1 Big, Red And Four-Armed--What's The Matter With That?

The first thing I felt was how utterly shit I felt.

My arms hurt. My head hurt. It hurt to breath, so obviously my chest hurt. As odd as it sounded, even my blood hurt. As it flew through my veins, it was like molten iron, burning my veins in a storm of pain. It was horrible.

I cracked my eyes open and saw an unfamiliar surrounding...yet I found that I didn't know what WAS familiar to me. The feeling got even more prevalent when I thought about a few things. What's my name? Who am I? What the hell just happened to me? Though the question were put on hold when I looked around and noticed the crater I was in...and all the people looking down into it at me. They were gawking at me like a circus animal and honestly, I can't blame them. I'd probably look at the guy in a crater like that as well.

Everyone looked Asian, though I had no clue whether that was what made this place unfamiliar to me. Was I Asian? White? Black? I looked down at myself and figured out the answer pretty quickly - I wasn't any of those. I was bright red.

I also saw the extra arms. The oddity of my feet stuck out to me as well--you know, how I only had two toes and they definitely looked unfamiliar. Everything about me just screamed different to some fuzzy part at the back of my head. This...this wasn't my body. The feeling of extra arms was just weird. But I had a suspicious amount of control of the newer, lower pair than I thought I would as I pushed myself up.

Huh. I only have four digits on each hand as well. Three fingers and an opposable thumb. Definitely not whatever I was used to before this sudden amnesia was sprung on me.

Standing felt just as weird as I looked. I felt very well...balanced, despite my new form. That is if it is new. But it feels new. And that's the best I can get for now. Also just as new was the utter power I felt flooding through my limbs. My feet crunched into the broken ground below it and I barely felt the sharp shards of earth press up against my felt. The pain across my body faded and I saw through the torn up rags that used to be clothes that wounds on my body were beginning to heal rapidly. With the pain gone, the feeling of power was the only thing left and it was intoxicating.

I felt like I could bench press a car and then throw it a block while still having plenty of gas in the tank.

The people around the crater were louder now and some of them were taking out their phones to either film me or call emergency services. Well, feds are on their way now so I guess I can just stick around and wait? Though that kinda seems like a bad idea when I look down at my red skin, four arms and weird feet. I mean, I might not have any personal memories but I guess I still have common sense. If I stick around, I'm due for an appointment at Area 51. That's for sure.

Looking to the only side of the crater that didn't seem to have people crowding it, I had the thought of trying out my new power and took a jump in the direction with a lack of people. And boy was I surprised.

The crater must've been at least eight feet deep but I easily jumped out of it and cleared another ten feet beyond that before landing on what must've been a road before I landed in it--on that thought, how had I landed here? From the size of that crater, I must've either been thrown into it by some ungodly force or I fell from an extraordinary height. I guess that power I'm feeling isn't just limited to strength and I'm also now built of some very sturdy stuff.

As I landed, I thought I was about to stumble when I landed, the surprise at my jump distance catching me off guard but as soon as I hit the ground I instantly righted myself. Heh. This new balance is actually pretty cool, huh?

The people's gazes and their phones followed my athletics but they didn't seem surprised with my superhuman physicality. More just my appearance. Getting a better look at some of the people in the crowd made me stop for a bit as well. They looked Asian, sure, but that was purely in facial features. The majority of people had hair-colour you couldn't really see in the East. Or anyway, actually.

Blond was the least weird of the colours. There was an ocean of reds, blues, greens--hell, might as well just call it what it is. A rainbow. There's a goddamn rainbow of colour. Some people actually did have multiple different colours on their heads like a rainbow.

Not just that, I could see people with oddness that matched my own. Limbs too long for a normal human, people with horns or scales, some even with claws...not to mention that some of them were humanoid but looked nothing like a human save for the fact they were dressed like office workers in simple-looking suits.

The ones that were particularly un-human like in appearance looked between the phones filming me and myself before giving me looks of sympathy.

...I can get that. They've probably had people staring at and/or filming them too, most likely.

But seriously, what the hell is happening? Where am I? I can definitely tell that this wasn't like whatever I had before. None of these things seems to match up with that fuzzy part in my head, the hole left behind by my seemingly erased memories. I went to walk away from the crowd before I heard something above me, the surroundings slowing as I felt my heart - hearts? - beating faster and I looked up to see a shadowy figure come down from the sky. They landed with a skid and their arms held out wide as they looked at me.

They were kinda odd looking but I couldn't place it. They looked average. Too average. So average it went full circle and began un-average. They had black hair, black eyes, pale skin and their build and height were average as well. Yet something deep inside of me screamed at the sight of them.

Danger.

The person, a man I presume, looked up at me with a sly grin and upon a closer look I saw that when his mouth opened there was nothing inside. Just darkness. Looking closer at his pale skin, I saw little cracks running across his entire body and each crack was filled with darkness. His eyes were just as dark as the abyss in his mouth, with no discernible pupil and the blackness dripped into his sclera like food colouring in water. It wiggled like it had a mind of it's own.

Everything about this man was just...wrong.

"---?" The man asked, his mouth the abyss I'd seen before when he smiled, but I had no idea what he said. Japanese, I think? But I couldn't be sure.

I did the universal gesture of 'I have no idea what you're saying' aka one pair of my arms crossed and the ones above that pointed between his mouth and my ears. Quickly realised I don't have any ears. How the hell am I even hearing anything? Anyway, the guy squeezed his eyebrows together before realising hit him and he actually laughed, "---!" he got out in between laughs before the cracks on his skin began to glow a horrible dark, tendrils flooding from his body before directing itself to his hands.

Then, all of a sudden, he had a minigun made of shadows held between his hands. Then he pointed it at the crowd behind me and pulled the trigger.

I had no clue what pushed me to do it. Whether it was the truth that was apparent to me from the crater - that I was apparently insanely durable - or whether it was an instinct from whatever came before this. Was I used to danger? To helping people? Whatever the reason I leaped in front of the minigun and raised the top pair of arms to cover my face while the lower pair were spread wide to stop whatever they could. Luckily, I really was durable. Bulletproof durable, actually.

The bullets of solid darkness slammed against my form and bounced off before disappearing before they could hit the floor. Screams broke out behind me and the man in front of me was cackling madly over the loud minigun he was still firing. He tried to fire to the side of me before juking back the other way, trying everything he could to hit the crowd. He seemed to enjoy it, smiling an empty smile as he did so. Like it was a game.

Something about that pissed me off. Pissed me off something bad.

"Listen here, buddy," I spoke out, my voice deeper than I was expecting, "I don't get what the fuck is happening but if you don't fucking quit it, I'm gonna slap you fucking silly!" I bellowed over the sounds of rapid gunshots, glaring from between the gap in the arms covering my face. I frowned when he just smiled wider and something told me he sorta understood what I was saying. Or at least the anger it.

When he didn't stop shooting, I gave an honest to goodness growl, anger boiling inside my chest in a way I hadn't been prepared for and with a roar, I charged the guy with reckless abandon. It was stupid - I should've just stayed still and acted as a shield for the crowd behind me. But this anger inside me was just so...alien to me.

His eyes widened at the speed of my charge and barely conjured a shield of shadows before I burst through it and grabbed him with my lower arms and slammed him into the building behind him.

It wasn't until the anger passed a little that I realised how easily I'd manhandled a full-grown man. He barely weighed a thing and even after only putting a little effort into the throw, he slammed into the concrete wall behind him with enough force to send spiderweb-like cracks throughout the wall he'd hit.

His black eyes widened and his mouth opened wide in a silent scream, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. Dropping to the floor, he spat out a little blood and looked up to me with a murderous glare, the earlier mirth leaving him quicker than the darkness pooling around his form, "---" he said something before the darkness held close to his body and formed something like armor. Then he rushed at me with his fist reared back, the floor below his feet cracking under the force of his charge.

Yet he was so slow in my eyes. Despite the obvious force of his stride, despite whatever enhancement that armor of darkness--it just wasn't enough for him to be quick in my eyes.

I lifted one of my arms and slapped him into the floor with a bit more strength than what I'd used to throw him just a moment ago. His eyes went wide once again as my red palm pressed up against the top of his head, forcing him down and straight into the floor. He gave a wheezing breath and twitched...and then nothing else. Nudging him with my foot, I got a groan that told me he was alive and then I looked to the hand that had slapped him down. What kind of body is this? Durable, fast, strong...jeez, this is the whole package. Even with the oddness to it.

I picked the guy up with an arm and ignored how little exertion it took, looking at his bloody face, his eyes closed and blood flooding from his nose and mouth. Seeing he really was flat out, I walked over to a railing and placed him up against it - then I decided to give it a go and grabbed the metal either side of him and gave it a tug. It easily gave way under my new muscle and I easily wrapped it around the guy. Honestly, it was like molding clay, not metal.

Still crossing my lower arms, I clapped my upper ones together and brushed them off after a bit of 'hard' work. It was then that a new person arrived.

"--_--_---_!" the new arrival, a big man even taller than me, dashed around the scattered crowd and checked to see if everyone was alright. Oddly enough, everyone he spoke to seemed filled with energy soon after. In fact, everyone he spoke to looked up at him with starry-eyed expressions and a near-palpable awe and admiration that you'd only ever see around super-dedicated/stalker fans around celebrities. All the while he was speaking with some of the crowd, some of them pointed to me while speaking.

Then when he was done, he turned to me.

He looked between me and the shadow dude wrapped up in a railing and raised a blond eyebrow as he walked over and inspected the knocked out man next to me before looking to me and giving me a thumbs up while also giving me a look of admonishment, "Young man,-_--_---!" he said in a booming voice and I only caught the start of the sentence. It was definitely Japanese, because he called me 'shounen' which means 'young man' or 'young boy' and I'm pretty sure that isn't a word in many other languages. Plus the Asian facial features and I'm sure of it.

I'm in Japan.

...When did Japan get superheroes again?

"Oh man," I sighed, palming my head with one of my upper hands, "I've no clue what you're saying," I said as slowly as I could just in case he had some familiarity with English.

I mean, he looked the part, after all. Blond hair, blue eyes, dressed in red, white and blue like an American patriot. If anyone was gonna understand me, it'd be this guy, right?

And it actually seemed to work, his eyebrows rising in realisation as he gave a light chuckle, "English?" he asked in a slightly accented voice, though it was still miles above what you'd expect from a dude in Japan. He coughed when I nodded, nodding along himself, "A tourist then? I must apologise that you had to deal with such an inconvenience while visiting Japan though...it's my duty to reprimand you for public usage of your Quirk and putting yourself in danger instead of waiting for a Pro. Though on a more personal note--Well done, young man! You protected the crowd behind you like a true hero!" he smiled wide, his voice booming through the immediate area around us and it was only now that I was beginning to take in his genuinely imposing presence.

I was tall. Brawny too, with wide shoulders, a thick chest, big arms and muscular legs. But this dude? He was massive. I felt like a kid in front of him and his bulk. And his voice - it seemed like the only two volumes the guy knew were loud and louder.

But then I realised what he'd said. Quirk? The hell is a Quirk? And a tourist? I mean, it's a safe assumption but..."Uh, I'm not a tourist. I think," I stopped when I saw his confused expression and pointed to my head, "I think I'm an amnesiac. Can't remember who I am--or where I was until you said we're in Japan. Do you, I don't know, think that maybe you can escort me to the appropriate service to figure out what's going on?"

His face, which had been smiling wide, faltered a little the more I went on and in the end he was looking at me with some real concern. He placed a hand on my shoulder as a comforting gesture while he still kept a brilliant smile on his face, "Don't you worry even a little, young man! We'll get you sorted out in lightning speed! Aside from that, do you have any questions?"

"Yeah," I nodded and trailed off for a moment as I composed myself, "What should I call you?"

The blond man stopped, his face freezing in further realisation - bit of an air head, huh? - before put his arms akimbo to his sides and answered me with what I was beginning to feel was his signature booming voice, "Hahaha! Of course you wouldn't know me!" he laughed at himself before shaking his head and continuing, "You can call me All Might, young man! The Symbol of Peace and the Number #1 Ranked Pro-Hero in Japan!"

...Pro-Hero? He'd said that before. 'Waiting for a Pro', so a Pro-Hero? I guess that makes...some sense. Again, the hell is up with this place? Guys with superpowers aside, the fact literal heroes were a thing is kinda crazy.

And the Rank #1 Pro in Japan? Damn, this dude must be pretty strong then. Or at least that's what I'm assuming based off of his appearance and him being the top rank. For all I know they could decide the ranks based off of people saved or popularity. If that's the case, a really strong guy might be ranked low because all he does is fight Villains--which should be a thing, right? If there are Heroes, it only makes sense that Villains exist. Take for example that douche with the dark/shadow powers from earlier; he had to be a Villain. Firing on a crowd with a minigun...Well, if that ain't villainous, it sure as hell is insane.

Well, anyway, I should probably exhaust this All Might for as many questions as I can. Not like I'm always gonna have the Rank #1 to teach me stuff.

"I've got another question, All Might, sir," I asked, scratching at a temple with one hand while the other three just dangled at my side. All Might turned his attention back to me, his smile taking on the type you'd see in a teacher talking to a student - a patient one and one filled with joy that they could teach something to the younger generation. Am I a part of the younger generation? How old am I, actually?--Questions for later, I guess. I turned my attention back to All Might and asked my question, "What in God's name is a Quirk?"

. . .

"So..." I trailed off, leaning against the chair I was now sitting in, "Quirks appeared a few centuries ago, caused a lot of havoc, led to a few wars and drastic societal change in the form of vigilantes who took the law into their own hands to fight off people who used their new powers for selfish reason--Feel free to correct me if I've got this wrong," I said across the table to the giant form of All Might who was sitting in a chair a little too small for him.

All Might shook his head with his ever-present smile still on his face, "No, no, you've got it all right so far, young man! Go on," he gestured for me to do so with his hand and so I did.

"Alright--after a bunch of big fights between vigilantes and these proto-Villains, most, if not all, of the countries around the world began to recruit this vigilantes under the Pro-Hero Act. Which has been the status quo for the last century or two but instead of ever letting people go down the vigilante route, the government have set up Highschools with Hero Courses throughout the nation to help nurture the next generation of Pro-Heroes. Oh and there's a law that stops you from using your Quirk in public, unless it's in self-defence. Even then it's kinda frowned upon."

I took a moment to digest the information further now that I'd said it and All Might gave a nod, "That's about right, yes. Though I must say that it's only frowned upon because people without the right training can end up doing more damage than the Villains or their attackers depending on their Quirk."

Shrugging in response, I gave a nonchalant reply, "I get that but there wasn't much else I could do. It was either let him shoot down a bunch of innocents or intervene."

"Don't get it twisted, young man--I'm not admonishing you when I say that. You handed it very well, actually, considering the circumstances of your memory loss and whatnot. In fact, with a lack of memories, your actions showed you to be a very heroic person!" he gave me a thumbs-up and laughed as he did so.

...He's a bit eccentric, isn't he? He doesn't really act like the Rank #1 Pro-Hero or the Symbol of Peace for the world. More like that funny uncle who ends up in tonnes of shenanigans and gets a bunch of stories to tell because of that. Still, I couldn't help but grin and give an embarrassed chuckle in reply.

What? He's eccentric but I like him. He's got charisma, okay? Besides, having the top rank of Pro-Hero society in Japan compliment you is a pretty big deal, you know!

Just as that was over, the door to the room we were in opened and in walked a man in a lab coat. His hair was stark white and unkempt, laying upon his shoulders in messy waves and his eyes were bright pink with what looked like a symbol of a syringe for a pupil. His appearance was actually pretty ghoulish with his lanky physique and gaunt face but still, he held a friendly smile on his face as he walked into the room. Luckily, he also knew English.

"Ah, Dr. Miyamoto!" All Might stood up with his eyes expectant for the results of the test I'd undergone about fifteen minutes ago when we arrived at a specialised branch of this areas Police which are all about helping people who've been injured as part of a crime.

Why they're not a part of a hospital I don't know but maybe it has something to do with taking statements after applying first-aid or whatever. Who knows how this superpowered society works.

"All Might," Dr. Miyamoto nodded to the man before gesturing for his to sit again, "I've finished the scan with my Quirk and I must say, his Quirk has changed his physiology quite a bit. So much so that finding out the cause of his memory loss was a bit difficult...but I did it." He pulled a chair up to the table All Might and I were at and sat down, "The memory loss isn't a physical problem. There's no damage to the brain at all, no matter how I try and look at it. That only leaves the memory loss being brought on by mental circumstances - trauma, most likely. You say you woke up in a crater?" he asked me.

I nodded, "Yeah. Really hurt too--or at least the aftermath did, anyway," I gave a weak grin, knowing there wasn't much the doctor could do if the problem was entirely mental.

"Hm," he hummed to himself before looking between All Might and myself, "I'm afraid the news only gets worse. We've used his unique appearance and the few blood samples we could get from his tongue to try and find out who he is...but no system has anything about him. As far as the greater catalogue of Quirks is concerned, this young man here doesn't exist."

That declaration bubbled in the air for a few seconds and I felt a pit form in my stomach upon hearing it. If that's the case...really, who am I?

All Might leaned his chin on a closed fist as he looked down at the table, his wide smile having left his face and instead just being a thin line across his lower face, "That is...very troubling. Very troubling, indeed," he took a breath before looking to me. He must've seen the malaise inside my chest because he flashed a smile, "Well, it's not all doom and gloom, young man. Did you find anything out about his age, Dr. Miyamoto?"

"Yes," the gaunt man smiled my way, "Despite his massive size and apparent strength, he's a fourteen-year-old with a blood-type of AB negative. His Quirk is a composite of a Mutant-type and a Transformation-type, which means beyond his current appearance he should be able to change further. From the results I saw of his physiology from my own Quirk, he has a very powerful Quirk that gives him exceptional strength, durability and surviveability. Even gives him incredible reflexes and agility...Though I suppose he doesn't really care about that with the rest of the bad news," the doctor stopped himself from going on further, realising his passionate explanation wasn't really cheering me up.

I mean, I guess I'm glad I have a strong Quirk but I'd like to have my memories back as well because all I'm left with now are stacks of questions. Felt like my brain was gonna overheat because of my lack of memories and all the questions that brought me.

"So, uh...what happens now? Do I get sent to an English speaking country or something?" I asked, suddenly nervous for what this all meant.

All Might looked at me for a second before turning his smile up to max power, "Well, what happens next is decided by you, young man! You can stay in Japan and I'll help you get a citizenship, get into a home for young people like you and help you get into a school. Though if you stay, learning the language will be the first hurdle you'll have to pass. Or, yes, you can be sent to America where I can also help you get a citizenship. It's your choice."

...I'd rather it not be my choice, man.

I leaned back into my appropriately sized chair, the metal groaning a little under my weight but holding steady anyway. Do I wanna stay here? Part of me does. Do I wanna go to America? Part of me feels like it'll be more familiar to me but another part of me knows that it'll be the same as here. Superpowers, or Quirks, would've changed the world all over and because they seem so completely foreign to me...does it matter where I go? Everywhere I go is just gonna be unfamiliar to my eyes.

Besides, it's not like I'm actually from America or Canada or Britain. The world has no records of me. In the end, it all depends on how much effort I wanna go through.

Learn a new language and get a citizenship or get on a plane and get a citizenship. The latter is definitely easier...but part of me doesn't wanna do that. I feel like I should learn more about myself here before I go gallivanting around the world trying to find a place to fit in.

Fuck, this is annoying.

I rubbed at my face with two of my hands while crossing the other pair across my chest, "This is annoying. I just want my memories back--that'd probably help, right?" I asked to no one in particular before anger spiked in my chest and I stood, grabbing the chair I was sitting on and throwing it at the nearby wall with incredible force. The metal chair collided with the concrete wall and the legs impeded themselves into it before crumbling under the remaining inertia, "Fuck!" I gave a shout before feeling a steady hand put itself on my shoulder.

I looked over my shoulder at All Might, trying my best to glare at him. Trying my best to spur my anger on, to try and block out the helplessness I felt at my apparently hopeless memory situation...but seeing his sad smile just brushed aside my anger and left me feeling like crap.

"It's alright, kid," he said and my arms went limp to my side, my eyes burning and my chest heaving. I felt stuffy and trapped inside a body that wasn't my own.

"It's...it's not, though," I choked out, looking up into All Might's eyes with mine, "I've lost all my memories, I've got no place to go, I look like a freak--It's not alright! It's the right fucking opposite of alright!" I bellowed, my throat hoarse and choked, tears beginning to stream down my eyes. "Why can't I just remember?!" I asked, going to slam a fist against my head in a stupid attempt to try and kickstart my brain but All Might's other hand snapped forward and grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

"It's all gonna be fine, because I'm here, young man," he smiled down at me with that blinding smile and I felt the tightness in my chest alleviate ever so slight and that's all it took to take the wind right out of my sails, my arms falling limply to my sides minus the one still held at the wrist by All Might. Anguish had turned into anger and rage, and now anger and rage had turned into sadness.

All Might pulled me into a comforting hug and pat me on the back, "It's gonna be fine," was all he said.

But honestly? It was exactly what I needed to hear.