Knock-Out!

Round 2: A Hero, A Fight, and A Power of His Own?

After about a week of training both at home and with Kaito, Izuku was being driven by his mentor to the Musutafu arena, where he would fight his next opponent. Apparently the man's name was Tatsuo Takeshi, who had a Quirk named "Dragon Scales" that allowed him to adopt stone-like scales on his body, turning him into a defensive powerhouse of a featherweight. The two arrived at the arena minutes later, and entered the locker room for Izuku to prepare for his match.

"You ready for this? I sprung the fight on 'ya outta nowhere." He said, as Izuku changed into a pair of black boxing shorts and a grey tank top.

"I'm ready for this, I've been training harder ever since you called last week!" Izuku said, tying his shoes and wrapping his hands in white boxing tape. He placed a robe with his name on the back over his outfit, as Kaito helped him put on a pair of light grey gloves.

"Remember what I taught you kid." The coach said.

"Never underestimate an opponent, and remain pure and humble both in and out of the ring?" Izuku said, making him chuckle.

"Exactly. Now, go get 'em." The two then left as Izuku was called into the ring. He exited his side to see his opponent standing in the ring already. Tatsuo Takeshi was standing at 5 foot 9, with short black hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He had red shorts, and scales were forming from under his red gloves to his arms. The spotlights then shined on the boy, as he was announced to the crowd.

"Coming in is the challenger, standing at 166 Centimeters (5 feet, 5 & 1/4 inches for us Americans), and weighing in at 52 Kilograms (115 Pounds), Quirk Unknown, give it up for IZUKU MIDORIYA!" The green haired-boxer took off his robe as the crowd cheered, smiling at his opponent, who smiled back. Izuku walked to his side of the ring, where Kaito was ready with a water bottle, a bucket, a towel, and the mouth guard he was currently putting in to protect the boy's teeth. The challenger then walked to the center of the ring, where Tatsuo was now waiting, and the two got in their respective stances. The referee stood next to the two, and watched as Izuku stuck out a glove, the opponent tapping it before signaling the start of the match.

"FIGHT!" Izuku immediately swerved to the left as a fist rocketed towards his face, and back stepped to avoid a jab. Izuku ducked under a left hook, responding by quickly landing a left hook to the jaw, and a right uppercut to the chin, pushing the man back slightly. The opponent then threw a punch towards Izuku, who swerved to the right, but was caught by a left hook to the jaw as well. He blocked the followup right cross, and ducked under another left to deliver a blow to the gut. Two jabs from him were blocked, and he tried to close in on him, but was met with another jab to the face. He backed up again, and dodged two blows, shaking his head.

'His hits feel like a truck! I need to stop taking so many of them or else.' He thought, dodging a few more punches. Tatsuo threw a powerful right hook, aiming for Izuku's cheek, but the attack was countered by Izuku swiftly delivering an uppercut to the chin before the punch could land. This left Tatsuo staggering, and Izuku aimed to land another punch, before quickly backing up. He noticed that the part he punched was reinforced with scales, spreading across his skin until he was fully armored with a grin. Izuku dodged three jabs and a hook, looking for an opening in the armored body to hit.

"And it looks like Tatsuo activated his Quirk! This'll be a tough one to break through, the scales are hard as stone!" An announcer said, Izuku sticking to dodging to not get hit. He saw an opening to jab at the opponent's face, but he didn't flinch whatsoever when hit. Tatsuo was about to release another punch, but stopped upon hearing the bell.

"Round one is over!" The referee said, and the two returned to their corners.

"I can't dent him in that state." Izuku said, spitting a little blood into the bucket.

"I know, kid. But you may have done more than you thought. Look." Kaito said, pointing to the floor. Izuku looked to see some scales being swept away, and saw his opponent missing a few where he landed his jab. He also saw a few falling out of his gloves, and the man was panting already, despite it only being round one.

"Stone-hard, but extremely loose scales that take up a ton of stamina upon not being hit. I got it from here, Sensei!" Izuku said, his analytical mind already crafting a strategy to win. The next round started, and both fighters stood ready. Kaito looked as if he was going to finish the match that round, and Izuku knew that someone was going to be on the mat by the end of it.

"Ready? Fight!" Izuku countered a jab with a body shot, dashing behind him to deliver a liver shot. The hits were blocked by the scales obviously, but they fell off a few seconds after every impact. Tatsuo then realized what was happening, and countered Izuku's uppercut with a right hook. Izuku staggered was jabbed twice in the face, winding up a powerful right punch to end the younger boxer as quickly as possible.

'I gotta dodge this or I'll go down!' Izuku thought, recovering. He saw the glove rocket towards his face, and just before impact Izuku swerved left, and punched him in the face where the scales fell. It caused Tatsuo to stagger, and Izuku let loose. He wailed on the spots with missing scales, every now and then punching him so that it loosened a few more scales, and repeated this process until no more scales were on his visible body, outside of his legs, of course.

Tatsuo could do nothing but take the hits, because while his Quirk gave him a powerful offense and defense, the scales required constant damage to stay on his body. However, since they only get hit once, it drained his stamina instead of potential damage, falling off to expose his body to his opponent's gloves. This is why he was known as "The Unstoppable Dragon" as the power behind the scales made him seem like one under heavy contact. Alas, it wouldn't be this match, as a final uppercut to the chin sent him sprawling to the floor.

"DOWN!" The ref yelled, the crowd cheering in the background. Izuku stood still, remaining in position in case he stood up again.

"1!" Nothing.

"2!" Nothing still.

"3!" Tatsuo twitched, right arm moving.

"4!" He started to prop himself up with the right arm.

"5!" The left arm followed after, slowly yet surely getting him up.

"6!" Tatsuo started to lift his head from the floor.

"7!" He made a strained sound, trying to push himself up despite having no stamina left.

"8!" He was pushing himself up, almost getting in a knee to get up.

"9!" And suddenly, he fell, unconscious.

"10! Knock-Out!" Izuku looked at the man, who was now being propped up by his team as people started to flood the ring. Izuku and Kaito were about to start responding to reporters, until a booming, yet familiar voice was presented.

"FEAR NOT, FOR I AM HERE!" Everyone started looking around, Izuku especially, until stopping at the screen above the arena to see All Might standing there. Reporters moved as the Number 1 Hero appeared, landing in front of the victor.

"Congratulations on the victory, young Midoriya. I need to have a word with you and your teacher, so may we head somewhere away from the press?" He asked.

"S-S-Sure!" Izuku stuttered, the three leaving to Izuku's locker room.

...Later...

The three entered the locker room, where Izuku was buzzing around the room with excitement.

"Ohmygoodnessit'sAllMightholycowwhatasurprisecanIgetyourautograph?!" He said, to the hero's confusion.

"Don't worry, that's his... eager face." Kaito said. All Might chuckled, and signed the notebook presented to him anyways, as Izuku put that and his boxing equipment in a bag.

"Kaito-Sensei, how do you even know All Might?!" Izuku asked.

"We go back a while." He said.

"So what brings the number one hero to see me?" The young boxer asked.

"Well, that's something you need to sit down for." All Might said. Izuku did so, and he spoke once more. "How did you get into boxing in the first place?" He asked, and Izuku, wondering why he would ask that, answered.

"I never told anyone this, except for Kaito, but I'm Quirkless." Izuku said, to All Might's surprise.

"Then how are you able to beat foes like that Tatsuo fellow in the ring?" He asked.

"Let me get to that." Izuku said. "Anyways, So despite me being told I was told I wasn't getting a Quirk anytime soon, I still wanted, and want to, be a hero who could save people with a smile as you do." He said. "Mom signed me up for boxing to learn how to defend myself from bullies before she was attacked, and that awakened something in me. Seeing those boxers go at it made me think about what I wanted, and when I saw the Featherweight championship fight, I knew I had to be a part of it, hero or not. All Might, I want to become the greatest hero, but I also want to become Featherweight champion. I'm going to try the UA Entrance Exam when it comes, no matter the result. If I fail, I'll opt for General Ed. But I will find a way to be a hero." Izuku said, and the two adults smiled.

"That's my boy." Kaito said, patting Izuku's back. "Kid, I need you to answer a few questions from All Might here, okay?" Izuku nodded, and the hero spoke once more.

"If you had the chance to become a hero, would you take it?" He asked.

"Do you even need to ask?"

"I suppose not. Next, if you were a part of the Hero course, how would you balance that with your boxing career?"

"I've had a training schedule since last year that gives me time for studying and spare time for more training or simple leisure. If a match were to be intersecting with school, I would accept supplementary classes to catch up."

"I guess that's covered. Now, last question. If someone gave you the option to accept a power and become a pro-hero and boxer, or remain Quirkless and stay just a boxer, what would you choose?" Izuku stared into his eyes with determined calmness as he delivered his answer.

"I would become a hero without question." All Might then laughed to Izuku's confusion, while Kaito smiled.

"Guess you found the one, eh Toshinori?" He said, as All Might suddenly was covered in a cloud of smoke, reappearing as a blond skeleton in a very baggy suit.

"W-W-Wait, All Might?!" Izuku said in shock.

"Yeah, it's me, the number one hero, All Migh-Hack!" He said, stopping to cough out a sum of blood.

"How did... this happen?" Izuku asked, motioning to All Might as a whole.

"It was an injury from a fight kept private." All Might said, showing Izuku a large scar on his abdomen.

"You see kid, All Might's been looking for someone to pass the torch too, and I pitched you in to him." Kaito said.

"EH?! Why me?" Izuku asked.

"Well, you have the heart of a hero in ya. Don't think I didn't see you help that girl last week." The trainer replied.

"So you want me to... be your successor? But I'm Quirkless! Aren't there other people who can do better?" He asked. He was suddenly smacked in the back of the head, as Kaito looked at him.

"I told you to stop putting yourself down so much, kid! Anyways, care to let him know?" Kaito said, as All Might coughed again.

"I will. Young Midoriya, I have an offer to present to you. Will you take on my power and become the next symbol of peace?" Izuku started to tear up, and smiled through the tears.

"Absolutely."

...

A/N: Hello everyone! Kinda strange of me to post the first author's note on chapter 2, huh... Anyways, good to see that this is getting a bit of popularity. Updates will probably slow down after this or the next chapter, since school's a few weeks away. Anyways, leave a comment if you want, or *hopefully* a follow and a favorite! Love you guys, and see ya next time!

P.S. I'm also Doing Horikoshi's name pun for assigning OC Quirks (Except for Kaito. His name is a pun for his role). I found Tatsuo's name before making his "Dragon Scales".