Chapter Text
The sight that greeted Izuku’s eyes when he blinked awake was not one he was expecting. A wasteland stretched out before him, as not only was the warehouse he remembered being in gone, but so were many of the buildings surrounding the warehouse. The standing buildings he could see were damaged, large cracks visible even at a distance along with visibly missing chunks. Some of the distant buildings were even collapsing as he watched.
Izuku unsteadily got to his feet, he needed to get out of here. He couldn’t see All Might or the Suit Man, which meant it was probably safe for him to leave. He needed to go somewhere, go home probably? But... where was home? He didnt know where he was, or how he got here.
Izuku’s head pulsed with a sharp, piercing pain as he tried to remember home. He could remember being forced into a car with the Suit man, and he could remember getting pulled out of a different car by someone who looked like an older version him, but anything beyond that...
Izuku groaned and staggered backwards to lean up against a still standing fragment of a wall. Thinking made his head hurt, which in turn made his whole body hurt, especially his right side. His vision blurred for several moments, in a way that he knew probably wasn’t good. He needed to get out of here.
Izuku leaned against the wall fragment as he moved. He focused on his steps, it was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other, especially as the ground beneath him kept moving. Sometimes it was pieces of rubble shifting under his feet, other times it was his vision blurring and swaying to the point of blindness. In the distance he could hear shouting, which just drove him further. He had to get away, had to go find somewhere nice to hide until it was safe to come out again. Until he could move without agonizing pain.
Slowly, inch by inch, foot by foot, Izuku staggered out of the ruins of the warehouse and away from the distant voices. He lifted his head to look at the pathway in front of him and caught sight of a skinny blond haired man slumped up against a crumbling wall. Izuku narrowed his eyes as his feet lurched forwards by instinct, he could see the bloody mess in the side of the man’s stomach. This painfully familiar man was in desperate need of help, and despite Izuku’s every instinct telling him to run away and hide, he couldn’t just ignore a person in need of help.
As Izuku got closer to the man, his sluggish brain managed to connect the dots and finally register who the man was, “All Might?”
At the call of his hero name, All Might blinked his eyes open and looked over at him. Izuku could see the way the hero’s tired and near lifeless eyes lit up with recognition and... hope? Izuku haphazardly dropped to his knees next to All Might, carefully pulling off the tattered remains of the hero’s shirt and cape, “it’s gonna be okay,” Izuku whispered softly, “ cause I’m here now! And I’m gonna.... I’m gonna... I don’t know. We uh, we have to stop the bleeding.”
Izuku ignored All Might’s wet coughs, and the way the hero’s blood dribbled from his mouth and onto his now bare chest with each exhale. He ignored the way the gaping hole in All Might’s side adamantly refused to stop bleeding, no matter how much Izuku pressed the fabric scraps of All Might’s cape and shirt against the wound. He knew everything was going to be okay, because this was All Might, and All Might was unbeatable! The world's greatest hero wasn’t someone who would die, especially not slumped up against the ruins of a warehouse with only a six year old to keep him company.... right?
Izuku was pulled out of his depressing thoughts when All Might lifted his hand. The hero placed a bloodied hand against Izuku's lips, “my boy,” All Might wheezed wetly, “can you do something for me?”
When Izuku opened his mouth to respond, All Might’s hand slid forwards, and Izuku got the metallic taste of blood across his tongue. He barely heard All Might’s next words, “Please, take... take this quirk.” The hero said softly, barely heard by Izuku’s shocked ears, “take this... and run. Please... run... and survive...”
When the words finally settled into Izuku’s brain, he burst into tears, “No!” He cried, “you’ve gotta live! You’re All Might! You can’t be beaten!”
All Might smiled at him while his hand fell limply to the ground, “such... an optimistic child. Please, run away... the villain is possibly still here. Go... find a hero named-“
Izuku’s vision swam as his head whipped around at the sound of sudden movement from within the collapsed warehouse. He staggered to his feet, wincing as the pain in his side flared up and his head throbbed. He looked down at All Might, he loathed to leave the hero, his idol, here was death's door... but he had no other choice. He had to go. A phantom voice whispered into his ear, soft and gentle, ”Don't worry Nine, he’ll be fine. Eight’s a strong man, he won't go down so easily.”
Izuku found himself agreeing with the phantom voice, and as he staggered away from All Might, he could hear more voices speaking. Gently calling to him, guiding him away from the ruins of the warehouse. The voices were kind, pleasant to listen to as they guided him when his vision began to blur too much for him to see. The pain in his side kept increasing with each step, as he could hear the phantom voices whispering about the blood that was splattering across the concrete with each step he took.
It was in the middle of an alley a good distance away from the edge of the destruction zone where his body finally gave out on him. Izuku dropped as his legs gave out from under him. His whole body was so cold, the pain in his side and his head had finally faded. Despite that his limbs felt heavy, he couldn’t even push himself up off the ground.
Actually, the ground felt really damn comfortable. He could take a nap, he was so tired. Just as his eyes started to slip closed, he felt someone shake him, calling out to him urgently, “Nine, Nine, Nine you have to stay awake. Please stay awake.” The soft feminine voice from earlier was back again.
Izuku pried his eyes open, and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful, slightly transparent lady kneeling before him. Behind her was a white haired man, looking just as worried as the lady, “ ‘m fine.” Izuku slurred softly, “Just... sleepy... just gonna take a nap.” He tried to reassure the people with him, but he probably failed. He couldn’t really find the energy to care as his eyes slipped closed again.
He was just gonna take a quick nap, and then he could get up and keep running from the Suit Man. All Might didn't get to tell him the name of the hero to go find, so it wasn’t like he could go do that... but he could at least keep running so the Suit Man couldn’t find him. All he needed was a quick nap... surely that wouldn’t hurt?