Just came to me, and I figured it would be interesting at least. I was honestly going to wait until I had more stuff done, but I read chapter 213 of BnHA, and I knew I had to post something. I mean this chap has me in a tough spot. My opinion is all over the place. Anyway Read, Enjoy, and Review!

P.S. it's fanfic, if you feel like writing something similar or borrow an idea, go for it, just send me a link, I like reading too!

I don't own Worm or BnHA/MHA

He was scared.

His body trembled as he rode the train. He tried to control it as best as he could, but he couldn't help it. He was nauseous as it was, his stomach doing flips and turns while his skin crawled. He felt clammy, but after moving to dry off the clammy area of the skin, he found no sweat which only further fueled his nervousness.

It was the last train. He had lied to his mother about where he was going to be in order to get out of the house. He didn't think the lie would hold up.

He looked at his phone and saw the battery was around 23%. If he had to, he would run a bunch of apps in order to quickly drain the phone of power to cement a lie that he hadn't thought of yet. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else.

Before he realized it the train had already stopped. He quickly rushed out the train before the doors closed. He breathed rapidly while holding his duffle bag tightly. He quickly let go of the pressure, checked the time and decided to move.

It was some city he had never been to. It was also the farthest he's ever been from home. He checked the time for the last train home and grimaced when he found the next one left early in the upcoming morning.

He shook his head, trying to calm himself and walked out to the streets. He wore dark colored jeans and a dark green hoodie with the kanji for "hoodie" on it along with t-shirt with the kanji for "shirt" printed on it.

He has a sheet of paper in his pocket with instructions, but he read it so much to the point that he memorized it.

He walked down the street, crossed left. Kept going down, to a rundown part of the city. He crossed through a nearby park and made a right. When he got to a dark alleyway that had a stylized C spray painted, he entered and checked his phone. He still had five minutes until the time of the meeting. He took out the sheet of paper, bit his bottom lip as he debated, but proceeded to tear to it to pieces as thoroughly as he could.

When he was done, he was breathing heavily. He swallowed his spit and calmed himself down.

At the moment he was doubting his decision.

The day before, he stopped All Might from jumping away, right after being rescued from a villain with a weird quirk that made his body malleable. He asked if someone like himself could be a hero.

"Sorry kid. I can't in good conscience say it's possible without a quirk."

Then he jumped away.

Izuku wasn't in the best state of mind after that. All Might gave brief logical reasons (he seemed to be in a rush), sure, but it didn't change how Izuku felt. Having a hero, and not just any hero, but a personal (and also the greatest) hero tell you that you had no shot at becoming a hero because of being quirkless...it was devastating.

After standing around for a while he decided to...just move, to go anywhere. He walked aimlessly for a long while until-

"Do you want to be a hero?"

He turned to see a woman with pale skin and black hair that reach past her shoulders, striking the right balance of wavy and curly. She wore a black suit that looked like it was fitted to her body, wore a white dress shirt underneath, black tie and a black fedora.

A quick conversation, mostly on the beautiful woman's part, some brief instructions after signing an NDA form, which she explained in a way that was easy for him to understand, and he found himself where he currently was: Out late at night, in a city he had never been in, his mother had no clue about his whereabouts, and his valuables in his dufflebag...alone...in a dark alleyway.

He pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes and sighed. "What am I even doing?" he asked himself.

"AHEM," a woman loudly clearing her throat prompted Izuku to open his eyes. In front of him was a woman with dark skin and short black hair tied back to a bun. She was dressed in white dress with a lab coat over it and had an electronic pad in her hands.

"...Buah!" Izuku jumped in fright while clutching his duffle bag when his mind caught up to him. The lady didn't so much as bat an eye to his reaction. Though she did, however, eye his hair with curiosity. She stepped aside and motioned him forward. Izuku got a good look what was behind her. A long hallway with white walls, ceilings and white tiled floors, almost like a hospital. But the weirdest thing about it...the hallway was longer than the building in front of Izuku, he knows it's not connected to the other building because the other building was practically gone, lost in some sort of fire or something.

Teleportation quirk, Izuku reasoned. He would have been nerding out if he wasn't feeling so nervous and scared. What she wanted was easy enough to determine, so with shaky steps, he started walking forward. The woman, upon seeing him move, turned and started walked. Izuku stopped briefly, a moment of confusion and uneasiness. He swallowed hard and quickly followed behind her. As soon as he stepped through, there was a rush of air and everything around him shook violently, a bit like earthquake really, but he didn't feel it. The sight was brief, three seconds at most.

He didn't have to, he was sure of it, but he did so anyway. He turned around, he frowned and shivered a bit. Behind him was just another long hallway. The alley he had been in was gone.

"Coming?"

He quickly turned to the woman, who apparently called out to him in English. "Ah! Y-yes!" he replied in the same Language, though not as proficient.

His steps echoed in the hallway as he walked at a brisk pace to catch up to the woman. The echoes were loud, not terribly so but it made hallway seem that much emptier then what the size would suggest, almost as if it was devoid of life.

She eventually opened a door and motioned him inside.

It was just a small room with white walls, a large desk with two chairs, a computer screen, keyboard, but no mouse.

"Sit," the woman motioned to the chair in front of the desk while she walked behind it. He did so obediently, setting his duffle bag beside him. "How good is your English?"

"I-I-I-I O-Okay," he struggled in the said language through his nervousness.

"But not proficient," she stated. From underneath the desk on her side, she pulled out a wired machine, about the size of a video game console. The box looked…like an art project. The dark grey color made it hard to tell if it was plastic or metal and it was surrounded by exposed wires that went everywhere and there were tons of speakers built into it. It had two buttons and some sort of sliding switch on the side.

The woman slid the witch and the machine hummed and crackled to life, crackling white noise leaking out of the speakers that seemed to reverberate around the room. She pressed a button and in an instant, the noise stopped.

"English and Japanese," she said.

"English and Japanese," repeated the box in a digitized voice followed by a series of incoherent sounds before it ended on a low hum. Izuku himself didn't know what to make of it.

"Can you understand me now?" The woman asked in perfect Japanese, but with a bit of an accent.

"Ah, y-yes I can," Izuku, surprise clearly evident in his face.

"I see, glad to know the device still works."

"Device? Wait, you mean-"

"I am not fluent in Japanese, and not for the lack of trying," the woman explained, but...there was something odd about the way she said it.

"B-b-but, I don't understand. I mean, I can clearly hear you talking in Japanese in your own voice," Izuku said.

"And to me, you sound as if you are speaking in English in your own fluent voice," she replied with a hint of mirth to her tone.

"What? But," he glanced at the box in front of him, still letting out a low-level hum, no sign that the pitch changed.

"From what I understand," she explained, "this device can interpret sounds and then translate it perfectly, idioms included. After translation, it then manipulates the sound waves in the language being spoken for the benefit of the other party. Handy, but not perfect. It works with only two mapped languages at a time. It also gets the best results when a discussion has only two participants," she explained.

"...That's impossible," Izuku finally said after thinking it over. Izuku was more into quirks and heroes, but that didn't mean he didn't realize that what the device did was practically impossible. It translated and changed the soundwaves almost instantly without even warping the voice or making it sound digital. It was on the same level as flipping a switch from one end of the room to turn off the lights and then being underneath the covers before the lights went out (assuming the lights didn't slowly turn off), it was simply impossible without a quirk. Though it did explain why the woman seemed odd.

"I'll think you'll find that "impossible" may not apply the way you think it does anymore," the woman explained, her words not matching her lips. It was like bad lip-synch of a foreign movie or a low budget animation. It was strange seeing it in real life. "Now then," she continued, "introductions are in order, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm-" Izuku was about to introduce himself but the woman put her hand up, stopping him.

"We've done our research, we know who you are," she explained causing a cold shiver to run down his spine, "but we found that giving our clients a sort of anonymity helps this discussion move along smoothly. Is there anything you would like us to call you by?"

Izuku thought it over, they already knew who he was so a nickname was pointless, that said, it did sound appealing. "Um….J-Junior," he replied. Deku, his nickname, was easy enough to identify him by, but Junior applied to a lot of people and is even a part of a person's name. It is also half the code name he came up with, among many others, when he was younger. All Might Jr. Though after the word left his mouth, he realized it was actually pointless considering they already knew who he was.

"Junior then," she replied, "some call me Mother, but that's more of a tongue-in-cheek thing," she explained. Though Izuku was confused by what she meant by that but guessed it was an informal nickname. "Those who choose to be more professional, call me Doctor."

"Doctor, ar-are you-"

"I am, Junior," she cut him off. "Now then, I'm sure you are aware of what we are offering."

"A...a quirk," he responded.

"No, but given your background, I can see why you would think that. Let me be clear. "Quirk," as you know them, are a kind of mutation. Something Cauldron is interested in. What we offer are abilities that do not originate from your genes."

"Cauldron?"

"The name of our organization."

"I-I see," Izuku said as he thought it over. Quirks were pretty much everything in regards to powers and supernatural abilities, for there to exist another source of power... it's incredible! "Can-"

"No." She said before he could even ask the question. "I can see it in your eyes. So far, when our clients with "quirks" have used our product, it resulted in failure. Some, sadly, were still alive." Izuku blanched at that. Being alive should be a good thing, shouldn't it?

"Y-you mean-"

"Ultimately our product has risks, we do narrow it as best we can. We have a mandatory two month waiting period where our clients undergo testing to mitigate those risks, but it is not a sure thing. The only thing you can be certain of is that you will receive exactly what you pay for and be billed accordingly." Izuku nodded and played with his fingers underneath the table and stopped when he noticed it.

"How...how dangerous is it?"

Doctor didn't answer him right away. She just eyed him, causing him to fidget. "Normally I would say that our product isn't as lethal as it used to be. "Quirks," however, complicates things. That brings us to the problem. Tell me, do you believe a multiverse exist?"

"Multiverse….you mean, your-no that's-"

"Impossible?" The doctor finished with a raised eyebrow. A smile tugged her lips, "where do you think you are?" Izuku felt dread wash over him.

"I….some, somewhere in Japan."

"Well, Junior, we're actually in Africa...in an alternate universe where quirks don't exist, and the vast majority of the population in this reality are normal humans."

The doctor let him digest that.

"...but...why would you tell me?" He asked, his eyes were wide, a bit pale, a tremble here and there but he was still hanging on.

"Clarity. So that you understand your position and make the best-informed decision on your part, Junior. Naturally, the forms my assistant had you sign the day before covers this information. It should not be said that, Cauldron, would be justifiably upset on your part for breaching the agreement."

"Ah, r-right, I understand," Izuku nodded fervently. "And quirks and...these other power...they don't go well?"

"That's Cauldron's theory. The only success has been individuals who have not been mutated enough."

"People like me then...quirkless."

"Yes. Before we proceed, you understand that Cauldron is not a charity. We run a business," She stated factually.

"Ah! That, if...if what you said is true than...then, here," he brought up his duffle bag onto the table. He paused, closing his eyes before he forced himself to slowly open the duffle bag. He began to pull out item after item, neatly arranging them. When he was done, a decent amount of All Might memorabilia were neatly organized on the table. He looked at the Doctor, expecting maybe contempt or surprise, she didn't so much as bat an eye. Then again, Izuku was a kid so there really wasn't much he could do in terms of money, so maybe this was expected. "The-these are my collection," he said with a small shake, "um, I'm...I'm not... It has value in my home, um, earth."

"I see, you wouldn't happen to know the value of these items, would you?"

"Oh! Right here," he pulled out a different sheet of paper from his hoodie. He unfolded it and smoothed out the wrinkles. "I-I didn't know what denomination you wanted it in, so I did in both Yen and United States Dollars. Um, I have a value for each item, what it's worth and, um, or what it could be auctioned for." He handed the list to the Doctor. She looked at it and looked at the items on the table. He numbered them and used a small sticky note with an adhesive that would not leave a mark. Slowly she eyed the paper then, he assumed, looked for the corresponding item. Satisfied she nodded and set the list down.

"An impressive collection," she noted, "we will, of course, verify these figures," she tapped the list and Izuku nodded. "Since you brought these items, can I assume that you would not take offence to Cauldron handling the sale of this collection?"

"Ah," he was confused for a moment despite understanding the question, "no," he said, realizing he was gripping his right arm, "thank you for dealing with this on my behalf," he replied politely, hoping that was the right thing say.

"Then we can proceed. I'm I correct to assume that these items are the sum total of your budget?"

"Um, yes."

"Alright. Then we can discuss your options." The Doctor said as she looked at her computer and typed something in for a few minutes. She grabbed the list and proceeded, he assumed, to type in the list. "Cauldron," she began as she typed, "requires that at least two-thirds of the payment be made upfront with the remainder made over the course of six years."

"Six years," Izuku said.

"Yes, or default," she explained as she continued to type in the list.

"Default? You-you mean not pay? Isn't...isn't that bad?" Izuku asked.

"Very. The amount of time and effort used to chase down defaulters to recover our property could be put to better use," she stated.

"Take bac...that, that's possible?" Izuku asked with morbid curiosity.

"Of course," the doctor replied, "if we can give power, then it stands to reason that we also have the means to reclaim that power." Izuku blanched at the explanation as she stopped typing. "If this really is your sum total, then you are just shy from even being able to purchase a vial with a P-1 value."

"P one?" Izuku repeated, but the doctor continued with her explanation.

"Not a real issue, given our time frame, but given your situation, I fear you won't be as satisfied as our normal patrons. See this," she turned the monitor to show Izuku a graph. "Note that the samples with the letters "P," "O," and "R" are the main factors for determining the price for our product. P value relating the raw effect of a power. A value of 1 in say a theme of...pyrokinesis, for example, would have you manipulating weak flames, like a match. A value of 7, on the other hand, would be significantly more powerful. The O value pertains to a power's uniqueness, to which I admit is in large part subjective. Certainly useful if you want to stand out, which if I understand it correctly, might come in handy with how heroics work in your reality." Izuku couldn't help but give hurried nods at that. Uniqueness would certainly help distinguish him from everyone else, though he himself is actually hesitant to stand out. "You are here," she pointed to the 1-range, "just barely able to afford a sample with P-1 range, the weakest rating."

Izuku looked at the prices, noted the dollar sign, and swallowed a lump in his throat.

"People...actually have that much money to spend," he wondered out loud without much thought put into it.

"Some do, some take our discounts," Doctor explained, making him flinch, he didn't expect her to reply. Then his mind caught up with what she said.

"Eh? You, you offer discounts," Izuku asked with a mixture of hope and curiosity, a bit too desperate he realized.

"We do. We have a variety of programs and payment methods available, the nemesis program for example."

"Nemesis? Like a rival?" The doctor nodded.

"It's a program where we match you with another one of our clients. From what Cauldron has gathered, you want to be a hero, correct?"

"Um, yes, one of my goals-"

"I only need the yes, Junior," she interrupted him, causing him to flinch again. "With the nemesis program, we match you with a client with villainous aspirations. You basically put on a show for everyone watching, and we decide who wins on which occasions."

"Wait," Izuku interrupted, "you, you also sell to villains?" Izuku asked loudly, nearly jumping out of his chair.

"No Junior, we don't," Doctor replied, causing Izuku to settle down a little. "We make them. Heroes, villains, none of it matters to Cauldron. Ultimately, what our patrons do with their newfound abilities is entirely on them. If you wish to fight them, by all means, you are free to do so, so long as it does not hinder Cauldron."

"Huh? You crea-vil, wha-why?" Izuku raised his voice for the first time. "I mean, if you limited the sale of quirp-p-power to good people, it's, it's posib-"

"That, unfortunately, is counterproductive to Cauldron. See, our bill includes one stipulation, anyone who buys our product owes Cauldron one, unspecified, favor. Usually a task or a week of service. It doesn't take a genius to understand that a hero would have difficulties intermingling with the underworld; a villain, on the other hand, especially one with previous connections, wouldn't. Assume a client with underworld connections takes one of our discounts, four-five favors for a boost in a rating for a sample, this villain is essentially our asset," she explained. "We use a favor to have the asset join a certain organization. At that point, we have an asset in a position of value, something that would be difficult for a hero. To add to that, Cauldron is an amoral organization. We certainly have rules and ethics, but only so much as it helps our goals. That includes selling to people such as yourself, even if it's clear that you only have so much capital at your age."

Izuku winced at that last comment. Everything she said was true. Still, it didn't sit right with him, but there wasn't much he could do. He was, if he were to believe the doctor's words, in a different reality at their mercy. Well, even if she was lying, it wasn't any better. They have someone who can teleport people, so either way, he was still in a different location completely at their mercy. And the way she phrased it, have an asset in a position of value. Could be something evil like the Yakuzas and the like...or...it could be something like the police….

"I'm, I'm sorry for my outburst," he apologized in a low voice.

"That's fine, it happens half of the times with patrons who aspire to be heroes."

"Um...about the favors, are...are they bad?"

"I'm assuming you mean illegal," the Doctor replied, "some are. The favors could be for you to deliver a message, follow and report on a person of interest, or even scare off individuals who poke their nose too deep into Cauldron."

"...What… kind of favor would I, um, me specifically, what would I be doing?"

"I don't know. That's usually left open for the foreseeable future." Izuku gave a slow nod as he swallowed. He didn't like that. It also didn't help that he was now getting paranoid thoughts, for example, the lady who talked to him, the doctor talking to him, and even the teleporter, were they simply doing favors or were they apart of Cauldron?

"Um...earlier you said there was an "r" value," he said, trying to focus on the conversation, "what, what is that?"

"R...ah yes, we did gloss over that for a reason. R stands for the predictability of sample," she opened a drawer and pulled out a file with the image of some sort of vial with a label on it and handed it to him, "thus far we can only offer a theme, not an exact power. If you buy a sample that offers flight, for example, you would get a form of flight. As for how you actually fly, we really can't guarantee that. That picture in your hands is sample T-6-0-0-1, a sample with a high R value with a theme of flight. Out of seventy subjects, it has only failed to grant a form of flight on two occasions. Contrast that," she motioned for him to flip the page over, to which he did, "to sample B-0-0-30, a sample with a low R value. The sample has given eight individuals an ability related to implosion. A portal in a person's mouth that sucks everything in and disintegrates it, for example."

"Ah, like Thirteen," Izuku said out loud. The Doctor stared at him. "Um the hero, Thirteen, the actual number, um, he's, he's dressed like an astronaut, like apollo...13. He can create a sort of black hole in his fingers that sucks every-everything in and dis-disintegrates it. S-sorry. For. inter..rupting," he said, looking down at the table, avoiding the doctor's gaze, briefly.

"I see," the Doctor said, "yes, it certainly is like that. As I said earlier, the sample granted eight individuals with an ability related to implosion. Three of those individuals died, two others were horribly disfigured, one of which can no longer walk while the other has reduced cognitive functions," she explained factly.

Izuku's blood ran cold after hearing that. He heard it earlier, but it was now beginning to sink in just how much of a risk he would be taking. The way Izuku understood it, a high R-rating offered a better chance of gaining something, without any drawbacks. Low R-rating...could outright kill him if not horribly disfigured him or severely impair him. He was starting to see why surviving could be a bad thing. Then he thought of something.

"Quirks," he said out of the blue, he quickly expanded on it, "in my reality, my earth," he shook his head, the Doctor could probably guess that, "most people have a quirk or a form of mutation. Not a strong or powerful, but it's there. If quirks, um, mutations and whatever these vials are, don't go well together then-"

"Then our R values can't be trusted, at least not with patrons from your home," the doctor finished. "A fair assessment," she conceded, "but rest assured that we will do everything on our end to lower the risk to you. Hence the two month waiting period. We actually have a few packages, one we call "Shaping" and another called "Morpheus," where we take advantage of the two month waiting period to put our client at an ideal mental and physical state to better achieve results."

"And that helps?"

"It does, an individual's mental and physical state does affect how powers manifest. Mind you, we can only guarantee that it will raise the odds in your favor. However, with your budget," she glanced at the number on the screen, "you can barely afford a power as it is. These packages are more geared towards wealthy clients. Normally," she typed, "this would be the part I show you the options," the computer screen changed to a diagram that showed the cost for different things, like high P value, low in O and R, or low in P, mid in O, and high in R, and every other variable in between, "and offer you the discounts."

"Nemesis, and favors," Izuku earned a nod from the doctor, "but not this time?" The doctor nodded once more

"Your reality, your earth, it's..." she a paused for a bit, "a new venture for Cauldron. Despite the issues we're experiencing with your reality, we find it to be too valuable to simply ignore or abandon. That said, there are more unusual risks involved for us. For one, in the next hour, we will not be able to access your reality for an uncomfortable amount of time." After hearing that he began to panic but the doctor raised her hand, probably already anticipated his reaction. "Settle down Junior, we'll get you home well before that becomes an issue. Another issue is that our usual methods of predictions don't seem to work well with your reality. Meaning, you can accrue a debt of eighty favors, but it's doubtful that Cauldron will get any real of value out of them. At least until we can work around the issue."

"Then...what…" he clenched his hands, he hated himself for what he was about to ask. "What are my options?"

"Given your circumstance," Doctor began, "and ours as well, favors won't cut it. Especially while you are still in education." Izuku gave a short nod, there was a limit to what he could do. "Instead Cauldron would like to propose an alternative. Tell me, how would you like a job, Junior?"

Author's Note:

Yep, Izuku is not inheriting All Might's power. I already have Izuku's power planned out. Originally I wanted him to be something of a mini Behemoth but that was too overpowered for me.

I'm sure this premise has been done in the BnHA fandom with characters and OC in the Bnha universe but I felt like doing this one for some odd reason. Well Later!