Chapter Text
"I need food....water....but even better.....a safe place....to die in."
The city looked liked as if it had seen better days, buildings crumbling with crystals growing through the cracks, broken windows, boarded up entrances, along with graffiti written in blue liquid crystallized on the walls with disheartened messages of- "It's the end of the World", "God Forgive Us Of Our Sins", "QUIRKS ARE A CURSE". The streets were littered with corpses of what used to be human remains, turning into crystals with colors man has never seen. The landscape looked like a crystalline hell-scape, almost void of any organic life except for two survivors hobbling down the street looking for shelter that can provide a feeling of false security.
One of the survivors had green slightly curled hair, that hasn't been washed in days, the freckles on his cheeks blended with the dust on his face, and green eyes were surveying the area for shelter or danger. "Don't worry Shouto." gasped Izuku, "We only need a few more steps towards that building, it looks safe to camp there for the night". He was supporting his companion's weight along with their few supplies. His companion Shouto Todoroki leaned heavily on Izuku, he could only murmur a reply as he tried his best to pick up the pace. His appearance was vastly different from Izuku's, the left side of his hair was crimson and his right had white hair, he didn't have freckles but he had scars all over his body with a prominent one on his eye on the left side of his face. Another difference between them was that Shouto had crystals growing on his right arm after using his ice quirk, to allow them to escape a deadly encounter with the horde of husks.
The husks were once living, breathing human beings and animals with quirks, until "The Sleeper" an eldritch being from the stars turned them from living organisms of warm flesh and blood into cold, empty and cruel mockeries made of crystal and stone through their quirks. As society began to collapse the first ones that turned into husks were the ones with mutation quirks, next were the ones that overused their quirks such as All Might and the rest of the heroes, and so on. The only humans that were left alone were the Quirkless, even the hordes preferred to chase after the ones with weaker quirks. The monster gave them an illusion of safety; as if it was simply ignoring them due to finding them pathetic and not worth the effort. Except, deep down they knew the monster had a much more insidious plan for them and the ones that turned into husks were the lucky ones. The Sleeper was watching the remaining humans through the crystals forming everywhere. They knew it wanted to drive the remaining survivors insane as they were forced to watch everything they know turn into crystal.
Izuku quickly laid Shouto down carefully to the ground to sent up the base. He first pulled dirty bedsheets out of his raggedy backpack, and spread them out for Shouto to sleep on. Izuku, carefully positioned Shouto laterally on his left side to avoid putting pressure on the crystals that were growing on his right arm. Next, he collected scraps of wood, paper, and trash to create a bonfire close to Shouto. After creating a bonfire from the last three matches they had; came the part that Izuku hated every time Shouto used his quirk in emergency situations. Sighing heavily, Izuku knelt down behind Shouto to avoid blocking the light from the fire. He pulled out a multipurpose pocket knife, a half filled bottle of alcohol, gauze, and bandages. He hovered the knife over the flame to kill the potential bacteria on the surface of the knife; before stabbing the knife into Shouto's right arm. As gently and quickly as he could, he began to remove the crystals on Shouto's arm. Each time he removed a bloody crystal, he cauterized the spot before Shouto lost any more blood. Once Midoriya was done he poured alcohol over the wounds, stuck the gauze on certain areas to retain a bit of the alcohol, and wrapped his arm in bandages. He laid Shouto on his back to check on his health. There were two good news, one Shouto was lucky that the crystals didn't start to form on his bones yet and two he remained asleep throughout the process and didn't give any signs of a fever or pain. The bad news was, he would feel the pain tomorrow and they ran out of painkillers. This morning, they barely survived the horde of husks, he didn't want to think about the struggles of tomorrow.
Heroes, Villains, crime, justice, and good triumphing over evil. Why did the world followed a made believed concepts that never existed? In the past, Midoriya wanted a quirk so he can become a hero like All Might, to reduce civilians with a smile. Now, he wanted a quirk just so he can be able to die before turning insane. As he laid down on the bloody sheets he fell asleep dreaming about the past, before the collapse of society.
Not all men are created equal.
"Stop it, Kacchan. Y-you already made him cry, I won't let you hurt him a-anymore." A boy with forest green hair and untamable curls stood in the middle of the playground, trying to keep the slumped kid with tear-stained cheeks behind him from being bullied. "Or what? Huh, Deku? You gonna play the hero?" An ashen blonde boy with spiky hair and piercing red eyes let a small explosion go off in the palm of his little hands. His two cronies behind him sniggered. "Let's put useless Deku in his place." No, not all men are created equal. That was the hard truth Midoriya Izuku learned at the age of four.
Although, Midoriya Izuku learned that harsh lesson at a young age, nothing could have prepared him for the soul-crushing truth of this cruel uncaring universe.