Chapter Text
When Izuku was four, he learned that all men were not created equal, when he was diagnosed as quirkless. And when Bakugo Katsuki found out, thats when the scars started to appear...
Many Years In The Future...
"Kacchan, wait!" Izuku pleaded, lying on the ground. The brick wall behind him served as a barrier, preventing escape.
"Worthless people don't live in my world." Katsuki responded, bringing his boot down on Izuku's head and proceeding to lift him up off the ground and, using his Quirk: Explosion, sent Izuku flying into the nearby wall, knocking him out cold.
Dabi was prowling the alleyways, looking for potential league recruits. Tomura said that 'we need to expand the organization.' His mind wandered as he turned a corner and saw a kid wearing an oversized hoodie, bleeding from a gash on his head, slumped against the wall. Dabi almost kept walking, but a memory flashed through his head and he moved.
Izuku awoke to the sterile lights of a hospital. His head throbbed, and he groaned in pain.
"You ok Kid?" asked a voice to his left. Turning to look at the source, he saw a man in a black coat, frayed at its bottom, with metal rings just above his elbows. Burned skin was stitched to himself. His blue eyes tore into Izuku's soul, and his pitch black hair unsettled Izuku to his core.
"Who-?" Izuku began to say, but the man interrupted him.
"Good, your awake and lucid, bye." He said while leaving the room. Izuku watched him leave, curiosity clawing at him as to who that was and how he got to the hospital.
...
All For One leaned back in his chair, a gnawing pain in his chest. His abandoned identity has returned to his life, and he doesn't know what to think about it. on one hand, he doesn't care about this kid, who is his, but a part of him, a part he thought he buried raged for Izuku. For the state he was in, battered and broken, left to bleed out in an alleyway. All For One connected his audio and spoke.
...
Tomura was lounging around, eating some snacks when the TV connected to the wall flickered to life.
"Sensei!" Tomura spoke, chocking on his food and whirling around to see the TV. "What do you need?"
"Young Tomura, I have a task for you. Go to Dabi and ask about the kid the took to the hospital. I want you to find him." Tomura's master spoke through the TV.
"Uhhh, sure Sensei." Tomura replied. As the TV screen died, Tomura whirled around and marched to Dabi's quarters.
...
"I have a way for you to be a hero! Pray you get lucky in your next life and take a swan-dive off the roof. No-one will miss ya anyway you worthless piece of shit!" Katsuki cackled, throwing Izuku's destroyed notebook out the window. Izuku collapsed, crying quietly in the empty classroom.
...
Izuku stood on the roof, looking down at the concrete below. Maybe Kacchan was right, maybe no-one would miss him. Right as Izuku was going to plunge down, a familiar voice spoke from behind him, "Hey Kid."
Izuku whirled around to the man, the man who was in the hospital, and another man, wearing plain clothes, with messy blueish gray hair. A hand covered his face.
"Hey Kid, lets talk." The man with the hand spoke.
...
Izuku walks home, pondering over what the man, Tomura said. It was very, very, appealing. He wouldn't be worthless anymore, he just doesn't know if its possible. I might be able to stand up to Kacchan! As soon as the thought crosses his head, a small feeling formed deep in his soul. A deep, sadistic part of him that wanted to see Katsuki suffer. His mind wanders past that as he travels under the bridge on his way home, and the sewer pipe explodes upwards and a mass of green sludge pours out and forces itself into his mouth. Izuku, wide-eyed began to claw at the sludge, but it didn't help.
"Shhhh, I'll just use your body to hide from these pesky heroes. It'll only hurt a lot." The sludge villain said.
Izuku kept clawing, blackness in the corner of his eyes when he heard a voice that told him everything would be ok.
"TEXAS SMAAASH!" All Might yelled, sending forward a shockwave that sent the sludge flying off Izuku. Izuku collapsed to the floor, gasping for air and coughing violently.
"Hello there young one! Are you alright?" All Might asked, kneeling down.
Izuku looked up after recovering his breath and responded; "I will be now, thank you All Might! I can't believe I'm meeting you!" Izuku shot up and before he could ask any questions or get an autograph, All Might as preparing to jump away. So Izuku asked the fated question.
"Can I be a hero?! Even while being quirkless?!"
All Might stood in silence for a moment before saying, tone try and lacking its prior enthusiasm, "You almost died to a random no-name villain. No kid, you can't be a hero. Maybe be police officer instead."
Before Izuku could process what All Might just said, All Might jumped, and vanished into the horizon. Izuku stared in the direction he left in, vision blurring with tears. Climbing off the ground, Izuku could feel tears running down his face as he arrived home and climbed into bed.
...
Izuku woke up to smoke and overwhelming pain. His room was smoldering, flames licking his body, his covers nothing more than ash, burns violently spreading across his body. Izuku screamed in pain that can't be described. He can feel his skin slowly melting. Izuku, panicked, jumped out of bed and out his bedroom window. As he turned to look, the house collapsed inward. His entire body burned, he had several broken bones from his fall. He curled into the fetal position, crying out for a mother who never responded, and heroes who never came.
...
"Tragedy strikes in Musutafu, as during a fight between Endeavor and a villain, a house was burnt down. Heroes on the scene claim there was nothing they could do. Both the residents of the home have been proclaimed dead, as no bodies were found, just bone ash. This-" The TV stopped playing the news when Dabi punched through the screen. Tomura looked at Dabi, who was breathing heavily, before he stormed out of the room, leaving Tomura stunned. Tomura connected his audio to the TV and spoke through the microphone to his master.
"Sensei, have you looked at the news today?" Tomura questioned.
"No, why would I?" All For One asked.
"Well, you should. Remember the boy you asked me to find that I found. Well, he's in the news, and its not good. I'm talking him being dead."
Suddenly, the audio disconnected. Moments after, while Tomura was sitting there, stunned, Dabi walked back in and sat down. Kurogiri had entered the room once the TV audio cut out and was cleaning a bottle.
"Hey Kuro, gimme some of the strong stuff." Dabi said.
"Sure, give me a moment." Kurogiri responded, turning to grab an alcohol bottle.
"So, Dabi, wanna explain why you stormed off?" Tomura inquired.
"Because Endeavor has now ruined two families with his fire." Dabi said, anger in his voice.
"Wanna explain that?" Tomura asked, pushing the subject.
"No." Dabi answered simply.
...
All For One headed to the Midoriya household the moment he watched the news. His breathing was heavy. If Endeavor killed my son, he'll have hell to pay! He thought. As he arrived at the burnt husk of the house he once lived in. He searched, looking for signs that one of the two Midoriyas live. As All For One turned to leave, he heard soft crying in a nearby bush. Upon examining the bush and who was inside, he called Kurogiri immediately.
...
Izuku's consciousness found him many times. The first time, he was moving with sterile lights shining on him. The second, the lights had dimmed and he was upright, a short man in a lab coat off the right, messing with a console. The third time, he was on his back, the short man looking down at him. When Izuku woke up for the last time, he was a bedroom, snuggled in a very comfortable bed. Sleep claimed him again not long after. When Izuku woke back up, sunlight was creeping through the crack in the window. The blinds had been moved by someone. Maybe the pain, the fire, was just a dream. But then he looked around, and saw this wasn't his room. And then a stabbing pain at his left arm caused him to scream. The door shot open as three people ran in, one very tall, one very short, in white lab coat, and the man with the burned skin. The tall one, wearing a mask and suit knelt down and placed a palm on Izuku's forehead, and the pain dulled significantly.
"Who are you people." Izuku asked, dazed.
"The people who saved your life." said the man with the scars. "And call me Dabi." Dabi said plainly.
"What happened?" Izuku asked.
"Your house was burnt down accidentally by Endeavor. You're the only survivor." Dabi spoke with, was that anger in his voice.
"What?!" Izuku exclaimed, surging upwards.
"Careful! Your left arm was burnt so badly, we had to amputate it. You have prosthetic now, so lie back down!" Dabii said, gently pushing him down on the bed.
"So, where are we?" Izuku asked, still dazed.
"Don't worry about that now, just sleep." Dabi said, standing up and closing the blinds then the door behind him as he left.
Izuku lasted five minutes before sleep claimed him once more, his dreams consumed in fire and ash.