"Seriously, Arthur, you'll get yourself killed one of these days!" A teenage girl yelled, pulling a teenage boy by the ear. "I couldn't just stand by. The guy was picking on the poor kid, Karie." "That doesn't mean you jump in headfirst, idiot!" Karie snapped, yanking harder for emphasis. Arthur was an odd sight. Broad shoulders, well-built for a sixteen-year-old, the kind of physique that came from years of disciplined training. He towered over Karie by almost a head, yet somehow she was the one in complete control.
His grin was sheepish, apologetic, completely unrepentant.
"He was crying," Arthur added, shrugging as best he could while his ear was still under attack. "Didn't feel right walking away." Karie scoffed. "You say that every time. One of these days, someone's going to pull a knife, or a gun, or something worse, and then what? You think being 'nice' makes you bulletproof?"
Arthur opened his mouth to answer, but his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Oh, Martha is calling me, maybe she needs help." "Don't answer!" "But she might need help!" "She doesn't!" "...How do you know?"
Karie sighed, "...dumbass. Here is my bus stop. Call her or don't, it's not my problem!" Arthur shrugged off his backpack, tossing it to Karie.
"HEY, WHAT TH-" Karie shouted, pissed. However, soon her heart dropped at the sight. Arthur sprinted into active traffic, covering a small child with his body, his back facing the colliding car as it slammed into him. Arthur felt the world explode into white-hot pain as metal slammed into his back. The force lifted him off the ground, flipping him, grinding skin against asphalt. He wrapped himself tighter around the kid, teeth clenched so hard his jaw screamed.
"Hurts like hell", he thought dimly. His body skipped across the road like a stone. Once. Twice. Three times. "How fast was that guy going?!"He tried to slow them down. Digging fingers into the pavement. Anything. His nails tore. Blood smeared across the street in a bright red arc.
Finally, they stopped.
Arthur lay on his back, chest heaving, vision swimming. Every breath felt like glass. His spine screamed. His legs…he couldn't feel his legs. He forced his eyes open and looked down, ignoring his mangled body. In his blurry vision, he noticed his foot facing the wrong direction as his focus fell onto the child.
The kid was still there. Shaking. Eyes wide and empty, like a deer caught in headlights. "You… you alright, kid?" Arthur tried to ask, sounding more like a foreign language. The kid didn't respond, like a scared baby deer, as Arthur groaned in pain.
"A-Art-Arthur!" Karie's voice cut through the haze. She hit the ground beside him hard, hands trembling as she hovered uselessly. "I-I called 911! Don't you dare-don't you dare die!" Arthur coughed. Blood splattered onto his chin. He felt the life slipping from him. "…Ah," he wheezed. "Maybe… they'll finally install that speedbump."
"Shut up!" Karie screamed. "What do I do?! There's so much blood-oh god." Arthur laughed. It turned into choking. "Should've… taken those first aid lessons," he rasped.
"T-this isn't the time for a lecture! Oh god! I'll kill you if you die!" Karie's voice crackled as the ambulance sirens could be heard in the distance. "They're almost here! Hold on, dumbass!" Each second was agony for Arthur, the kid shaking like a leaf, Arthur fazed in and out of consciousness, seeing a bright light in front of his eyes.
Hands pressed down on him. Voices overlapped."Don't move him!" / "Jesus, look at his back!" / "He's still responsive. Move fast!"
Arthur felt himself lifted, agony screaming through nerves that barely worked anymore. Something cold pressed to his face. Needles bit into his arm.
"So…" he croaked weakly. "I'm… dying, right?" "Focus on living, kid!" an EMT barked. "Stay with me! Shit, he's dropping!"
Arthur's vision tunnelled. The world dimmed. "Karie…" he whispered. "The kid… are they okay?"
No answer.
"…Sir?" Arthur tried again. "Please."
Silence stretched too long. The EMT swore under his breath. Collapsed lung. Severe physical trauma. Neurological damage. The boy's eyes were already dilating, his heart struggling despite every stimulus. The EMT leaned closer, meeting Arthur's fading gaze.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Not a scratch on the girl or the kid. You did well." Arthur exhaled. Relief flooded him. "…Good," he murmured. "Tell her and my family….. I'm sorry."
The EMT felt the kid's heart stop underneath his hand as a pained expression plastered itself on his face. "Andrew. Stop. The kid is dead. His body gave out a long time ago; the only thing keeping him going was willpower, crazy fucking kid...fuck…"
Another death among thousands. One that would not be remembered by many but had helped hundreds with his kindness. A legacy many could not match. All that was left was to fulfill their remaining duties, take him to the nearest medical facility to declare his death and continue on their duty. Another shift, another paycheck. A cruel but honest reality.
"Time of death: April 20th, 11:43 A.M." The EMT noted, their job was still far from done; they needed to note down the condition and the circumstances for the autopsy and hospital.
"Did I do good?" Arthur's last shred of consciousness wandered as he felt emptiness embrace him. Death, the final evolution and mercy to every living being.
*In a hospital*
"Time of birth: April 20th, 11:43 A.M."
The doctor's voice was calm and gentle. He seemed sculpted from the essence of water itself-translucent blue skin and hair ripple like liquid caught mid-motion, suggesting a body in constant flux. Alongside his lime-green eyes, a young face due to his water physiology, he was in his mid-forties, a seasoned professional in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology.
In his arms squirmed a slimy newborn with a full head of ash-blond hair and a set of lungs determined to announce his existence to the world. A celebration, The declaration of life. The beginning of death. However, for now, life had just begun.
"Check for anomalies," the doctor said. The nurse nodded, beginning the routine examination. Since the emergence of quirks, no birth was considered ordinary. Mutations. Instabilities. However, there wasn't much worry. After all, the couple didn't have any dangerous quirks that could cause any problems. Acid Sweat and Glycerin, what type of dangerous quirk could they possibly make?
"Everything is in order, Body and health checked, no immediate quirk appearance, A good loud cry. A healthy baby. Congratulations." The nurse smiled, handing the baby to the exhausted woman.
"M-Mitsuki," he sobbed, wrapped in sterile whites from head to toe. "Our baby—look at him." Mitsuki lay exhausted, her ashy blond hair plastered to her face with sweat, but her eyes softened as she looked at the ugl…beautiful wailing baby. "Masaru, our baby...look at him, he's beautiful."
"Yeah, Mitsuki," Masaru said, gently watching the wailing baby. However, the serene and beautiful moment was shattered as the baby's arm shot out. Tiny fingers latched onto Mitsuki's hair. Hard.
"OW—!" Mitsuki yelped. "Masaru! Get this little shit off me!" Mitsuki got her energy back as she grabbed her baby's hand, making him pull harder on her hair. "H-hold on, don't hurt him," Masaru panicked, reaching out to help.
"WORRY ABOUT ME!"
"Right! Come to Dad!" Masaru scooped the baby up, and instantly, the fussing stopped. The baby stared up at him, calm and alert. A clear favorite. "…Brat," Mitsuki muttered. She was the one who spent all this time suffering. However, her finger reached out to her baby's hand as the baby grabbed it with superhuman strength. Masaru laughed weakly, his hands trembling at the realization of holding his child, "Looks like we've got a lot ahead of us."
Mitsuki sighed with exhaustion, "…It better not be like this forever."
"Be nice to us, Katsuki."
*4 years later*
"Well," Katsuki muttered internally, "at least I can remember most things now."
Memories of another life. They were from a familiar but distant planet, no quirks or heroes. Arthur Lopez, who died in a car accident and somehow, Katsuki had him. Sixteen years of life. Pain. Skills. Regret.
It was like Katsuki was the foundation, and Arthur was the cement—meant to be added later, reinforcing the foundation as he grew. Except someone had poured it in early. Too early. It gave him skills that were so advanced for a child that was pooping his pants, a couple of years ago.
However, a new set of memories had been surfacing. My Hero Academia. A large set of these memories were still hidden, covered by a fog. The memories he could see made him panic….and cry. AFO, OFA, The War. Each set of these were enough to make any child cry.
Oh, and another side effect.
"Hey, kid, remember to brush your teeth," Arthur, the bastard, was still alive.
"BRAT! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Mitsuki yelled throughout the house as he yelled back, "OLD HAG! I'M COMING!"
It was a quirk check-up; it was normal for kids to get their quirk at four years old. However, Katsuki was scared the story of MHA told him he was going to get an explosion quirk. If that became true, then could everything else be true? Then would All for One and One for All be true? Izuku, his childhood friend, saved the world?
"HURRY UP! YOU'RE MAKING YOUR FATHER WAIT!"
"YEAH YEAH, OLD HAG!" Katsuki rushed down two sets of stairs in his third-story house.
"Rich brat." Arthur quietly echoed.
"Calm down, you two," Masaru said, already waiting by the door. "Let's go," Mitsuki helped Katsuki fix the back of his shirt, his stubby hands still didn't have much dexterity. Despite her harsh words, she would always look out for him. He would always be their brat.
*Hospital*
"No extra joint in the pinky," the doctor stated, pausing slightly before continuing, "DNA tests will give us hints, but quirks are complex." DNA quirk testing was still in its infancy due to its complexity, since quirks would be found over several strands of DNA rather than just a specific strand of DNA.
"However, based on both of your quirks, we can assume a sweat-based secretion quirk from both of you." The doctor added smoothly, It should be a rather miscellaneous quirk. Katsuki looked dumbfounded, "We came all this way for nothing?"
Which earned a smack on the back of the head from Mitsuki. Masaru sighed at his son, he truly was his mother child. They came here just to double-check if Katsuki had a quirk at all, not to know what his quirk would be.
"My body or hands are my quirk factor, right?" Katsuki muttered puzzled, staring at his hands. "Should be your hands, kid," Arthur corrected Katsuki, he should later on be able to use his quirk all over his body but his hands should be his limit right now.
"BE QUIET! I'M TRYING TO
CONCENTRATE!" Katsuki internally yelled angrily towards Arthur. Katsuki felt sweat pool up on his back before instinctively igniting it, causing a small explosion, ripping the back of his shirt completely as the room went quiet as Katsuki said, "Explosion."
"T-that shouldn't be happening yet!" Arthur shouted, it didn't make sense! He shouldn't be able to do that until the final war arc.
However, Katsuki's concern was with AFO and OFA. He really did get that quirk…..then everything else should be true too. Many people would be harmed. Well shit! Izuku can take care of the AFO, but what about everyone else!
"Man, this is going to shit, quickly." Arthur echoed, there was already disparity between the manga and reality. Originally, he was planning to let the story flow as it goes. However, if disparity were showing now, what else could be different!
"Alright, kid. We need a plan."
"Huh?" Katsuki said out loud before shutting his mouth, earning a strange glances from his parents and doctor.
"Listen up kid! I'll help you become the most powerful hero even stronger than All Might!"
This is the story of the symbol of victory and the hero of the world.
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Author notes: Mysterious with more mysterious. I'll give you a very obvious clue, Soul. Think back on All might explaining the empty cup thing to Izuku. Imagine it now that he has access to two souls.