Chapter Text
Not all men are created equal
This was the reality that 12-year-old Izuku Midoriya had grown accustomed to. As a Quirkless person in a society based on Quirks, every day was difficult. He was bullied by his childhood friend and his thuggish companions and ignored by the rest of the world at school, teachers and classmates alike. At best, he was constantly ridiculed for his dream of being a hero, for wanting to help and save people so they could live in a better world.
Every day, he had to return home with a smile to prevent his mother from finding out and getting sad, having to hide the injuries that Kacchan caused him daily.
This was the reality the world had subjected him to, and it was a reality that affected 20% of the human population who also had no Quirks. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for him, Izuku could be considered one of the luckiest of this group. Many had no support, abandoned to their fate, rejected by many, or viewed with pity. It wasn't hard to imagine why there were such high suicide rates, high rates of homelessness, and high school dropout rates for this population.
But this reality didn't just affect the Quirkless. Those with Quirks considered villainous, weak, or unappealing, or those with mutant Quirks, were subjected to almost the same discrimination, attacked for not being physically equal or for being considered weird.
At least, this was the case in this world, in this reality.
You know, it's curious how the multiverse and various timelines work. Some universes have such grand elements they are incomprehensible to the human mind. Some have such simple elements that they are constantly repeated in other worlds. Some universes have different time flows, some going faster than others, and in other worlds, reality is completely different.
In one of those worlds, the history it shared with Izuku's world was almost the same. There were a few variations here and there, a city named differently, people with different names—minuscule things that didn't greatly affect the long chain of events that is history. At least not until the world wars, the unification of the Middle East into a single state after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a third nuclear bomb falling on Japan in the Second World War (Third World War as it was called in this peculiar world), an early collapse of the USSR in '85 and the fragmentation of Russia among various warlords, the fall of the United Kingdom and the United States to authoritarian governments at the turn of the millennium, among other things. But the true point of divergence occurred in 2049.
The year 2049 in Izuku's world marked the appearance of the first Quirks, and with them, the dark age that followed: the social decomposition and chaos that the emergence of people with the ability to break every law of physics brought. Destruction, deaths, the so-called villains, and with them, the appearance of the first vigilantes, who would later evolve into the first heroes. 196 years since then, in other words, 2245, things had calmed down since 2210 with the appearance of All Might. But this new "stability" came with three prices. The first was the one previously mentioned, the second was the increased dependence on All Might to solve the major crises, and the third was the severe technological stagnation. The only field that was saved was the one responsible for supporting the heroes.
Beyond that, humanity remained stagnant in its cradle, continuing in what seemed like an eternal struggle between good and evil, heroes and villains, etc., etc. The only ones who seemed moderately interested in solving this problem were the scientists of I-Island, but they were too few to show large-scale change.
In the other world, 2049 was just as chaotic, but not because Quirks emerged or anything similar, but because nature decided to pose the greatest test humanity had ever seen. Three chained mega-natural disasters brought the entire human race to its knees. A massive explosion of Krakatoa, a gigantic and abnormal solar storm, and the impact of several asteroids were what marked the beginning of an age of chaos for the humanity of this universe.
Years later, this era would be known as the Sundering.
Riots, food shortages, half the planet without communication or electricity, civil wars, China fragmented into several warlords again, the Russian wars broke out again. The massive increase in greenhouse gases caused an increase in temperatures, leading to an accelerated rise in sea level. Catastrophic weather patterns suffered alterations, coastal cities were devastated, huge hurricanes hit the coasts, and forest fires like never before, among many other disasters.
In this world, a figure emerged who guided humanity through this dark age, and after 30 years, peace and stability returned. Unlike many worlds where leaders clung to power, this person peacefully relinquished power, giving way to a parliamentary system, uniting the earth into the Terran Federation.
A state where its main basis is that every man is created equal.
An era of peace and progress began. The technology developed to avert catastrophe continued to advance, along with many other technologies, leading to achievements previously considered a distant dream, such as clearing space debris from the atmosphere, building the space elevator, and terraforming Venus and Mars. In short, nearly 700 years of prosperity and peace followed (we are not talking about the term of Prime Minister Renshaw, there never was a Prime Minister Renshaw, any mention of a Prime Minister Renshaw should be considered a hallucination, delusion and/or indication of an altered reality), with humanity completely claiming (or at least, explored) the Milky Way by 2699.
This peace was interrupted in 2740 when, uh, events occurred on the only planet the federation owned in Andromeda, Serpulo. A crazy AI and a siege that lasted almost 12 years. In the end, humanity triumphed again, and so did human ingenuity once more.
During the siege, in the desperation to obtain a source of energy that could supply the besieged area, the scientists in charge of designing a new reactor discovered something else: interdimensional travel! How? It's simple, you see, the core [REDACTED], then a synchronization with [REDACTED] and a small [REDACTED], they managed to connect with 2 worlds. It was a complete accident, but hey!, if it works, it works.
They established diplomatic relations with both worlds, but the federation began to yhink. If there are other worlds out there, therefore, there must be worlds where humanity must be suffering, and, wasn't one of the federation's goals to ensure that all humans lived in the best possible conditions? They had the personnel (that is, more than 700,000,000,000 humans were no small thing), the material, the technology, and the Dagger, Nova, Mono, Flare, Stell, Merui, and Elude class units were prepared to be used in the new task that was being proposed.
After much debate, perfecting the form of travel, and much planning, the federation carried out its first intervention. It was in a world where something, eh, curious was happening, to say the least. A bunch of giants with exposed muscles and a skeletal monstrosity were advancing towards cities without regard for civilian casualties. Two fleets of Disrupts (Merui class Tier 5) were enough to riddle them all and send that huge monster to hell. Pacifying the rest of the planet didn't take long; their military technology was quite primitive. The implantation of a mandate over the planet occurred shortly after.
The fifth earth they visited was a medieval earth. Some nations received them with hostility and had to be subdued, but there were some kingdoms that received them with open arms and managed to establish diplomatic relations and commercial treaties. A curious note, the empress of one of these kingdoms was obsessed with all kinds of poisons, and the emperor was more than happy to provide them, so from time to time, the federation's merchants received orders for poisons. They were happy to supply all the orders.
The twentieth earth didn't seem to have anything out of the ordinary. It was similar to the earth of the year 2000, except that most people were born with wings. Other than that, not many things changed much.
The hundredth earth had dinosaurs!
In short, they continued to make their way through various worlds, some having to be subdued, others through treaties and pacts, and others with a combination of both. They made their way into worlds with crazy things and normal things.
Military campaigns so small they took a couple of years, long campaigns, campaigns with low brutality, others quite savage. The longest campaign was Earth-239, 16 years in total, the most brutal was undoubtedly the Earth-439 campaign, a 6-year campaign clearing self-sufficient bunker systems on a mountainous planet, too deep for artillery make then collapse.
Many years have passed since then, many worlds have united under the same banner, the O.F.W. (Organization of Free Worlds). The year is 3019. It is 30 years until the millennium of the beginning of the Sundering is celebrated, and the OFW has detected a new signal, indicating a new world, and the federation is preparing its intervention. But first, they need intelligence about the world.
November 2245
Park near Aldera Junior High
Another day, another confrontation with Kacchan in the park near the school, Izuku thought to himself while Kacchan used his Quirk against him, his lackeys behind him.
"Had enough, huh? You damn Deku," Katsuki said as he summoned another explosion.
"Ka-Kacchan, stop, please, someone might see you and-and," Izuku said. If someone reported Kacchan to the authorities for unlicensed Quirk use, his dreams of being a hero would end.
"Who cares what those damn extras think! Someone has to remind you of your place, your ridiculous idea of being a hero without a Quirk, Hah! How ridiculous."
"Yeah, teach him, Bakugo," Nagai said, extending his fingers.
"Show that Quirkless bastard his damn place," Tsurugi said, extending his neck to headbutt Izuku, who took the hit, falling on his backside to the ground.
He was preparing to receive another blow, but a voice interrupted the beating. "What in the name of the empress is going on here!" Izuku turned to look in the direction of the voice. A man of maybe 30, maybe 40? was staring at the group quite angrily. "I'll repeat, you brats, what the hell is going on here?!"
"What the hell do you care, you damn old man?" Bakugo responded with the same aggression as always.
"What the hell do I care?" the man said, who approached even closer and leaned down until he was face to face with Bakugo. "Oh, I don't know, kid, a quick report to the authorities about illegal Quirk use, I think that would make a very nice stain on your record, on yours and your friends', don't you think?" The man pointed behind him. "My friends and I would be perfect witnesses for the report, don't you think?"
"Pss, whatever, let's go," Bakugo picked up his backpack and left with his thugs. "See you tomorrow in school, Deku." After they left, the man turned to look at Izuku.
"Are you all right, kid?" the man addressed him.
"Ye-Yes, sir, thanks for stepping in."
"You're welcome, kid," the man helped him up. "Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"
"No-no, don't worry, sir, I can treat them myself, I'm already used to it."
A sad look crossed the man's face. Was it worry, or was it pity? "Have you told anyone?"
"No, sir," Izuku sighed. "None of the teachers care, and I don't want to worry my mother."
"What about your father?" The silence that followed gave the man the answer. "Come on, kid, the least I can do to help you is to take you home, is that okay?" Izuku nodded; he hadn't received so much kindness in a long time. "Just let me talk to my friends, stay here." Izuku watched the man walk away back to his group and decided to sit on a nearby bench.
Meanwhile, the man was reprimanded by his "friends." They were furious but didn't raise their voices. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Alexander? Don't you remember what our main mission is?"
"I do remember the main mission, Kensuke," Alexander replied with disdain. "To infiltrate without attracting attention and gather all the information possible, and I plan to fulfill it."
"And you plan to fulfill it this way?" a friend reprimanded. "By attracting attention like that?!"
"Oh, Agata, don't you see the full picture? It's obvious this child is bullied at his school, from what that blondie shouted. This boy doesn't have one of those so-called Quirks, and from the information we've gathered since we started this mission, that group of people is not exactly appreciated."
"And your point is?"
"He probably suffers from systematic bullying, so if I talk to his guardian and convince her to take him out of his school, I can take on the cover of being a private tutor. Who would suspect a simple teacher of a Quirkless child? What do you think, Kami?"
"Umm," Kami said. "The truth is, it doesn't sound like a bad plan. The rest of us are going to take low-level jobs. Yours wouldn't attract attention either. You would just need papers that prove your ability. It won't be too difficult to forge, although to be honest, if you gain his trust it will be very bad for the kid when the invasion occurs and you reveal yourself as a spy."
"I prefer to think that taking him out of a harmful place will allow for better development."
"Okay... Can you maintain the facade?"
"Of course, Kami."
"Despite your past?" Kami looked directly into Alexander's eyes. "I've read your file, Alex. You suffered bullying in your home world before the Federation intervened. Your work in the previous campaign almost collapsed due to a similar situation. If you are going to commit to that facade, you cannot explode like that again, and you will have to assume the consequences of what happens once the invasion begins. We have to gather information for God knows how long until they start the intervention, so I ask you again, and please, be honest with yourself, can you maintain the facade and assume the consequences?" Alexander was silent for a moment before nodding. "Good, go, we'll see each other for your next bimonthly report." And Alexander turned around to take the boy home.
"Hey, kid, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
"Izuku Midoriya, sir."
"Nice to meet you, Midoriya. Alex Arai at your service."
Excerpt
Bimonthly Operations Report Earth-598
Federal Intelligence Department
Group As-Jap-0039
Operations Period: 03 September - 03 November 2245 [local date]
03 September - 03 November 3019 [federal date]
Operations Zone: Musutafu-Hamamatsu
To whom it may concern
We have successfully entered Japanese society. As many reports will probably state, in this world, there are people with incredible powers, they are called Quirks. They are capable of incredible things. They would be perfect to join the army [the most powerful would undoubtedly break more than one of the Leges Vitae]....
...
Technologically stagnant society, technology from the pre-Sundering era. Discrimination and ableism against 2 specific groups of people: the Quirkless [according to what has been collected, around 20% of the population] and those with mutant Quirks [unknown percentage]. Great potential to create a fifth column, especially the so-called Quirkless, who are perfect for immediate integration into the federation's ranks...
...
Police elements are not very present. The state of the Japanese defense forces is unknown. There is an enormous dependence on the hero system [people who can legally use their Quirk to help people], specifically on a hero named All Might. Little public information about him, Quirk unknown, very powerful, could destroy a fleet of Disrupts...
...
Neutralizing him is vital so that the invasion can occur without setbacks...
Excerpts
Bimonthly Operations Report Earth-598
Federal Intelligence Department
Group Am-US-0120
Operations Period: 03 September - 03 November 2245 [local date]
03 September - 03 November 3019 [federal date]
Operations Zone: Washington D.C.-Baltimore
...
A dangerous hero named Star & Stripe is being investigated for personal information. Her Quirk seems to be very powerful. Neutralizing her is vital for the invasion to occur...
...
Despite the Quirks, the United States seems to be a nation that has police forces and an army in good condition. The invasion could suffer one or another surprise...
Excerpts
Bimonthly Operations Report Earth-598
Federal Intelligence Department
Group Eu-Ot-0004
Operations Period: 03 September - 03 November 2245 [local date]
03 September - 03 November 3019 [federal date]
Operations Zone: Otheon City-Klyad Highs
...
It seems that this island emerged during the dawn of Quirks, by a villain with a very powerful Quirk who made the continental plate emerge by mistake. Migrants from Spain and France fled to this island once enormous riots broke out in both countries...
...
Agent OT-0004-01 met with a group of Quirkless people. They seemed quite interested in having him join them at a special meeting next month. We will mobilize to find possible benefits...
...
It is urgent to help the people in the poor areas of Otheon City. Some live in subhuman conditions...
Excerpts
Bimonthly Operations Report Earth-598
Federal Intelligence Department
Group As-Ch-0040
Operations Period: 03 September - 03 November 2245 [local date]
03 September - 03 November 3019 [federal date]
Operations Zone: Qing Qing City-Nanning
...
Quirks are divided into 3 categories: Emitter, Transformation, and Mutant...
...
Physically, the body of an average human from this world with a Quirk and a human from the federation are almost similar. Humans with a Quirk lost an articulation of the little toe, although it seems they still have several defects and vestigial remnants, such as the coccyx and wisdom teeth, and the terrible Ersen-Meller defect. Genetically, they have an extra gene. On the other hand, it seems that the so-called Quirkless are quite similar to us. There will be no problems integrating them...
...
It seems that Emitter and Transformation Quirks have a weakness that can be vital to ensure the success of the invasion. They need certain muscles to be activated. The biochemical weapons department should use the American-European measles virus of year 2070 as a basis to create a bioweapon to paralyze these muscles. Once they develop it, the invasion will become easier...
Response to Bimonthly Operations Report Earth-598
Federal Intelligence Department
Venus headquarters
Intervention approved
The biochemical weapons department is working to develop a temporary Quirk neutralizer. Test subjects will be needed.
Estimated creation time: 2 years.
Maintain your operations, and alert us to any possible changes in your areas.
Good luck.
For humankind.