Quirks are seen as many things; useful, useless, heroic, villainous. The mere perception of a quirk in any category can affect someone in many ways, but the quirk itself can affect someone just as much as its perception.
Midoriya Izuku has a fire quirk. This, in and of itself, is not a problem; Endeavor is the number two pro hero in all of Japan, and he has a fire quirk. No, the problems began when Izuku's quirk was seen as villainous. He was forced to hide away his power, lest he be consumed by the "evil" lurking within.
Of course, it could never be that simple. Quirks have a way of coming to the surface, whether convenient or not. In Izuku's case, it manifests as pyromania— a fixation on fire and all of its uses. He doesn't see fire as harmful; sure, fire can hurt, but fire can heal too! Still, he promises to keep the fire contained within, for his mothers' sake.
After an incident with a certain villain leads Izuku to break his promises, he's branded a villain. Forced to flee, he eventually finds himself at a shrine for the fire god, Kagu-tsuchi. Finding a shrine maiden's uniform, he takes to restoring the shrine to its former glory, building relationships within the nearby town, even if it is a 15 kilometer walk from the shrine into town.
When a ragtag group of villains attacks the town, Izuku rushes in to help. In another world, Ryukyu and Nejire-Chan would arrive, giving him a chance to explain himself and understanding that he's simply been misunderstood. However, in this world, the heroes are far too late to arrive. He's vilified, despite saving the townsfolk from the villains. As he prepares to flee, he meets a certain man who gives him a different perspective... perhaps he can't be a hero... but that doesn't mean he can't fix the flaws inherent in society...
Emerald Furnace - Path of Storms
is a My Hero Academia fanfiction written by MosesArk_Reborn2000. For a fanfiction by the same author where Izuku becomes a hero instead, see Emerald Furnace - Path of Waves.
Tropes included in Emerald Furnace: Path of Storms
- Abusive Parents: While Inko loved and supported Izuku in canon, here she tries to set up a slews of 'dos' and 'do nots' to prevent Izuku's Quirk from flaring up. This is what causes Izuku to run away and eventually join Nine.
- Nine doesn't remember the names of his parents, or even his own, but from what little can be gathered in his inner monologue in Chapter 6, it was very unpleasant.
- Slice was constantly neglected by her dad, running away at the age of 10 and spending 9 years alone before Izuku found her.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Having a powerful Quirk that society views as villainous has not done any favors for Izuku's mental health.
- Slice is friendless due to her Quirk, and her lack of a decent education means that she cannot get any high-paying jobs.
- Adaptational Badass: Izuku's Quirk allows him to become a mixture of a volcano, snake and campfire and allows him to control fire in both attack and healing, as well as speak the tongue of snakes. However, society thought of it as a villainous Quirk, forcing Izuku to run and eventually join Nine.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Nine, Mummy, Slice, Chimera show up far earlier than their canonical appearance.
- Likewise, Naomasa shows up during the search for Izuku instead of the USJ attack.
- Hawks shows up during Izuku's search for Slice rather than the Hero Billboards Arc.
- Nezu shows up after the arrest gone wrong instead of at UA.
- Ingenium shows up at the end of Chapter 15 instead of the Sports Festival Arc.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Bakugou believes that Izuku's Quirk is nothing more than a villain Quirk, and that Izuku will rot in prison or in the grave, where he belongs.
- Adaptational Villainy: After joining Nine, Izuku is this.
- An Arm and a Leg: The cop that bullied Chimera and got beaten senseless in chapter 12 is later revealed to have had his mangled leg amputated the next chapter.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Cabbage driver in Chapter 11 fears and despises the two for carjacking him, holding him hostage, forcing him to drive them away from the Pros hunting them, casually threatening to burn or cut him to ribbons, and having the gall to insult his music tastes.
- Ascended Extra: Nine, Mummy, Slice and Chimera are affected by this, due to them being Izuku's newfound friends.
- Bad Boss: Koharu wonders if Shigaraki views them as expendable or is plain incompetent.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Bakugou claimed that Izuku's Quirk made him villainous and that it was his future to be a villain. Well, he gets his wish, but it's very likely in the "Bakugou Katsuki Faces Consequences" tag, that he will regret making Izuku a Villain.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: During Nine's inner monologue, he could count the number of people who showed genuine kindness to him on one hand.
- Boom in the Hand: When Chimera's bully turned cop tries to shoot Izuku down, Izuku grabs his gun before he could get another shot off and superheats it to where it explodes, mangling his hands in the process.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When the cop screamed at Chimera for destroying his future, Chimera is a bit lost to who he is due to dealing with so many assholes in his life. When he explains what he did, Chimera realized who he is and after explaining what happened, promptly shatters the cop's other leg beyond repair.Cop: Been a long time, Kon. Remember me?
Chimera: Not sure, I've seen so many assholes that they start blending. - Combat Medic: Izuku is this, with his Quirk not only being versatile in combat, but also able to heal himself and others, although they'd have to be bathed in flames. Nine advises him to tell others about the 'being engulfed by flames to heal' part, so that they won't panic.
- Combat Pragmatist: Slice exploits Todoroki's refusal to use his fire side and successfully subdues him.
- Create Your Own Villain: Bakugou's intentional bullying, mistreatment and intentionally exposing Izuku to fire to get him into trouble forced Izuku into villainy. In the end, Bakugou will find that he has no one but himself to blame for making a monster of his own creation.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Chimera, Izuku, Mummy, Slice and Nine against nearly 20 heroes and 30 cops ends up being a one-sided beatdown, with one hero effectively being forced to retire early and causing the HPSC to label them all as low C-rank villains.
- Didn't See That Coming: Neither Ingenium, Slice or Pyre saw Koharu being a quirked animal come up on the horizon.
- Evil Is Petty: Shigaraki puts Izuku in the Downpour zone of the USJ because Izuku was able to find many flaws in Shigaraki's plans.
- Fantastic Racism: Izuku was viewed as the school pariah and as a future villain in the making due to his Quirk. To those who thought he'd be a villain, they will regret it.
- Slice was bullied and teased for her hair obsession, then as a future villain in the making.
- Chimera had it the worst, due to his Quirk making him a combination of various animals, which is only amplified due to students attacking him constantly, but if he lashed out, he'd get in trouble.
- Fatal Flaw:
- Todoroki suffers from pride and spite against his father, choosing to not use his fire side to spite Endeavor. Slice exploits this and proceeds to defeat him easily.
- Bakugou suffers from pride and arrogance. When what he did to Izuku comes out, it will be clear to Bakugou that he will not be in for a good time.
- Glass Cannon: Nine is a powerful fighter with his weather manipulation Quirk, but the unfortunate side effect of cellular degradation means he cannot use the quirk constantly without killing himself. He even admits this trope fits him.
- Heal It With Fire: Izuku's Quirk allows him to heal anyone as long as they are willing to be bathed in flames. Something that Nine and Chimera both accept due to the fatal Quirk defect for Nine and the injuries Chimera got.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Koda surrenders after Tokoyami is badly beaten by Pyre, knowing he stands no chance.
- Locked Out of the Loop: When talking to the mother of a son who got mauled badly by Chimera, Izuku is quick to realize that the boy had bullied Chimera to a Rage Breaking Point, due to Chimera having a 'villainous Quirk', and that the school they went to never told her. He mentally remarks that it's practically the same with Bakugou being his bully for ten years but the staff at Aldera didn't tell Mitsuki and Masuru in order to have his dream of being a hero come true.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Izuku defeats a villain gang in the mountain town he's been hiding in, the cops reward him by shooting at him. All Might calls them out for forcing thoughts of persecution on Izuku.
- Noodle Incident: When Koharu reveals herself as a quirked animal, Ingenium notes that this isn't the first time he had to fight a Quirked animal.
- Not Quite Dead: Nine is able to find out All for One is still alive.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When the aforementioned cop bitches and goes on about how he was to be the next number one Hero, Izuku coldly shuts him down, viewing him as no different than the bullies like Bakugou.
- Point of Divergence:
- Izuku has a powerful Quirk that allows him to heal people using fire. However, the person in question has to be consumed by the flames to be healed up. This brands him a villain with students intentionally exposing him to fire to intentionally get the future villain in trouble.
- Following the heroes deciding to try and arrest Izuku, he is forced to run for months, eventually hiding in a mountain town.
- Instead of Nejire and Ryukyu finding Izuku, Nine is the one who finds him first. Combined, their efforts to build up Nine's group is made far easier than canon, as Nine had to search for Chimera, Mummy and Slice by himself.
- Ibara takes Izuku's place in 1A.
- When meeting the League of Villains leader, Izuku and Slice join the League, if only for the USJ attack. By the time Kurogiri arrives to deliver the bad news, he adds that both Pyre and Slice had captured Koda, Tokoyami and Todoroki.
- Pragmatic Villainy: When Izuku and Slice hijack a car, they do not cause harm (though threats of harm apply) to avoid the driver freaking out enough to cause suspicion to get the cops and heroes on them.
- Nine is the one who goes out to get groceries as unlike the rest, he is largely unknown.
- They allow Izuku to view hero content despite not liking heroes, because the kid can create plans, counterstrikes and whatnot around areas where any hero can patrol. They also try to avoid killing when they can, as while they are capable of going toe-to-toe with most of the top 10, they do not wish to engage in a prolonged fight or rapidly rise up the villain ranks yet.
- When several thugs facing potential frostbite are about to blab, Slice shuts them down by telling them if they blab, she'll drag them to Shigaraki so he can dust them for cowardice.
- Spotting the Thread: When Nine makes comments with his group about how Shigaraki's plan seems flawed or downright childish, he is able to put together that All for One isn't dead and Shigaraki is his puppet master.
- Sucky School: Aldera, as in canon.
- Chimera was constantly bullied and mistreated due to his Quirk, to the point that changing schools did not work. This eventually caused him to snap and severely maul a student bad enough to cause him to change career paths. Izuku is quick to figure out that it's very likely the student's mother didn't know the boy bullied Chimera and he snapped because of it.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: If Izuku using his Quirk is labeled villainous to the point where the cops will shoot at him, then he will become evil.
- Villain Has a Point: When Koharu and Pyre are discussing Shigaraki, Koharu points out that Nine's claims that Shigaraki is too reckless of an idiot as he went in on a plan that had a lack of information on students, their quirks, and of course, the fact all of this is based on luck is spot on.
- What the Hell, Hero?: All Might gives an off-screen one to the cops of the mountain town for shooting at Izuku after he took down a villain group. Because of their actions, not only has Izuku disappeared with someone else, but now Izuku is convinced he'll be hunted and persecuted no matter where he goes.
- Zerg Rush: Shigaraki's method for the USJ attack.
