This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

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Apart from her primary goal, Maddie, above all else, wanted to keep a low profile. It was often better that way, especially since she arrived in Musutafu. While keeping her wings out would convince people that she had a Quirk, she was mistaken for a hero too much for her liking (Her! A hero! Ha! Hilarious!). Nevertheless, no precaution was too great in order to avoid the attention of any unwanted eyes. She knew the laws here in Japan; America seemed like a slightly better hell by comparison.

She shivered off the horrible memories. Those were in the past now. No use dwelling on them. She continued her leisurely but determined stroll down the street, drawing the hood of her sweatshirt further over her face. No one should be able to find her around here, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The less people saw of her, the better.

Suddenly, a commotion was clamoring up ahead of her. Blending in with the curious crowd, she gently nudged her way forward, making out a destroyed block beyond the edge of people. Smoke from small fires wafted from the area, the cause of which became apparent quite profoundly, smack in the middle of what she assumed was the aftermath of a villain attack.

All Might's here?! she thought to herself. Sure enough, the Number One Hero of Japan was taking center stage amidst the aftermath of the carnage. He appeared to be hunched over two boys, middle-school age at best. They must have been the victims, she thought, as the famous hero straightened, flashing his signature smile at the crowd. While everyone around her cheered, she refrained from joining them. Don't get her wrong, she admired All Might as much as the next person. She just didn't understand how someone could smile all the damn time when so many people were suffering, and there was hardly anything about the world to smile about.

Her enrapture was interrupted as she spotted movement within the scene. She managed to glimpse one of the boys slip from the area into a crevice between the buildings. Doing a quick scan, she realized that cameras were everywhere. She should probably get out of sight too.

At that moment, a loud buzzing alarm sounded from the pockets and purses of every bystander. Immediately, phone screens were withdrawn and displayed, an alert flashing in bright letters: Quirkless Alert! A runaway Quirkless has been spotted in your area! If Maddie hadn't seen the boy from earlier, she would've thought that it was for her. But she had a Quirk now. She had gotten rid of her Quirkless identification card as soon as she got it. Amidst the frenzied searching taking hold of the crowd, she slipped away quietly. That kid was most likely going to re-enter the streets a few blocks away, far enough away from the commotion. She had to find him before anyone else did.

A part of her questioned herself about why she even bothered. The other part, a much stronger part, knew exactly what it was like to feel belittled and hunted. Ridiculed. Looked down on. Due to the amendments of the Quirkless laws in America, she was lucky enough to not be tossed into one of those facilities, but it didn't spare her from the segregation. Her peers took delight in telling her that she wouldn't amount to much without a Quirk.

With this in mind, she expertly maneuvered her way through the alleyways. Eventually, she caught sight of the boy again: short build, green curls and eyes with freckles. He was the most unassuming individual you could find. Hard to imagine the government wanted to hunt him down like he was an animal. He was walking briskly, occasionally throwing glances over his shoulder. She positioned herself just at the mouth of the alley she had crept through, preparing for when he passed by. He would be spooked initially, but she was confident she could convince him she wasn't there to hurt him. As soon as his frame appeared in her line of sight, her hand shot out to grab his elbow, pulling him into the shadows of the building. She hugged him close to her body, shushing him as soon as he started to struggle. She must've communicated well to him with her eyes, as he instantly relaxed, allowing her to release him. Without wasting any time, she strode over to a manhole cover, kicking it open. "Over here, kid," she called, gesturing him over. He seemed to understand, crouching down into the drainpipe, and scootching in farther to allow her room to follow him.

Closing the cover as carefully as she could, she crawled her way over to the grate of the levy, allowing her full view of the street. Citizens began rushing through the area, calling out for the boy she was hiding with, sometimes whistling. As if they were calling for a dog instead of a teenage boy. The blood boiled under her skin for a minute before she quelled it. She watched the masses move on with their search, the calls fading in the distance. She crawled back to the opening, giving the boy a thumbs-up. Crawling out of the manhole, she turned to pull the kid out.

"Thanks," the boy said, "but why?" His distrust wasn't unwarranted. She understood completely. She beamed at him, putting her hands in her pockets as he brushed himself off. "Let's just say I have some experience in this sort of thing," she replied. The boy gave her a strange look but decided not to inquire. He was probably glad that he had at least one ally in this twisted world.

"Got a place to stay, kid?" she asked. The boy cast his gaze downward out of trepidation. "No," he mumbled. Maddie's smile grew even wider. "Neither do I. But I'm sure I could get you a hotel or something. Only enough for a couple nights, though. After that, we'll have to find somewhere more permanent. Whaddya say, kid?"

The boy stared at her as if she had grown a second head. This was probably the first time in forever that he was ever given a choice. She knew that apprehensive feeling well. The look on his face looked a lot like hers did, once upon a time. Too much like her.

The young greenette scoffed. "I have a name," he admonished, crossing his arms. Maddie chuckled. "Of course you do. So do I. My name's Maddie. What about you?" He analyzed her as if trying to detect any deceit, but finally he muttered, "Izuku."

"Izuku," Maddie repeated. "I like that. Sounds cool." She clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "Now, we should probably get going. Don't wanna get caught if they circle back."

"Who said I was going anywhere with you?" Maddie paused, laughed nervously while rubbing at the back of her neck. Her fingers got caught in her long, golden-brown hair. "Hehe, fair enough. But I promise, I don't plan on selling you or handing you over to the QC. I got nothing to gain from that." The boy, Izuku, didn't seem entirely convinced, but he didn't immediately run away from her either. That, at least, was a start.

"Oh, another thing, before I forget!" she exclaimed, holding up a finger. "I actually came to this area to look for someone. An old friend of mine. He used to live somewhere around here. I went to his old house but it was..." she trailed off, unable to describe what exactly she found. Or rather, what she didn't find. She shook her head, continuing. "His name is Tenko Shimura. He has black hair and dark eyes. He'd be about my age."

Izuku looked her up and down as he pondered. After a moment, he shook his head. "No, I don't know anyone by that description or name." Maddie visibly sagged, letting out a dejected sigh. "Figured it wouldn't be that easy. Oh well." She picked herself up, waving towards the street. "C'mon. We should go. We'll find a safe place for you to hunker down in, how does that sound?"

Izuku at least seemed to agree with that. Drawing up their hoods again, she positioned herself beside him, ready to make him as inconspicuous as possible as they made their way through the city. However, misfortune just had to appear in that moment to screw her over. As soon as they exited the alley, Izuku collided with a woman who walked up at the worst time.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't-" she paused as she got a good look at Izuku's face, glancing between him and the photo that was no doubt on her phone in her hand. Her eyes widened, and Maddie could feel her heart clench in her chest. "Wait, are you-?" Maddie tried to put herself between Izuku and the woman, but she was too fast. She grabbed hold of Izuku's hood, trying to pull it down. Instinctively, Izuku tucked his arms in, slipping free of the hoodie, and exposing the collar that he wore around his neck. Things had just gone from bad to worse.

"Oh, you poor baby!" the woman cooed. Other people started to take notice as she reached for Izuku. "What are you doing out here all by your-?" She didn't get the chance to finish as Maddie grabbed him and dashed away from her. "Hey, where do you think you're going?!" she yelled after her, sounding righteously enraged. If only she knew what kind of hell she wanted to put Izuku back in. Not that she would believe it until she saw it for herself. And even then, she might still believe it was necessary.

However, the clamor had drawn the crowd too much. People caught sight of Izuku's collar and started boxing them in, making it difficult to squeeze past. She wanted to yell at them to move, but that would sink her deeper into this hole she was already in. She resolved to just violently push her way through.

All plans for that came to a grinding halt as Izuku was yanked from her grasp, the boy letting out a sharp cry. She snapped her gaze up to what had happened, only to be met with a giant woman in a skin-tight hero costume, plucking Izuku up by the back of his shirt between her thumb and forefinger. She cooed and fawned over him as if he were an infant, and it sickened her. At this point, no one was even acknowledging her, too enraptured by the display upon the hero's arrival. But it was more than that. It was baffling to her how no one seemed to notice how scared Izuku was as he dangled in the giant lady's grip, screaming at her to let him go. But it was the look on his face that seared itself into her retinas.

That look. She knows that look. The look of someone so desperately afraid to flee from their predators because the fate they had in store for them was so much worse than death. She knew exactly what Izuku was feeling. She had felt it herself. She was intimate with it. She began to see flashes of a painful past, one she narrowly escaped from: white halls, people in white coats and black military gear, straitjackets and similar restraints, pills. And needles. So many needles.

It was enough to spur her into action. She would not let this boy suffer the same fate. He didn't deserve it. Before she knew it, her white, gossamer wings unfurled themselves, rocketing her towards the woman's massive hand. Activating a small amount of her power, she rammed herself into the hero's fingers, making her lose her hold on Izuku. A few wisps of white fire fizzled out in graceful flurries after the impact. While still in the air, she caught Izuku, securing him in her hold against her body. He clung to her tightly, her wings flapping in massive beats to steady themselves. And then, before anyone could process what had happened, she pivoted, and shot the both of them away from this ever-worsening disaster.

Well, so much for keeping a low profile.

The giant woman grunted angrily as she rubbed at her hand. By the time she went after them, they were already several meters from the scene. "Get back here!" she roared, shaking the ground with each running step she took. However, she wouldn't be fast enough to catch up to them. Maddie was certain of that. She left the angry crowd behind her in the dust as they shouted and hurled obscenities at her. She had dealt with worse.

Something from the ground wrapped around and tugged on her leg. She looked down to see another hero, his branch-like limbs extended to catch her. Undeterred, she grit her teeth and continued on, dragging the tree-esque hero with her. His weight slowed them down, but she wasn't strong enough to shake off his grip. His hold was like iron. She just had to keep going until he gave up.

"Stop in the name of the law!" he declared righteously, digging his feet into the pavement to slow them down even more. She pulled back with all her might, still managing to drag the hero across the ground. However, with a surprising amount of strength she didn't know he had, the hero's limbs hardened before jerking downwards, forcefully sending her careening in the same direction. She flipped over so that her body was blocking Izuku, unable to weave them out of this crash course. She slammed into the asphalt, making an indent as they scraped down the road, finally coming to rest after colliding with the base of another building. Thankfully, it didn't topple over, by some miracle.

They both coughed, Maddie wincing from the pain of the impact. She was definitely going to feel that in the morning. She looked down at Izuku on top of her. "You okay?" she asked. After the dust from the busted concrete settled, he was able to find his voice. "Y-Yeah," he answered, shifting himself off of her to see if anything was broken.

Maddie's heart leapt in her throat as the rubble above them shifted. They were greeted by the furious visage of the giant lady hero from before. "Got you, you damn villain!" She shot out her hand and viciously wrapped it around Maddie, quickly trapping her limbs. She growled in frustration, twisting and turning in the lady's grip. When she tried to use her Quirk, the fist around her tightened in warning. She'd rather not be squeezed like a grape today.

"How dare you!" the giant woman continued to screech, bringing Maddie up to her face. "Trying to abduct a Quirkless like that! And a child no less! What a completely heartless criminal you are!" She glanced over to the side, where the hero who had thrown Maddie to the ground had emerged. "Thanks, Kamui," she said, beaming brightly. The other hero, Kamui, merely nodded. "Just doing my job," he replied.

To Maddie's horror, the giant lady hero had also carefully wrapped her fingers around Izuku as well, holding him gently but firmly between them, making it impossible for him to wriggle out of. It didn't stop him from trying, though. "Oh, you poor thing!" the hero cooed. "That must've been so scary for you. Don't worry, you're safe now. And we caught the big, bad villain, too."

Izuku continued his writhing, grunting loudly in frustration. "Please, just put us down!" he cried. The giant lady hero dismissed him entirely. "Aww! So cute!" she gushed, rubbing the boy against her cheek affectionately like he was a soft kitten. It made Maddie want to throw up.

Police cars arrived, their blaring sirens and flashing lights taking up the surrounding destruction. As they all got out, the giant lady sent Maddie another seething glare before roughly tossing her towards the waiting officers, the girl landing hard on the pavement. Before she could react, thick, heavy iron bands were slapped around her middle, pinning her arms and wings to her body. She growled, twisting around in her restraints for any give. There was none. She was not strong enough to break out of this with her Quirk. She could only watch helplessly as Izuku was gently handed into the waiting arms of people in white jumpsuits, standing ready with a gurney and ambulance nearby. A gurney with restraints. That ambulance was not going to take him to a hospital, she knew that for sure.

Fear for Izuku gripped her once more. Her struggling increased anew. "Hey!" she cried out. "Let go of him! He's not some criminal!" No one paid her any mind. Why would they? In their minds, she was a nasty villain who tried to kidnap a fragile, defenseless Quirkless. She kept trying, however. Izuku was strapped down to the gurney despite his protests.

A thick cable attached to her restraints tugged her to her feet. "Let's go!" an officer barked, pulling her towards a prepared iron maiden, open and ready for her. She resisted with all she had, but it wasn't enough. Suddenly, a desperate scream sounded through the air, causing her blood to freeze in her veins.

"All Might, please! Help me! Help me, please, All Might!"

That was Izuku's voice. He sounded so scared. Scared enough that he begged for another hero to come and save him. She tried to pull harder against the cable, which did actually hinder the cops for a moment. She didn't want to hear that scream come from that boy. It broke her heart in two. But the officers regained their footing and resumed their tugging. Eventually, she was close enough to shove her inside the iron maiden, the doors of the metal contraption shutting closed, plunging her into darkness. All noises from the outside were cut off, including Izuku's screams. She bashed her body against the sides of her metal prison, but it was no use. She would tire herself out if she continued like this.

She felt the iron maiden being jostled and moved, settling with a clang inside of something rumbling. A vehicle, no doubt. She barely heard the sound of a truck bed door slamming closed before the vehicle rolled to its destination. She cursed, lamenting how bad things had gone so quickly.

At least prison may not be so bad compared to the facility.

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Author's Note: I am so nervous about posting this. Like I said before, you should go read Shadowhuntress's and Zyla_SweetBean's Quirkless Not Worthless AU over on AO3. This will also be posted there. I did get permission from the authors to write an AU of their AU as long as I give proper credit. Anyways, let me know what you think.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower