Izuku Midoriya was not the best swimmer. Although he could keep himself afloat, he couldn't hold his breath for nearly long enough to be confident in the water. He often felt himself get light headed after holding his breath for 20 seconds or so.
With tears stinging his eyes, He was clawing at the green liquid mass that was blocking his mouth desperately, to no avail. He had been doing this for about a minute, and he felt as though he was going to faint any second.
All might, on his patrol, had been stopped just short of his location, after some children asked for some autographs.
The sewer monster chuckled "Thank goodness you're so weak! Usually it'd take 5 minutes to get in someone's head, but you're barely putting up a fight!"
A black metallic rod with red streaks penetrated the monster, Missing Izuku's head by mere inches.
The sludge monster's face moved over to the back of Izuku's "Ha, that's fuckin' sad! You can't cut sludge you idiot!" He cackled with a stupid grin, Izuku's struggling had weakened considerably.
After the sludge monster had spoken, his eyes widened. "H-hey what are y-" His sludge was being forced to bunch together, including the sludge that was being used to suffocate Izuku.
The sludge then took the shape of a humanoid figure, before.. well.. It became human.
Izuku's eyes widened incredulously, before collapsing onto his knees and clutching his heart, gasping for air, sweet sweet air.
"W-WHAT THE FUCK?!" The… former slime monster looked down at his bare body. "W-what the fuck did you do to me?!" He looked at the person behind Izuku.
Izuku heard one single step sound from behind him before the former sludge monster bolted.
He felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. "Are you alright, boy?" A concerned voice reached his ears.
Izuku turned to face his saviour, his eyes widening slightly in surprise, and perhaps a little fear before shuffling over to the wall of the bridge, putting space in between him.
He understands that's a rude way to treat your saviour, but in his defence, he did look scary.
He was dressed in a sharp suit, with some piece of machinery covering his face. "Relax, boy. If I wanted to hurt you, you would know." He said factually. Izuku wasn't sure if this reassured him.
"T-thank you..." Izuku finally said, his hand ghosting over his neck.
"So, were you waiting to use your quirk, or would it not of helped?" The masked man sat down beside him.
"O-Oh.. I.. um.. I don't have one." Izuku answered, He fiddled with his fingers, avoiding his gaze.
The man was speechless for a moment. "Quirkless, hm? I've only met one other quirkless guy in my life time, and I'm quite an old man." He mused, looking down at him.
"R-right." Izuku sighed before turning to face him "I-I'm sorry if this seems rude but… it feels fitting to ask someone from the profession! C-could someone who's quirkless become a hero?"
The man chuckled. "I'm not from the profession." He answered bluntly.
Izuku's eyes widened. "W-what? You're not a hero?" The man nodded in confirmation. "B-but you saved me!"
"You don't need to be a hero to save people. Heroes and villains are just meaningless titles." The man explained, Izuku was listening, intrigued in what he had to say. "You decide who you are and what you want to be, it's never as black and white as heroes and villains, but rather, it's just saving people in your own way."
The man then put his hand in his suit's breast pocket. "You want to save people, don't you?"
Izuku nodded vigorously "Whenever I feel the need to!" He confirmed. "Whenever they look like they need saving, I want to be the guy that they can rely on!"
"You can't do that quirkless." The man seemed to crush his dreams in an instant.
"O-oh." Izuku's head hung. "Right."
"But…" The man began. "There is a way for you to get a quirk, but it's a binding process, you'd be agreeing to save people my way."
Izuku had spent his entire life wishing he could do more, that he didn't just have to stand and watch as terrible things happened, and he could just fix it himself. Countless times, he had been shoved down by his friends, doctors, heroes, and even his mother. He was told he couldn't be a hero, that it was useless trying, from everyone he met.
Izuku shot to his feet. "It's still saving people, right?! In that case I'll do it!"
The man stood, slower and with less enthusiasm as the younger one in the pair. "I do like your enthusiasm." He stated simply, before holding his hand to his head. Izuku flinched slightly, his body stiffened, but he stood still.
"Just relax. You might feel a bit of a headache afterwards, I haven't done this in a while." He warned, before placing his hand on his head.
Green electricity passed down his arm and into his head, before he jumped. "Ah!" He hissed, backing up slightly, rubbing his head.
"Giving you the full thing off the bat would lead to you breaking some bones. I've only given 5% of the power that you could later possess fully, but in order to get it, you must train your body. In everything from endurance, to strength." He readjusted the cuffs on his suit, Izuku was staring at himself in childlike wonder, as if his dreams had come true.
"I will be back for you in a few months. You won't need to find me. I will find you." He stated simply, before turning, walking away.
"W-wait.. is that it? You're just gonna leave?" Izuku asked, obviously confused.
"It is up to you to prepare yourself. If you can't even manage that, then you don't deserve the power I can give you, the power to save millions." He began walking away.
Izuku stared after him for a moment. "W-wait, what's your name?" He finally asked.
The man stopped walking, just standing still for a moment, as if he was contemplating answering the boy's question, Izuku noted, that the machinery on his face also covered the back of his head.
"All for one." The man, all for one, finally answered, before walking off at a brisk pace.
Izuku Midoriya had trained furiously the following months, it had taken him a while, a good two months before the quirk he was granted finally made itself known, after Izuku had started getting some muscle from his relentless training.
When it manifested, he did a lot of accidental damage, which he still felt guilty about to this day.
He was currently on his way home from school, his high school application sheet in his hands, reading it over to make sure he included everything.
It was under the same bridge where he first met All for one, where they would meet for a second time.
"Midoriya." The unmistakable voice called his name, grabbing his attention from the piece of paper in his hands.
Wait.. how does he know my name? I don't remember telling him that.
"I see you've been training. That's good." He approached him before walking behind him, and after seeing the paper, he snatched it from him.
"You want to go to U.A?" He turned to look at Izuku.
"Right! With the quirk you gave me, I'm sure I can make the cut!" Izuku smiled, the mere idea that being accepted into U.A was now a possibility for him filling him with happiness.
"Don't apply for U.A" All For One ordered.
"What? Why not? I've got a real chance here, I've even been practicing lifting cars-"
"I know you have a real chance, but I said the day I gave you this power, you will save people my way. You don't need to have a social status of a hero, to be a hero, you don't even need a license. You just need a good moral compass, and self-sacrificing qualities." All for one interrupted him.
"But All Might went t-" Izuku began, just to be cut off.
"You are not All Might, you can be so much more. Now, I will not repeat myself, choose a normal high school, study hard if you wish, but focus on your training, and I promise you, you can become a greater hero than any of those U.A students." All for one claimed. "Have some faith in yourself, boy, you don't need a school to teach you something so simple."
Izuku was silent for a minute or two before he next spoke. "Alright." He began reluctantly "I believe you."
"And so you should. After all, I am the only one who believes in you." All for one said coldly, and that struck Izuku like a knife purely because of the truth behind it, it struck so hard that he wouldn't even question how he knew this detail in his life for many years to come.
He's right, of course he's right.
All for one readjusted his suit jacket. "As you're used to 5%, you should be able to control it effectively now." He began. "Imagine an open valve that's on full blast, what you want to do, is close that valve so only droplets make their way through."
"… Uh, what?" Izuku was dumbfounded.
All for one just patted his shoulder, the same green electricity travelled down his arm and onto his shoulder, but this green lightning was different from last time. It was more sporadic, and in higher volume.
When it reached his shoulder, the pain was so significant that it got a yelp out of him. All for one looked at him for a moment, before turning and starting to walk away. "Meet me here 6 months from now." He ordered.
That had become a pattern in his life, every 6 months, he would go, to receive his 'quirk booster'. It was in his fifth meeting with him, where something different happened.
"There are people I'd like you to meet, Midoriya." He stated, as if it were not up for discussion, and in truth, it wasn't.
"Oh, who?" He was mildly interested. He had changed rapidly over the years since meeting all for one, while he was braver, he was also less enthusiastic about most things.
"Your future colleges. Although they have different ideas and goals, you will work together to make something amazing, a league that the public will recognise as the symbol of change." All for one spoke with certainty as he held his hand out to him. He took it.
"They might fear it at first, everyone always fears change, but in the long run, they will realise the good we did for them. They will see that we were the ones to bless them with the future they didn't know they needed." All for one claimed.
Izuku stared at him with awe. He will be responsible for everyone's future. How vowed silently at that moment, that he would not screw this up, with all those lives on the line. He would not fail them.
A black void warped into existence in front of them, Deku jumped slightly before staring into it. "Hey are you the one who…" He trailed off, All for one shook his head.
"After you." All for one checked the time on his watch.
Izuku reached out his hand into, feeling his hand face through un harmed. This gave him the confidence to walk through. He found himself in a bar with the members of a league that will be formed in the future.
The league of villains.
A/N Hello! It's been almost 2 years since I've written anything on this site, and over these years, I have fallen madly in love with my hero academia. This chapter is a lot shorter than the chapters to come don't worry. A weird thing I've noticed is the lack of my hero academia fanfictions, and I've had this idea in my head for a while now. Any feedback or constructive criticism is appreciated, and I shall see you in the next chapter! Let me know what ya think!