Skid Row

Abel was born in a tent in Los Angeles California, and in the most dangerous neighborhood at that. Skid Row, a place where the drug addicts, violent villains, and homeless thrive. It isn't a place that children should visit, much less grow up in.

His father was a former pro hero with a decent strength enhancement quirk, it wasn't flashy or amazing so he wasn't very popular or in the spotlight much. But he still strived towards making it in the top one hundred in California at the very least. Fate had very different ideas for him though.

After a massive drug bust involving fentanyl and some other minor drugs, Abel's father didn't even realize he had accidentally ingested a incredibly small dose of fentanyl, he was hooked immediately. He was very lucky that he was able to survive his first contact with an odorless, tasteless, and lethal drug like fentanyl, but that didn't stop him from going back for more.

Abel's father finally got the fame that he wanted, but not in a good sense. His father was caught stealing a drug dealers' stash after he captured them in order to satisfy his drug addiction. His actions had caused a small butterfly affect that quickly lead to his family's demise before poor Abel was even born.

The media began slandering his father's already nonexistent reputation even worse just to make his life a living hell. They media didn't stop with just his father, they went after Abel's quirkless mother too. Angry victims of drug dealers and crazy "true hero" fans trashed and vandalized her small business just because she was married to him.

Obviously, his father's hero license was revoked and just like that they had nothing left. With no stable source of income, a bad reputation, and a crime on his record, it was impossible for him to get a job and pay the bills. They couldn't even stay in their own neighborhood since they were so despised, it wasn't safe for them to stay there any longer. They traveled neighborhood to neighborhood just to find a place where they wouldn't get harassed by anyone.

Eventually, the poor couple found themselves in a place that was completely lawless: Skid Row. No heroes bothered patrolling here for one simple reason, there wasn't anybody worth protecting here in the first place. Just nobodies that would shank you over a moldy piece of bread.

It was a terrible situation to be in, but they had hope. They prayed and prayed that their child would be born with a powerful quirk so that he could eventually grow up and apply for a high paying job. They wanted to escape, they wanted an easy way out of this mess. And their son could be the answer that they were looking for. Power is everything in this world, if you aren't strong then you're a nobody. Simple as that.

For four years, they had saved every single penny that they had just to take him to a hospital and figure out what his quirk is. If he manifested a strong quirk, they would send him to school and support him in every way possible. If his quirk was weak then...

Abel shuddered, he knew what kind of people his parents were. They would do just about anything to ensure their own happiness before anyone else's, including his own. Abel was young, but he was smart enough to understand that his life was in this doctor's hands.

"Hmm.. well Mr. and Mrs. Moore, congratulations! Your child has a single jointed pinky toe, his quirk should be ready to manifest now. I'll get the assessment tests ready to see what it could possibly be, in the meantime please watch over him to make sure he isn't feeling unwell." The doctor quickly excused himself and began preparing the tests.

*Sigh* "Thank god he has a quirk, all of our suffering won't be for nothing! Haha! We'll finally have a way out!" Abel's father unknowingly released a sigh of relief, he began laughing and smiled excitedly. It's as if he was receiving the news about his own quirk all over again.

"Please calm down Thomas, we're still in the hospital for Christ's sake! We also don't know if it's strong or not, for all we know it could be a useless quirk." Abel's mother huffed as she reprimanded her husband, despite her harsh words she was also excited to learn her son had a quirk.

"Oh I'm sure that it'll be fine Lisa, as long as it's useful we'll be able to get back on our feet and leave this shitty state for good! Maybe we should

move to Canada for a fresh start, I heard that the people there are quite nice and welcoming." Thomas brushed off his wife's concerns and continued to smile brightly.

Abel felt nervous after hearing his mother, he didn't want to let them down. But he wasn't feeling very well either, his head had been killing him ever since he woke up earlier this morning. Did it have something to do with his quirk? If so, then he wasn't sure how a headache was going to help his parents. He wanted to ask for Tylenol or Ibuprofen but medicine was expensive, and Abel didn't want to strain their already tight budget. Thus, he stayed seated quietly and endured it without letting his pain show.

The doctor returned shortly with a few things in his hands, which included some papers for registering Abel's quirk. The doctor focused his attention on the boy in front of him and began asking some questions.

"Abel was it? Happy birthday! Now then, do you feel changes within your body or anything different at all? If so, please tell me right away before we get started." The doctor smiled slightly as he gazed at Abel.

Abel shook his head no, his body felt the same as usual despite his splitting headache. Maybe it will go away by the time they finish the test?

"First of all, we should check if he has a strength enhancement quirk like his father. Young man, see if you can lift this fifty pound dumbbell with your finger." The doctor held out a weight and patiently looked at the boy.

Abel nodded and reach for the dumbbell, extending only his index finger. When he came into contact with the weight, he tried his best to lift it. The doctor hadn't let go in case the boy couldn't do it, Abel's parents watched as the dumbbell didn't move at all.

"That's enough for now young man, it seems that you did not inherit your father's quirk. Well then, let's check to see if he has any of the basic elemental quirks. Here, see if you can freeze this cup of water or melt this ice cube. Everything should come to you naturally since quirks are like muscles, you use them like an extra hand. Sometimes literally haha!" The doctor joked to himself as he set down the dumbbell with an exaggerated grunt and handed Abel a plastic cup full of water and an ice cube.

Taking the two items into his hands, Abel kept his full attention on them entirely while attempting to bring out his latent powers. He imagined freezing the cup and melting the ice in his mind, he waited with bated breath as he tried to make his imagination a reality.

"..."

It has been half a minute and nothing has happened. Abel began to feel his nervousness rise as his parents gaze bore holes into the back of his skull. He felt his headache worsen as his fear began to take control.

thump thump thump

'? What was that?' Abel felt his attention being redirected as a quiet thumping noise began in to make itself known inside of his head, it almost sounded like a heart was beating where his brain should be. He felt his headache worsen.

"Not a fire or ice quirk then hmm? That's too bad, a lot of kids look up to Cold Man and Heatwave. Alright then, let's try out the next test." The doctor spoke absentmindedly as he took the ice and cup of water away from Abel. He then handed Abel an old government phone.

"Here, try to charge this phone by creating an electric charge with your hands.The phone can handle quite a bit of electricity so don't worry about frying it. Even if you do, we won't charge you." The doctor hummed slightly as he slipped on rubber gloves just in cases Abel does charge the phone.

With shakey hands, Abel grasped the phone and imagined himself as a dim lightbulb, just to give himself some sort of grasp of flowing electricity. He tried his best to concentrate with three adults staring at him in silence. Soon, a full minute has flown by and the phone in his hands is still dead. Abel began sweating, even though he visualized everything perfectly nothing had happened. He could feel some sort of connection, not with the phone but with the people around him. It didn't make any sense to him. His headache worsened.

thump thump THUMP

'It's getting worse!' Abel resisted the urge to clutch his head, it felt like it was an egg getting cracked open.

"No dice huh? Hmm, well don't worry about it too much. Quirks are weird, most of them have very strange triggers. Some require specific circumstances in order to activate, the most common ways a quirk activates is through contact with someone or something. Some require you to ingest something, other times you need to do a specific action. One client I had could turn invisible!" The doctor explained, but it sounded like he was rambling to a classroom full of uninterested students.

"An invisibility quirk? Those are pretty rare, they must be an underground hero right? I don't think I've heard about them here in California." Thomas spoke for the first time since the doctor re-entered the room

"Invisibility is a pretty good quirk, the only problem was that the client had to do a backflip in order to turn invisible..."

"Okay? I don't really see a problem with that?" Thomas became confused with what the doctor said.

"The problem, Mr. Moore, was that my client couldn't do a backflip."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"He attempted a backflip in this very room right here, but he ended up breaking something upon turning invisible mid flip and... I-I didn't know how to help someone I couldn't see. So much blood..." The doctor muttered to himself with a glassy look in his eyes.

"A-ah, okay, I think I understand." Lisa spoke this time with a grimace plastered across her face.

"Anyway, let's move on with the next test shall we?"