Boku no Hero Academia: Pro Hero Dingir

A Boku no Hero Academia X Grey Faction crossover


DINGIR, THE DARK HERO


It's been thirteen years since I became a professional hero, ten years since I secured the top three hero rank, just below my mentor All Might and Senpai Endeavour, and five years since I wished that I'd never become a pro hero. The day I met a true villain, and paid a terrible price to save a fellow hero. I lost all joys and rights to call myself a human being from that day.

It seems so pointless being a hero, the villains never stop coming, no matter how many we kill or imprison, a new generation keeps rising to put the world in danger. I have no other talents outside of fighting, so in order to survive, I work this job just for the money, I continue to merely play at being a pro hero. Which is why I found the offer to be a teacher at the UA rather ironic, a fake hero teaching aspiring heroes, that still had their purity. Still I considered it, I would have an excuse not to hunt as many villains while still getting paid.

"Die, you bastard!" shouted a random villain, trying to attack him from the air, they fired projectiles from their fingers. They hit him, but black ooze emerged from his pores to repel them, he raised his arm, the same black substance blasted from his palm, stretching out like a lunging snake.

"What?!" the villain tried to avoid it, but it grabbed his face, before engulfing his head entirely, preventing him from breathing. The villain struggled, before collapsing to the ground, bones breaking against the concrete. Dingir patiently waited for them to pass out from oxygen deprivation, but stopped just short of actually killing them. He used to get off on causing them the terror of actually dying, now he did it by habit. At least with the weaker ones.

The alleyway was littered with unconscious villains. There were rumours of a hero killer that used these alleys to target heroes, killing or crippling them. Dingir had gone looking for him, but it seemed that he had moved to another city after killing four local heroes. Still the local low life's had sought to protect him, thinking they could actually best a pro hero with sheer numbers. It had been easy, as such it was boring. Battles of life and death were about the only thing that excited him these days. Such villains were rare.

As he regarded them, he sensed someone strong approaching, he turned just in time to see a massively muscular blonde man skid to stop in front of him. It was All Might. They hadn't spoken in nearly three years. What was he doing here?

"All Might," Dingir nodded in greeting, he didn't hate All Might, far from it, but seeing him brought back unpleasant memories.

"Good to see you Midori-kun!" declared All Might in his usual over the top manner. "I heard you were nearby, so I rushed to see you!"

"We're in the field, please call me by my hero name," Dingir replied, inwardly sighing. Despite everything that happened over the last five years, his former mentor was still so damn chipper.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot!" he laughed.

"Meet me on the roof," said Dingir, pointing to one of the buildings either side of the alleyway. "I need to ring this in," gesturing to those lying beaten on the ground.

"Oh, what happened here?"

"They jumped me when I enquired about the Hero Killer."

"Ah, yes, I've heard the rumours myself."

"Up there!" ordered Dingir, not wishing to be sidetracked. "I'll be with you shortly." All Might leapt up to the roof in a single superhuman bound.

After making the call for the police, he used Balmung to stretch out and yank him up to the roof, somersaulting, he skidded to a stop. All Might had reverted to his natural state, that of a shorter, incredibly scrawny man, ever since the battle five years ago, he had been unable to keep One for All active continuously, the repeat surgeries and after-effects had turned him into but a shell of his former self. But at least he was still alive, and for three hours a day, he was still the strongest hero.

"So, what brings you here?" Dingir asked as he stood before All Might.

All Might frowned, Dingir's eyes were dead, truly lacking in emotion, his feature's stoic. Even after all these years, he hadn't really recovered from the trauma of that fight. In the battle with All-for-One they had both been broken. It reminded All Might of himself, going through the motions, a fake part time hero. But recently he had met a young boy who had stirred the fire within him again. Midoriya Izuku, a reckless fan boy who had been brave even when he All Might had been afraid to act, his muscle form all but spent. But the boy had spurred him to action, reminding him of the undeniable truth of being a hero, 'that they were forever risking their lives'.

"I have found a successor to One-for-All," All Might said, inwardly pleased when he saw a faint hint of shock showing on Dingir's features. "It's thanks to him that I won't spend my last years as a fraud." He explained to Dingir what had happened with the slime villain and the brave, quirkless fan boy that roused him to be a true hero again.

"I'm glad you've found a ninth holder, but what of you? If you pass on the torch of One-for-All, then your powers..." Dingir began, but not wanting to finish.

"Yes, then my powers will decline until I can no longer use my quirk, and the symbol of peace will vanish from this world," said All Might with calm acceptance.

"So you'll put the burden on the next generation to defeat that monster?" said Dingir with a surge of anger, grabbing All Might by the front of his shirt. "You remember what he did to you...to me..." he fell silent.

All Might's gaze grew sad. After he had been struck down, Dingir had continued to fight to protect his mentor against that terrible enemy. When several fellow heroes had later found All Might on the verge of death, both Dingir and All-for-One were gone, but the battlefield was soaked in the then young heroes blood. Dingir didn't reappear until a month later, never discussing what had happened. He quit working with All Might and had been going solo since, his personality had changed completely, he had become stoic, and largely emotionless. The former vibrant hero gone. The flame of passion and dedication snuffed beneath fear and violence.

"Midori-kun..." replied All Might. "I haven't given up on defeating him myself, but I have a duty to pass on the power to one who can surpass me. I believe I have found him."

The two locked gazes for a while, before Dingir finally conceded, glancing away. "So why tell me? I'm never fighting that thing again."

"Because I may need your help raising him," All Might admitted. "I want you to take the job at the UA you were offered, I'll be teaching there as well, starting next year. But that's not all..."

"What?"

"If you teach, I believe you'll be influenced by the shining brilliance of budding heroes and be saved from your darkness, just as Midoriya saved me."

Dingir had already been considering the job anyway, but he didn't want to acknowledge that, as his reasons were far from noble. "I'll consider it, but I'm making no promises," and with that, Dingir leapt from the building, cushioning his fall with Balmung, and greatly startling the police below as they threw the villains into the back of police vans.


Six months had passed since he had met All Might, and he had agreed to start teaching next year. He doubted that being a teacher could save him, there was nothing to save, but he was chained by his childish belief in his former mentor, the what ifs? If nothing else, he would make sure that none of the children left with a naive idea of what the job entailed. At least a third of heroes died horrible deaths within their first five years as a pro. They needed to be prepared.

Dingir was currently out jogging on the beach, he wasn't using his quirk, but was still quite fast despite the thick ankle weights he wore. But as he passed a stretch of mountainous trash and metal junk, he was surprised to see a petite dark haired boy dragging away a battered fridge, while the massive form of All Might in his muscle form rode on the boy's shoulders. How ridiculous. All Might weighed twice as much as a full grown man, and yet the child managed it. So he was using this place to train the boy's body.

"So that's Midoriya?" Dingir remarked, watching the boy struggle to keep going, if nothing else he was rather tough. "So you haven't transferred the quirk yet...You are preparing the vessel, but it's only four months until the new school year, will that be enough?" He walked down to the pickup truck at the edge of the beach that they were using to drive away the junk and trash once the poor boy dragged it all the way there. And so he waited.

"Why do I have to carry you too?" complained Midoriya as they neared the pickup truck to drop off the fridge that he was dragging sluggishly across the sand.

"We can't have it be too easy, you need to become a suitable vessel in a very short amount of time," replied All Might. "You can do it, go beyond, plus ultra!"

"You're seriously still using that catch phrase?" said an unfamiliar voice. Startled Midoriya looked up to see a tall, muscular man, though nowhere near as big as All Might, leap down onto the sand before them. He was wearing a black jogging suit, black hair messy, sporting a small moustache and soul patch, and he was vaguely familiar to Midoriya.

"Oh, Midori-kun!" grinned All Might, waving enthusiastically, making it all the more difficult for his pupil to carry him.

For a moment Midoriya had thought All Might was talking to him, but it seemed they had very similar names.

"Don't call me by my real name, use my hero name when in the field," Dingir replied automatically by habit. An old argument from when they were hero and sidekick, along with Sir.

'So this guy's a hero too?" realised Midoriya.

"Nonsense! You're not in costume, so don't be so stiff, Dingir!" rebutted All Might, jumping off of Midoriya.

"W-Wait...Dingir?" mumbled Midoriya, regarding the newcomer again with more analytical eyes. "The third ranked hero, the dark hero Dingir?!" Totally fanboying at that point. Dingir's costume was full black armour, so he seldom showed his face in public.

"That's right," nodded Dingir. "And you must be Midoriya Izuku, the next holder of One-for-All?"

"Eh?" exclaimed Midoriya, panicking, he glanced to All Might, who had turned back into his scrawny natural form. "Wait, he knows?!"

"Yeah, he fought with me that day five years ago. My condition, One-for-All, he knows everything."

"Eh?" yelled Midoriya.

"So what brings you here?" asked All Might.

"I was just going for a jog when I saw you riding this poor boy, and decided to investigate a possible crime in progress." Dingir deadpanned.

"Eh?!" exclaimed All Might. "Please can you not say it in such a way, Midori-kun." The old Dingir had a habit of making sexually insinuating jokes to those he liked to tease, it seemed he still did it, but with the dry way he said it, you would think he was being serious. "Nonsense! It was just to help with his muscle training, isn't that right, Midoriya?"

He turned to Midoriya, who was flushing slightly, having gotten the joke.

"You're really not helping by declaring your desire to make a fourteen year old boy more muscular, All Might," this time a brief, small smirk showed.

All Might turned into his muscle form and chopped Dingir on the head. "Stop that!" Midoriya was sent tumbling back by the wind pressure. Covering his head as the sand whipped past, when he lowered his arms after it subsided, the aspiring hero saw Dingir buried up to his shoulders in the sand. He didn't look hurt, but one eye was twitching.

"Eh?" exclaimed Midoriya. "Are you okay, Dingir-san?" he asked, approaching the submerged hero, while his saviour and teacher All Might looked rather smug, until he coughed blood and changed back into his natural form.

"I'm fine, but thanks for asking," Dingir replied, then a black ooze leaked from his skin, forming tendrils that stabbed into the ground and lengthened, lifting the dark hero out of the sand. "So kid," he began, ignoring All Might for the moment. "I hear you've got the potential to be the next All Might, but seeing as he's training you like this, then that means you aren't strong enough to be a vessel at present, but what else can you do?"

"What do you mean?" Midoriya asked. He fidgeted. "I don't have a quirk," he replied.

"I'm aware of that, but what else has he taught you or what have you've already learnt? Being super strong isn't enough to be a hero. I trust you know some martial arts, or have some fighting experience?" Dingir prompted. All Might began to whistle nervously, Dingir's eyes narrowed.

"Only with being bullied!" Midoriya quickly replied, intimidated by the change in the hero's bearing.

"So," Dingir glanced to All Might. "You mean to tell me that you're planning to have him apply to the UA with no fighting or quirk experience, and just doing muscle training to prep the kid as a vessel?"

"Well..."

"You're an idiot, I guess I'll lend a hand," sighed Dingir. At this rate, the kid wouldn't get a chance to practice with the inherited quirk and lack the skills in using his body for battle. The kid would almost certainly break something the first time he tried to use One-for-All.

"HUH?" All Might hadn't expected this.

"EH?" Midoriya was shocked and delighted, another pro hero wanted to help him.

"Whatever the kid's workout schedule is, I want him two nights a week, I'll teach him some martial arts and how to handle villains."

"Are you sure?" All Might asked, knowing that Dingir did most of his hero work at night, much like the UA teacher, Eraser Head.

"Yeah, the next symbol of peace can't be half-arsed," Dingir replied. "Kid, I'll teach you to beat villains even without One-for-All, so brace yourself."

"Yes sir!"

Now had Midoriya known that after the first week with Dingir, that he would be dragged along with Dingir's hero work, he might not have been so excited. But he didn't, and so it would come as quite the surprise.


END


Well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, to see the original version of Dingir in action against demons and monsters, then get yourself a copy of Grey Faction: Mistaken Apostles on amazon or from most major retailers. A link is also in my profile page. :) Thanks again!

Oh, and in cool news, I'm in discussion with a indie film maker to adapt my Detective Michael book 1: The Scalpel Murder into a film. Wish me luck.