Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Point of Know Return
From a young age, I learned that not all men were created equal. In a world where nearly every human has some form of superpower, or 'Quirk,' as they call it, our story unfolds in today's bustling, superhuman society. Heroes and villains constantly clash, each using their unique abilities to shape the course of the world. But not everyone is equal in this power-infused society.
At the age of four, I was diagnosed as quirkless. ‘Diagnosed’—I hate that term now, but back then, it was all I saw it as.
“I'm so sorry, Izuku.”
As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a hero like All Might, but without a quirk, that dream became impossible.
“Stupid Deku!!!”
“Useless Deku!”
“Quirkless freak!”
“You'll never be a hero, Deku!”
At the age of eight, all I had left to hold onto was a dream seemingly impossible to society, but it was then that the course of my life changed drastically.
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“Should've just stayed out of my way, you quirkless freak! You will never be a hero, Deku!” The words of Katsuki Bakugo drip with venom as the bully leaves a bruised and burned Izuku in the middle of the playground after he had tried to stop his long-time friend from hurting another kid.
Izuku slowly gets up, his body weak and stinging from Katsuki’s latest assault. He begins to gather his things as he limps back home, coming up with a plan to treat his wounds before his mother comes home from her shift at the hospital. Unfortunately for him, he would never make it that far.
As Izuku turns the corner, he suddenly feels a mouth move over his hand and something sharp sticking into his back. “Shhhh, don't make a sound, kid, try anything stupid.” Izuku’s mind begins to race, ‘A villain? Am I being kidnapped? Held hostage? Why me? I'm just a useless Deku; what could anyone want from me?’
As the panic begins to set in, the man starts dragging Izuku into an alley, the knife still firmly pressed against his back. “We’re gonna be taking you somewhere special, kid, somewhere no one will ever find you. Hope you don't have anyone who’ll miss you because you'll never be seen again! The kidnapper cackles slightly, grabbing Izuku by the back of his collar and tossing him into a van. The last thing Izuku sees is a masked man with a nightstick smacking him across the face, knocking him out.
Sometime later, Izuku wakes up in a nearly pitch-black room. The floor feels metallic and cold. As he looks around, his eyes begin to adjust slightly; he can make out what looks like prison bars. Taking in all the information, he realizes he is in a cage. Panic begins to set in again as he realizes that all this is real; he has been kidnapped.
Before he can even think about calming down, he is suddenly assaulted by bright fluorescent white light as someone turns on the overhead lights. He rubs his eyes, which are aching slightly from the sudden flash, but as he does, he looks around to take in his surroundings. His cage isn’t the only one in the room; he sees several others in the neighboring cages, all seemingly differing in age—some younger, some around his own age, and some older.
However, all of them look like death warmed over, their skin pale and their eyes sunken and hollow. His panic only begins to increase as his mind races once more. ‘What happened to them…what's going to happen to me?’
Footsteps begin to echo through the room as a lanky, brown-haired man in a lab coat walks between the cages, stopping in front of Izuku’s. “Ah, the new subject...erm, let’s see, no quirk…8 years old. Well, I guess you’ll do.” The man taps his ear and says, “Prepare the table; we’ll begin implantation procedures with the new subject.”
With the snap of his fingers, two more men walk into the room, opening the door to his cell and rapidly approaching him. Izuku tries to back away, but they are far too fast and far too strong for an 8-year-old boy to escape their hold. Izuku tries to struggle free as they drag him through the halls, but it is to no avail.
After several minutes, they arrive in what looks to be an operating room. He is forcefully lifted onto the table and restrained by metal clasps on his wrists and ankles. The brown-haired man from earlier appears over him, now wearing a surgical mask. His eyes move rapidly across Izuku’s body as he observes it before reaching for an oxygen mask and placing it over Izuku’s face. Izuku tries to squirm, tries to scream, but he is too paralyzed by fear to move.
“Hush now, little one; you’re going to be doing something great for science! Or not...seeing as you’ll probably die if this doesn’t work...but hey! Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs!” The man says as he twists the nozzle on a nearby canister.
Gas begins to flood Izuku’s nostrils, and before he knows it, his world goes dark…
And his life is forever changed.
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Unknown Amount of Time Later
How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? Izuku had no clue. With no window outside or clocks on the walls, he could never tell what time it was, so tracking the passage of days was impossible. That was if he even could with everything that’d happened.
The rows of cells that were once full of kids like him had been thinning out. The failures, the ‘Doctor’ had called them. Some came back, some with parts missing, only to go missing again and never return. The only one to still come back these days was himself.
His body was in constant pain, constantly itching beneath his stitches as if insects crawled beneath the flesh. They injected him with something; he wasn’t sure what it was, only remembering the Doctor saying something like ‘Nan’ something.
Whatever they’d done changed him; they’d take him for tests, poking, prodding, cutting, but recently it’d become strange. It’d take longer for the gas to make him go to sleep; the blades they used would snap and break against his skin. When he was in and out of consciousness,s he’d hear the Doctor say something about ‘adaptation’ like it was a good thing. For the Doctor, it probably was.
He heard the familiar footsteps of the guard; the cell door opened with a loud rusted creak. He didn’t try to fight back; every time he did,d they made sure to remind him why it was a bad idea. They dragged him along to the operating room, the bright fluorescent lights hurting his eyes every so slightly.
With little grace,e they’d strap him down to the table, affixing the mask to his face as the Doctor came into view. “Hello Subject 57, I’m so very excited to work on you today,” he said with a slimy smile. “We’ve got a big day ahead of u. You’ve been our most receptive patient to the procedure. Now, breathe in and relax, it’ll be over so very soon,” the Doctor says as Izuku feels the gas enter his lungs, his vision becoming hazy, as the dosage is again the same as last time. His last thoughts of consciousness were a silent plea.
Please…someone…anyone….save me.
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Meanwhile
Outside a rundown hospital in Kamino, a large van sat idly. Inside were five figures wearing various costumes, carrying a large variety of weapons from guns to a comically large mallet.
“How much longer do we gotta wait? I'm getting so damn bored!” said a blond woman with pigtails and pink and blue dyed ends. She impatiently bounced in her seat with an annoyed expression. “I mean, we’re right outside the place. Why the hell are we waiting? Let’s just get this d-” she was interrupted by an empty bullet hitting her in the forehead. “What the hell, Floyd!”
“You’re being too damn loud, Harls. Besides...” a man wearing a glowing red visor over his left eye said as he finished loading a small gun-like device mounted on his wrist. “You know how this works; we don’t move until Waller says so or else…”
“Kaboom, head privileges down the shitter,” said a man with an Australian accent, sharpening a boomerang. “I, for one, like my head privileges, right, Davy?”
“Using real names is a great way to get those privileges revoked, Boomerang,” said the man in the driver's seat, who was sharpening a large wrist-mounted black blade. “We still clear, Croc?”
A large green, scaly man with crocodile-like features cracked the window and took a few quick sniffs. “We’re good, Manta, but I’m with Harley. I’m getting bored just sitting here.”
“Well, good news then, Task Force X. Your wait is over. Be ready to move in; your window opens in 10 minutes,” said a stern female voice over the radio. “Remember, eliminate the researchers, take the data and materials. Leave no witnesses. You all know the consequences of failure and disobedience. Waller out.”
As soon as the call ended, everyone mobilized quickly, finishing their preparations and getting ready to move. Their target: an illegal genetics lab reportedly close to creating, in their words, the ultimate soldier. It was supposed to be a simple slash-and-grab job. Get in, kill everyone, get the data, get out.
It was supposed to be...
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Back with Izuku
The blaring claxon sound of the alarms stirred Izuku from his slumber. Red lights flashed upon the walls, and an automated voice announced over the speakers, “Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert”. As Izuku’s vision cleared,d he saw the Doctor out of the corner of his eyes, typing frantically, cursing to himself with words Izuku only ever heard from Aunt Mitsuki.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Not now! Not when I’m so close! The advent of my greatness won’t be stopped! I’ll prove that old geriatric Garaki what a true masterpiece; better than his corpse pets!” He ranted to himself as he typed away at the console, trying to erase every last trace of his data before whoever had come took it.
Izuku wondered who it was, a hero? Was it All Might?! He didn’t even care anymore; even if it was a villain, he didn’t care, he just needed someone, anyone, to save him.
Oh, how little did he realize his words would ring true.
He was suddenly shaken from his thoughts by a gunshot echoing through the room. He looked up and suddenly saw the brown-haired doctor now lying on the ground, blood oozing from his head. He then looked up and saw a man in red and white armor, his wrist out with the gun mounted on it, smoking.
“What the hell….?” The man said in English, staring at Izuku.
“Hey Shotty!!! Did you kill that doctor guy yet- HOLY BALLS A KID!” Shouted a woman in a pink, blue, and white body suit with a large mallet slung over her shoulder.
“What the bloody hell are you screamin' about, Harls- Oh what the fuck?!” Said a man wearing a blue and white outfit and covered head to toe in boomerangs.
“What happened to being stealthy? Why are you all- Oh,” said another man, wearing some kind of black mechanical armor, with a wide, almost flat helmet and glowing red lenses.
“Guys, we need to get moving- oh, what the hell, out of the way,” Said a large, scaly crocodile-looking man, who shoved his way past the others and moved towards Izuku.
Izuku quickly backed away, causing the man to slow his approach. He crouched down, reaching a hand out to Izuku. “Easy, their kid,” the man said in Japanese. “We ain’t gonna hurt ya”.
“That’s a load of bulltshit” said ‘Shotty’, causing the crocodile-like man to look back at him and snarl. “Fine, I’ll check with Waller…Deadshot to Waller, we have a complication”
“Hey, kid, look at me, you're pretty scared now, right?” The man asked. Izuku nodded, tears welling in his eyes as he continued to curl in on himself.
“Crickey, they put this kid through the wringer, Harls, check this, you’re a doctor or whatever right?” Said the boomerang man, watching something on a computer screen
“Psychiatrist with a PhD, yes, now what did you- Oh my god…” ‘Harl’s’ eyes widened in horror as she watched whatever was on the monitor. She quickly looked over at Izuku and rushed over to him, and wrapped him in a tight hug. “You poor baby,” she said, now speaking perfect Japanese. “It’s o,k these bad men can’t hurt you anymore,” she then looked over at ‘Shotty,’ who was talking to someone through an earpiece. “Tell Waller we’re taking the kid with us, no ifs, ands, or buts!”
“I’m trying- Yes ma’am, looks like the boy is the completed research, should we bring him because Croc and Harley look like they’re- ok, alright, ok yeah, yes ma’am.” He took his hand away from his ear. “Ok, kids coming with us, Waller wants to see the ‘Asset’ personally”.
“This is going to be such a pain in the ass,” Said the black helmeted man.
While all this was going on, Izuku had clung to ‘Harley,’ bawling his eyes out as she rubbed circles on his back, trying to soothe him. “It’s ok, little guy, we’re gonna get you outta here and take you somewhere nice and safe,” she said.
“M-m-m-mom…I….she….” Izuku stammered out, exhaustion causing his consciousness to fade and for him to settle in as he leaned into Harley’s embrace.
“Shhh, don’t worry, kiddo, we’ll try to get you back to your mom eventually,y but first we gotta take you somewhere so we can get you checked out,” Harley said. Picking the boy up and carrying him towards the door. The others soon followed as they reached the outside of the building.
The last thing Izuku saw was the black-helmeted man’s eyes firing a laser into the building, causing it to go up in flames, before his exhaustion claimed him.
This is how it happened, this is the story of how the Adapting Hero: ChimerX was born
[To be Continued in Chapter 2: Folsom Prison Blues]