Chapter 1: Another World
The theory of alternate dimensions was just that—a theory. There was no substantial proof to support any of these theories... or at least that's what was told to the public. If there was anything Accelerator trusted about the white coats of Academy City, it was their ability to remain discreet. Their greed for knowledge knew no bounds. No matter the sacrifice, they'd do as they wished in search of answers and power. Accelerator would know. He'd been one of their main victims or allies in many of their twisted experiments.
Their most recent project was the experiment "Radio Noise." He remembered when he'd first been introduced to the experiment: a large observation room with white walls and bright lights, the reflective window high above, people with cold eyes watching from above like he was beneath them, like he wasn't human. He remembered her... the brown-haired girl with a gun in hand walking into the room and staring at him with dead, emotionless eyes. A clone. Not human. No need to feel guilt. She showed subtle signs of desperation and humanity... but he ignored it. He listened to the wrong people and made choices he could never take back. So, he did the one thing he knew to do: when feelings got hard, he stopped feeling. He stopped caring. And that just made everything worse.
He doesn't know for sure whether he's glad he ran into the real third rank, which involved her boyfriend, the hero. But that last punch hit him... he couldn't even remember why he was fighting so hard. "To become a level 6? Why? Whatever, I don't care anymore." After that, it was one attack after the other, idiots left and right picking fights with him. Losing to a level 0 made many fools grow a pair and decide to try to beat him and become the new "strongest Esper." Fat lot of good that did... why couldn't they just leave him alone? It was a world of darkness and dullness... until he met a brat who wouldn't leave him alone. A brat too kind for her own good... a brat who made him feel less like the monster he was, like he could actually do something good for once. But all that ended with a single bullet... a bullet that went straight through his head. He thought he was going to die, and maybe at that time he was. But he held on... long enough to make sure the kid was safe, long enough so the hag was saved, long enough till he couldn't hold on anymore. Long enough until darkness, the likes of which he'd never seen before, surrounded and overcame his sense of self.
When he opened his eyes again, he thought that maybe he'd dreamt the whole thing up, that it was nothing more than a bad dream... or a good dream, he wasn't exactly sure anymore. But waking up in a drafty and dirty alley instead of his bed made him think twice. The sky was clear, clouds floating above, carefree with no worries. Walking out of the alley, he'd expected to come face to face with another of Academy City's dirty and forgotten streets, full of thugs and ruffians, but instead came face to face with the strangest sight he'd ever seen before. It was a busy street, with hundreds of adults walking about, minding their own business. Now, this was strange because Academy City comprised around 2.3 million people, and only a good quarter of them were adults, scientists, and official authorities like Anti-Skill. It was impossible for this many adults to be seen in one place. But that wasn't what caught Accelerator by surprise; it was their strange appearances. One man had literal eyeballs on the top of his head, sticking out like antennas; another had a long blue tail with hooks at the end; and a woman passed by with orange talons.
And it wasn't just them; almost all the passersby had the most bizarre of appearances, and not a single one acted like it wasn't normal. Accelerator, regaining his composure, hightailed it out of there. Head down, he walked down the pavement as he subtly looked around, doing his best not to draw any attention to himself. Buildings left and right were practically covered in colorful billboards portraying men and women in the oddest of clothes. It was only when he came by a store window showcasing televisions did he pause, the date "2056" and the title "Hero Defeats Shadow Villain" making his breath hitch and his throat close up in shock. THIS WAS NOT ACADEMY CITY!
Accelerator had had a time during those few days, gathering information without getting caught by either heroes or villains, trying to understand how he even ended up here. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wrap his head around it. He was in a different dimension, a dimension that ran under different laws and different rules but with similar physics, and literally no one knew who he was. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. And he couldn't remember the last time he ever cried; then again, he couldn't remember much about anything before he turned ten. And none of his memories were anything remotely worth remembering, as far as he was concerned. It took a while for him to build himself a new identity without making any waves in this new world. But when he finally managed it, he didn't know what to think.
And that's how he's where he is now: a small one-bedroom apartment in a shitty part of this world's Japan, some place called Shibuya, where literally no one wanted to interact with anyone. It was perfect. Laying down on his bed, using his vector control to negate all sound around him, he lay in his moment of silence and peace. Though his living conditions were pretty much the same as where he used to live in Academy City, with noisy, rude, loud, and thuggish neighbors, at least now he wasn't getting attacked at every turn he took. Not every trip he took outside resulted in someone trying to kill him. Just as sleep was about to overtake him, bloody bodies of the Misaka sisters flashed in front of his eyes, and as a younger and more childish version of their face flashed with a smile, which then turned into a body, his eyes shot open.
"God damnit!" he groaned as he brought a hand up to rub the sleep off his face. "I need some fucking coffee!"
Accelerator walked towards the nearest convenience store with a slouch. It was ironic: he got the perfect chance he'd always been waiting for to start a new life, but he was still stuck. Stuck in a place, in a state of mind, that he put on himself, and now he was paying for it. And as much as he wanted to complain about it, as he usually would have done, he couldn't bring himself to do it... because a part of him felt like he more than deserved this... and honestly speaking, he did. He entered the convenience store, keeping his head down and trying to remain as inconspicuous as he possibly could. He walked to the beverages aisle and browsed through, since his original brand, which he used to drink in Academy City, didn't exist in this world. He'd been buying a new coffee every time he came, trying to find a substitute to fill his addiction. Just as he was about to make his pick for the day, a man dressed in a green and orange costume entered, waving a morphed gun fused as an arm around. "Nobody move!" he hollered. Another man entered; he had a shark head and fin sprouting out from his back.
Turning to the cashier, he growled, "Give me everything you've got, and don't even think of calling any heroes, got it?" The shark-man pulled out a bag and handed it to the cashier. The store didn't have many people in it, as it was still early. There was an elderly couple, a mother and kid, the cashier, and some homeless man a few aisles away from Accelerator, who was still casually browsing. Just as the frightened cashier had emptied the entire register into the bag, the shark-man hurriedly approached the elderly couple and thrust the bag towards them. "Everything means everything," he growled. Shaking, the elderly woman unclipped the pearl bracelet around her wrist and dropped it into the bag. She fidgeted a bit and pulled out her purse. Her husband followed her and dropped his own wallet into the bag. The mother was next, and then the homeless man. "Doubt you'd have much on ya to begin with," the villain jeered at the man, whose long black hair covered practically his entire face. When the shark-man approached Accelerator, who was still ignoring the entire situation, he growled at him, "Kid, I suggest that if you don't wanna get hurt, you listen to your elders."
Accelerator, whose power was still negating any form of sound, stood indifferently as he turned his head, noticing movement close to him. Redirecting the sound vectors around him, allowing him to hear again, he looked at the villain impassively. "...Who the fuck are you?" he asked in a dull voice. The shark-man was taken aback, glowering at the boy. He growled, "I'm the greatest predator of the sea: Jaws." Accelerator just looked at him with indifference. "Never heard of you," he stated, no fear or hint of affirmation in his tone. "What do you want?" Shark-man looked at him, stunned. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" he roared. Accelerator, still unfazed, answered, "An overly taxed citizen contemplating suicide." That made the shark-man and the homeless man look at him with a shocked expression. There was absolutely no hint of sarcasm in his voice. Shifting a can of coffee in his hand and inspecting it, Accelerator then looked the man in the eye. "You're in my way; move."
The shark-man blinked. "You're just a brat!" he roared. "I'll teach you a lesson!" The gun-arm transformed into a sword. He swung down towards Accelerator's head, but he caught it with his left hand, and with his right, he punched the man's face. With the sound of a cracked jaw, the man flew backwards and into a shelf. Everyone looked at him in shock and horror as he walked forward, grabbing another can from the shelves and walking towards the counter. As he walked towards the counter, the first villain, a lanky and jittery man, pointed the morphed gun at him. "What the fuck are you?" he asked. Accelerator dropped the coffee can on the counter and ignored him. "Will that be all?" asked the cashier. "Yes," he responded. "That'll be 250 yen," she said. He dug into his pockets, pulled out some change, and handed it to her. The shark-man groaned, trying to get up. "Stay down," Accelerator told him in a low tone.
Accelerator walked towards the door and left. Standing outside the store, he opened the can and took a sip. It wasn't bad. He looked up at the clouds and noticed an orange streak that grew larger and larger, causing a loud boom as it flew by. "...This world's fucking insane," he muttered as he took another sip and continued walking back towards his crap apartment.
He was in a new world, a new life… no matter how hard it was, he was going to try not to slip into old habits and live his life peacefully, away from any villains or heroes. But that didn't mean he was going to turn into a fucking pushover. Though he was grateful the hero intervened when he did (not that he'd ever admit it), otherwise, he'd have attracted a fair amount of trouble… especially if he had to explain himself to the hero, or worse, if he was dragged into a station. Though he did a pretty good job faking his identity in this world, that didn't mean it was perfect. Someone would be bound to notice a few missing pieces in his story, and shit would hit the fan then. An inter-dimensional traveler? No one would leave him alone after that.
Accelerator shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like I go out often, so I doubt much will happen."
Aizawa watched as the villains were hauled into the police car, but all he could think about was that kid. That arrogant, stupid, possibly suicidal kid. Aizawa had been shopping for some cat food that was specially made and, for some reason, only sold at a store miles away from where he lived. He decided he also needed some new coffee beans; coffee was practically an underground hero's best friend. A coworker of his tried to set him up with some branded, already-made canned coffee, but since he already rarely ever ate uncanned food that wasn't part of Lunch Rush's cafeteria meals, he might as well keep it organic with coffee. While he was searching for his favorite brand, he noticed a high school kid browsing for coffee in the canned section. This made him raise an eyebrow; he didn't think kids were into coffee unless they were either in college or working 9-to-5 jobs or something. And by the labels of each can the boy took out, none of them were exactly 'weak'. The boy was an interesting image, that's for certain.
Pale complexion to the point where Shouta was somewhat concerned, white hair that looked like thin spider webs, and red eyes—a darker shade than his own. The boy had a lighter shade of eyebags under his eyes compared to Shouta. He was scrawny as a twig, looking like even a small breeze could knock him over with one blow. The boy wasn't anything particularly interesting. There were plenty of people out there with far more physically eye-catching mutations, but there was something odd about the boy that Shouta couldn't quite explain. Something that made his instincts, honed after years in the hero industry, keep him on edge around the boy. He was contemplating approaching the boy until…
"Nobody move!!"
…Great…
Aizawa didn't do much to draw attention to himself. He was an underground hero, a lot less known than most other heroes, and revealing his identity in public wasn't something he was eager to do. 'I'll wait till they leave and then follow them; I'll be able to take care of them quicker since there are barely any people around at this time in the morning,' his eyes narrowed as he watched the villain, Jaws, if Aizawa remembered correctly—a small-time crook known for his petty thefts and drug dealings alongside a few assault and battery charges—aggressively approach the elderly couple. 'However, if they try to attack or in any way hurt one of the civilians, I'll have to intervene.' He watched quietly and subtly with narrowed eyes as the villain approached each civilian, demanding and collecting their valuables as part of his loot. When the villain approached him, he quietly put in the cash he had in hand.
"Doubt you'd have much on ya, to begin with," Jaws sneered down at him, making him mentally pat himself on the back. 'See, Midnight, sometimes looking like a disheveled bum can give you more advantages than looking like some supermodel,' he snidely thought to himself.
"…Who the fuck are you?"
The villain Jaws had moved on to his next target: the kid. His tone and attitude were completely different from his appearance. The hoarse and rough voice made him sound like he rarely ever used it, and his vulgar language showed a callous attitude. Jaws, looking a bit annoyed at not being known, growled at the kid. "I'm the greatest predator of the sea; Jaws." The villain towered over the boy, who was far too small, Aizawa noted to himself. Anyone in the boy's position would be backpedaling in fear, but… the boy simply had a look of indifference, a look of… boredom? Was the kid faking it?
"Never heard of you." No, he wasn't; his voice was much too steady. "What do you want?" Was this kid serious!?
"An overly taxed citizen…" Apparently not.
"…contemplating suicide." Just great!
So now Shouta has to worry about a duo of wannabe, dangerous villains, six civilians, and one of the six civilians being a suicidal brat. Great! This was turning out to be just a perfect day!
"Shit job ain't paying me enough. I can barely even afford a can of fucking coffee now." Okay, now for that maybe Shouta can sympathize with; coffee is not cheap, especially not the good stuff.
"That ain't my problem, punk. Now hand over everything you've got or die!" The villain was clearly reaching his limit, which was expected; he was taking up too much time on the kid. "This is all I've got." "Good, at least the kid's cooperating now—"
"And I am not! Giving it for nothing else than to get my fucking morning coffee!" …Never mind then.
While the boy's bravery would be commended by others… actually no, there is no one stupid enough to commend anyone who'd do this. Right before the boy was flattened, Aizawa intervened. Apprehending them was easy; they weren't anything too hard for him to handle, but he still would have liked to avoid being seen. "You were clever picking a small-time store like this, especially this early in the morning… not many heroes go on patrol in this area at this time in the morning, or at least… not many of the spotlight heroes," Aizawa couldn't help but mock the two defeated villains. Turning to face the cashier, a young man somewhere in his twenties, with bulging bug eyes and a wide mouth, "Call the cops; tell them the erasure hero caught a few wannabe thugs in Shibuya. It'll get them here faster," he ordered.
Now to take care of that. "Now as for you—ah!" He turned to face where the boy had been standing, hoping to lecture and reprimand the boy on his recklessness, which could have gotten himself as well as others into danger, but found the boy missing. Aizawa had apprehended the villains near the only entrance to the store; nobody could go in or out without him noticing. But this kid did—the scrawny, twig-thin brat managed to slip past him without him even realizing it.
Well, that was certainly something unsettling.
"Eraser Head," a cheerful voice called out to him, grabbing his attention. He turned, coming face to face with Miss Joke, a colleague of his. "Miss Joke? Surprised to see you here," he said. "A bit far from your agency, isn't it?" She smiled. "Nah, I'm here on a case." She glanced at the police car where the villains were being held. "When I heard there was an incident somewhere nearby, I thought I'd check it out." She looked back at him with a smirk, a familiar mischievous look in her eyes. "Wasn't expecting to see you here, though." Then in an overly dramatic tone, she sighed, "It must be fate—"
"No." His interruption was quick, firm, and rehearsed, which just sent the laughing hero into a huff, nearly choking on her own saliva. "I knew you'd say that!" she laughed. With an exhausted sigh, Aizawa continued, "Miss Joke, did you see anyone on your way here?" he asked. "Specifically a white-haired boy with red eyes and a rather pale complexion?"
Miss Joke looked at him in surprise. "No, I didn't. Why?"
"I had a few words I wanted to share with him, but he disappeared before I could."
"Oh! So this kid grabbed your interest? That's rare."
"He didn't grab my interest; he caught my annoyance."
"Oh, do tell?"
"The brat wouldn't stop antagonizing the villain. The villain looked like he was about to chomp the boy's head off."
Miss Joke laughed. "Damn, that takes guts."
"No… that takes 20 years off my life span," he looked at her with a bland expression, which only made her laugh even harder.
"The kid also mentioned suicide." Miss Joke sobered up pretty quickly at that. "I don't know if he was serious or not; I couldn't tell," Aizawa remembered his eyes, dull like he was tired, a look he'd seen in many victims of abuse. "I'd rather not let this be another 'what if' case." Miss Joke nodded at him in understanding, one of the rare few times she wasn't cracking jokes. "If I ever spot him, I'll notify you immediately," she reassured. Aizawa nodded his head in gratitude. Just as he turned to leave, she hollered at him once more. "Oh! Hey, Eraser," he turned back at her. "I heard you're getting a new batch of kids this year. Try not to traumatize 'em too much, will ya?" She smiled, a wide grin full of mischief, one which he returned in full.
"No promises."