Chapter 1: Fall (Patreon)

It was a breathtakingly bright and sunny evening, the sun gracefully dipping into the horizon as the day slowly turned to dusk. Its resplendent rays bathed the city in a radiant and warm golden glow, a captivating sunset that felt like the grand finale of a captivating performance, casting a mesmerizing display of colors across the sky.

On top of a towering building, stood a solitary figure with vibrant green hair, his gaze locked with that of a gaunt and disheveled blond man. The air around them grew heavy with an unspoken tension as their eyes met—one filled with a deep sense of guilt and shame, while the other carried an air of frustration and overwhelming despair.

"It's fine to dream, young man." The blond started, his piercing blue eyes bearing a hint of sympathy and regret. He breathed in deeply, and a tone of finality escaped his mouth. "But make it realistic."

The teenager stood silent, head cast down with ramping emotions stirring within his chest.

"... So you too." The teen began. "All... All I ever wanted was to be a hero..."

He lifted his head to match the piercing gaze of the gaunt blond.

"I looked up to you..." Tears began spilling out, his breath shaking from the overwhelming despair and anger building up within. "You... You saved people with a smile... Telling them everything would be alright..."

The teen instinctively stepped back, while the blond man moved forward, closing the physical gap between them. Their eyes conveyed a stark contrast of emotions—one filled with worry, the other with deep pain.

Lost in their emotions, the two were kept in motion. Step by step, the two moved across the rooftop with tensions high.

"Young man, I-" the blond man began, but his words were swiftly silenced.

"I just wanted to save people with a smile." The teen interrupted, a broken smile adorning his face, delivering a devastating blow to the gaunt blond. "Just like you... I just... I just..."

The teen's voice cracked, overwhelmed by the weight of his unfulfilled aspirations.

"I just wanted to tell people things would be alright..." The teen's voice trailed off. In a twist of cruel fate, a distant rumble shook the building, and the teen lost his balance.

Right at the edge of the building.

"No!" The transformation was swift, as the blond man's emaciated frame expanded, muscles bulging to their limits, morphing him into the world-renowned symbol of peace known as All Might.

With a fierce determination, he propelled himself forward, desperate to snatch the falling teen from the clutches of tragedy. The teenager's piercing scream filled the air, a haunting echo of impending doom.

Their hands reached out, fingertips straining to bridge the unbridgeable gap. For an agonizing moment, hope flickered like a candle in the wind, only to be cruelly extinguished.

A sickening splat resounded throughout the city streets, shattering the silence and leaving a haunting void in its wake.

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Bright, verdant eyes opened to the rays of the sun shining down from above. Dark, green hair stuck to the cold, hard floor that was rough to the touch.

"W-what...?" A voice echoed through the dirty room, rats and insects alike shambling through the cracks as the young teen moved to pick himself up. "Where... Where am I...?"

The teen raised his head up, eyes squinting into the sunlight descending into his form. He noted the room he was in, dingy with a thick scent of rotting meat and small enough for a claustrophobic man to beg for mercy.

It was then the memories came...

Him being saved by All Might...

Clutching onto him as he jumped away...

Landing on a rooftop...

Asking about his most-desired question...

The rejection...

And then falling... Falling... All Might reaching out for him... Then everything going dark...

He screamed...

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He didn't know how long he was locked in here. Hours, days, months, maybe even years... He's long since come to terms with his death, as well as the fact that he most likely wouldn't be seeing his mother anymore.

His mother...

If the well of tears weren't already dried up, then the teen would've started sobbing once again. He wanted to die, to end his already insufferable torment.

But if there was a chance, even a tiny bit...

He wouldn't give up. He would wait even until the end of time... Just to hear his mother's voice again.

The single person who had always had his life at the forefront of her mind. His happiness, his joy, his well-being...

He was stupid... His dream long since shriveled up into fine dust. The signs were all there, his idealistic mind was just too much of an optimist to accept that fact...

That heroes required power.

His encounter with the villain made of sludge was enough of a hint. If All Might wasn't there, he wouldn't have... wouldn't have...

"All... Might..." The teen was blind. The hero just wanted him to be safe, not deny him his dream. He did say, after all, that there were other ways to save people...

"Aha... Ahahaha..." A self-depreciating chuckle came out of his dry throat. He raised his head high, exposing the incredibly dry skin to the sunlight permanently illuminating the tiny cell he was in. "I want... I want..."

The words never escaped his mouth as, after an untold amount of time alone in this room, something else happened.

A body dropped from the ceiling, the noisy thud catching the young teen's attention. Looking up once more, he saw a figure, some kind of knight staring down at him, before vanishing.

Glancing back at the body that fell, the teen felt the urge to inspect the corpse, to see for himself what the unknown knight dropped into his cell.

As he crawled forward, he felt his bones creak and pop, revealing the unmistakable signs of his body's disuse. A huff of air escapes his lips, his arms shaking from the continuous effort.

Reaching his destination, the teen ignored the gaunt and emaciated appearance of the body. Instead, the teen grabbed said body and looked it over with his sunken eyes.

He spotted a glint on its waist. Breathing out, he reached for it and grabbed the object embedded into the flesh of the body.

A key.

He looked towards the cell door, and forced his legs to push himself up. The struggle came with grunts and groans, but a few moments later, he was finally standing upright once again.

Walking to the cell door, he grasped the key tight and inserted it into the cell lock. Twisting it, he heard a click, and the cell opened.

His eyes widened, a grin forming on his face.

'Freedom...'