount Lady).
"And where do you think you are going?" Death Arms growls.
Izuku shrinks in on himself, chuckling a little to combat the awkwardness he is feeling. "Uh…I-I just was, um, was going to-to help take the ec-octopus away…" the ghostly teen stutters out.
"Oh really?" Backdraft said, raising an eyebrow (at least Izuku thinks he does, it's hard to tell with the mask.) "And you really thought it would be that easy to leave after what you just did?"
Izuku's pale face suddenly grows paler as it fully occurs to him what he just did. He just interfered in an official hero fight while using his powers without a license. I mean sure, he's not sure if his powers technically are Quirks, but what is he supposed to say? That the portal to the dimension of ghosts zapped him and this is his first day of not being Quirkless? Yeah, that'll get a great laugh while these heroes load him into the back of a paddy wagon.
Frantically Izuku tries to explain himself, inadvertently taking a step away from people he would usually call his idols. "W-wait, wait, you've got the wrong idea! I-I'm not a vigilante o-or anything. I-I just knew what that thing could do and didn't want anyone-"
"Oh," Death Arms interrupts, crossing his arms. "So you have a history with this creature then? How interesting."
Sweat begins to form on Izuku's brow as he stands a little deeper in the hole he's digging for himself. "Well yes, b-but not like that! It attacked me too! S-see there's this portal and this lab and-"
"And a reason and a story. There always is with kids like you," Death Arms says, looking at Izuku with disappointment. "Tell you what. You can tell us your story all you want down at the police station."
Before Izuku could even think of rejecting that idea, the branches suddenly tighten, locking him in place. The teen struggles against the wood but is unable to break free. "No wait! Stop, you can't do this! You need to listen to me!"
Kamui Woods just gives him a firm look. "Sorry about this kid, but in accordance with the Rhode Island New State Statute, I hereby place you under arrest for illegal Quirk usage and interfering with a hero's patrol. Eraserhead, if you would." Eraserhead sighs before taking a pair of handcuffs off of his belt and walks towards the teen.
No, this can't be happening. Izuku knows he can't go to jail, he would never survive in the clink. He has the unproportionate strength of a spider for crying out loud (his brain unhelpfully forgets to mention that he now has super strength, apparent by the still motionless ectopus in a crater of his making). Not to mention his mom would be devasted to know he got arrested, and Kacchan will be furious once he gets over the ghost attack and-
The ghosts! He can't go to jail! If he does, then what about all the ghosts that escaped the Ghost Zone? He still needs to find heroes to talk about what happened. Well he could always tell these guys, but Izuku has a gut feeling that they aren't exactly in the mood to believe someone who is technically a criminal. Point is, being arrested is not an option.
Fueled by a drive to escape, Izuku accidently activates his intangibility and feels the wooden chains slide off of him. Regaining his solidity, the teen looks at the heroes who have gotten over their surprise and know are coming close to take him down.
With no other options Izuku jumps in the air, praying and succeeding in activating his flight, and zooms upwards into the night sky, away from the ectopus and away from the heroes calling for him to return.
xXDPMHAXx
Izuku isn't sure how long he flies for but by the time he gets home he cans see the barest bits of sunlight coming over the horizon. Dropping down onto the front doorstep, Izuku immediately falls to his knees panting in exhaustion. He feels like he just ran a freaking marathon, covered in sweat and heart beating at a normal rate which apparently is no longer a good thing for him. He spent hours running from the pros last night, doing his best to stay invisible and fly as stealthily as possible to keep them from finding him. And seeing as the cops aren't waiting at his apartment to arrest him, the ghostly teen will chalk this escape attempt as a win (he'll ignore the self-loathing he feels for now cause he really, really needs a win).
Creaking the door open, he walks down the genkan and into the living room, where he sees his mother sleeping on the couch. The phone is in her hand and he can see that she has been working on missing person's posters. Izuku sighs before walking to his room. He knows he should let his mom know he is okay, but right now she needs her rest and honestly so does he.
The greenette makes it into his room and flops onto his bed, groaning all the while. Turning over he sits up, only to lock eyes with himself as he stares at his inverted appearance in the mirror. "Oh yeah," he mumbles, "that's still a thing." He really doesn't have the mental energy to deal with this. It's been a long night, and he doesn't want to look at this…this stranger. He wishes he could just be looking at himself right now.
Like a switch was flipped a flash of light fills Izuku's vision once again – this time he can see in the mirror it is because of a halo forming around his waist – before the halo splits in two and travels up and down his body, turning him back into plain old Izuku Midoriya. Normally this would lead him into the mumble storm of the century, but again it's been a long night and there is something much more pressing the greenette needs to mumble about.
Ghosts are real. Real and loose in Japan, all because of him. He needs to do something, needs to tell someone…but who can he tell? Right now he's technically a criminal, and if he shows the police that he was the one who interfered in that fight and ran he would most certainly be arrested.
And normally Izuku would be fine with this. Well, not "fine," he doesn't exactly want to go to jail, but he's not selfish enough to put his wellbeing over the fact that people could get hurt if he stays quiet. These things already proved they are dangerous, and Izuku won't let another person be hurt if he can help it.
But the thing is, and Izuku can feel his inner hero fanboy shriek at this thought, the heroes didn't really do anything in that fight. They certainly tried their best but between the ectopus's flexibility and intangibility they never got a single hit in. The only person who could touch the ghost was…was him.
Out of everyone there, Izuku was the only one who could fight the ectopus. His power let him take care of the phantasmal creature. Out of all the highly trained and experienced heroes, only he was able to beat the ghost and save Kacchan. If Izuku had even the tiniest bit of self-esteem maybe this would go to his ego, but all he could focus on was of the horrific implications. Because by some sick twist of fate, if what happened last night was any indication, the only person who can defeat these ghosts and send them back to where they belong was Izuku Midoriya. So, this left him with two options. Either he goes to the heroes and tell them everything and hope they can clean up his mess while he is behind bars, or he needs to deal with these things himself.
The idea alone is almost enough to make Izuku run to his trashcan and vacate his stomach, but he holds firm as he stares at his hands. The hands that moments ago were gloved and glowing like a nightlight. The hands that were able to save his childhood friend and defeat the ectopus. The hands that felt that intense power barely kept below the surface, a power that he shouldn't have but now needs to use to atone for his mistakes.
He did this. All of this and everything else that could happen is because of him. And he's the only one who can stop it.
Izuku sighs as he clenches his fists. He knows what he needs to do. He has to stop all these ghosts from coming through, at least until he can find some way that lets the heroes fight them themselves. Then he'll go and tell the police everything about what happened and face the consequences.
He can do this. All he needs to do is figure out what exactly happened to him, discover the full extent of his new powers, research how ecto-energy works, figure out how the heroes can use it to fight the ghosts themselves, shut off the portal, and somehow keep the heroes from stopping him until he does everything else. He can do this. He can do this!
…right?
xXDPMHAXx
The Tatooin Shopping District is in disarray as the heroes clean up from the attack. The road is charred and melted from the fires that have since been extinguished. The buildings are either smoking or crumbling from the damage they have sustained. People, including the exploding kid who is noticeably not in a good mood, sit with emergency services getting checked over, no one dead but many injured from the octopus's rampage. And the still unconscious beast in question is being loaded into the back of a transport van right now, ready to be sent to Tartarus until they can figure out where this came from.
Shota sighs. While saying this was a disaster may be pushing it, it certainly was a shitshow. The district will be closed for repairs for weeks, many people needing to be relocated for the time being and shop owners having to close down, some permanently. All in all, no good came of this event.
Except possibly for one thing.
Stepping away from the other heroes, Shota takes out his phone and dials a certain number. It picks up on the first ring. "Why Aizawa, to what do I owe for a call at this hour? I would have suspected you would be preoccupied what with the attack in Tatooin." Ignoring exactly how the rat knows he was involved in that already, the Erasure Hero focuses on what matters.
"Nezu, we need to talk. I think I have a new lead."
xXDPMHAXx
Time is a fickle thing. It is always changing, making it that we never go to bed on the same path we woke up on. There are many paths Izuku Midoriya's life could have gone down that day in the lab. In many he became the world's greatest hero, in other's the world's most feared villain, and in others the path he was on led to his end. But that is not what happened here. What is happening, however, we do not know; it is still being shaped. All that can be said is that for right now…
A low groan filled the back of the vehicle as the ectopus opens their eyes. What happened? All they remember is trying to grab a meal, and then they were attacked by that white-haired creature, and then…nothing. The ectopus growls. It must have been that creature. It attacked them for no apparent reason right when they were about to eat and must have knocked them unconscious. If they ever see it again…
The beast shakes its head. No point in worrying about that right now. All they know is they are still hungry and need to eat. Looking down they notice chains tied to their tentacles, an attempt to keep them weighed down.
The ectopus stares at the chains for another moment before turning intangible and letting them fall harmlessly to the ground. Well, I did say it was an attempt.
The ghost grins as they prepare to fly through the roof of the vehicle they are in but is not given a chance as suddenly their body jerks, the aforementioned vehicle swerving to avoid something outside. The vehicle swerves again throwing the ectopus into the far wall before it stops completely. The ghost sits in silence for a moment, unsure of what is going on, before they hear a voice.
"No…no please! Ahhhh!" A thud is heard outside and then nothing. The ectopus doesn't like this, this doesn't feel right. They need to get out of there now. They turn intangible and fly through the roof, but as they let themselves relax and regain solidity on the other side, they feel a pain erupt in their side. The screech as they lose focus of their flight and plummet back to earth, colliding with the ground. The try to pick themselves up but finds the blast was too strong, the pain in the creature's body making it hard to move.
With great effort the ectopus opens their eyes to see what hit them, only to look around in confusion. Wherever they are the lack of light makes it too hard to see anything other than their self thanks to a conveniently placed spotlight. If the ectopus had any semblance of drama in their core they may have realized that this was a bad sign. Although they do have enough intelligence to know that something was off about this place and they should leave as soon as possible.
They struggle to get up once again, and again nothing happens as they lie powerless on the cold floor. However it does seems their futile attempts do something as a laugh pierces through the dark, chuckling at their misfortune. The ectopus tenses as they hear footsteps coming near. "So it's true. There is a new ghost in town," a voice says as man steps out of the darkness. The ghost does not know what it is about this man but as he leans forward, his scarred head fully coming into light and brandishing his too perfect smile, they know they won't be getting their meal tonight.
"Well, what do you know?"
…everything is as it should be.