Prologue

He failed

He failed

HE FAILED

Rain beats on the broken ground as Izuku stares at the makeshift graves with a damaged look. Names of the lost and forgotten engraved themselves into the wood. His hero suit covered his skin, drenched in brown and red water. Turning away from the graves, his eyes face the engulfed flames of the previous prestigious high school of U.A., the rain being no match for the burning flames. He's alone, everyone's dead, and it's his fault.

He shouldn't have trusted him; he shouldn't have thought that he could've been saved; he shouldn't have come back. He walked closer to the flames; the warmth of the heat was welcoming until it scorched his skin and melted his suit, sticking it to his skin. Images of his friends, his family flashed through his head, their laughs and smiles turning to screams and looks of horror as they slowly turned to dust. Closer now to the flames, the soles of his boots start to melt as the ends of his cape begin to burn. He's ready to join them, but for his regrets and his guilt, he decides to burn. Bright lights of red and orange fill his sight as the flames engulf him melting his flesh and burning his bones. His screams die in his throat as the fire destroys his vocal cords before everything, his guilt, his regrets, and his life burn away, leaving nothing but ash behind.

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His eyes blink open as a gentle breeze ruffles his greenish-black curls, unnoticed slime dropping to the ground. The sun slowly lowered in the sky, painting it purple and orange. Blinking a few times allowing his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness, he looks down at the rising skyline of his hometown Musutafu, Japan. Everything was intact, and U.A. stood proudly in the distance. He walked out of the building in a daze, his leg moving on autopilot as his brain wanders in his skull.

How is he here? How is he alive? He felt himself burn; he felt himself turn to ash. An explosion pushes him out of his thoughts, forcing his head up as he crouches into a fighting stance and searches for where to noise came from. A plume of smoke catches his attention as it rises out of a nearby alley.

Why does this seem so familiar, like he's done this before? He races toward the smoke and pushes through the crowd; he stops as his eyes land on a giant pile of moving sludge, green and quicksand-like. 'But that's impossible; how are they here? All Might took them down months ago.' Izuku thought as he watched the scene unfold. In the center of the sludge, just like before, was Katsuki struggling as he tried to pull himself out of the sludge. Fear-stricken ruby-red eyes meet emerald-green ones, and just like before, Izuku's legs are moving, and his bag, which he didn't notice was still on him, flew at the sludge knocking it in the eye. Desperately Izuku clawed at the sludge, just like before, until his hands began to glow, red lines and green lighting encasing them. Plunging his hands into the sludge, he grabs Katsuki's waist and pulls him out, landing on the ground behind them. His vision blurs as the weight of his childhood friend presses into him before allowing the darkness to overtake him.

(573 words)