Chapter Text
In the infinite void of space, stars twinkled as a few asteroids drifted aimlessly. A large planet rotated slowly but steadily in a relative peace that remained undisturbed, even when a golden streak whizzed past at high speed.
This streak advanced without pausing for a single moment, driven only by an invisible force. Upon reaching the asteroids, it broke its perpetual motion to avoid any obstacles. It quickly left them behind to continue its journey.
However, this streak was not merely a beam of light. Within it lay an object: a golden helmet with a crest on top. Two slits, resembling eyes, with a distinct relief beneath them, extended slightly toward the chin. The helmet was elongated at the front and somewhat shorter at the back, with two more reliefs emerging from the sides of the front and descending to the sharp point of the object.
The helmet's eyes shone with a sterile, white light, as if it could observe the entire path it was traveling. Though, in a way, perhaps it could. "I must admit that my current situation is, to say the least, unusual." The light from the eye slits flickered as a deep, metallic voice seemed to emerge from within, "...that talking ape and his fellow Earthlings took my words about letting fate choose the next one a little too seriously..." The object continued moving like a shooting star but began to spin in a different direction, "...their actions were for nothing. Why does fate seem to have an obsession with planet Earth?" That was the last thing it said, and the next thing that happened, its speed increased even further.
Small shock waves erupted from the trail, the golden glow lengthening with each one. This lasted until the energy vanished, leaving a newly discovered direction toward its new destination.
[XxX]
A bell echoed through the walls of Aldera High School. Along with it, the sound of hundreds of footsteps on the floor filled the building. It was lunchtime, and that was evident in the number of students crowded into the school's drab cafeteria.
As usual, a long line formed as students bought their food. Murmurs filled the room with trivial conversations about grades, video games, or other unimportant topics.
But there was someone in particular who was just entering the large room. A boy with dark green, curly, and messy hair, emerald-green eyes, and four freckles on each cheek that resembled diamonds. Like the rest of the students, his attire was nothing more than an all-black uniform; the only thing that stood out were his large red shoes.
In his hands, he held a notebook with a curious title on the cover: "Analysis of Hero for the Future #13." Fourteen-year-old Izuku Midoriya kept his attention fixed on the object, writing as he walked without looking ahead.
More and more letters kept appearing on the already scribbled sheet of paper. Drawings of various heroes were also visible, but one that looked quite recent due to the lack of detail depicted a woman with wavy hair and a costume divided into sections, some colored with pencil graphite and others left blank.
He couldn't stop thinking about the villain attack he'd witnessed before arriving at school. He had not only seen the hero Kamui Woods in action, but had also seen the debut of a new heroine: Mt. Lady. She possessed a gigantification Quirk; it was powerful and striking, but it also proved to be quite weak in enclosed spaces.
His blindfolded walk came to a halt when he heard some very specific words, "Hey, did you guys see the news? Apparently, a new heroine made her debut this morning at Tatooin Station." A boy with short black hair spoke, sitting at a table to Izuku's right next to two other boys.
Another of them, one with brown hair, answered first, "Really? Damn, I knew I should have passed by there." He grumbled, taking a bite of the rice on his plate.
The third, one with bluish skin, quickly joined the conversation, "Hey, but... was she hot?" That question made the other two laugh. "What? That's a serious question." He raised his arms to his sides but couldn't help but let out a slight smile.
The one with black hair was the first to stop laughing, "Pretty. She certainly knows how to use her body to attract attention." He quickly remembered how that heroine had posed shamelessly for the cameras, and it certainly didn't seem like a mistake.
"Yeah, but I think his Quirk is way more interesting than that." The laughter of the three teenagers stopped, their attention shifting to Izuku, who approached with a wide grin, holding his notebook aloft. "You know, with his ability to increase his size, he could stop collapses, or even cause them if he's not careful. Or safely evacuate civilians from tall buildings..." He was about to launch into a tirade when he noticed the stares directed at him, making his smile turn awkward.
The other three began looking at each other, while Izuku felt a small bead of sweat trickle down his temple. "Who's this?" the brown-haired boy whispered to his friends, who didn't answer immediately.
It was the blue-skinned boy who spoke up. "He's the weird kid without a Quirk, the one Bakugo messes with." That statement earned a nod from the brown-haired boy. The boy with black hair started moving his head from side to side, as if trying to hide from someone, though ducking down at the table was a real indication of this.
"Uh, that's pretty cool information, but we weren't talking to you, so..." The boy began to cover his face with one hand, and Izuku frowned slightly. "...Would you mind leaving?" Izuku didn't answer at first. He remained silent, his pupils scanning each of them as he clutched and lowered the notebook in his hands.
The smile faded slowly until only his lips were sealed. "A-ah... yes, I-I... sorry for bothering you." He gave a small nod with a slight tremor that he tried to hide, and started walking in a random direction.
Izuku felt his hair begin to stick to his forehead. His eyes scanned several tables, seeing everyone talking about things he didn't bother to listen to this time. His right hand clutched the notebook at his side as he looked down at the gray floor. He was an idiot... why was he still bothering to try?
He shook his head, trying to banish those thoughts. He shouldn't think like that; All Might wouldn't let himself get depressed over a bad moment... it was just another one of many, what was the difference between this and other moments, right? Yes, that's how it should be.
Izuku continued walking for a considerable while. He wasn't even sure he'd been looking for a place to sit, he'd just focused on getting as far away as possible from the previous conversation.
Fortunately, he managed to find a good spot: one of the empty benches against the cafeteria walls. He sat there, staring into space. His fellow students were nothing more than blurred shadows when he opened his notebook again and started writing.
Although he should have taken advantage of this time to eat like everyone else, he hadn't brought food or bought any at school for several days. Instead, he preferred to eat as much as he could at breakfast to avoid the hassle of going hungry after Kacchan stole his food.
And speaking of the devil. He wasn't allowed to delve into his own world when a familiar shout assaulted his eardrums, "Deku!" In response, Izuku stuffed his notebook back into his uniform pocket, feeling a hand land on his shoulder. He slowly turned his head to the left, the smell of burning fabric filling his nostrils as a thin plume of smoke rose from the spot where he'd been gripped. His old childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, with his spiky blond hair and red eyes, stared back at him with a sinister grin that Izuku didn't appreciate. "Come with me..." he whispered, so only Izuku could hear, and Izuku didn't think that was a question.
[XxX]
Izuku stood inside an empty classroom. The sound was devoid of noise compared to the rumble of the cafeteria less than ten minutes ago. He was surrounded by Bakugo and two of his "friends," whom he didn't bother trying to recognize.
No matter how hard he tried to control himself, it was impossible. His limbs kept betraying him, making him tremble, which only elicited a laugh from Bakugo. "You know, if I'm not mistaken, I saw you put something away..." Those words piqued Izuku's interest, but before he could react, his arms were grabbed by both henchmen. "...Let me check if he has my lunch, Deku." Izuku began to thrash about, but being the smallest in the room didn't help.
He continued to move desperately, but soon felt a sharp pain in his stomach after Bakugo punched him there. Izuku started coughing after a brief bout of shortness of breath, and when he looked up, he saw with horror that Bakugo was holding his notebook aloft. "What's that, Katsuki?" the henchman to his left asked, eyeing the object in Bakugo's hand with puzzlement.
Bakugo frowned, flipping the notebook over to read the back cover, then turning it over to read the title, "Future Hero Analysis Number Thirteen..." He muttered more to himself than to anyone else in the classroom.
Izuku's legs trembled even more. Sweat began to pool on his face, and his pupils contracted and dilated repeatedly. "I-it's nothing! Put it down, please!" Bakugo turned his head to look at him with a decidedly unenthusiastic expression.
"So what the teacher said is true... you aspire to U.A." He opened the notebook and flipped through some of the notes inside. He shrugged and closed it, and what happened next made Izuku scream: Bakugo exploded the notebook by clasping both hands together, setting it ablaze for a few moments until the fire went out on its own. "Like I've told you a thousand times, I'll be the only one from this pathetic school who gets into U.A." Not content with burning it, Bakugo threw it out the window as if it were nothing more than trash.
Izuku's henchman laughed in response, "Yeah, Katsuki! Show this Deku his place!" Izuku didn't even look at him, just stared at the window through which his newest notebook had fallen, the one he'd been working on for months, his eyes wide and trembling.
Izuku was grabbed tightly by the neck as Bakugo approached. "That's all I wanted to talk about..." was the light murmur he let out, "...so, just give up. It's as simple as that, easy, right?" He closed his eyes and smiled mockingly. That only lasted a few more seconds before he let go and started to leave. His henchmen pushed Izuku to the ground and followed Bakugo, who stopped at the classroom door. "Oh, and one more thing." Izuku barely looked up at him, nervous about whatever it was he wanted now. "If you want to be a hero, I have a solution: pray that you're reborn with a Quirk in your next life... and jump off the roof." Izuku stood completely still, processing what he'd said.
In a moment, Izuku clenched his fists at his sides, looked up, his eyebrows furrowed, and glared at him angrily. In response, Bakugo mirrored the expression with a sinister grin and several explosions erupted from his hand. This instantly crushed Izuku's courage, causing him to retreat, allowing Bakugo and his henchmen to escape unscathed.
Izuku let the calm settle in. It did; for the first time in a while, he could relax, hearing nothing and no one. His fists remained clenched at his sides, but he shook his head to himself. He began to stand, a slight ache in his throat that he tried his best to ignore. He didn't understand it; sometimes he just couldn't believe Bakugo actually wanted to be a hero.
He hit his head for a moment. How could he think like that? He didn't want him to be a villain, of course, but... it was difficult to picture him as a future hero.
His thoughts returned to his charred notebook. He ran to the window and scanned it. She stopped when she found him in a pond, and didn't hesitate to run out of the classroom to look for him. At least... that day couldn't get any worse.
[XxX]
"No, you can't be a hero without a Quirk."
That phrase, that single phrase, had been etched into his psyche since the day before. After picking up his notebook and finishing the school day, it turned out that the day was indeed worse, much worse.
He wanted to be alone to think, and ended up being trapped by a villain made of mud in a tunnel. It was horrible; he could still feel the mud trying to enter his windpipe, which sent shivers down his spine.
But he couldn't complain, or so he should have thought. All Might, All Might! appeared to save him. What were the chances of that happening? And with him! He doesn't remember much of it, only waking up to see his idol right in front of him with his classic smile and worried about his safety.
Everything seemed fine; he even got an autograph, but... it was like a Formula One car taking a tight turn. All Might jumped up, but he still had some questions to ask, so he grabbed his leg, which was pretty stupid now that he thought about it.
Anyway, that's beside the point. What matters is that when they reached a safe place and he started talking to him... he discovered that All Might turned into a skeleton after a certain number of hours. Clearly, that took him by surprise, but All Might explained a bit about a fight that wasn't reported, which is why he ended up like that.
But after all that, he finally mustered the courage to ask him that question that was so important to him. He didn't really know what he was hoping for—maybe confirmation that it wasn't a crazy dream, maybe some advice on how to make it happen, maybe... maybe he just wanted to be told that it could be real, that he could actually become someone in his life.
"No, you can't be a hero without a Quirk."
That answer. So direct. So simple. And so definitive. It only confirmed something he... knew better than anyone.
The rest of what happened... well, nothing really happened. He just went back home to his mom. He wasn't even interested in seeing the villain attack on his way back, nor did he watch the news to find out about it. All he did was lock himself in his room, lie down, and... think, about whatever.
He stared at the ceiling, not remembering how much time passed. But what he did remember was feeling incredibly uncomfortable whenever he tried to look away, always finding the same enormous smile from the Symbol of Peace that would calm anyone. Though it only disturbed him now.
If even the Number One Hero denied him the possibility of being a hero without a Quirk, then that could only mean it was true, right? And for that reason, he decided to grab some of All Might's belongings and, "We'll give you thirteen thousand yen for this collection." A receptionist's female voice pulled him from his thoughts.
Izuku looked at her with some surprise at the sudden interruption but reacted quickly, "A-ah! Yes, that's fine..." His response was almost immediate after a stutter, seeing the young woman's smile as she simply nodded.
At that very moment, Izuku was in a local pawn shop to sell his belongings. He had considered doing it at a more specialized store, but he also knew that would mean they would buy his things fairly soon... and as much as the whole thing hurt, it was preferable for him to be in a less obvious and relatively unfrequented place.
He stared at his belongings, or rather, his former belongings, for a second longer than he thought, "Excuse me, are you sure you want to sell it?" That question made Izuku look up, seeing her pull out a poster of All Might in a dynamic pose, "As far as I know, this is a limited edition poster." He didn't receive an immediate answer; Izuku studied the item for a few moments, nodding slowly.
"Y-yes, I... I don't need it anymore." That answer was enough to elicit a nod from the woman.
[XxX]
Meanwhile, near the pawn shop, Katsuki Bakugo walked along, accompanied by his two loyal henchmen. "It must have been terrifying to be captured by that villain," one of them commented calmly as they walked along the sidewalk.
It wasn't Bakugo who responded, but his companion, "Don't be an idiot, Bakugo burned him with his explosions, even the heroes congratulated him for his bravery, didn't they?" The only reply he got was a weary grunt from Bakugo.
He was furious. Less than a day ago, he'd been captured by a villain—him, the future Number One Hero—captured by some insignificant mud villain. He hadn't been able to free himself; instead, he'd had to receive help from All Might himself. Damn it!
He couldn't let it happen again. He wasn't going to let himself be ridiculed in such a humiliating way. Only Deku deserved that.
Bakugo stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed something. Deku was walking on the other side of the street, completely oblivious to everything. And that—that brought a sadistic smile to his face. "You know what? I'm bored, and I need to punch something..." His two henchmen stared at him, confused. That lasted until Bakugo turned his head in Izuku's direction to get their attention, eliciting more wicked grins.
[XxX]
A thunderous crack echoed off the crumbling brick walls. Though more than a crack, it was a kind of muffled explosion.
Izuku took a couple of steps back after a small explosion hit his abdomen. It singed his school uniform, leaving an ugly trail of dust and soot in its wake.
He quickly realized his arms were being grabbed, preventing him from moving them. He tried to break free, but it was no use, and all he got in return was a punch to the face followed by a kick to the chest. Bakugo's "friends" weren't passive; that kick sent him sprawling to the ground, eliciting another gasp from him.
Izuku fell to the ground, trying to curl into a ball, but even that wasn't allowed when his former friend placed his foot on Izuku's chest. "Fate is funny sometimes, isn't it, Deku? I didn't even look for you, and I found you anyway." He shifted the sole of his foot slightly, eliciting another groan from Izuku.
Against all odds, his victim stretched out both trembling arms, clutching his ankle and trying unsuccessfully to pry it off. "L-let me go... please... what did I do to you—?!" He couldn't finish before receiving a kick to his right cheekbone.
Bakugo stared at him for a few more seconds, unable to believe he dared to say anything. He looked up at his classmates, who were still smiling. "We need to put the trash where it belongs... we don't want the heroes finding it and blaming us." The response he got was a unanimous nod.
Izuku felt the three of them grab him, carry him away, and take him somewhere. He didn't even try to stop it anymore; he didn't feel strong enough or want to do anything. But what he also hadn't considered was that they would throw him into a large garbage container, noticing how the plastic and various objects he couldn't or didn't want to identify cushioned his fall.
The double lid of the container slammed shut, and the next thing he heard were the muffled voices of his tormentors fading away.
Silence settled in the dark area. Izuku said nothing, didn't move at all, only felt the pain in his chest and face, as well as the burning in his abdomen. He inhaled deeply, letting the foul smell of the place engulf him, but he didn't care in the slightest anymore; he just let it be.
In fact, his only consolation came when he felt his pockets, noticing that the money he had earned was still there. Something good among all that garbage, he supposed.
He didn't know how long he was inside. Perhaps minutes, perhaps hours, but finally he decided to get up. He sat down and remained there, still, letting the whole situation settle in his mind.
He shook his head and looked up. The lid was still closed; only a faint ray of light filtered through, but it wasn't strong enough to see much, just enough toHe shook his head and looked up. The lid was still closed; only a faint ray of light filtered through, but it wasn't strong enough to see much, just enough to make things out.
He moved his hands to either side to brace himself and try to get out, but something stopped him. His right hand seemed to touch something particularly rigid and cold. Turning his head in that direction, he could make out a faint but vivid enough silhouette to form the shape of some kind of helmet... medieval?
It didn't seem so strange to him; people left all sorts of things at the pawn shop, maybe it was just another one. But he had to admit it was quite odd. It looked to be in very good condition, it was gold and shone slightly. He wouldn't have pawned it, no matter how sad he was, especially if it could end up like this.
Izuku frowned. Without meaning to, or perhaps he did? He didn't know, he took the helmet in his hands and placed it on his lap to admire it more closely. He noticed certain details, like the crest on top, the elongated chin, the eye slits, and two open sections on the sides that he could only guess were for the ears.
He wasn't an expert, but he was fairly certain the relief of the eyes resembled some kind of Egyptian eye. His fingers explored the metal, running them along the face, feeling the rough but quite well-polished metal on his fingertips.
It was as if, somehow, he was lost in the "eyes" of the helmet. In fact, he could almost swear he saw a very faint glimmer emanate from them, but he dismissed it as a reflection of the light outside. "I wish I were a little more like you..." His whisper echoed in the dimness of the container, "They abandoned you like they abandoned me, but... if you got out of here, at least you'd know you were worth something... I'm not." The helmet, as expected, offered no reply.
Slowly, he began to turn it until the back faced him. He admired the interior; it didn't seem anything special, just a bit simpler than the exterior. But still, somehow, he felt an enormous curiosity to see its interior up close, to put it on. But more than curiosity, it was like a kind of need.
He soon noticed the helmet getting closer and closer to his face. Not because it was moving on its own, but because his own hands were guiding it to his head. The next thing he knew, the helmet was on his skull, a little too big, and it had slipped forward, so Izuku adjusted it.
He stood there, motionless, peering around through the helmet's vents, "...yeah, I probably look stupid—!" Again, he couldn't finish his sentence. The helmet's vents glowed with a white flash that filled the space. Izuku felt a sensation similar to a whiplash as his head jerked upward.
Suddenly, a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once assaulted his eardrums, "Izuku Midoriya, you have been chosen by the forces of Order and Destiny to become the Doctor Fate of the Tenth Era of Magic." He didn't understand anything that was happening. The voice was deep and strident, with a measured tone but sounding like a sentence, "Accept your task as my new host, so that together, we can maintain the cosmic balance between Order and Chaos." Izuku's chest began to rise and fall as the sound of his breathing intensified. "You know? To be honest, I expected something more... dignified, from our first meeting. Although I can fix that." Those last words sounded much more... sarcastic compared to the previous ones, but that didn't reassure him in the slightest.
"W-W-WHAT?! WHO IS IT?! WHERE ARE YOU?! WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS—?!" As had become the norm by now, his voice was interrupted by a shrill sound that vaguely reminded him of an elevator. For the first time in all that time, he lowered his head and noticed his body begin to glow with golden light. That didn't last long either, because in an instant, he was no longer in the dumpster; the only trace of his presence were a few golden wisps that fell among the trash.
Izuku screamed, and screamed like never before in his life. At that moment, all his eyes could see beneath his helmet was an unknown number of different colors. He didn't feel any wind, but rather some kind of high-speed movement without slowing down in the slightest.
His arms and legs thrashed about uncontrollably. Izuku spun around, unsure where to look, simply letting himself be guided by the oppressive sensation on his skin, though not pain, really.
That turbulent journey didn't last much longer, fortunately for him. But it ended with him passing through a kind of blue glass where a door should have been. His body landed like a sack of potatoes with a thud, accompanied by the metallic clatter of his helmet bouncing incessantly on the tiled floor.
Finally, he stopped after about three seconds of spinning on the cold ground. He lay motionless on solid ground, trying to catch his breath and process everything he had just experienced.
Suddenly, Izuku let out another scream of terror. He dropped to his knees, hastily removing his helmet, throwing it several meters away, and sitting down on the ground. He crawled backward, ignoring the slippery feel of the floor, his chest rising and falling repeatedly as he stared at the golden object, as if it might strike him at any moment.
Suddenly, a voice that wasn't from the trash can caught Izuku's attention. "Either the place was really bad, or they were escaping from something." When he turned his head to see who it was, he wasn't interested in the person approaching, but rather in the place where he was now.
Around him, countless staircases—some leading up, some down, and many sideways or even upside down—made him frown. The floor he sat on was made of square black and white tiles, like those on pizzeria floors.
But the most intriguing thing was the seemingly hundreds, if not thousands, of doors, both near and far, each revealing a completely different place on the other side. A jungle, an ocean, a desert, a city, even a…castle? And speaking of castles, some of the staircases led directly to bridges or small towers reminiscent of a medieval castle.
The place exuded different kinds of colors. Some more phosphorescent than others, but overall, everything maintained a vibrant hue. Izuku's head snapped back to the helmet as its eyes began to glow and the voice reappeared, "It's the first time in millennia I've met a new wielder in such a deplorable place as a dumpster..." The voice sounded exasperated as he was picked up by an elderly man with slicked-back hair and a graying beard, dressed in formal, though not overly formal, clothing.
The old man ran a hand over the helmet in a theatrical gesture. Izuku blinked as he watched the dust disappear from the helmet. "Oh, then it must be a really bad day... or maybe you were just looking for something." The man turned in his direction, the helmet pointed directly at Izuku.
He had no idea what to say. What was he supposed to say? A damn helmet was talking, one that had brought him to a place he couldn't have imagined even in his wildest dreams, and now an old man was with him. "W-w-what... is this place supposed to be? W-who are you? Where are we?" The old man's eyebrows widened as if he'd just remembered something.
"Oh! Right! I didn't introduce myself." He started walking toward Izuku and pointed at him with one hand. Out of nowhere, Izuku felt a tug and floated for a second before standing up. With another gesture, an armchair appeared behind Izuku's knees, and he sat down without much resistance. "I'm Kent Nelson, a sorcerer, and it's a pleasure to meet the new-era Doctor Fate... would you like tea?" Izuku's eyebrows furrowed, his pupils contracting and dilating repeatedly.
He still didn't understand anything they were saying. It had to be a joke... wait, did he just say sorcerer?