Metamorphosis

Chapter One

Inko handed Izuku the steaming bowl of pork cutlet. "I made your favorite."

Midoriya smiled up at his mother. "Thanks mom." It was one of those rare Saturday afternoons when he didn't have any homework nor prior engagements. He could just enjoy the evening visiting and reminiscing. One moment he was laughing with her and the next his world was crumbling down around him.

In a blur of noise, movement and pain the entire room seemed to dissolve around them and they were both falling, the ceiling and the several floors that lay above them crashing down trapping them beneath tons of concrete, metal and wood. Izuku found himself falling backward into a pit of blackness.

High above the town, standing on the summit of one of the surrounding mountains stood Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri. They watched as first one building and then another trembled and fell, sending plumes of dust high into the air. Tomura giggled. "It's perfect, just perfect."

Kurogiri's yellow eyes narrowed and slid sideways to regard the young leader of their organization. "It seems like a convoluted plan to capture one boy. What if you just killed him with your theatrics?"

Shigaraki turned, one red eye glaring out from between the fingers of the disembodied hand and the greasy strands of blue hair. "It didn't. He's still alive, I can feel it and right now he needs someone, anyone to swoop in and rescue him. He's important. We need him. I need him."

The purple column of mist shifted and reformed. "If you say so Tomura, let us go then." The cloud engulfed him and then they were both gone.

There was a ringing in his ears and the coopery taste of blood in his mouth, Midoriya opened his eyes and tried to sit up. Pain immediately flared through his body and he fell back again coughing. What had happened? He had been with his mother and then this. He carefully turned his head, squinting through the floating dust. Where was she? He turned his attention back to himself. He needed to get up. He needed to find her. He couldn't move. Something incredibly heavy was crushing him from his hips down. One hand traveled fearfully down his body and then stopped at a wall of rock.

He rubbed his eyes again. The dust was so thick it was hard to see. He could only make out a few inches in front of his face. The sunny afternoon had been reduced to an impenetrable gloom. He leaned up as much as he could fighting the pain. His hands felt over the irregular surface, a huge chunk of his mother's apartment building was now pinning him to the ground. He had to get it off.

He had to call up and activate One for All. He tried to clear his mind and focus, channel the power through his hands, move this weight off of himself but fear and pain were swirling around him. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't turn it on. His head was feeling light and there was a warm wetness on his left side. He rubbed at it absently and his hand came back dripping wet. He looked down. He was coated in blood, he was bleeding out. He was dying.

Shigaraki stepped carefully through the debris of his manmade earthquake. He had done several calculations and based on the location of the Midoriya family dwelling and the projected shockwaves, he knew his prey should be somewhere very close. Kurogiri floated slightly behind and to the left of him, his yellow eyes also scanning. Tomura stopped and smiled. "There you are pretty."

Midoriya was drifting, eyes half closed on the verge of losing consciousness when the long, pale, cool fingers brushed lightly against his forehead, smoothing the dusty, green hair from his face. "Deku, stay with me." He opened his eyes, someone had finally come, someone would help him. They would save him and his mother and everything would be all right again.

The face that floated out of the clearing dust was not a friend though, nor a hero, it was Shigaraki. The leader of the alliance that had attacked them. The one that had singled him out and threatened that the next time they met would mean his death. He tried to jerk away from the fingers that could so easily bring pain and death but it amounted to little.

Two cold fingers slid down the side of his face. Midoriya whimpered, this was not how he thought he would die, trapped and bleeding out, unable to even fight. Shigaraki cooed softly near his ear. "Shhhh little one, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm actually going to save you my pretty." He placed both hands on the stone and it started to crumble and dissolve.

As the weight melted off of him, Izuku began to feel a tingling in his legs but he was still getting weaker. He had no choice, Tomura was the only one that had come, no matter what his agenda, he had to trust him. He raised a trembling, blood covered hand and pulled Shigaraki closer. "My mother. Where is my mother?"

Kurogiri's steady voice came from behind his head. "She's right here Midoriya. I'm sorry but she's gone."

He craned his head, trying to see behind him. "No, no, no, it can't be her. She was just…we were just…"

Tomura gathered him up in his arms and stood. Midoriya could now see the broken and bloody form that rested just a foot away from him. It was his mother, unmoving. If you only looked at her face, she appeared to be peacefully sleeping but the back of her head was missing. It was caved in, a mass of red and black. Midoriya shut his eyes tight and clung to the form that held him. "Noooooo."

He could have sworn Tomura bent and kissed the top of his head. "Shhhh pet, there was nothing you could have done, nothing anyone could have done. We need to get you some medical attention soon or you'll be joining her." He turned to the purple swirling shadow beside them. "Kurogiri, to the Sensei please."

The purple swirled around them, tendrils of smoke curling over their arms and legs. It was suddenly very cold and Midoriya had the same weightless feeling as you fall over the first hill of a rollercoaster, then they were no longer amid the destruction. They were in a dark, quiet room. Computer screens glowed and there was the low electronic hum of a lot of equipment. He was gently laid on a table. His eyelids felt very heavy. He blinked once, twice and then could no longer fight the pull of sleep and fell into the darkness.

Tomura, being very careful to only use two fingers, absently stroked Deku's hair. "Sensei, can you please patch him up? Only the major injuries though, I want him down and out for at least a few weeks."

The man in the shadows stepped forward, studying the inert figure before him. "So, he's your plan? All Might's successor? He doesn't look like much."

"He's more than you could imagine and I'll shape him into something completely new."

The man chuckled. "Very well Tomura, I'll humor you and allow you your whim." He placed his hands on the broken body and they began to glow. After a few minutes the light faded and flickered out and he pulled back. "That should be good, be careful you don't create a monster that even you can't control."

Shigaraki picked up the still unconscious Midoriya. "I'll be careful Sensei. Kurogiri, to headquarters." The purple mist again gathered and enveloped the three of them and they were gone.