Hello, everyone!
JLyman here with something new for once. But before I begin, I would like to express something that I should've done some time ago...
As you all know, ever since the beginning of 2020, our world was, and still is, being affected by a deadly disease known as the Coronavirus. I wouldn't be affected by this until March of this year, when the area surrounding my home had to be shut down and my college had to suddenly shift to online classes. Like many of you, I was scared at first. My family and I never experienced anything like this.
But thankfully, we planned ahead, pulled through, and as of today, neither I nor my family have tested positive.
However, others weren't so lucky.
I can only express sorrow for those who have contacted the virus, as well as send my condolences to those who have lost someone close to them.
As for those who are still scared, I have a few things to say.
Don't be afraid. These are desperate times, but be mindful that you still have people you can talk to; that you can trust.
Be mindful that you are not alone in this.
Be mindful that we can get through this, as long as we stay safe.
And lastly, be mindful to never forget that COVID-19 will not last forever.
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Anyway, now it's time to discuss on what I have in store for today.
From the labeled sections alone, this story is a crossover between My Hero Academia and Marvel, more specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe... well, it's not really an 'official' story yet.
As stated in the title, this is just a sneak peek of what I may have in store for the future. This snippet is intended to be the very beginning of the first part of a set of four chapters, but I want to hear your thoughts about the content down below before I continue.
This may feel mysterious at first, so I expect you to have a lot of questions after reading this.
Enjoy. :)
He did it.
After long years of trying, attempting, fighting, failing, and succeeding...
...he finally did it.
With the help of his friends, family, and even those he loved and cared for...
...he finally did it.
They won.
Those who were determined to destroy everything and everyone he hold dear to were now gone.
Though it didn't stop him from thinking about them.
These enemies... had lingered through most of his life. Every now and then, he and his companions would encounter them and fight them with all their might, even at times when their lives were on the line.
Now, they were finally gone.
All it took was for him to snap his fingers.
He would've chuckled at how ironic it was for him to do something so simple and yet it took him years to get to this point.
But he didn't because doing that would go against the beliefs he had practiced his whole life...
...and also because he didn't had the strength to do so.
He can already feel his body going numb, as he laid his left arm on a small mound of rubble.
He turned around and began feeling his legs give away.
He then collapsed and laid his back on the cold stone; his breathing now short, raspy, and shallow.
Throughout his life, ever since he learned the full extent of his Quirk, he would at times think of ways to undermine and prevent the cost of using his powers, especially when he was told that he can become a god.
He would deny those words because he knew that there was only one God.
...and he was not him.
But when push came to shove, he would do everything necessary to prevent the ultimate price.
This time, however, that didn't work.
For the first time in his life, he would actually agree with his arch-nemesis; that there are some things that he can never change.
...and he was okay with that.
Because he knew there was nothing left he, his friends, family, and the ones he loved and cared for would fear.
He then heard a soft 'thunk' to his left and shifted his eyes toward the sound.
Oh look, it was his brother walking towards him... or was it his sister? He couldn't really tell, because his eyes were starting to get blurry.
He then feels their hand landing on his shoulder; their eyes fixating on his.
Up close, it was the only thing he can see from them, and what he saw in those eyes was a mixture of regret and sadness.
He completely understood what his brother/sister was feeling right now.
"Hey..., hey, can you hear me?" He then heard a voice; this one not from the person whose hand was on his shoulder, and was now shifting his head to the ground.
He shifted his eyes toward someone else running up to him. Like the person before him, he couldn't recognize if this other person was a boy or a girl.
Fortunately, he was able to recognize this other person by the sound of their voice.
"It's me. It's me, your best friend. C-can you hear me?" the other person said, who now was on their knees looking straight at his face.
That's right; it was his best friend... or one of his best friends who he had met in high school.
It was days that he would never forget; days where he would share his laughter, tears, anger, and comfort toward those he grown close to...
...and he was about to share them one last time.
"We won," his best friend continues after taking a short pause, "We got them. We did it-We won... ...and we cou-*guh*" He suddenly noticed the tears rapidly falling down his best friend's face.
But that wasn't the only thing he noticed.
Behind the two people that kneeled in front of him came a large group of other people he had met in his life.
His classmates...
His teachers...
Pro-Heroes and Pro-Heroines he met along the way...
And even those who were once Villains but were redeemed because of him...
They were all gathering around him to see the end...
...and he was happy.
There was also someone there, walking towards him, that made his slowing heart ache a bit.
Unlike most people, he was able to recognize this person as a girl.
But not just any girl.
She was someone who he would eventually fall in love with...
...and also one of the few that he considered special.
He watched his brother/sister lift their hand from his shoulder and stand up, followed by them moving his crying best friend away in order to give his beloved some room.
His beloved kneels down and looks at him with a sad smile.
He watched her open her mouth.
At that moment, he realized that his hearing was growing near inaudible.
Not wanting her to think that he was ignoring her, he used his remaining strength to let out a weak, soft "yes?"
He notice her smile dim a tiny bit and tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
He wasn't able to look down, but he can feel her hand grasping his own and carrying it up to his dimmed heart.
He then watches her move up to his left ear and speak once more.
"We're gonna be okay... You can rest now."
For some reason, he felt that these words would be the last he would ever hear.
As he watch his beloved shift back to look at his face, his eyes shift one last time to the rest of his companions.
Some were already crying. Others were trying their hardest not to, with a select few failing to do so.
He knew what they were feeling.
They didn't want to see him go.
At the moment, he started to feel afraid.
But that feeling was quickly subdued when he saw the very last thing he would ever see in his life.
Rising behind all he knew and loved was the sun; its orange rays shining through the destroyed structures and cratered ground.
Even though he has seen the sunrise many times, this one gave him a sense of clarity and hope that some day onward his friends, family, and loved ones would smile again.
He made one last thought, as he drew his last breath and his world turns into a pitch white.
'Thank you... for giving me this life.'
Izuku Midoriya let out a sharp gasp, as he instantly shot up from his bed.
This was followed by a series of rapid breaths and him placing his right hand over his heart.
Slowly, he attempts to calm down by gently closing his eyes and taking long, deep breaths. Fortunately, this works; his beating heart slowly crawls back to its normal pace and his forehead cools down from his mini panic attack.
W-w-what... was that?, Izuku thought, as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.
He had dreams where he was the person who saved the day, defeated the bad guy, made everyone smile, or at least made everyone recognize who he really was and be accepted by it. Then there were dreams that hit closer to reality, where he was shamed and bullied for not having a Quirk and left abandoned by those he admired throughout his life.
The dream he just woke up from was a first.
The experience felt so real to him,... and that alone made it hard to forget.
But what was so strange was that he felt like it actually happen, and yet he never remembered it happening before.
Then there was the fact that, unlike usual, he didn't feel like this dream was focused on him at all.
...Well, it was more like him being part of the crowd than him being the one slowly dying.
Even still, his dream did focus on someone.
Like the dream itself, Izuku somehow felt some sort of familiarity toward that person, and yet he knew he never met this person before. He couldn't recall anyone who was so self-sacrificing.
Oddly enough, it felt like he and this unknown person had something in common: They both wanted to be a hero because they both wanted to make people smile.
As that thought crossed his mind, Izuku finally felt the small droplets hitting his blanket and the wet stains trailing down his cheeks. He pressed his fingertips to his face and can feel the continuous tears now spreading down his hand.
"I'm... crying," Izuku muttered aloud. A short pause followed, before he wiped his wet eyes, "Why am I crying?"
Now, he would admit that he was a crybaby. There were times where he would cry because of occasional incidents like bullying or being neglected by his peers. There were also times where he would cry because of something that was emotionally impactful to him; like that time he remembered a few months ago, when he was told by All Might that he can be a hero.
This time was neither of those cases... and it felt so unnatural.
How can he cry for someone he didn't know? In fact, he didn't know if this person even exist.
Yet that familiarity was still there...
Izuku slaps his cheeks; trying to understand the odd dilemma he was in.
But he knew that having another muttering spree in the middle of the night was not gonna help at all.
"I should bring this up to All Might tomorrow," Izuku said, as he laid his head back on his pillow, "It may have something to do with One For All."
With a plan in mind, Izuku Midoriya close his eyes and slowly drift back to Dreamland.
Even though this dream he had was awfully strange, what he didn't know that it was connected to something much, much bigger.
Do you believe in destiny?
And if so, do you want to change its course?
Infinity
And that's where I'll leave things off.
I know most of this feels sad, especially since half of it is very familiar to a specific scene in "Avengers: Endgame." All I can say is that the person who 'dies' in Izuku's dream is NOT Tony Stark.
I hope everyone has a good day, night, or whenever they are, and I'll see you all again next time.
Stay safe out there.