"MOM MOM MOM MOM!"

"What sweetie is there something wrong?"

"MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM," Getting worried Inko ran to the bathroom where her son was. 

"Mommy look!" On her son's head, she watched as ears slowly appeared on his head. Fuzzy furry ears. She watched her son's face, mostly concentrated, partly pained, start to change. First a muzzle, then his whole face, next, his body. 

"IZUKU!!!"

The boy's clothing vanished to reveal a little pup in front of her.  A dark green dog with black mixed into the fur. 

Tears of joy streamed from her face as she watched the little pup try to walk. Slowly, the pup turned back into her little boy. She engulfed him into a hug. Her body was shaking, tears falling like a waterfall. 

"IZUKU you got one, you got a quirk!" Both of them were bubbling messes.

"Instead of going to the doctor to find out what quirk you have, let's go to him tomorrow to find out  if any of our ancestors have an animal quirk!" Inko's voice was filled with joy knowing that her son's dreams would be easier now.

~~~

The next day, the little boy's birthday, Izuku woke up extremely early.  

"MOM! LET'S GO LET'S GO!" Izuku was jumping up and down on his mom. 

"Izu-zu it's too early go back to bed" Inko drifted back into her dreams as she felt a little warm ball of fuzz cuddle next to her. Petting the little furball woke her up. "Ok, ok let's go. Let's go show the world your quirk." The little boy kept popping back and forth from human to dog as Inko got ready. "Izu? Come on boy, let's go." She realized she had just talked to her son as if he was an animal. She regained her thoughts and continued talking, "The doctors are not open yet, but since it's your birthday I thought we could go get some ice cream!" Izuku appeared from under the table. 

"ICE CREAM!" 

Just like that the little kid was in his car seat bouncing up and down.  On their way to Poppers Ice cream shop, which is Izukus favorite because they make their ice cream in the shapes of heros, Izuku couldn't hold back his excitement. Inko was so happy it didn't matter It was a little out of the way but she would do anything for her son on his birthday. 

It's been a hard month for her. She didn't want to tell Izuku but she lost her job and hasn't been able to find another one. They've been running on their savings which won't last them much longer. But today, was a special day and she could spare an ice cream cone. 

"Look at this Izuku, you woke up so early not a single car is on the road, a good thing we know that Mr. Popper will open the door for us. You lucky little kid." Inko started to get a bad feeling. Why was there no one on the road? It was almost eerily quiet. Something had to be wrong. 

Izuku popped into his dog form making the straps for his car seat loosen letting him wiggle out. 

"IZUKU, get back into your car seat!" Not meaning to, Inko swerved when Izuku got out. It freaked her out, but she quickly got back into a lane. 'Good thing there were no cars around' Inko thought. Izuku was shocked that he was able to get out. He hated the car seat it always felt too tight. But he was a good boy so he went back into his seat and sat down as a little boy. 

"Sorry, mommy."

"It's ok Zu. Can you get the straps back on?"

"It's too hard." As he was fumbling with the buckle. 

"It's ok hun, let's get off at this exit. Don't worry if anything happens I can hold you down with my quirk."

"Can I come up there with you?" 

"Hun, just stay where you are it's safer. I love you a bunch."

Something felt wrong. Izuku's newfound abilities were telling him as Inko's motherly instincts were ringing warning bells.  Something wasn't right here and they both knew it. 

"Mom, I'm scared. Something feels wrong."

"Don't be scared." She took a deep breath knowing that he was right, "Ok how about you crawl up here as a pup and I'll roll the window down for you. Do you think you will like that?" Before Inko finished Izuku has already had his paws on the window winning. "Zu, can you not talk as a pup?" Inko watched from the corner of her eye as Izuku took in a breath and let out a bark. "Guess not. But you sound like a mean scary guard dog, my little pup." In reality, Izuku's bark would have comforted even pigeons, but hearing this his tail started wagging. He barked again trying to sound scarier. 

Izuku's head was hanging out of the window while Inko used her telekinesis to keep him inside the car completely safe, of course. Inko's cheeks went pink as she saw how cut her little pup was as his tail wagged.

Then it happened. Chills ran down her back. As soon as they got on the exit, a huge crashing sound rang out. A tree flew right at them crashing into their car breaking the window shield. Branches pierced through the glass.

The crash made the car stop dead in its tracks. Izuku was held in the air by his mom's quirk so he didn't feel a thing. A branch barely missed him. The branch went right through the front seat and into his car seat right where his head would have been. Then he looked over....not understanding. 

"Mom" His voice was a whisper until he started screaming it over and over. He started to fall back down, his mom's quirk releasing.

Izuku realized all his mom heard was a barking dog. He tried to go back to a boy but it wasn't working. He started whining and crawled onto his mom's lap. Izuku knew that she was alive but just barely. Blood was puling around him. It dripped down the branch protruding from his mother's chest, dripping onto his fur. Izuku barked and whined but nothing happened. Then her eyes move. He looked. She looked down at him and smiled. The fierce determination in her eye's held him captive. Then she gave the kindest smile he had ever seen. Saying the one thing any parent would dread to tell their child.

Hands grabbed Izuku lifting him out of the car and putting him on the ground. Izuku tried to turn back into a little boy but failed. He tried to get back into the car but hands wrapped around him again pushing him aside. He could feel it. He could feel the pain his mom was in. Her life...her life was almost gone. He needed to be with her. His instincts were kicking in knowing only one fact. He needed to be with her. He charged at the car jumping into it. Then he saw it, the fierce determination in his mother's eyes was gone, the smile nothing more than a dream. 

The hands came back lifting him out of her lap. Instead of putting him down, they passed him to other hands. He watched as the hands cut the branch right in front of his mom and right behind. Then more hands came and lifted her into a blaring car speeding away lights flashing down the empty street. Izuku didn't understand, nor did the hands, he tried to get away but they held on. 

There was a dark atmosphere as the ambulance left. 

"How could this have happened" A sad voice spoke.

"This didn't have to happen." Another voice. 

"What are we going to do with the dog?"

"It's her dog..." Izuku missed what they were saying the ringing in his ears got louder his head spinning. Without realizing Izuku bit down onto the cold hand. Not expecting the puppy to be able to bite as hard as he did, the man loosened his grip in surprise letting Izuku wiggle out. Just like that, the pup was racing down the road in the direction of the fading sound of the ambulance.

______  

Izuku ran, ran until he was lost in the maze of buildings. He was tired and hot. The sun was beating down on him. He dragged himself to a shady area under a tree, collapsing. He felt tears streaming down his face as he brought his hand up to wipe them away. He didn't register that he was a little boy again. His mind started to shut down. He didn't understand what was happening. 

'Mom where are you.' His thoughts spiraled, 'Come on mom we got to go get some ice cream. You know your favorite, mint the one that looks like our hair.' Izuku didn't realize that he was talking out loud. Looking down he looked at his hand. Fear spread through him. There was blood soaked into his skin. It's all he could see. 'Come on mom.....I'm your hero remember? What about the hero's game.' 

"Hello, their little boy. Neat quirk you have. Extremely rare." Izuku looked up broken faced not hearing the man's voice. Was his mother going to be ok? Is she alive? Where was he?

The man was standing so the sun was behind him. Izuku couldn't see the man's face. If Izuku had been in his right mind every single instinct he had would be screaming to run. But Izuku's body was shutting down.  

The man's voice went to a whisper, "Just my lucky day, I knew I wound't strike out at this park. Not only to find a kid half broken with no parents around, but also with that quirk. There has been a need for your type. Wow, I'll make a pretty penny." The man was talking to himself now, a grin spreading across his face. "Seems you ran into some trouble, let me help you kid."

The man bent down looking like he was just checking up on his son. As soon as the man's hand touched Izuku's he felt 'nothingness' spread through him. The hand started to suck life out of him leaving just an empty shell. Everything was gone. Why was he still crying? His eyes went dull and glazed over. He didn't care. The tears on his face slowed, then stopped. This emptiness filled Izuku, he didn't even feel relieved that the pain was gone. The man offered him his hand, and Izuku took it. The man was holding his hand as he led him away, away from his old life.

"Isn't nice to feel nothing?" Izuku didn't even care to respond he just looked up and saw the man's eye's glaring down on him calculating.