My Hero Academia: From The Ground Up

Chapter 13: Visions and Dreams

A familiar head of green dashed into a thin alley squished between two office buildings. He rested his hands on his knees as he steadied his heavy breathing.

"Izuku Midoriya!" A raspy voice called out from the streets he hid from.

"What kind of hero hides from a fight?!" A second voice roared with a much deeper tone.

The boy Izuku fell on his butt against the side of one of the buildings. He doesn't remember much. All he remembers is seeing everyone he loves ripped from his view and....blood. Blood everywhere.

"There's only one way this ends, Izuku Midoriya. One villain, one hero. One victor, one loser. One alive....and one dead." A third, and much more commanding and sinister voice called out.

"Now come out here and face your destiny!"

Izuku cried out as the buildings between him were ripped out from their foundations and broken into smaller and smaller pieces as they rose into the air on their own.

He had a clear view of the city around him. Ash, smoke, rubble, dark storm clouds. All swarming the skies around him. Many taller buildings were leveled to the ground and their rubble was thrown all over like brown and gray chunks of heavy hail.

Three silhouetted shadowy figures stood in the street before him.

One had a female figure with her arms out. A shrieky noise came from her that sounded like laughter.

One was very muscular and seemed to burn the very ground he stood upon.

The last one, the commander, stood between the others and towered over them in height. Despite his shadowy form blocking all distinguishable physical features, he had a pinkish-red aura glowing around his outline.

He alone walked up to Izuku, who was so shocked at the power and the evil pulsing from them, he couldn't think to move his legs.

"That power within you. It's awful special. Not even I can decipher it." He said.

"W-w-who are you?! Why are you doing this?!" Izuku shouted.

The figure appeared to relax his shoulders. "I am one of two things." He took a step closer, almost toe to toe with Izuku, standing a meter over his head.

"I'm either your foe to face.... Or."

He quickly grabbed Izuku by the neck and pulled him up until they met at eye level.

Izuku gasped for air and winced. The darkness seemed to dissipate from the figure's face. His eyes widened as he was now looking at a set of green eyes before him.

The figure's face was his own, staring at him like a mirror. The rest of the body still hidden in shadow. All he saw was his own face.

"I'm your destiny, Deku." He said.

Izuku began to panic in his arm. He thrashed around frantically, yelling and kicking and screaming but no use. He wouldn't stop staring at the boy.

The other shadowy figures walked up to the two. Izuku could see them over the figure's shoulder.

The female figure walked right up to them. "Now you need to wake up, Izuku." She said.

He gasped again.

"Wake up, Izuku!" She yelled.

Izuku yelled back loudly.

"WAKE UP!"

"AGH! AHHH!" Izuku screamed as he shot up straight in his bed.

"Izuku! I didn't mean to scare you! I was just trying to wake you up!" His friend Ochaco said, standing beside his bed.

"A-oh.... Ochaco?! What are you doing here?" Izuku asked, feeling instant relief that it was just a dream. But shock built up for a number of reasons.

"I came to wake you up because today's the hero festival! We were supposed to go...five minutes ago! To make the line for All Might!" She said. "You ok though? You slept through your alarm and you're covered in sweat..."

Izuku sighed. "I'm much better now but I just had a bad dream."

Ochaco tilted her head to the side with a small smile. "You alright?" She asked.

"Y-yeah. I told you, I'm good now." He smiled back. "Just... Give me a second to change."

"Oh. Oh right!" Ochaco blushed and quickly walked to the door. "Just... Be quick!" She said a little too loud and shut the door behind her.

Izuku chuckled and slowly got out of his bed. At that moment, he realized how much more awkward that could have been had he realized he was only in his boxers. He felt his cheeks grow warm with a blush. She totally noticed. Somehow. Even though he had his blanket covering himself, somehow she must've known.

At least it took his mind off of that awful dream.

The green-haired boy put on a t-shirt, dark pants, and his All Might hero themed jacket. He then tied on his big red high-top shoes and ran out to join Ochaco.

"Katsuki-kun is already there. He said if we hurry, he might hold a place for us in line. So c'mon!" She grabbed his hand and practically pulled on him like a sled-dog out the door.

Izuku quickly said bye to his mother as they did so. Now running down the stairs and out to the train station.

Once tickets were acquired, they scrambled to their seats and sat back. In unison they sighed in relief and laughed.

"The Hero Festival.... Here we come!" Ochaco smiled.

"When people are freely allowed to use their quirks for fun and show!" Izuku added.

"And all the best heroes will be there!" Ochaco shouted.

Some of the other passengers turned toward the two with a few glares.

The teens sunk in their seats but as they looked at each other, they couldn't help but laugh again awkwardly.

"Can you believe it?! It's been three years since we last saw All Might in person. And we'll get to see him again!" Ochaco said.

"Definitely! I can't wait to tell him about a fighting technique I've been working with!" Izuku replied.

"I've seen you myself, Deku-kun. It's impressive I'll admit, but it is just Karate." She teased.

Izuku huffed and stuck his tongue out at her.