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A Heroes Curse | MHA X JJK

Bokurano
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
When heroes and society finally crumbled into a shell of it's former self, Izuku Midoriya and the few remaining pro heroes were left standing in the ruins of a dream. As fate would have it, a trap meant for Izuku along with an unnatural energy caused a ripple in reality which sent him into an unknown world. A world that seemed the same as his on the surface but had its own secrets lying in wait.
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Chapter 1 - Act 1: Where Monsters Wait

It wasn't sunny like most days used to be but instead clouds pressed down on a motionless skyline, sealing the world in a gray dusk. Dense fog hung low and high as if to mask the fate of a once peaceful world. What was left of Hero Society and mundane life was in scattered ruins stretching far and wide.

The remnants of a hideout that remained in these mountains was just another scar among the many. A faint siren wailed in the distance but quickly faded into silence. A mere reminder of what was left of public safety for the people of Japan. Rain began to fall at a gentle pace before onto to the skeletal remains of a desolate building nearby.

Like it was trying to wash away the memory of what had happened here. Cracked pillars jutted from the earth like broken ribs with twisted rebar curling from the concrete like veins. This place reeked of ash and abandonment but Izuku Midoriya knew better.

"Well this is it. This is where Nagant said the last known trail picks up" he murmured mostly to himself

Endeavor stood a few meters behind him with his silent ever present flame crackling low against the mist and fog.

"This place doesn't exactly ease any sort of tension. We need to keep our guard up Deku" he said

Izuku and Endeavor weren't the only ones to venture this far however. They brought along Vortex, he was a vigilante who had finally been caught years back with the help of the underground hero Eraserhead.

Due to the severity of the situation that has fallen upon Japan and the usefulness of his quirk, Vortex had been released to aid the remaining pros.

Vortex moved into position next to them while glancing around but as he did, spatial ripples from his quirk blinked quietly behind his back then in other places on his body.

These spatial ripples were small portals that began rotating like glassy gears in a clock. His Quirk also left the air feeling warped and subtly off but that's just a minor side effect.

"Extraction's ready at any time. However I won't hesitate to pull us out if there's a lick of danger" He said while looking to the other two.

Izuku didn't respond and just stared at the entrance of the building in the clearing up ahead. It was like he could hear or feel something on the other side that door but couldn't quite place what it was. All For One's trail had grown cold more than once but this place? This place wasn't cold it was just quiet, like the calm before a storm.

"Deku you're not charging in blindly again. We need to be cautious, All For One isn't exactly an open book" Endeavor said with a firm tone

"I know that but I have to be the one to step in first" Izukus tone wasn't defiant but it did seem tired

"I can feel something and whatever is here... it's waiting for me, I can feel it" Izuku added while glancing down at his hand as sparks of green twitched through his knuckles

"Don't mistake instinct for permission Deku" Endeavor said flatly

That gave Izuku pause as he drew in a slow breath before turning to Endeavor. It was just enough for Vortex and Endeavor to see the flicker of resolve in his eyes.

"I'm not asking you for permission, I'm asking you to back me up.." The air between them held for a long second after that.

Endeavor eventually just gave a single nod with a sigh in response to his words. It wasn't approval by any means but more so an acknowledgement to keep tensions low.

"Just don't go chasing ghosts..." After Endeavors response Izuku turned around and stepped forward.

After making sure there was no one around they walked out from the trees and into the clearing before they reached the front entrance of the hideout. Once they got to the door they all exchanged looks before nodding in unison and with a creak from the hinges they opened the door. When the door was open enough for them to pass through, Izuku stepped through the threshold in-between the interior and exterior of the building.

Once inside, the darkness inside pressed in with them and the air seemed to change the moment Izuku's foot was planted on the other side like stepping into a different space in time all together. The air inside the building was thick, humid, and almost physical as their footsteps echoed through the hollow shell of the hideout.

The sounds of everything around them, including their echoed footsteps were swallowed up faster than they should have been. There were other changes that were subtle at first like a dip in temperature and a faint distortion in Izuku's vision but with each step the pressure only grew.

The hallway stretched ahead with exposed rebar lining the walls and scorch marks burnt into them but something about the dimensions felt off. The building wasn't following the laws of space anymore, everything about it felt like they were bending the natural order in someway shape or form.

The three of them continued to move together carefully but the air became so dense it felt like breathing through cloth.

Endeavor's flames kept low through the twisted shadows against the walls as they continued but for every step they took forward it seemed like the darkness pushed back even more.

It stretched then warped and felt like it was alive in the corners of their vision. Vortex and Endeavor followed silently behind Izuku, their footsteps crunching over charred wooden floor boards and glass. The deeper they moved the more distant the outside world had become to them.

"I don't like this one bit...It's too quiet and the space inside here doesn't feel right"

Vortex's hand hovered near one of his portals while he scanned the shadows surrounding them and every piece of debris. No rats, no wind, no nothing just the whisper of their footsteps and the subtle creak of the building settling or breathing. Izuku tried to ignore it but something was here and that's when a sensation began to crawl beneath his skin or was it on his skin?.

A prickle that soon became a chill sank into his bones like a weight from a small mass settling onto his body. His heart pounded and his usually sharp mind now bounced from shadow to shadow. Some of the lights that still worked throughout the building flickered sporadically with each place they checked.

One bulb popped with a soft crack in what appeared to be a living room they passed by, which only caused the shadows to deepen. Not long after that is when the noises began. Low animalistic groans echoed through the exposed pipes above. It was hard to hear at first but once you focused on it, it was undeniable.

It sounded like something ancient was waking up. Vortex paused before darting his eyes around before yet another groan soon followed after the first. It sounded wet and strangled like something trying and failing to breathe.

"Uh...is anyone else hearing this?" Vortex said while looking around cautiously.

"Yeah we heard it.." Izuku whispered with a nod.

A creak in the wood came from the far end of the hallway. Izuku glanced at his companions after looking in its direction and they too heard it but nonetheless he continued to press forward trying to focus.

The further they walked the more Izuku began to feel that weight again but this time it felt like invisible hands were pressing down on his shoulders. A memory flickered in his mind, memories of stories once told about haunted places and the evil that lingered long after its creators had left.

"This isn't just unease or ghosts. There's something here, no doubt it has to be him..." Every breath felt shallow but his Danger Sense didn't trigger.

Even with every instinct within him screaming at him to get out. Izuku's vision blurred just long enough to see the faintest ripple of movement at the edge of the shadows but it was gone once he blinked.

He clenched his fists, forcing himself to keep moving and to lead the team but the unease felt like it had become a living thing moving just out of their sight. Their search eventually lead them to a battered steel door half buried behind fallen beams in one of the rooms.

They removed the pillars and beyond the door was a narrow staircase that spiraled downward into pitch blackness. With every other area searched, their only options were to either go down or leave but Endeavor knew Izuku wasn't the kind of person to leave a stone unturned.

"I'll take point this time Deku. We don't know what could be down there" Endeavor's tone left no room for argument

"Hey now that you mention it, Deku and I are the faster ones not to mention smaller so it'll be easier to get out if the big guy isn't blocking us...I promise I'm not calling you fat or anything" Vortex tried to lighten the tension but failed miserably

"Just follow my lead and cover me if something happens...Idiot..." Endeavor shot a glare before scoffing at his unfavorable words.

With their path decided they made the descent into the darkness below but the further they went the more it felt like the building itself was swallowing them. Plaster dust floated in the air as they descended, swirling in the light of Endeavors flame, Izukus emerald glow, and Vortex's dormant portals like disturbed ghosts.

Every step on the stairs creaked loudly in the silence and to any normal person it was just the sounds of an old staircase but to them it felt like it was warning them to go back. 

"eight... nine... ten..." Izuku counted each step without meaning it.

He felt the air grow colder, more damp, and heavier with each step he counted. Endeavor's flame flickered being momentarily dulled by the oppressive darkness that seemed to fester down here while Vortex gripped the wobbly staircase rail.

His eyes flicked back up towards the door half expecting the exit to vanish from his sight as Izuku descended the staircase behind him. Each step he went down felt like he was being pulled deeper into something he wasn't meant to discover.

The wood beneath his boots creaked far louder than it should have again and the stairwell itself seemed to stretch on endlessly. The shadows around them warped along the walls without a source to cast them.

Then came the whispers, nothing more than broken syllables drifting through the stale air. They weren't carried by any wind or even a draft but it slid against his ears and pressing directly into his mind.

Some were too faint to decipher, others sounded like his own thoughts reflected back at him but twisted the wrong way. A pulse rippled through the stairwell making it shudder underfoot just for a moment and just then everything began to change. The walls fractured like glass before smoothing into something new as the once rough wooden steps had become tiled and slightly worn.

These were subway stairs which caused Izuku to stop dead in his tracks but that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. He saw three figures walk down the very same steps in front of him. Their outlines flickered like static across a broken a television screen with shapes being filled in one second before dissolving into scanlines the next.

The closest figure was unmistakably male and something about him triggered some form of recognition or deja vu deep in Izuku's chest. Izuku resumed his descent and swiftly caught up to the figure before instinctively reaching out to it. His instincts screamed at him that this presence was somehow familiar but just as Izuku was reaching out to the figure it had turned towards him with haste.

Its half formed face met Izuku's gaze as the static crawled across the figure's features in a scan line formation. In that moment Izuku felt as though everything around him didn't exist except for the phantom's gaze.

That wasn't the only thing Izuku saw in that moment though, there was something else lingering just behind its gaze. He sensed another pair of eye's that seemed to bore into his very soul and what layed beneath them was a crooked smile.

Then before anything else could happen it all snapped away, the subway steps warped away leaving him once again on the original wooden stairwell with Endeavor and Vortex ahead of him.

Izuku studied his team, they were unbothered seemingly unaware of what transpired behind them. All that remained was Izuku's heavy breathing and the faint lingering sting of something impossible brushing against his soul. He continued in silence but his change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Endeavor although he would save his words for later.

Eventually the trio had reached the bottom before they paused. Something had changed once they stood at the lower level, the darkness here was almost tangible and the silence was so total that even their breaths seemed to be stolen away. Then just at the edge of their perception like it was barely within their eyes grasp, Izuku saw something.

Faint wavering strands hung in the air, drifting like wisps of smoke or dying flames. Blue, purple, and faint traces of red were all colors that shouldn't exist in lightless rooms. They curled around rusted pipes, pooled up the walls, they were everywhere but they would vanish whenever he looked straight at them. Endeavor furrowed a brow and instinctively lit a low flame while at his his side.

"Thing's are getting a little too out of the ordinary in this place but it seems like something it's messing with us" Endeavor murmured, the words barely above a whisper.

"I don't know what but think we should get out abou-" Vortex spoke but was cut off.

"No. Whatever is here it might lead us to All For One. It could just be some cheap trick to detour us so we have to keep going.." Izuku walked past them as he spoke.

As they continued Izuku tried to focus while squinting into the gloom and the strange blue energy seemed to pulse faintly just up ahead. It was seeping from a floor vent so naturally Izuku walked up to it and reached out his hand curiously.

The sensation was cold against his skin to say the least and for a moment it coil around his wrist forcfully like an icy caress. It seemed to seep into his skin changing into a faint golden color until Izuku swiftly retracted his arm but whatever it was It left him with a deep sinking sense of dread, fear, everything that was the opposite to positive.

"Just what is that stuff...could it be connected to what I saw?" Izuku got up before catching up to his team.

"Deku man dont start sticking your hands near random holes..." Vortex words were left on deaf ears on purpose

Ignoring the remark they continued deeper during which zuku couldn't help but feel like those threads are luring them deeper for a reason. Somewhere up ahead a vibration rippled from the depths

The vibration resonated through Izuku's bones making him shiver in spite of himself. He knew whatever was waiting at the end of this path, it wasn't meant to be found by anyone human or at least no ordinary man.

The corridor they now walked through began to narrow before it opened without warning into a vast circular chamber. The coldness they felt before was nothing compared to here, it almost felt like it originated here and unnaturally so.

The walls were lined with fractured mirrors and hanging wires, each one swaying slightly though there was no wind. Above them the broken lights buzzed and sputtered. The flickering glow barely reached the corners of the room, where shadows shifted without a source.

The only sound was a low rhythmic hum, the electric heartbeat of something waiting. The lights flashed brighter for just a second before popping and breaking and then they saw and heard a hiss before static.

A dozen old CRT televisions lined the back wall, they were stacked atop crates and steel drums like a shrine of static. Each screen hissed with white noise and their glass faces flickered as if they were alive. Dust drifted through the room like ash that had been undisturbed for years.

Before anyone could respond, the TVs snapped to life in unison causing the static vanish. The hum deepened into something almost organic, a low pulsing tone that thrummed in Izuku's chest like a second heartbeat. Then the image of the man they had been searching for, All For One had been plastered over each of the screens.

Featureless and smiling like he always did with his body framed in a throne like chair in some unknowable place with more darkness behind him, deeper than the one they stood in.

"Ah Izuku Midoriya, I've been waiting for you. You sure took your time hero but that's par for the course nowadays isn't it?" he said with a crooked grin.

The air grew thinner as if the oxygen itself feared what came next, even distorted through the old speakers the voice carried weight. Izuku's body went rigid with his hands twitching at his sides as instincts screamed at him to do something but he felt rooted to the floor.

"You've come so far haven't you? Crawling through the rubble of a fallen world, chasing a lingering ghost that haunts your master like a dog to his bone" All For One's smile widened and the screen warped with each word.

The lights dimmed further and the strands of strange energy rose up and curled in the corners of the room like they were drawn toward the voice. Izuku's jaw clenched while he took a step forward with a steady breath but his eyes were burning.

"Cut the dramatics...what kind of sick game are you playing here?" Izuku replied with clenched fists.

"One I've waited a long time for to be quite frank with you" All For One responded bluntly.

More screens that were hidden in shadows began to flicker to life from the left and right sides of them. There were even some behind them and they all showed the same figure.

"You carry a burden no one else can shoulder, the weight of incredible power and a legacy no hero can hope to even touch. Even though some may try..." All For One directed his words at Endeavor who scoffed at the words.

"Yet I wonder if you even remember who you were before you became whatever it is you are now. A vigilante? Well isn't that rich coming from so called heroes that have imprisoned others for it" Izuku knew this was manipulation but the weight of them pressed down on him regardless.

"But since your All Might's golden boy you can justthrow yourself into the fire again and again vigilante or not." All For One sighed

"But that begs the question, do you do it because you fear losing the people around you? or is it because it stops you from realizing you were never enough to save them?"

"Shut up! I'm more than enough to save everybody...I'm the only one who has the power to protect everyone!"

"Oh ho! really? Well I suppose you so valiantly left your school to protect your classmates and friends. However do you ever wonder if it was the right move?"

"For all you know they could be fighting for their lives at this very moment and end up like that old bag Gran Torino or even Sir Nighteye"

The pit in Izuku's stomach twisted into doubt and something equally negative. The strands of energy that curled in the corner became more erratic and shifted their direction towards Izuku.

"What the hell...?" Vortex's head spun

"Deku what is this? What are you doing?" Even Endeavors was surprised

But Izuku wasn't doing anything, infact it was the room reacting to him. The lights above crackled violently causing the shadows to twitch at the edges of the screens. The floor beneath their feet vibrated like something below was awakening.

Izuku's heart pounded harder from the guilt, the pressure, the self hate that was all but dormant till now. All of it bled out of him like a silent scream and whatever was hiding in the static had answered back. Just for a moment the screens warped for a second too fast to fully register.

All For One's image distorted into something else and the smile behind it stretched farther than it should. His face flickered into something or someone else entirely like something behind the image was peeking through. Izuku staggered back a step out of his stupor with wide eyes because whatever this was It wasn't just All For One anymore.

The unnatural weight in the air wasn't part of this room but instead it was something drawn to himself and it was making it clear that it was responding. The voice from the TV became distorted now, layered with static along with something or someone else beneath it.

"What's wrong?...feeling the cracks?"

The strands of cursed energy responded instantly by snaking across the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and it was crawling toward him. The screens flickered again as jagged black lines distorted the image of All For One's face like a corrupted signal.

His smile remained but something about those hollowed eyes had changed. Less like he was watching and more like he was inside the room now.

"But I digress...you always seem to push past your limits so just maybe you can save everyone. That's what I admire most about you, Izuku Midoriya. Even if that husk of a man All Might once did the same thing but I'm no longer interested in him because now it's your turn!" All For One's voice vibrated the room as he pointed at Izuku

"You may have gotten stronger but even the strongest spirit breaks when pulled too thin.." The lights dimmed in an instant and everything went silent.

"Afterall, you walk into a trap..." A sound broke the silence.

BEEP...

Izuku's pupils shrank and his blood went cold before another was heard.

BEEP....

Then a series of them were heard, he turned toward the sound but the source was everywhere. Wires in the ceiling snapped loose and dropped like snakes before curling across the ground. The floor beneath them and the walls around them rumbled as sparks burst from the monitors. The screens glitched and became jittery, switching between All For One's grin and a single word printed in blood red.

DETONATION

The lower level rumbled and shook violently causing them to stumble and their only exit behind them to be sealed off. It felt as if the very building was going to collapse in on itself and take them with it.

"VORTEX GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" Endeavor roared with flames bursting from his shoulders.

"WORKING ON IT!" Vortex shouted back.

Vortex's Quirk ignited instantly as he performed hand motions with the air around them snapping and warping just before a vortex tore into existence beside Izuku.

"...and I walk out with a smile" What was left of the screen briefly showed All For One with a maddening smile while he laughed in mocked laughter.

Once the explosion began to erupt time slowed. The first explosion came from the walls then it came from below. It tore up the floor underneath their feet but Izuku was already in motion toward the portal Vortex had created.

Although the strange energy that had been trailing in the background now screamed before it converged on Izuku like iron filings to a magnet. The explosion wasn't just heat, It was a displacement in the space around them. The floor ruptured not into rubble but into fractured space making reality tear like paper and twisting light into impossible angles.

The unknown energy erupted from the floor in front of Izuku causing his movement to halt just as he was about to enter the portal. The floor bent upward from the eruption at the same time which made Izuku fall backward.

"NO!" Vortex shouted in horror

Izuku's eyes locked with Vortex's as both of them were falling backwards. In a last ditch effort Vortex tore a portal off his wrist , spinning it in his hand before hurling it at Izuku like a lifeline. The warped circle of light bloomed in front of him, its edges shimmering with unstable ripples.

Just as it was about to reach Izuku, the strands of unknown energy surged upward and collided with the portal in midair. Another explosion ripped through the room that was louder and brighter than the last.

The shockwave screamed like tearing metal, its force slamming between the two heroes. Izuku caught only a flash of Vortex's face before the detonation became to bright to handle. The light was nothing more than white hot fire that devoured all shape and shadow. Izuku flinched reflexively, squeezing hus eyes shut as he threw his arms over his face and the world cut to black.

Izuku's body jolted as his back struck the ground with a heavy thud. His arms were knocked from their defensive position as his breath hitched from being knocked out of him. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths as he tried to get it under control but the ringing in his ears made it hard to even focus. He forced himself to slow it down with one inhale and exhale after the next.

His chest rose and fell until the pounding in his heart settled into a rhythm he could control. Izuku finally opened his eyes and even though they were blurry he could still tell what a night sky looked like so finally knowing he had made it out he let his eyes close again.

"That was too close" Izuku muttered with a shaky laugh.

After one last exhale to get all the weight off his chest Izuku pushed himself upright. He pressed a palm to the ground but the surface cold and oddly smooth beneath him but he ignored it.

He rubbed his eyes to clear up his vision and shapes blurred together with colors bleeding into one another. He blinked rapidly while rubbing his face again to clear the haze. Izuku adjusted himself and started to turn his body around just enough in order to see his teammates.

"Hey Vortex...that was a close one right? If you hadn't pulled that port-" The words died in his throat, falling into a broken mumble.

Izuku's legs trembled as he forced himself to stand. Only then did the silence become noticeable, pressing in on him from every side. It was a silence so complete it made his own breathing sound too loud. He swallowed then took a step forward, the scrape of his boot echoing unnaturally across the empty expanse.

"Vortex?...E-endeavor...?" Izuku's throat tightened.

The place he had been moments ago was gone along with Vortex and Endeavor. There was no trace of the woods, the hideout that should've been in flames or his team. The only thing that was left was an empty street that seemed to stretch out endlessly in front of him.

He took another step before his head whipped side to side. Panic gnawed at his chest as he started to spin, searching every direction for something but the world offered no familiarity. Finally he tilted his head back and stared upward. Dark clouds hung over head, rain had just fallen here but the downpour of dread was only beginning.

"Where am I..."

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[Act 1: Where Monsters Wait]

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The stillness hung heavily around Izuku. Every sound he expected to hear whether that be the distant chatter or cars driving past were gone. Only his own breathing was the only thing that remained in the stillness. Izuku's breathing quickened as confusion clawed up his throat.

"Calm down...panicking won't help. First thing to do is assess the situation and breathe" he told himself, fingers gripping at his uniform

He took a slow inhale, taking in the cold night air that left a sting his lungs. Then with an exhale his heartbeat began to steady just enough to think.

"Okay...okay think just think" Izuku's jaw clenched as his thoughts tried to catch up. The only thing that could explain this was Vortex's quirk. 

"Did his Quirk malfunction and send me...here?" he murmured to himself, voice shaking slightly.

Izuku went to rest his hand on his hip but when he did he remembered his communicator. He quickly fumbled for it and once he finally had it he positioned his thumb and clicked the button.

"Deku to Endeavor, come in!"

Static..

"Deku to Vortex, please respond!" 

Static...

"Come on, work damnit" Izuku smacked the side of it.

"Vortex must've..he must've miscalculated and sent me off target. I..I can still get back"

He stared down at the communicator in his hand as if willing it to respond or to connect him to something familiar. Although deep down apart oh him knew whatever had happened or whatever force had pulled him in wasn't a simple miscalculation but he refused to believe it.

"I just need to find someone, anyone. Someone who can tell me where I am or what's going on" Izuku broke into a run in the the empty expanse of the street.

As he ran he scanned the building sfor light in any window and for a single flicker of movement but there was nothing. Some of them had their lights on but then most didn't. The buildings rose tall and untouched. There was no shattered glass, no collapsed walls, no scorch marks, and no signs of the chaos he'd been thrown from.

"This isn't right..." He slowed for half a moment with confusion gnawing at him.

Everything was too still and way too clean. The pavement was cracked from time, but not destruction. The cars parked along the curbs sat untouched as if their owners had stepped away moments ago and never returned. Neon signs flickered weakly above shuttered storefronts, their color bleeding into the cold mist of the night time air. Izuku's heart skipped a beat as the rhythm began crawling up into his throat.

"Nothing's destroyed...no damage and no wreckage. Did I...did I get sent to another part of Japan that was unaffected by the war?" The question hung uselessly in the air.

Even as he said it, the theory just didn't make any sense. If there was a place untouched by the war then shelters would've been made and civilians would've been evacuated there. He pushed forward again but faster this time, driven less by hope and more by the rising panic he couldn't shake.

Up ahead a streetlight flickered, briefly illuminating the crossroad beyond. Izuku's breath hitched as he skidded to a stop while locking onto an archway at the mouth of an alley to his right.The iron frame was streaked with grime but still very readable.

Takeshita Street

"Takeshita Street? that means I'm in Harajuku...Wait I'm in Shibuya?!...I really got sent that far away?.." Izuku trailed off before realization kicked in.

However that's when Izuku's mind finally started to see that something was truly off about this place. Everything was quiet, a little too quiet as a matter of fact. There were no footsteps, no voices, nor was there any engine noise coming down this street or in the distance.

Only the faint hum of neon, the buzz of streetlights, and the wind weaving through rows of empty bicycles and the few cars on the road. Then Izuku recalled that most of the window he passed were dark and every storefront was pristine but lifeless even though the lights were on.

The buildings themselves looked unscathed and untouched by war or villainy yet there was no sign of life. Izuku walked faster then his walk a half sprint, he passed a vending machine with cold drinks still perfectly stacked inside.

Then a row of umbrellas by a convenience store, a delivery scooter parked at the curb and a bench on the sidewalk with a half empty water bottle on it. Everything was as it should be except the people were missing. There were no heroes or any mention of them, no police, no bystanders, just him and the endless echoing emptiness.

His mind began to reel from dread as Takeshita was always crowded day or night it was always packed with people his age, shoppers, commuters, even tourists. The intersection up the road eventually lead to Meiji-jingumae station which should have had a sea of people, taxis honking, distant laughter and music leaking from every open door or window but there was nothing.

A chill crept down his spine, the pristine architecture and clean streets, unbroken windows and uncracked signage made it feel like walking through a museum exhibit of a world no longer alive. It was familiar, yes but hollow as if it was mere stage dressing.

Click!

"Deku to All Might, come in" He tried his communicator again but still got nothing so he clipped it to his belt.

"Where is everyone? what happened to the war?" He shook his head to force away the confusion since he had to make a move.

He had to get higher, get a vantage point, anything to make sense of this hollow city. Instinct took over his mind before he turned sharply with his eyes locked onto an abandoned car ahead. Its pristine hood and roof shinned beneath the buzzing lights from the buildings around him.

He sprinted toward it with his legs pumping and his heart pounding while he analyzed his trajectory in real time. Everything else faded away as the desperation he felt a moment ago was reduced to one single thought

"I have to find out whats happening" His muscles tensed up as he reached the car, his knees started to bend instinctively.

He called upon One For All and willed the power to surge through his body as it always did with that familiar green lightning and unbreakable certainty. Once his feet landed on the hood he leapt but the surge of power never came. The car's suspension groaned before the weight of his own body sent him sprawling.

His shoulder slammed hard against the roof before he collapsed to the pavement on his side in a graceless heap. The impact rattled him, causing a stinging discomfort to bloom. He laid there for a second completely stunned with the cold asphalt against his cheek. Izuku pushed himself up with a groan with one hand pressed to his ribs.

He raised and clenched his fist in front of his face trying to channel the familiar current. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing, searching for the thread he had followed since the moment All Might entrusted him with One For All but there was nothing not even a flicker.

"Th-that can't be right" He tried again

He reached deep into himself, screaming silently for the strength he'd called upon so many times before but nothing responded The streetlights flickered around him, casting distorted shadows. The eerie silence mocked him, amplifying the harsh sound of his frantic breathing.

"I can't use my quirk..."

The words burned his throat as he let his hand fall to the floor. He was alone, unarmed, and powerless in a world the look like his but wasn't. The wind was still as if it never existed in the first place and the city around him remained lifeless and undisturbed by the tumble he just had.

Izuku sat back up on the pavement with his legs drawn up while his arms rested limply on top of his knees. His hands clasped each other out of instinct more than purpose before resting his forehead against the back of his knuckles.

He took in a slow uneven breath for a moment before he began to think. One For All was gone and he could still feel the strain in his muscles from the adrenaline of sprinting, and the ache in his legs. Although none of it was the familiar hum in his limbs or the whisper of the vestiges.

He was quiet on the inside a little too quiet for his own liking. He curled his fingers tighter which made his knuckles whiten beneath his gloves. He tried to think or analyze like he always did but the thoughts clashed and scattered. With the communicator being dead in the water and the city seemingly familiar yet empty Izuku couldn't help but feel lost in the static.

"This is Shibuya no doubt and this is definitely Harajuku but it doesn't feel like mine.."

Every instinct told him this was wrong, that he'd landed somewhere he shouldn't exist or maybe he was in a state of limbo between life and death. He tried to reach out mentally for the familiar feeling of the vestiges but got nothing once more. He felt exposed, naked even and only in a way only a hero who had known absolute power could understand.

"I've trained for this..I've been in worse right?.." Even that thought felt hollow to himself.

Because deep down he knew the harsh truth. Ever since receiving One For All, he had never truly been powerless again. Even when holding back or even when he was injured, it was always there like a guardian.

A faint tremble passed through him from the sudden brutal realization of what it meant to be truly human again. He was ordinary and quirkless just like before and even while knowing that, Izuku forced himself to his feet.

If sitting and panicking wouldn't bring One For All back or summon help then moving might at least give him purpose. He took one last look at the silent intersection of Meiji-jingumae station and turned his face toward Omote-Sando Ave, a path that in his world would be bustling with life even at midnight, the same as everywhere else.

Here in the stillness of hollow air every echo of his footsteps rang out against the emptiness. He walked slowly at a cautious pace while always glancing behind him. The buildings lining the street were exactly the same, unbroken and their display windows clean but empty just like the previous ones.

He peered into a fashion boutique, half expecting to see a mannequin or a lurking villain. There was nothing. Not a flicker of movement, not even dust in the air. The street was still pristine andv untouched by any violence. The only sign of recent activity was a bicycle parked neatly at a rack, its front wheel spinning lazily.

A soft hum came from a nearby vending machine, it was still fully stocked just like the previous one, waiting for customers who would never return. Izuku walked up and paused to listen to it for a moment. The quiet he was endearing wasn't comforting but suffocating. He wanted to call out or say something but the unknown nature of this place kept him from doing so.

He pressed on with his eyes darting from alleyway to alleyway, building to building etc. Once he thought he saw a shadow flicker behind a window but when he approached it there was only his own reflection. He tried the doors to a café but they were locked tight, he tried another storefront but got the same result. He felt a growing sense of claustrophobia even as the street stretched wide and open.

There were too many places for something to be hiding and too many places for something to be watching. He stopped at a crosswalk and scanned for any movement and for any signs of life. Still there was nothing but he couldn't shake the sensation that he was being observed from behind every glass pane and doorway. Perhaps this place was draining his sanity and replacing it was hysteria.

A sudden gust of cold air made him shiver. He hugged his torn costume tighter around himself along with Gran Torinos cape wishing for even a scrap of his old power if only to feel a little less exposed. Izuku cut across to the other side of the road and continued down the street his eye caught something out of place.

A single folded newspaper resting on a wooden bench next to a bus stop. A few of the pages folded on the top rustled in the faint drifts of wind passing through. It looked fresh like someone had just left it there expecting to return.

Izuku hurried over to it with his heart pounding with new found hope. If there was any clue about the place he's in then this was his best shot. He picked up the paper with his hands trembling slightly, flipping open the first page he stared at the date printed beneath the headline.

Shibuya Hikarie Halloween Festival

[October 31st, 2018]

Izuku blinked at the words before reading them again then again. His mind spun trying to make sense of what he saw. He closed then opened the page again and again thinking he was seeing things. He opened it one last time but the date remained the same.

"2018?....No way that's impossible..." His breath hitched in his throat as he clutched the newspaper tighter.

"Tha- no, if that was true then that would be nearly two hundred years ago..."

The headlines blurring slightly as a wave of panic crept in from his thoughts spiraling. He staggered back a step from the bench while glancing wildly up and down the street.

Izuku began to feel something worse than fear and worse than confusion. A hollow, sinking certainty that he had slipped not just into another place but another time. Or maybe into a world where time and reality played by different rules altogether.

"Could Vortex's quirk have done this?" He started to pace, gripping his head with one hand as his thoughts churned while the newspaper hung at his side.

"No no no that can't be it I mean sure there's quirks like Eri's rewind but full on time travel itself?. There's just no record of it or any precedent of it, no confirmed cases either and no quirk even theoretically has ever achieved something like that. That's including Plus Alpha Elements found in nomus...." His muttering continued before he froze mid-step.

"And even if someone did manage it...why would the world look like this 200 years ago? Out of everything we've learned about pre quirk society is that not much has changed even after it became the norm"

This wasn't the past he'd studied in school or seen online. The technology he saw wasn't close to what his world had back then. It wasn't primitive by any means and the vending machine still displayed touch to pay features. The style of cars hadn't changed by much but they were noticeably different from back home. The street's infrastructure wasn't primitive either, they were modern much like his own.

"No signs of panic, no heroes, no hero merch ads or promos, and no people. Either this was the past or...it was a different world altogether" He slowly turned the paper over in his hands again, scanning for more clues.

The headlines weren't about Pro Heroes. There were no mentions of villain attacks, no political commentary about Hero Commission actions, no scandals or regulations about quirk registrations. It was just mundane mumbo jumbo.

"None of this makes sense" Izuku ran a hand through his hair still clutching the newspaper while muttering aloud as he tried to reason through his panic.

"The world can't be this normal if I'm in the past...unless-" The words died in his throat as pressure slammed down on him with crushing force.

The air around him thickened with every shadow lengthening, every light bending red as if the city itself had started to bleed. It lasted only a heartbeat but in that moment Izuku's world contracted to a pinpoint of terror. His chest seized and a sickly malevolent feeling pressed into the core of his being.

For the briefest second the world felt wrong in a new way, like the rules themselves had snapped or like he was being stared at by a thousand unseen eyes. In that same heartbeat he felt like something or someone was laughing at him. like it was relishing in his helplessness. Izuku's instincts exploded as he spun on his heel, dropping the newspaper and searching the empty street in every direction.

HAHAHAHAHA

His body was ready for a fight, for a chase, for anything but there was nothing. Just cold air and hollow silence but for a fraction of a second a sensation prickled along his spine like icy claws before it vanished as suddenly as it had come.

The city was silent again and the lights no longer glowed red. The invisible laughter had faded, leaving only a hollow echo of dread in his mind. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to steady.

"What...what the hell was that?!"

That sensation of being seen or of being marked lingered in his bones like a stain. Thinking it would be best to keep moving he stepped forward with his eyes flicking down the road once more.

CRASH!

The sharp sound of shattering glass split the air, it was distant but unmistakable. He froze at the sudden noise, looking up ahead and figured that it came from the direction he had been heading before the newspaper. The silence that came after was almost deafening, he didn't call out so he simply moved towards it.

He jogged down the street with his heart pounding in his chest from urgency. That sound meant someone else was alive and someone who might know what this place was. Izuku eventually rounded the corner where the sound had echoed from but found nothing.

"Maybe I went the wrong way... or did I imagine it?"

He scanned the low rooftops, the alleys, the storefronts and just as he was about to stop, something moved in the corner of his vision. A flash of motion just to the right, he whipped his head fast enough to feel the pull in his shoulder with his eyes locking onto a figure as it ducked around a building across the street.

Izuku took off into the street after it, the iron soles of his boots pounding against the slick pavement but he slowed within seconds of starting. Whoever or whatever he saw had already vanished around the building's edge and this wasn't a chase he could afford to rush blindly into.

He began to move more carefully now, making his breath shallow, and his steps softer. His eyes scanned every surface, every alley mouth, every fire escape. Shadows danced with each flicker of neon overhead while the hum of city lights were the only rhythm keeping him grounded.

"Don't assume it's friendly but if it's someone else stuck here... I have to know" He told himself

He reached the corner and hesitated as he pressed his back to the wall and leaned out to peek before moving. The alley beyond was long and hemmed in by tall brick faced buildings. Trash bins lined the sides and the ground sloped slightly downward, collecting puddles of oily rainwater that barely reflected any light.

He advanced step by cautious step but somewhere up ahead, metal creaked faintly but deliberate. Izuku's muscles tensed with his fingers curling at his sides out of habit, wishing he could call One For All even just for a flicker but it remained silent.

As he reached the midpoint of the alley, he slowed even more. Something at the far end caught his eye. Pressed up against the chain link fence was something slouched and still with an old blanket covering whatever was moving underneath.

"A person?..." His heart kicked in his chest as he took a step closer with his pulse rising in his throat.

The air felt colder with each step he took and every instinct screamed at him to be ready to expect something to lurch up and grab him the moment he got close. When he finally reached the fence his heart was pounding so loud it drowned out the silence.

He crouched down and with a shaky hand he reached for the blanket. Once his grip landed on it he clenched his fingers around the fabric and started to peel it before pausing. Shaking his head to dismiss any uncertainty he flung the blanket off quickly.

Once he did two rats squeaked and scattered away from the trash they were digging in. The sudden noise and discovery made izuku stumble backwards after which he exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Even though it wasn't a body and just trash bags that had been soaked and tangled with torn clothes. It was just enough to look like someone had collapsed there or even met their end.

Izuku stared at it for a moment longer just to be sure, the tension still continued to strangle his chest. He stood up slowly, wiping his damp hands on the fabric of his costume. Unbeknownst to Izuku a large ripple formed along the wall to his left before sinking into it completely.

"Get a grip, this place is getting in your head" Izuku was about to turn away from the covered trash but stopped at a sudden noise.

Ccrrreeeeeaaaak!

It could've been the metal or the footsteps or both. The sound echoed faintly, swallowed by the stillness of the alley. He turned his head toward the sound and there on his left was a side door. A narrow metal access entrance tucked in shadows just beneath a faded awning. It hung slightly ajar, making it barely noticeable in the gloom until now. A faint sliver of interior darkness bled outward that was deeper than the night surrounding it.

"Whoever I was following probably went in there" He approached slowly with his hand reaching out.

The metal was cold to the touch and as he pulled, the hinges protested with short high squeals and tiny cracking snaps. The door groaned, resisting just slightly before finally giving way. As it opened wider the night air spilled in behind him and the doorway seemed to swallow it whole.

He opened it just wide enough to slip inside and once he was in the light was barely there just enough to see but only just. The illumination came from flickering ceiling fixtures overhead that was glowing a dim amber.

It casted thin quivering shadows that stretched too long and too high against the walls. The door clicked shut behind him and the city outside disappeared. No sound, no hum of electricity, and no machinery. Only silence was left, wrapping itself around him like a damp cloth.

He moved forward with caution past long rows of shelves stretched out ahead of him. They were stocked with clothes that were neatly folded with signs advertising sales and mannequins standing in perfect formation.

He glanced upward to the looming second floor above, separated by railings and unmoving escalators. He passed a rack of coats but for a second one of them seemed to shift but when he turned around to look there was nothing. The deeper Izuku went into the store the more the silence felt intentional, like it was trying to make him louder.

Clatter!

A small object rolled across the tile from one of the aisles ahead, spinning unevenly before slowing and coming to a stop just a few feet in front of him. Izuku crouched down low and stilled his movement with his head snapping towards the sound.

He approached cautiously with carefully placed steps, being careful not to make a sound. He knelt down and picked up the object that had fallen which turned out to be a plastic water bottle and it was pristine like everything else.

He turned it in his hand noticing nothing strange about it. A sharp gasp cut through the silence and he snapped his head up and across from him, half concealed behind a shelf was a child no older than nine or ten huddled against the wall.

Her hand clamped over their mouth with terrified eyes staring back at him. Izuku's voice caught in his throat before he raised his free hand slowly and gently as if approaching a frightened animal.

The sound of feet on tile came fast but Izuku spun around faster. A man burst from between two shelves, swinging a metal baseball bat with desperation. The motion was fast but not fast enough for Izuku, even without One For All his instincts moved faster than his body.

He ducked beneath the swing then grabbed the man's wrist mid arc and disarmed him in a fluid movement. Before the man could recover Izuku swept his legs from under him, sending him crashing onto his back with a heavy grunt.

"W-wait! p-please don't hurt him!" Another figure appeared but this one was slower with their arms up defensively.

A woman stepped out from the shadows breathing hard with one hand raised toward Izuku, the other reaching for the man on the ground. Izuku stepped back and raised his left hand up with the bat still in his grip but held out to the side.

"I'm not trying to hurt anyone. He just came at me so I reacted" Izuku tried explaining

The man groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbing his shoulder. The child peeked out from the shelf again with her eyes flicking between all of them. Silence held for a long moment and it seemed like everyone was measuring each other. The child came out and pressed closer to the woman, who kept herself between her family and Izuku while never taking her eyes off his face.

It was his clothes and face or what passed for it that drew their noticeable fear. Izuku realized suddenly what they were seeing, a stranger caked in grime and blood while wearing a torn, monstrous hero costume, a cowl pulled over his head with emerald light burning where his eyes should be.

The mask was in rough shape, almost resembling teeth and jagged features meant to strike fear into villains and now...ordinary people. He saw the way the man's grip tightened on his wife's sleeve. The child's trembling eyes and the way the woman's jaw clenched was defiant but scared.

"You're...you're not one of them, are you?" The girl's voice trembled

Izuku's heart squeezed with guilt but the question tickled his mind with curiosity. He shook his head as he let the bat slip from his grip before raising both hands higher and backing up a step to show he meant no harm.

Without another word he reached up and peeled back his cowl, letting it fall around his neck. His wild green hair spilled out and his horrific mask in the dark was revealed for what it was, battered cloth and not monster flesh. His eyes, though glowing faintly now looked more human.

"S-sorry I know I look scary but It's just a costume" He offered a shaky smile then forced his voice calm.

The group or rather the family still seemed tense and on guard. Izuku then racked his brain for something to ease the concern and remembered the newspaper he picked up earlier.

"There's a Halloween event in Shibuya tonight, right? I read it in the paper. Guess I went a little overboard with my costume" He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

It was a half lie and Izuku wasn't keen on the idea of lying even just a little but in his current predicament he deemed it necessary. He was in an unkown place with no backup and no knowledge of what's going on so its only right that he kept his cards close to his chest.

The man on the ground blinked, momentarily thrown off by the answer but ultimately accepted it and let out a breath. Meanwhile the woman's tension eased and her shoulders relaxed if only a little by the revelation.

"I promise I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just got a little lost on my way there and was looking for help but couldn't find anyone. I apologize If I scared you..." Izuku kept his tone gentle and apologetic as he so often did as he bowed.

"So do you know what happened here?" He asked inquisitively

The silence shifted which made everything less terror and less wary uncertainty. They still didn't trust him, not yet but he could see the questions brewing in their eyes. The man picked himself up while keeping a wary distance but the woman spoke up first with a low voice.

"You really didn't know? Everyone's been evacuated. At least in this district as far as we know" She spoke calmly before the man chimed in afterwards

"The news said it was a..what was it again? oh right, a chemical spill but nobody's telling the truth. I thought it was a loud of crap so we turned around and cam back but that's when things got weird..." The man continued

"Police along with some peculiar individuals as well as some government types came through. They didn't look like any officers I'd ever seen, talking about "containment" and "barriers" Then the cell networks died and everything went quiet"

"Evacuated? chemical cover story?..." Izuku absorbed the information quickly

"that explains why theres no people but that introduces new questions, not to mention some problems. Why was there a cover story? Why was the government walking around with out of placed individuals?"

"Even if everyone were evacuated people can be stubborn by nature much like this group. So theres gotta be more people in this district or at least some coming from the others. Unless...multiple districts within Shibuya have undergone the same thing"

"Hey, you still with us kid?" The man said and Izuku snapped out of his thinking craze immediately

"Y-yeah just trying to take in all in. It's a lot to comprehend" He said truthfully

"You know what? He must've come from the country side, thats why he doesn't know" The woman spoke up

" That n- nvm but bout what you said before. What did you mean by one of them?" Izuku questioned

The two adults visibly tensed at the question. The man and woman shared a glanced at each other seemingly worried if they should speak but ultimately they decided to tell the truth

"Well.." The man paused but the woman continued for him

"At first we thought it was just some Halloween scare they were setting up at first but our daughter and us..."

"...started seei- " The father was about to finish it but was cut off

CRASH!

A sound like a thousand panes of glass exploding at once ripped through the store. The building shook from the sudden force and the fluorescent lights overhead that were previously off began to flicker madly above them.

Wind screamed in through the front entrance and the temperature dropped as the room filled with the sharp scent of rain. The mother gasped before pulling her child close then backing away into the isle .

"Hide Quickly!" she whispered while containing a yell

The crash still echoed in Izuku's ears, vibrating through the tile beneath his feet. Every instinct he had screamed at him to stay put and hide but heroism didn't obey fear. He stepped away from the others.

"Don't be stupid, please!" The child whimpered behind him while the father hissed a desperate whisper

But Izuku kept walking with one steady foot in front of the other, moving slowly through the aisle. His breath came steady, trying to becareful with his shoes on the tile. The air felt heavier the closer he got to the front of the store.

Wind howled faintly through the broken glass and each draft carried a pulse of unease. It was like something was brushing against his senses just out of reach. Halfway to the open entrance, he stopped and pressed himself up against the side of a shelving unit to listen.

His fingers curled loosely, he may be without One For All For the moment but he's still trained and still dangerous if he needed to be. His eyes scanned what he could from behind the aisle end cap. The light was faint and inconsistent as it flickered near the entrance.

All Izuku heard afterwards was just that same maddening silence. He counted to five then decided it was time to make a move. Izuku turned the corner fast, jumping out from cover with practiced form, fists raised in a tight guard.

But to his surprise there was nothing there just the aftermath. Glass was strewn across the tile with mannequins knocked slightly off their bases and the entrance doors blown open the night air pouring in, cold and empty.

He stayed frozen in his stance, scanning the store's shadowed corners. Every shelf and doorway looked deeper than it should, like they could lead to somewhere else entirely. His heart thudded but no second strike came and no enemy emerged.

"Did something break in or break out?. Is it even here to begin with?" He pondered

"This could just be some elaborate scare attraction on a massive scale but theres no way im believing that.."

He took a cautious step forward, the glass crunching beneath his shoes unnaturally loud. Still there was nothing, the others behind him hadn't moved. Izuku stayed still a moment longer, eyes scanning the threshold of the world outside.

"Whatever it was it made noise and then it disappeared.." Izuku remained still, scanning the threshold of the broken entrance.

The cold wind brushed against his skin but nothing moved and nothing breathed. Then ripples formed, they were subtle at first as the ceiling above him shimmered. Like disturbed water a distortion passed through the overhead panels gliding slowly.

A presence moving just above like something massive was swimming through the air completely invisible and formless but impossibly real. Izuku didn't notice whatever it was but someone else did. From deep in the aisle behind him came a soft shaking voice barely above a whisper. Although what he also failed to notice was the faint golden wisps coming off of his right hand.

"...It's back" the child said in a low voice

"What did yo-?" Izuku turned with his eyebrows furrowing at the sound.

WHAM!

An invisible force slammed into him with bone shattering speed. The shelves around him rattled with clothing racks toppling over with a metallic screech. Izuku didn't even have time to brace as his body became airborne, launched like a ragdoll through the shattered front entrance. His shoulder hit first into the side of a car parked outside.

The impact crumpled the door inwards with a metallic shriek, and the sheer force carried both him and the vehicle into a brutal flip. The car twisted violently through the air with debris flying off its frame.

Izuku hit the ground hard, first his back then his ribs and finally his stomach, scraping across the pavement before tumbling to a halt in a dazed heap. The sound of crunched metal was heard as the car landed behind him. It tumbled end over end once, twice, then collapsing into a shuddering halt half upturned on the adjacent sidewalk.

A door skidded to a stop beside him, bolts clattered onto the street and steam hissing from the broken radiator that mixed with the cold wind. The only sound left in the air was the hissing from the radiator and the dinging coming from the car which signaled that it had one of its doors ajar.

Ding..

Ding...

Ding....

In the words of Tomura Shigaraki a new player has joined the game and a new piece has been placed on this worlds game board. The new contender known as Izuku Midoryia has entered into the fold of Shibuya's worst night and it'll only get worse from here.

To be continued...