It has come to my attention that I had originally posted this story under the name Emerald Lightning like an idiot. That doesn't even make sense! I'm not even sure how I screwed up like that. The mistake has now been fixed and without further ado, enjoy the story.
At the young age of four, I learned an important lesson that would come to shape the remainder of my living years. I, Izuku Midoriya, was just a quirkless kid that realized that not everyone stands on an equal footing in our society as I stood in front of the poor defenseless boy who had been assaulted by my childhood friends. I remember the look of fear on the face of a boy who knew that he was hopelessly outnumbered. I remember the panic that overtook Bakugo's face as I sent the fire of his explosion rocketing back towards his crew. However, most of all, I remember the feeling that it was my duty to help those that could not help themselves.
10 Years Later
It had been a productive ten years since I had discovered my affinity for flames. It should have been expected from the mixture of the quirks of my parents. The ability to manifest fire from my hands and shape any source of fire to my will. The production had come from my father's own ability to breathe fire and the shaping from my mother's minor telekinesis. While I loved my quirk, it was still a reminder of the monstrosity of a human that my father was. The Hellfire Butcher was a name that was fairly famous in Japan and not in a good way that's for sure. My mom hadn't even known about his "extracurricular" activities until All Might himself had come to take him into custody. Funny how evil can be found in even the most mundane of places. Needless to say, my father hadn't put up much of a fight. I was much too young at the time to understand the significance of my father being taken away. However, he was a great example of what happens when you don't train to be the best. Luckily, he was secure in a maximum security detention center.
I woke up on the morning of the first day of my third year of Junior High with a general lack of energy and a sense of dread. Not to say that school was awful, but it also signified that I was going into another year of constant torment from my former friend Bakugo. He wasn't particularly threatening because I knew he was mostly full of hot air, but I also didn't want to risk fighting the unstable guy either. While I could probably win the fight thanks to the real effort that I put into my training, I was also a firm believer that a quirk should only be used against those that deserve to be punished.
As I took a look at my alarm clock, I realized that I was almost certainly going to be late for school unless I made it to the train station within the next fifteen minutes. I quickly jumped from my window after notifying my mother that I was leaving and hit the ground in a roll before taking off in a sprint. Unfortunately, As I neared the station I was able to make out a large man with an almost shark shaped head who seemed to be on a rampage at the platform. I let out a brief sigh at being late to my first day of school before I rushed to get a front row seat of the action. As I made it to the front I realized that none of the Heroes had responded yet which was quite odd as it generally didn't take more than a few minutes for the first heroes to respond.
"What happened that could have caused such an outburst from this guy? What was he planning?" I asked the somewhat stocky man beside me as I took out the latest in my long line of notebooks.
"As far as we can tell he was just snatching a purse from some poor lady. Such a waste of an amazing quirk"
"Well not everyone can be gifted with a high intellect. His chances of getting away were much better if he had just fled without using his quirk. Now that he's drawn the attention of heroes he has almost no chance of escape" I said as I continued to write the visible aspects of his quirk into my notebook. As I was finishing with my notes, Kamui Woods finally arrived at the scene and began to deal with the rogue purse snatcher. He was doing reasonably well until a lady who must have had a gigantification quirk herself promptly drop kicked the villain a fair distance down the road. As she began to show off to the press I could only shake my head at her actions. I understood the need for publicity in the hero business, but I couldn't help but feel that it sullied the purpose of a hero. On the other hand, I wouldn't have been able to research quirks as effectively as I had without the press so I couldn't very well complain too much.
Out of the corner of my eye, I registered that the large villain had recovered from his brief and painful contact with the asphalt and was making a mad dash away from the scene of the crime. I quickly produce a long whip of flame from my right hand and curled it around both of the villain's legs which resulted in a hard impact with the ground. I was quickly surrounded by a group of four policemen with tasers drawn. I raised my hands in a panicked gesture of surrender and could feel the sweat running down my back.
"The use of quirks in public without a license is strictly prohibited. What do you think you're doing" the officer who looked to be the captain said with a hint of steel in his voice. I shuddered as I realized that I had acted on impulse. This was certainly not how I had planned for my morning to go.
"I-I'm sorry! I acted without th-thinking!" I quickly stuttered out to the officer in front of me. I berated myself for falling back into a stutter that I thought that I was rid of several years ago. In my defense, it was hard not to be nervous when faced with a several hundred volts of electricity being aimed directly at me. The policeman seemed to relax slightly and motion for his fellow officers to lower their weapons.
"Even so I'm still going to need to take you down to the precinct and get this settled as quickly as possible. I'm officer Tsukauchi and I'll be the officer that will be escorting you today" He said with a small sigh in his voice. I sheepishly ran my hand through my hair and gave him a small smile to show that I understood why he needed to do this. He lead me through the crowd to his police car and surprisingly opened the passenger door for me instead of the back. I gave him a small appreciative nod as I took a seat and he climbed into the driver's side. As we were about to take off we saw a significantly smaller version of the lady who had kicked the villain earlier ran up to the window. Tsukauchi quickly rolled down the window so that we could see what she wanted.
"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for saving my ass back there. It would have been really lame if the first villain that I fought got away" She admitted with a small blush of embarrassment.
"No problem. Just, you know, make sure that the guy is actually down the next time you punt someone the length of a football field" I said with a small smirk on my face so she would know that I was just joking. As we were about to take off I quickly threw a joke at her as a farewell. "Now I need to go get arrested. I hope you fair better in your next fight."
It didn't take long for us to reach the station and time seemed to fly by as I began to discuss heroes and villains with Tsukauchi. We had a brief debate over the correct ideology of being a hero before I realized that we were already done with the processing that I had been brought here for. Tsukauchi quickly called my mother, who was understandably distressed, and cleared up what had happened at the station. After that, she seemed to calm down and told him that she was on the way to pick me up. As I began to walk outside towards my mother's car, I heard Tsukauchi shout one last thing to me before I left.
"Hey, Kid! If you ever need help don't be afraid to call." He stated as he threw his card at me in a very impressive display of dexterity. I snatched the card out of the air and sent him with an exuberant wave before I made it to my mother's car. As I entered I saw my mother's exasperated look and knew that I was probably grounded for the rest of my adult life. I briefly wondered why it was the good who died young.
After about fifteen minutes of driving, we came upon a tunnel that seemed quite ordinary at first glance. In fact, I often passed underneath this tunnel as I walked to and from school. However, As we got closer I saw a large abomination of slime covering what seemed to be a small 1st year at my Junior High. I quickly turned to my mother who had stopped the car and looked horrified at the sight before her.
"Mom I need you to call for help and don't leave the car. This doesn't look good" I said as I quickly exited the car and made a dash for the tunnel. I ignited my hands in an aura of green flames and ran to help the small kid. I knew that my larger scale attacks would only put the child in more danger so as I ran towards the slime monster I decide that localized blasts would work better for what I needed. As I got closer to the monster, he sent a tentacle towards my throat which I was deftly able to roll under. I followed my roll up with localized blasts of fire towards the lower part of the monster's body which caused the figure to lash out with a tentacle that caught me on the right side of the head. On the bright side, it seemed that he had dropped the kid. I quickly shot to my feet after being thrown several meters away and prepared to fight.
"What does some puny child think that he's gonna do against me. You don't stand a chance kid" The man said as he sent out a veritable barrage of tentacles snaking towards me. I panicked briefly before I calmed down and time seemed to slow slightly.
"You let your one advantage get away. You won't be so lucky as to get another. Drill of the Inferno!" I shouted as a large drill of fire quickly tore through the slime monster's body and simultaneously tear it to shreds. I took a deep breath to gather myself and recover some energy that I had spent to send out such a large attack. As I had finally calmed down I heard a brief shuffle behind me I threw a large gout of flames towards the source of the noise thinking that the monster had reformed. Before my flames could so much as make it five feet away from me, they were doused by a brief but powerful gust of wind that succeeded in pushing me back a few feet. As I shifted into a defensive position I recognized none other than the form of All Might at the other side of the tunnel. My jaw dropped as I realized who was standing before me and I immediately paled in fear as I realized I had just attacked."
"Quite the firestarter aren't you my boy. Have no fear for I am here now. I must thank you for quickly and efficiently handling such a villain. I would have done so myself if I was not so distracted by coming to this new city" All Might finished with a hearty laugh as though he wasn't even concerned that I had attacked him moments beforehand.
"I'm so sorry Mister All Might Sir!" I practically yelled in apology while bowing as fast as humanly possible. As I stopped I realized that he had finished gathering the slime into two small bottles.
"It's no worry at all young man but I must be on my way. Justice waits for no man!" He said as he prepared to leap into the sky. I panicked as I wanted to ask the man some more questions. I quickly latched onto his leg and found myself thousands of feet in the air in a matter of a few seconds. We eventually landed on a nearby building and I detached myself from his leg.
"Wait I need to talk to you!" I yelled as he began to head towards the other end of the building.
"I'm sorry young man but I must be on my way."
"It won't take much of your time" I stated as I lowered my head, "I wanted to thank you. You were the one who arrested my dad when I was younger. I'm glad that that monster of a human being was put away from the world. You inspired me to work towards becoming an exemplary hero who helped those that couldn't help themselves. Without your influence, I could never have become the person I am today." I said as I lifted my head to see one of the strangest sights I had ever laid eyes on. In front of me was a man that looked as if All Might had become hundreds of pounds smaller and was emaciated beyond belief. The man quickly noted my expression of disbelief and gave a brief sigh before meeting my eyes.
"I appreciate the sentiment and am glad to have inspired someone of the next generation, however, what I tell you on this roof must be kept secret at all costs. You can never tell anyone what I am about to tell you do you understand?" He stated with an air of urgency within his words.
"Yes sir. I have a question of my own though. How is it that the world has not discovered that you are so obviously in such a sorry state? I, of course, mean no offense but you must understand my confusion."
"They don't know because I can't let them know. The Symbol of Peace must show an unflinching smile when faced with the world's evil. In reality, I wear that smile to hide the fear and uncertainty that lies within my heart." He quickly lifted his shirt to show a gruesome scar across the left side of his torso, "I was hurt five years ago in a fight that took part of my lungs and the entirety of my stomach. The reality of the situation is that after several surgeries I'm left with only three hours a day that I can operate as a hero. As I slowly wither the darkness of the world will grow stronger. It would seem that the fight against evil is truly a lost cause. I need to be going now. The stairwell down should be unlocked so that's how we should get down." He said as he entered the stairwell and disappeared from my sight.
I stood there for several minutes as I tried to process what I had heard from one of my idols. A man who had shaped my ideology and I looked up to with all of my heart. I briefly began to cry before a strange sense of anger welled within my heart. How could he give up in the face of evil? It was a heroes job to brighten the world with their deeds and he was ready to declare defeat. While the fight may have been never-ending, it was nevertheless our job to combat that darkness to our last breaths in order to save the world from the pain that the darkness brings.
It was with this anger that I found myself wandering the streets of the city in the attempt to cool my temper. While he may have given up on the fight, I certainly wasn't going to. I was broken from my thoughts as I heard explosions coming from the other side of the street where it appeared that a villain attack was occurring. As I made it to the scene of the fight, I saw All Might leaning on a pole watching the fight. I turned towards the scene and only had a brief moment to recognize the slime monster from earlier before I was rushing towards the monster with the protests of the pro heroes echoing behind me.
"You again! I didn't think that I would have to fight such a brat again. I won't be so easy to defeat this time!" The monster yelled as he sent a large array of tentacles at me from his gelatinous body. I quickly rolled out of the way of several of the tentacles and batted the others away with the fire that engulfed my hands. I only briefly registered that the person he had captive was Bakugo when the villain started talking again. "What do you hope to accomplish. Your efforts are futile and will lead to your own death. Is that really what you want to do!" the villain shouted in frustration as he sent more attacks my way.
"Saving the innocent is the only thing that matters to me. Should I die in the pursuit of justice then it will be worth it to have saved the lives of those that have been hurt by evil. That's what it means to be a Hero!" I shouted as I brought the fire from the buildings around me into a sphere that surrounded the villain. I quickly collapsed the sphere around the villain and was thankful that Bakugo was slightly resistant to fire, "Collapsing Sphere of the Inferno!" I yelled as I put as much energy as possible into the attack before collapsing to my knees. The next hour passed in a blur as I was questioned by the police and congratulated by the pro heroes for my efforts in stopping a rampaging villain. I was even let go with only a warning as the police moved on to take care of the actual villain. I was set free and as I walked home I was able to reassure myself that while the life of a Hero was hard, it was also worth it to bring a smile to the faces of those that you save. Granted Bakugo wasn't feeling particularly receptive when he woke up, but not everything can work in your favor all the time.
"I am here with an apology!" I heard an echo from around the corner as All Might appeared in a flash of superhuman speed before reverting to his smaller form. "I was wrong to say the things that I did to you on that rooftop. As I saw you take on that villain in the plaza I saw a determination and heroic spirit that I haven't seen in many, many years. You saved me from becoming a fake hero that couldn't recognize his own lack of conviction. It is because of this fact that I offer to you the power to recognize your dream of being a hero. I want you to inherit my Quirk!" He finished with enthusiasm as he spread out wide. I stared at the man before me for several disbelieving seconds before doing what any sane human being would do in my situation. I fainted.