To Let the World Burn

Ignition

They told me I was crazy. Maybe I am.

No, it's not a maybe. I'm definitely crazy.

I stood before my work. The powerful chaos and destruction reigning over the city. It felt good to be here, to see the heroes play the role of helpless civilians. The plan was already in motion, and there was nothing that could stop us now.

The wind around me was blowing harshly, only fueling the fire. My hair flew back and I realised  where exactly I was standing. I laughed to myself, quietly at first, then manically. The memory of the day it all started, flooded my mind. I remember every detail.

I was standing right around here when All Might turned to face me. Suddenly it was like I was reliving the moment, but only this time, I was an outsider watching in.

"This line of work is very dangerous for people with quirks, let alone someone without one. I'm sorry young man, but my answer is gonna be a no. Maybe you could become a police officer instead? It's much less risky," he had told me, no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

I was disappointed, heartbroken, even. You could see it on my face. It was my dream to become a hero and the man who preached to society about how anyone can do it, just told me I couldn't.

All because of one simple, uncontrollable thing.

"I must go now. I have to take this villain to the police station," All Might said, referring to the bottles he had in his pockets. He walked past me to get off the rooftop while I stood, watching my dreams follow him out the door.

It took about five more minutes of processing what had just happened before I took my backpack and went to leave the rooftop myself.

I decided to take a shortcut home, knowing that some of the bullies from my school are normally out at this time. I slipped into a nearby alley and started navigating my way in between buildings. My feet were tired and I still hadn't quite processed what had just happened yet so I decided to take a break from walking.

I sat down against a brick wall and gently rested my head against it. I saw myself looking up at the sky that was turning soft shades of reds and oranges.

I had started to go over the day's events out loud, a thing I used to do to help release stress.

"I can't believe Kacchan destroyed one of my hero notebooks. Again. Maybe it's a sign? A sign I should quit trying. I'm quirkless, I can't become a hero..."

I paused, quietly sighing to myself.

"Even All Might told me so. Maybe it was another sign that he told me on the roof. A sign I should have taken a swan dive, just like Kacchan said. I wonder if All Might knew what he was doing. Crushing a quirkless kid's dreams on a rooftop. Some number one hero."

"All Might is an asshole, and a stupid one at that," a raspy voice came from deeper in the alley.

My head whipped around to meet the stranger who had been watching and listening in to my one sided conversation.

"Who are you?" I asked the man.

"I could ask you the same," the man replied as he stalked closer to me.

"It's not just All Might though. They're all assholes. Most of the heroes in this society only do their job for glory," the man said, cringing when he said heroes. "They don't care about the people who live on the streets, or the ones that have less power-ups than them. They don't save the ones who need it most..."

He paused for a moment, spacing out as if remembering something then coming back to the conversation. I probably shouldn't have been talking to a random guy I met in an alleyway, but he didn't seem to have a reaction to the fact I was quirkless, so maybe he wasn't a bad person.