MHA - HARDCOIL

"What the hell is this…" Dante looked at his body in the mirror, his whole body was convulsing and his skin was rippling uncontrollably.

Dante's gaze darkened, "is this… my quirk? For my body to do this? But I thought I was able to transform my hand or something like Mother said…" Dante looked at his hand which remained the same.

Dante looked at himself for just a bit longer before putting his shirt back on and laying down on his bed with his notebook in hand.

Over the past day or so, he had been noting everything down. He wanted to know his exact reason for being here, and who he truly was.

[ My body is acting strange, it seems as if there is a worm or a seperate entity inside of my body trying to escape, could this be my quirk? Rather than a blessing, could I be cursed? What is wrong with my body, is it the original Dante trying to escape? But that would be nonsense. What exactly am I?]

Dante set the notebook aside for the night, took one look out the window at the shining moon before he drifted off to sleep, his body still convulsing.

…

…

As Dante was walking to school, his body still feeling uncomfortable and the strange sensation of something trying to escape his skin was irritating him to the point where he could barely think.

Dante hadn't told his parents as he didn't want to worry them, so he kept his secret hidden deep down.

Dante slowly approached the school gates where he was greeted by various teachers and security.

The halls were filled with strange people, Dante was still struggling to comprehend this foreign world, but he was doing a really good job at not having a meltdown.

When Dante reached his desk and sat down with a deep exhale, finally slightly relieved from the itch from his whole body, a shy voice came from behind him.

"Ah, Dante! Did you find out anything about your quirk?"

Dante turned to see the Izuku kid from yesterday looking at him with starry eyes.

Dante thought for a second before answering, "I think so, but there's something weird going on. I'll show you soon." Dante replied cautiously, before turning back around ready for the class.

…

…

After class ended and the students all went outside to play, Izuku and Dante went off to somewhere secluded so Dante could show him his issue.

When the reached the secluded area, a small gap between the school and another building, Dante lifted his shirt to reveal…

Izuku's eyes widened and he inspected Dante's body, and the thing that caught his eye was the strange moving worm like object moving beneath Dante's skin.

Dante put down his shirt and breathed a sigh, "I don't know what it is, but I do know it's really annoying and it's super irritating."

Izuku looked to be in thought for a moment before replying, "Quirks can be literally anything, maybe that's just your quirk? Seems like more of a hindrance than anything helpful…"

"Wow, thanks." Dante scoffed and rolled his eyes. Yes, the sensation was irritating, but he could deal with it eventually.

Izuku immediately turned red and started waving his hands, "Uh! Not like it's a bad quirk or anything! It's just very unique! Maybe it will become something better as you grow!"

Dante waved him off with a small smile, "It's okay, no need to worry."

If anything, this revelation was kind of soothing to dante.

It just meant he could live his childhood normally, as a normal child.

His parents aren't overly strict and seem to be stable and comfortable, unlike his previous ones.

So maybe, just maybe, he'd like to be Dante Graves for a while.

As the thought of being Dante settled in his head for a moment, the strange sensation beneath his skin ceased.

But little time did it last, the moment he stopped thinking of being Dante, it returned without him even being able to comprehend what'd just happened.

…

…

In a nearby factory, Dante's father was working hard while drenched in sweat in order to keep this job.

Dante's father has had a rough life, his quirk is more of a curse than anything good. Anyone who sees his true form run in fear or just assume he's a villain, and thanks to that, it has been hard to find a job.

Thankfully, despite his harsh situation, his childhood friend/wife had stuck with him through thick and thin and he wanted to work hard for her and their son.

"Hey new guy! Pay attention!" A factory worker above him shouted down since Dante's father wasn't paying attention, he stopped focusing for a literal second.

The man from above suddenly slipped began falling from 40ft above and was about to hit the hard cold floor and surely die when…

*SPLAT*

Instead of hitting the hard floor, he fell into what felt like a pool of mud.

The worker looked over to see Dante's father, or well… what he had become.

He saw a disgusting clump of green sludge, despite just being saved by Dante's father, the appearance of this monster shocked him even more than the fall.

"M-monster!" A worker from the distance screamed.

And before he knew it, Dante's father had already been let go from his job.

…

'I'm not a monster. It's not my fault that I was born this way.' Dante's father thought to himself as he walked through the bustling streets.

"Ah, darling!" A familiar voice came from infront of him.

Dante's father looked up to see his wife in an alleyway talking to two police officers.

The rain started to fall, drumming against the pavement of the narrow alleyway, leaving murky puddles.

Obviously, the world hadn't been kind to the couple, but today, it felt especially cruel.

Dante's father, stood beside his wife, his hands slowly gripping hers as the two officers looked at them, blocking the only exit.

"I'm sure this is a misunderstanding, officers." Dante's father was the first to speak, he didn't know what had happened but he was sure that his wife hadn't done anything.

One of the officers scoffed, "oh yeah? Well trouble seems to follow people like you. There has been a lot of villains around here recently, we're just doing our part in checking any suspicious individuals."

Dante's father gritted his teeth, his free hand twitched, "People like us? Suspicious individuals?"

The second officer stepped forward, his hand resting on his electric baton. "You know… You do look really familiar? You're the mud man right? Ha! She was fine, but you? Oh you are definitely a villain."

Dante's mother shifted, stepping closer to her husband, her body was tense and slowly getting covered in a sleek red shell. "We haven't done anything."

The first officer smiled, slow and cruel. "Not yet."

Then, the baton swung.

She barely had time to reacted before it crashed into her ribs, knocking her into the wall. She gasped in confusion and pain, clutching her side and wondering how that hurt her through her quirk, maybe a strengthening quirk? But before she could recover, the second officer grabbed her by the hair, yanking her up.

But something in Dante's father snapped.

The rain seemed to hit the pavement harder now, or maybe it was just the rush of blood. His vision blurred, his breath became slow and heavy and his heart pounded against his chest like it was trying to escape.

Then, his body melted— his skin, flesh and bones dissolving into something disgusting and formless, something liquid.

A guttural roar tore from his throat and his body expanded, surging forward in a wave of sludge.

The officer that was holding Dante's mother couldn't even scream before he was engulfed in the sludge. The other tried to flee, but tendrils of sludge flew forward, wrapping around his throat and dragging him back into the abyss.

Their attempts at survival were short-lived. Their cries were muffled and their bodies vanished into the vortex of sludge.

Silence.

Dantes father's breathing was ragged as he slowly reformed into his human form. his hands were shaking as he turned towards his wife. She stared at him wide eyed, but before they could speak—

Gunshots.

A line of officers stood at the alley's opening, weapons raised. Muzzle flashes lit up the abyss. Dante's father reached for his wife, his whole being screaming at him to protect her, but—

Blood splattered onto the pavement and all over him.

She gasped, a choked, wet sound, and staggered back. Her hand pressed against her stomach, blood seeping between her fingers.

A translucent red material was attempting to cover the wound, but it was unsuccessful.

Dante's father's world stopped.

She tried to speak, but no works came— only a weak breath before she collapsed onto the cold ground.

For a moment, everything was still.

Then, his world shattered.

A scream tore from his throat—raw, unhinged, full of agony. His body twisted, warped and exploded, swallowing the rain, the walls, the pavement.

They killed her.

My EVERYTHING.

He had been beaten down his whole life—mocked, cast aside, treated like FILTH. He had struggled, clawed for something better, only to have his everything ripped away.

Now there was nothing left, no hope, no future. No reason to hold back.

Sure there was his son, but what would Dante think of him after this? There was no going back.

His whole life, he had been called a monster, never once being referred to or treated like an actual human person.

Never other than with his wife, the very wife these people had just KILLED.

If they wanted a monster, he would give them one.

After all, thats all they saw him as.

And now, they would all drown in his wrath.

…

…

Dante was walking home from school, his hands were in his pockets. The rain had stopped but it was still cold.

Dante had spent the walk home thinking about how life would be now, how maybe this second chance at life was a way for him to live a little?

Maybe he could finally be happy.

It was a fragile hope, but it was something.

When he got home, he quickly got changed out of his clothes and put on something more comfortable.

Then he walked downstairs to watch some TV, since his parents weren't home yet.

However, when he turned on the tv screen his legs froze.

"Breaking news : police officers brutally murdered in what authorities are calling an act of villainy. The suspect, a quirked individual , has been identified as—"

A grainy image filled the screen.

His father.

He recognised that was his father using his quirk.

His breath hitched, he didn't need to hear anything else. He already knew what they were gonna say.

"The suspect also took the life of his own wife before going on a violent rampage."

"Bullshit." Dante growled at the television and his fists clenched. He hadn't known his parents for long at all, but he already knew his father wouldn't do such a thing.

The system killed her.

The systems that let hero's bask in glory while people with less helpful quirks like his parents were pushed into the shadows. The same system that cheered when men like his father were hunted down.

His chest tightened and the sensation violating his body slowed and came to a halt.

Those were his parents, his last chance at living a normal childhood.

And now, everything he had been hoping for—every fragile, desperate dream of a normal life— was gone.

The warmth of a home, the comfort of a family, the idea that maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have to fight to survive anymore.

Gone.

Dante turned away from the screen, his legs moving on his own, he ran up the stairs and packed a bag full of food and water.

He walked out the back door.

He walked faster.

Then faster.

Then he was running.

But there was no escaping it, the world had already decided who he was.

He wasn't anyone, other than just Dante Graves.

And with that, the part of him trying escape his skin, along with the true Dante…

Resonated with eachother.

…

Dante's father however, watched all of this.

He watched his sons reaction to seeing him on the screen.

He couldn't bare it, it looked as if even his own son saw him as a monster.

This was his life now.