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Izuku's heart raced in his chest. His lungs already felt like they were on fire, and he hadn't even started any kinda of physical activity. It was just the sheer stress building up inside of him, as he waited for those massive doors to open.
All around him, there were hundreds of more hopeful aspirants to UA famed Hero Course. Hundreds of people who were bigger than him, stronger than him, more well prepared... he could almost feel their gazes on him, even when realistically speaking, none of them were looking his way. Maybe it's just an instinct; he was well known to be the weakest of the weak links at Aldera Junior High, so he's simply grown to believe he emits some kind of signal or scent that indicates in inherent inferiority and powerlessness.
He'd like to say the last ten months training with the greatest Hero in the world had done something to assuage such negative thoughts.
But, well...
In many respects, Izuku's life had been nothing but an uphill climb since that fateful day.
His (incredibly stupid and suicidal) actions to try and rescue his friend(?) Katsuki had earned him not just the praise, but the respect of All Might himself. So much so that the Symbol of Peace immediately sought him out at the hospital to tell him that to his face, and nearly blow his tiny brain with an opportunity that Izuku would have never even imagined, even in his wildest and most self-serving dreams: All Might was willing to bestow onto him his Quirk.
One For All.
It still sounded crazy. A Quirk that could be passed down from one person to the other was something that had always been theorized to be possible, yet seemingly never registered to have happened anywhere since Quirk Registry became common around the world. To learn that All Might (who he'd also learn was actually Yagi Toshinori, All Might's very own "personal assistant" for many years, as far as the public was concerned) had received his Quirk from another hero, who in turn had received it from another, and so on, was enough to overwhelm Izuku's otaku brain with countless questions (while also kinda making him want to apologize to All_Might_Truthsayer19, whose theory turned out to be quite shockingly close to reality, despite Izuku fervently arguing against it).
But even then, all of that felt distant to him. Because this wasn't just about All Might. For once, this was about him. To have the greatest Hero in the world not only tell him "you can be a Hero", but for him to ask this random kid to train and become his successor... it was so incredible, Izuku almost wondered if he was still in a coma, and dreaming this whole thing. But he could feel it; he could feel his sore muscles; he could feel his heart racing; this all felt too real to be a dream. These past ten months had been the hardest he had ever worked for anything, and all of it to receive the second greatest gift he would ever receive in his life (the first, of course, being that very same life; thanks forever, Mom).
He'd worked so hard, and he didn't back down.
There was just one tiny problem...
"...it... didn't work."
Izuku was left staring at the emaciated blonde man before him like a statue of the world's most astonished man. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT DIDN'T WORK!?" Izuku squeaked in a higher-pitched voiced than he was proud to admit, "H-How can you tell!? D-Did I eat your hair for nothing then!?"
"Well, you see..." the emaciated true form of Yagi Toshinori struggled to make sense of things himself, "Of course, I've never actually transferred over my power before, but... it's just a feeling in my gut telling me One For All wasn't passed on!"
The boy's heart was only sinking deeper into the sand beneath him, threatening to reach the planet's core. "B-But-... But WHY!? D-Did I do something wrong!? Was I supposed to blend the the piece of hair, or maybe was it something I ate earlier today, does this only happen if you eat the genetic material on an empty stomach, or maybe mutter mutter mutter..."
Toshinori stared in slight concern as Izuku devolved into a furious muttering spree, even if it wasn't the first one he'd witnessed from him. "Young Midoriya, enough with the speculation; One For All is not that complicated! As far as why the transfer didn't work... while I cannot say with absolute certainty, if I were a betting man, then I would wager..." he raised a finger to point, "It could have something to do with that."
Izuku flinched lightly, his hand instinctively raising towards his right eye. It was a bit strange, but some days, he actually found himself forgetting about it. That pupil-less white orb that now sat inside his skull; despite its appearance, Izuku never felt like his vision had been in any way impaired. His sight had never seemed particularly affected by it, and while he had used an eye patch for several weeks, he'd found himself often forgetting about wearing it. It had taken him some time before he could actually work up the nerve to tell anyone about what he had seen that day: the dead world of ash; the survivors that struggled to survive; and the rope that Izuku could swear he could still feel tied around his neck...
He had expected disbelief at best, and ridicule at worst; All Might had given him neither.
"D-...Do you really think so...?"
"Young Midoriya, I cannot say for certain what it is you saw that day. Was it real, or mere hallucination... but the truth is, something did affect you. The proof is right there on your face."
Despite being submitted to multiple tests, the hospital hadn't found anything out of the ordinary about Izuku after that day. By all accounts, despite multiple witnesses seeing him crack his head, and having his own blood on him, it had been as if Izuku hadn't been injured at all by the time All Might had intervened. And of course, no amount of head trauma would turn his eye such a glassy white, as far as he knew. But it wasn't simply that; Izuku couldn't just see perfectly fine even with his eye in that state, but it was almost like he could see even better than before! Regardless of whether he covered one eye or the other, he never felt any difference, and it always felt like both his eyes were working in tandem. He could also see a bit more distantly and much more clearly than before, being able to read even the fine print at the bottom of the eye chart.
"Is it because... this could actually be my Quirk?" it was Izuku's first real concrete guess. That somehow, some way, the incident had triggered a latent Quirk sleeping in him. "Could that affect One For All?"
Toshinori didn't seem so certain of that explanation. "My Master had a Quirk, as did hers, and One For All had no issue being transferred despite that... but I cannot say for certain. It could be something specific to this power, Quirk or otherwise, that is preventing my Quirk from taking hold."
Izuku's shoulders sagged, and his head drooped. "Then... th-that means... all these months were-... I-I was just wasting your time..." he felt the tears already flow down his face freely. He had achieved nothing except rob All Might of time he could have spent finding a worthy successor, instead of wasting it on a useless Deku-
"HAHAHAH! WHAT'S THIS NONSENSE YOU SPEAK OF!!" the booming laughter of All Might's muscle form snapped Izuku back to attention. "Young Midoriya, THINK!! What did I tell you on that day in the hospital!?"
Izuku blinked in confusion. "Uhm-... y-you said... I could be a hero..."
"EXACTL-cough!!!" Toshinori immediately reverted back to his skeleton-like form as he coughed out a bunch of blood. This never stopped freaking the hell out of Izuku, but Toshinori barely seemed affected by it. "Young Midoriya, I told you you could be a hero, and that is what I meant! Only afterwards did I say you were worthy of inheriting my power! I did not tell you 'you can be a Hero if you inherit my power', or anything of the sort! My words are crystal clear, and my belief of that time has only solidified in the months since!"
The boy's legs were shaking, feeling the whole weight of Toshinori's intensity and honesty.
"These past ten months may not have been used training the successor of One For All, but they were far from a waste!" Toshinori asserted, "Because they were spent training someone who will become a great Hero in his own right!!"
The tears shot out of Izuku's eyes with the strength of a water hose, as he bowed to a 90 degree angle, shouting: "THANKYOUSOMUCHALLMIGHT!!"
"But you have to stop crying over every damn thing, you know!" Toshinori squawked.
"Well? What are you all waiting for!?" shouted Present Mic from atop his podium. "LIFE DOESN'T HAVE A STARTING SHOT, LISTENERS! SO GET TO IT! YOUR EXAM'S ALREADY UNDER WAY, YEEEAAHH!"
The crowd of aspiring students suddenly erupted into a frenzied dash through the open doors, and Izuku nearly found himself trampled beneath all of them. naturally, he was the last person to actually enter the exam area, which was not the best way to start the entrance exam.
As much as All Might's words had moved him, he was still left with a massive hurdle ahead of him.
The exam itself was deceptively simple: multiple tiered robots were scattered around an urban area. Destroying or incapacitating a robot would award you between one and three points, depending on which type of robot. Everywhere Izuku looked, he could see multiple people make good use of their Quirks: some could easily dispatch of their adversaries through sheer power alone, Quirks that turned their bodies into weapons, or shooting laser from their bellybuttons; others relied on pairing their Quirks to create powerful attacks, such as that one scary glasses guy picking up immense speed thanks to the thrusters on his legs, to deliver shattering kicks onto the weaker robots; others still, who lacked offensively powerful Quirks, were in no doubt being tested on their ingenuity, and finding alternate methods to bring down their enemies.
Izuku could only imagine Katsuki was having a field day with this exam.
Unfortunately, he himself was not. By the time Izuku would even find an enemy robot, someone would quickly dispatch of them before Izuku could get near enough to formulate a strategy. And even if Izuku had a strategy... what could he actually do!? Even if he had finally unlocked his Quirk, all that Quirk did was make him see a little better than most people! Maybe if he had some kind of ranged weapon, he could make some use out of it, but that was something he did not currently possess.
"SIX MINUTE REMAINING, LISTENERS!!" Present Mic announced over the PA system.
"28 points!" he heard the girl from the school entrance shout as she let drop several robots from the sky.
"15 points!" he heard another boy shout as he swung a lamp post like a baseball bat.
"32 points! Still need to do better!" another girl shouted.
More and more, Izuku heard the sounds of battle around him, robots being destroyed left and right as seemingly everyone but him was steadily gathering points. All Izuku could do was run. Run, and run, and run, always just one second too late to even be able to touch a robot.
"One point-! Please, just one point!!" Izuku frantically panted as he ran. He couldn't lose here. He couldn't make all of that effort for nothing. Not when All Might was backing him up!
And then, there was a rumble. One that shook the ground, and forced everyone to turn and stare at what had caused it.
Because in the exam, there was a fourth robot. The Zero-Pointer. The "obstacle", as Present Mic had put it.
Nobody had warned them it was a colossus.
The cyclopean metal giant tore through buildings like the star of an old monster movie, threatening to crush anything and anyone in its wake. The aspiring students knew better than to mess with it, not just because of its size, but because what point was there to fight something that wasn't going to award them any points?
Izuku felt much the same way, only filtered through the lens of incoherent fear at the sight of the metal giant. He had to run, he had to keep moving, stay away from the Zero-Pointer and find a straggler that he could-
"O-..Owww..."
He heard it. A voice. Weak. In pain. Someone was trapped in the rubble left in the wake of the Zero-Pointer's rampage.
"THREE MINUTES REMAINING!!"
Before he even had the time to think, Izuku's had already turned around completely, and ran towards the machine as it loomed over the fallen girl.
He saw it draw closer and closer.
He saw it raise its hand, drawing closer to the girl in the rubble.
Izuku stepped forward. He was so close.
Another step. He felt... deaf.
Another step... he stopped.
"Where-...where am I...?"
Izuku couldn't feel the hard concrete beneath his feet anymore; only soft dirt as he stood on a grassy knoll. Instead of concrete buildings on all directions, there was only a vast field of grassland. Grey clouds hung in the sky, threatening rain that had yet to come.
"This... what... what's happening?" Izuku mouthed as he frantically looked around. "But-...The girl- The robot- The entrance exam- How-!?!?" he started running again, even if he didn't know exactly why. Maybe he hoped that he'd find some kind of door, or veil that he could step through, and find himself back where he was standing earlier.
Or... had he really been standing there?
No! No, no, no! Don't go down that route!
"Hallucinating... I-I must be hallucinating again, r-right!? D-Did I suffer a concussion all those months ago... yes... yes, that makes sense, right...? Ah ha ha... great... of course... I try to act like a hero again, and again I'm useless... probably just lying on the ground right now while everyone around me does so much better, of course, that was so stupid, it's a school entrance exam, that girl was never in any real danger, I'm sure those robots have hundreds of safety mechanisms to ensure students aren't really hurt, I probably looked like a total fool, I am a total fool, useless useless usele-"
Thunk!
In his descent into a rambling muttering spree, Izuku had actually stopped paying any attention to the world around him, leading him to run face-first into something. Luckily that something wasn't terribly hard; firm, but not a wall or anything. Pretty fuzzy too, which helped cushion the blow. His nose kinda stung, but it could have been so, so much worse. Blinking wearily, Izuku rubbed his sore face before he actually took a look at what it was he had ran into.
And there, right in front of him, stood the biggest goat he had ever seen in his life.
And when he said big, he meant big; this thing was the size of a horse! Maybe even bigger! Its shaggy coat was a fiery orange, and so long that it pooled on the ground around it; it genuinely looked like the goat was covered by a blanket. Its horns were equally impressive, forming a perfect arch backwards, and looked so sharp that they could actually be mistaken for swords at the right angle. The goat's face peeked out from its massive fur, revealing a proud animal that only seemed mildly disturbed by having a little wet fly like Izuku dashing into it.
A small mercy, since Izuku felt certain this thing would kill him with a sneeze had he actually gotten it angry.
Assuming this thing was even real, and not another figment of his imagination.
It certainly looked real enough as it stared right into Izuku's eyes, with a look that seemed half-bored, and half-judgmental. The snort it gave him didn't help matters.
"Uhm... s-sorry..."
The goat flicked its ears, but whatever that meant was completely lost on Izuku. The goat then stood up from where it lay, something Izuku only now realized it was doing (meaning that, yes, it was definitely bigger than a horse), and stood its full majestic height. It was honestly a bit awe-inspiring to see such an animal up close; there weren't animals this big in Japan outside of zoos!
But when the goat actually started to move, its immense and powerful presence was betrayed by the very obvious limp it displayed, its whole body swaying with each time it felt forced to put its weight on its front leg, and a strained bleat leaving its throat each time. Izuku couldn't help but feel a pang of pity with each step the goat took; he just really couldn't stand seeing wounded animals. But it's not like he could exactly bring it to a vet or anything, assuming there even were any in... wherever this was! If it really was just his imagination, then he really had no choice but to ignore the goat. It was the logical thing to do...
But it was a bit hard to ignore it when it was staring right at him.
Izuku stared back at the goat for a moment, and the way the animal nodded its head, he could almost swear it was expecting him to follow it.
This was definitely a hallucination now.
Against his better judgment, Izuku started walking. Sure enough, the goat started walking too. He was following a dream goat now; sure, why not! It didn't make watching it try and walk any less painful, though...
He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking, but the scenery around them hadn't changed much. Grass as far as the eye could see, but Izuku could now see a lot more trees dotting the landscape as well. It looked like a very idyllic picture of the countryside; something you would only really find on postcards and the like.
Before he knew it though, the goat had stopped walking, and he nearly bumped into it again. Seeing the goat slump and lay back down on the floor almost made him wonder if it was resting time or something, but a quick glance around told him they had likely reached their destination.
Standing before them were the remains of an absolutely colossal tree, split cleanly in half, both sides sagging in opposite direction from their own weight. It was an impressive sight to behold, for sure, but not very forthcoming on answers as to why he was guided there.
"So... now what?" he asked, just on the off-chance his dream would offer him an answer. He just got a snort from the goat. What else could he have expected, really. His dreams sucked.
Izuku wandered closer to the tree, if only because what else did he have to do. He could see the wood was singed as he got near, which was a bit surprising. Did something burn the tree after it got split in half? Or did it happen at the same time? As he peeked closer at the center of the split, he noticed something embedded in the wood. It wasn't very large, smaller than a baseball, pitch black... it looked like a fragment of some kind, too solid to be burnt wood. Is this what the goat was trying to show him?
Izuku reached in, and while the shard was stuck pretty deep into the tree, a few good tugs on it, and Izuku pulled it right out from there. Now that he actually held it in his hands, he could get a better look and feel of it: true to his assumption, this wasn't wood at all; it felt more like a piece of rock, or maybe even metal with how solid it was. Quite heavy for its size too; would make for a great paperweight, if nothing else.
Turning around, Izuku faced the goat as he held up the fragment. "Is this what you were looking fo-"
BOOM!!
The ground shook with such fierceness that Izuku was thrown right out of his feet. It made the tremors he felt announcing the Zero-Pointer feel like the gentle rocking of a mother trying to soothe an infant! And they didn't stop, the ground quaking, as the sounds of something massive shifting its colossal weight around boomed across the area. Izuku was almost too afraid to look behind him, and it took a great deal of strength to get his head to turn around.
And there, in the distance, but still far too close for comfort, stood a giant. In every sense of the word, a giant, dwarfing even the Zero-Pointer robot for before. Its whole body was craggy and rugged, seemingly made out of stone or clay in a mockingly humanoid shape. It was almost too simplistic, like a mannequin from a clothing store, just human-like enough to get the point across, but lacking any defining characteristics to identify it as anything resembling human. The only exception were the cavernous holes that sat on its head, forming an approximation of two bottomless eyes, and a mouth perpetually locked in a roar or scream.
And when it did roar, it did so with the force of a hundred jet planes taking off. It was a deafening noise, one that shook the very air like its massive frame shook the earth. Izuku almost felt his internal organs get rearranged by the might of that roar, and it was a miracle his ears weren't left bleeding after it was concluded. It was an experience he had never felt before, and hoped he would never have to feel again... and yet, even as (or maybe because) panic settled in, Izuku couldn't help but shake off the question of: "Why does that THING sound like a HORSE!?"
Izuku scrambled on hands and feet, nearly stumbling over himself as he ran back to the goat. "R-Run! We gotta get out of here!" he pleaded at it, and at first, it seemed like the goat listened to it as it stood back on its hooves... only to then stand before Izuku and block his path instead. "W-What are you doing!? We have to get out of here before that thing comes!"
The goat snorted, facing Izuku again with that unimpressed look in its eyes. It did step aside to let him through, which Izuku desperately wanted to take, but then he noticed the goat wasn't willing to run with him.
The ground quaked as the clay giant slammed its hands on the ground, another explosion-like roar of a million whining horses echoing through the air as it rampaged blindly, seemingly just destroying its surrounding at random. Izuku glanced between the giant, and then the goat; there was no way he was letting this stupid animal get caught in that!
Against his better judgment, Izuku threw himself forward and grabbed the goat by the horns, trying to force it to move the opposite way from the clay giant. "You're- You're leaving with me, you hear me!?"
Needless to say, Izuku wasn't making much progress in overpowering the giant goat. And yet, when he glanced at it, he saw a different look on its face. It looked... amused.
With a fierce bleat, the goat swung its head at Izuku. For a split second he expected his chest to be caved in, but instead, the goat was careful not to actually headbutt Izuku; instead, it scooped him up onto its humped back, and began to run.
Unfortunately- "Y-YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAAAAAAYY!!" screamed Izuku as the goat charged directly towards the clay giant, Izuku grabbing on to one of the goat's horns for dear life with both arms. At least, with how many tears there were in his eyes, Izuku could barely see his oncoming doom, so that was a positive!
The goat effortlessly dodged trees and stone, tidal waves of dirt and dust that were kicked up by the clay giant's rampage. It jumped as the terrain beneath its feet would break apart and rise, dashing with tremendous speed even with its broken leg. Izuku was panicking, he really, really was, wondering why the goat was so insistent on sending them towards the clay giant. But somehow, through all the dust, and the rubble, and the head-splitting noise, Izuku somehow still had enough wherewithal to spot a large tree trunk heading their way. Putting all the force he had into his arms, he pulled on the goat's horn, successfully urging it to move to the side and dodge the debris.
He shifted his position to sit more properly, both hands now gripping on the horns like he were riding a very fuzzy two meter tall bike. With various tugs and pulls, he found the goat would actually listen to his commands, allowing him to help them avoid more of the destruction being sent their way. If they were heading towards the clay giant anyway, then he might as well try and make sure they get there in one piece!
Another ear-bursting screech left the clay giant's mouth, and it didn't get any less painful to listen to. Especially now that Izuku was so close to it. And yet, it somehow didn't feel as intense as he expected it to sound. The goat and him were now practically racing around the clay giant's feet, maneuvering around the path of destruction it had created, as close as they possibly could get without physically touching it... and yet, its mighty roars were starting to sound less angry. Less devastating.
Instead, it was sounding more... distressed. Like an animal-
The giant's foot nearly stomped on the ground ahead of them, blocking Izuku and the goat's path, and forcing the beast to the slide to a stop. The cloud of dust and pebbles that erupted slammed pretty hard against Izuku, but when he raised his head to look up at the giant, he did so with a determined look in his eyes. The giant wasn't rampaging; it was in pain. If he could just find what was causing that, then maybe there was a chance, small as it may be, that could put a stop to it.
He wasn't quite sure what it was that he saw, but he saw it. His new eyesight caught something high above himself, on the giant's head. It could be anything, a slight deformation on the statue's surface, a shadow; it could be nothing... but it was all he really had to work with.
Pulling back on the goat's horns, the beast seemed to move exactly how Izuku wanted it to move, and they began running away from the giant for the first time. But this was just to give them plenty of space to build up speed, as soon enough, Izuku would get the goat to turn back around, and pick up as much velocity as it possibly could. This was crazy. And very stupid. But he had no other choice but to clench his butt cheeks, and throw caution to the wind as he yelled- "LET'S GOOO!!!"
Taking advantage of a protruding chunk of rock, the goat seemed to fly off the ground as it leapt, and rammed its horns as hard as it could against the clay giant's leg. The impact was powerful enough that Izuku nearly felt his skeleton fly out of his body. Time seemed to go still as they hung in the air for seconds that felt like hours. But he did see that it worked: the giant was toppling over.
The earth fiercely shook as the moving mountain collapsed into a broken heap on the ground, letting out a pitiful whinny. Not long after, the goat landed harshly as its bad leg buckled beneath it, Izuku being forced off its back in the process. He quickly got back up and looked back to check on the goat, but it gave him a rough snort, which he took to mean "get your ass moving so this wasn't for nothing!" and quickly took off. Izuku couldn't run as fast as the goat but he tried his very best, hoping to reach the giant's head before it had a chance to get back up.
While the giant squirmed and let out more distressed brays, Izuku was lucky that it hadn't actually tried to stand back up, just wallowing in its own misery. This allowed him to reach the cavernous maws that was its facial features. Izuku scrambled to climb up a large enough rock, and launch himself out towards the giant's mouth, just barely missing it. His hands gripped tightly on the edge, and he forced himself to climb up into the opening, and tumble inside. The clay giant's mouth was one lengthy tunnel, and the way its head was positioned, meant Izuku had nothing to grab onto and stop him from rolling straight down, and deeper into the giant's head.
With a heavy "oof", Izuku's back finally crashed against a solid wall that stopped him. He groaned from the pain, but quickly opened his eyes to see just what he'd gotten himself into: he found himself in a wide open room inside the clay giant, with smooth featureless walls creating a dome over Izuku's head. The room was large enough to house several buses and still have space to spare, but it was currently being occupied by something Izuku definitely wouldn't have ever suspected.
Suspended by chains above him was a large, pulsating heart, far too big to be a human's, but a heart nonetheless. But more than that, something was surrounding that heart, its lengthy body coiled around it and the chains, as sharp fangs dug into the beating heart's side, cutting into the muscle and letting blood drip down freely. It was a snake, but one that looked like no snake Izuku had ever seen before: not only was it quite large, its scales were a cold, lifeless grey, and it had tufts of fur-like down growing from the tip of its tail, all the way up to its triangular head; its wide eyes also shined a pale yellow, lacking any irises.
The snake bit down harder on the heart, a glowing orange fluid squirting into it, causing the heart to suddenly begin beating faster and the giant's body to quake, the whole room shaking from the giant's anguished howl. If Izuku was finding for the source of its pain, then he had definitely found it.
Problem was, what could he actually do about it?
Izuku stood back up, trying to balance himself on the unstable and tilted ground of the room. The heart was too far up for him to reach it, so he looked around himself, trying to find some way to climb up to the chains holding it in place, but the walls were too smooth. And even if he did get up there, what else? Was he going to grab a snake larger than his arm with his bare hands!?
He grit his teeth and cursed at himself. If he just had a weapon, or something to throw at it- "What the...?" Izuku blinked, suddenly realizing it as he balled up his fists in frustration: he was still holding on to the stone fragment somehow. He hadn't even thought about it; he was sure it had dropped it once the clay giant appeared, so how was it here?
He felt the weight of the fragment in his hand, and it somehow felt heavier than before, yet simultaneously lighter.
His hand gripped around the piece of black metal, and he faced the snake. He reared his arm back, and, with all the strength he could muster, hurled the heavy chunk through the air. The fragment flew fast and precise, like a bullet fired out of a gun, and collided against the snake's head, bursting it immediately upon contact. Fluid that was not blood spilled out from the creature's shattered skull, as the snake crumbled to dust, every trace of it vanishing within seconds.
And then things got quiet. Only Izuku's breathing, and the strong heartbeats could be heard inside the room.
Slowly, that heartbeat quieted down. Further and further. Until, finally, the heart gave its last beat, and could finally rest.
...and then Izuku heard something crack.
He looked around himself and saw the walls begin to crumble, dust pouring down on him, small amounts at first, but quickly growing.
"Oh... crap."
Was all he could as the clay giant began crumbling all around him, and there was nothing he could possibly do. The opening to the tunnel he came from was too far up, there were no other exits...
Izuku screamed as the debris fell onto him, and entombed his body.
A moment passed...
And another...
It took him nine seconds to realize he didn't feel any weight on him. As he opened his eyes, he couldn't see clay or rocks, or grass or dirt. Only fog.
"W-What is it now..." he quietly bemoaned, wondering if he had either fallen into another hallucination, or just finally died and gone to the afterlife.
But in the silence of the fog, he heard the whinny of a horse from behind him, quickly turning around. And there, in the mist, was a powerful mare staring at him. It brayed, and somehow, Izuku felt like it was thanking him.
He smiled and quietly nodded, before the mare turned and dashed away, disappearing into the mist.
"It's a good feeling have. That of gratitude."
Izuku froze in place as he heard the voice behind him. He didn't flinch or get on the defense; maybe he was just too tired for that by this point. Or maybe the voice just carried so much weight behind it that Izuku instinctively knew there was nothing he could do to even hope to defend himself. So he slowly turned his eyes, eyes wide and unblinking as he looked up at the man now standing in the fog.
He had just been standing face to face with a giant, and yet, the man's stature was still leaving him awestruck. There stood a man larger than even All Might by good number of centimeters, his body stout yet brawny. A mane of fiery red hair draped down his head and over his shoulders, and a thick beard of the same vibrant coloration nearly swallowed the entirety of his jaw. The man's eyes looked like they were etched out of stone with how unflinching they remained while staring down at Izuku, and there was a large scar directly above his left eye; Izuku could even still see a shard of whatever had caused it embedded into the skull with such force, it had ripped open the flesh so powerfully to the point the scar stretched even down his eye. He dressed plainly, barefoot and humble, in thick torn clothes that had been put through the test of the elements countless times, and a similarly worn red cape wrapped around his shoulders.
Izuku stared at the man for a few seconds in sheer dumbstruck mode, before he could finally order his body to turn and fully face the stranger. If anyone could offer him answers, he hoped this man could be them. Now if only Izuku could actually speak...
"Show me your hand."
The man spoke instead, and Izuku felt compelled to obey him. Without even knowing why, he raised only his right hand despite the man not specifying which one he meant. It took Izuku a moment, but he did glance down at his hand... and there was the metal fragment again, sitting atop his palm.
"Wh-!?" Izuku jolted a bit. "But... how-...? But, I... I threw it...!?"
"You cannot throw away that which is a part of you." the man answered, much to Izuku's increasing confusion.
"W-What does that mean? Wh-What even is this place!? Th-The giant- the goat- th-the heart, a-a-a-and-!!" Izuku struggled to form the right questions, but he noticed something move in the fog again. And there he saw the wounded goat that had aided him earlier, accompanied by another, similarly-large and fuzzy goat, whose fur was curlier and more wild than the other. Izuku stared for a moment, before turning to the redheaded man, and the question simply fell out of his mouth: "Who... are you...?"
"That... I cannot answer..." the man said, his expression and quiet tone unchanging. "I was someone, long ago. But who that someone was... I cannot remember."
"Can't remember...?" Izuku blinked. "Then... are you like that old man? The one-eyed man, with a staff? Are you from the same place he's from?"
The man did not flinch, or show any reaction to Izuku's questions, simply answering them as matter-of-fact. "I cannot answer your question, for I do not know the answer. I believe I was called Noise once, but no longer."
Izuku wasn't sure what to make of that answer. It seemed like this man called Noise couldn't give him any more answers than the old man could, but he still felt like trying. "Please... do you know what's happening to me? What does any of this mean?"
"I cannot tell you that." the man said with the same firmness in his tone. "I do not know the answer. The men in the forest are no men, but wolves in disguise. Do not trust them."
Izuku blinked, wondering what the man was talking about. "W-What? Wolves? What are you talking about?"
"I cannot answer that. I do not know the answer." the man said. "Once, I drank well in a modest home. The hearts of men are not always as wide as their home."
This was definitely getting strange. Well, stranger. "Uhm... Noise-san? What does any of this have to do with me?"
"I cannot answer that. I do not know the answer." he said. "I had a daughter, once. I thought her dead before, but I still sense her."
"I'm... glad to hear she's alive...?" Izuku was quickly starting to give up on having a coherent conversation with this man. "Do you think she could tell me what's happening?"
"I cannot answer that." he said. "The snake... is free."
Izuku blinked. "The snake? You mean, the thing that was around the giant's heart?"
"No." the man bluntly answered. "A mere toy, that was. The snake still hides. He will come for my daughter. You must protect her."
"M-Me?" Izuku flinched, "B-But I don't even know who your daughter is! I don't even know who you are, or what this snake-"
"Protect her, Waker!"
Izuku felt his entire body lock up at the sheer force behind the man's voice. He didn't even raise his tone into a shout or anything, but Izuku could just feel the intense pressure from his words. His whole body trembled out of fear, and he could only say: "I-I'll protect her! I-I promise, I will!"
The man fell silent. "No... you will not. Not as you are." he said. "You will never protect anyone."
"W-What?"
"You will never protect anyone. This much is clear." the man repeated. "Weak. Cowardly. You are no protector."
"Th-That's-..." Izuku's whole body was trembling as he failed to stand up to this gargantuan of a man. "That's not true!"
"Is it not what you said, Waker!?"
Another jolt as Izuku nearly fell over from the man's quiet roar.
"A fool. Useless. A waste of time. Are these not your words?"
Izuku felt his throat go dry. "W-... how... how do you k-know that...?"
"Do you wish to be a protector?"
"I-...I-I-..."
"DO YOU!?"
"I-I want to be a Hero, yes! B-But, what if- what if everyone's right about me!? What if-"
"WAKER!!"
Izuku squeaked as he finally fell back on his butt. "W-Why do you keep calling me that!?"
"What matters to you the words of others!?" the man gruffly asked. "Do you believe such words!?"
"I-...I-I don't know!"
"Do you believe my words!?"
"I don't know!"
"WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN!?"
"I JUST WANT TO HELP PEOPLE!"
"..." silence from the man, his stony gaze never letting go of the trembling, crying boy on the ground.
"Th-...That's it... that's all I ever wanted...!" Izuku said, his voice shaky. "E-Ever since I can remember... but nobody ever believed me... I was powerless... useless... nobody trusted me, n-nobody wanted me around... and for s-so long, I thought... I thought I could prove them wrong somehow! I thought-... I thought I could..."
"But do you still wish to, Waker?"
"Yes!" Izuku quickly answered. "Of course I want to!"
"Do not hide behind the words of others!" the man said.
Izuku growled quietly, starting to grow frustrated. "I-I'm not!"
"Useless! Cowardly!" the man repeated. "Are these your words, Waker!?"
Izuku choked back an answer.
"Are these your words!?"
"NO! THEY'RE NOT!" he finally shouted.
"Then show it."
Slowly, Izuku steadied himself and pushed himself back to his feet. He took a moment to calm his breath, wipe the tears from his head, before he could properly face the hulking man before him, and stare him in the eyes once more.
"I ask you again..." the man spoke. "Will you protect my daughter, Waker?"
"I will." he answered without hesitation.
"...I see the grey wolf. Guard your halls well." the man said, before raising his hand. "Show me your hand."
Izuku did as asked, raising hand, once again finding the shard of metal in his palm.
"Waker. If the beasts of the earth name you, you walk..."
Izuku felt the shard growing warmer, but didn't flinch.
"If the mountains name you, you stride."
The heat only increased, forcing Izuku to yelp and swing his hand to let the shard drop... expect it didn't drop, and remained in his palm.
"If the earth names you, you run. You climb."
Izuku let out a cry of pain as the shard only grew even hotter, and began searing right into the flesh of his hand.
"You find the highest peak!"
He fell to his knees, gripping his arm as the heat grew impossible to bear, screaming in agony as the metal dug further into his hand.
"You raise your fists!"
Izuku could barely see from the tears of pain, feeling like he would pass out at any minute from the sheer agony of the heat stretching up his arm.
"AND MAKE THE HEAVENS SCREAM YOUR NAME!!"
With a deep gasp, Izuku raised his head, staring wide-eyed at the giant robot as it swung its massive arm in his direction. Izuku didn't think twice, his hand balling up into a fist. He raised that fist, rearing it back before swinging it forward as he jumped, shouting.
"CROWN FLASH!!!"
Human flesh and bone met with hard steel.
And then, the thunder.
Earth and sky shook from the mighty burst. Glass shattered all over the training grounds, and concrete cracked beneath its wake. In every other testing site, in the entire grounds of UA, they heard that sound. They felt it.
From the sky, rain began to pour from the grey clouds that had amassed during an otherwise sunny Spring day.
And in the center of it all, Izuku stood. His track suit in shatters. Steam billowing from the zigzagging scars that now adorned much of his forearm. And before him, the remains of the badly mangled metal colossus, its entire right side missing, burnt off within seconds.
Izuku could not move. His whole body felt so unbelievable heavy. He couldn't even register the burning pain going through his arm, as he stared at the remains of his metal adversary.
There was a groaning of metal, and Izuku saw it coming. The stability of the robot's frame had been thoroughly compromised, and its large head could no longer be supported by what remained of its shoulders. The head tumbled forward, slowly as wires and frames buckled and snapped under the pressure.
Izuku was right in its path.
And he still couldn't move.
"Watch out!"
He felt someone grab him, while simultaneously, losing all sense of weight in his body. He saw the world spin as he was tackled out of the path of the Zero-Pointer's head, which crashed to the ground mightily.
But Izuku as nowhere near it. He was lying on the ground, with another body lying on top of him. The one who had saved him.
The girl raised her head, letting out a very relieved sigh. A round face with pink cheeks, wide eyes and walnut-colored hair. The girl from the entrance.
"That was clo-hurk!!" her cheeks puffed up, and the girl quickly leapt off of Izuku to hurl into a pothole.
Izuku could only stare blankly at the grey sky, rain splashing on his face and assuring him that this was, in fact, real. He felt so light... and the sky seemed to be getting closer...
"Ah... I really did die..." he gently said.
"W-Wait, nooo! Come baaack! Y-You're too high uuuup!" he heard the girl squeak and flail around helplessly, but had long since peacefully resigned to his fate, facing the sky with a serene look on his face.
As more students amassed around what looked like a war zone, they managed to safely bring Izuku back down from floating towards the sky under the effect of the girl's anti-gravity Quirk.