Laura continued to walk into town contemplating her situation. Her conversation with the Beyonder repeated in her head over and over again. She knew she had to find the anomaly and take it out, but she had no way of where to start.
Then, Laura heard a group of teenage boys coming in from down the street. There was one boy with black hair and another guy with extendable fingers. At he front was a shaggy-haired boy that was the living embodiment of a punk. Laura wanted to go, but then, she heard one of them mention a name she heard earlier.
"Man, that Midoriya has stupid dreams, right?" the kid with the long fingers asked. "What about you, Bakugo? Didn't you know him since you were kids?"
"Yeah, you kinda went a little far today." The other kid said. "You burned his book and basically told him to commit suicide."
"It's his fault for messing with me." The kid called Bakugo growled. "Seeing him with his stupid dreams of being a hero makes me mad." He kicked a murky, plastic bottle, but Laura extended her claws to slice it before it could hit her.
"What was that?" Laura asked. "You were picking on that Midoriya kid because he wanted to be a hero?"
"Hey, he has no quirk, so he can't be a hero." Bakugo returned. "That Deku being positive even though there's no chance really ticks me off. But what do you care?"
"Well, people like you really tick me off." Laura said. "And if you think I'd let a tonto like you get away with it…" She stopped herself when the punks in front of her began to widen their eyes. "What?" She looked at the bottle she just sliced when it rolled back to her feet. "Wait a minute, I know that bottle." She then saw something dripping from her claws. It was a familiar batch of dark-green mud. Then it was her turn to open her eyes while a familiar figure emerged behind her. "Oh, no!"
The murky monster quickly surrounded Laura. She tried to struggle, but it was too late. He already had ahold of her.
"Hello, again, you brat!" the villain shouted. "How about some payback?!"
Despite Laura's struggles, the mud monster made her extend her claws and go wild. Laura turned her eyes on the boys, but they were too petrified to do anything. Soon enough, a large crowd of people witnessed Laura being held hostage. Heroes tried to help, but there were setbacks. Mt. Lady couldn't arrive because the buildings were too close to each other for her to get through. Whenever Kamui Woods tried to reach in, the villain made Laura cut right through his branches. And all the other heroes were too busy on damage control. Laura was too stuck to do anything.
"Well, kid," the monster said, "I have to admit, you're tougher than I thought. I thought your body would've given in by now, but you're proving yourself to be a real trooper. Still, everyone has a limit."
He was right. Laura tried to utilize her healing powers, but other than that, she couldn't do anything while the sludge was smothering her nose and mouth. It looked like it was the end… until…
Laura's eyes caught the one small figure running in from the crowd. Everyone was stunned when they saw him dashing down the alleyway asking why a civilian child would even attempt it. Even Laura was surprised to see who it was, the boy she met earlier, Izuku Midoriya.
"Midoriya!" Laura shouted from underneath the sludge.
Midoriya threw his backpack at the sludge monster and quickly grabbed the muck trying to pry it off.
"Midoriya, why?" Laura managed to ask while taking in a bit of fresh air.
"You did it for me, remember?" Midoriya asked in his struggle. "Besides, it looked like you needed saving!"
Izuku continued to try to pry off the slime, but it always slipped through his fingers. Laura tried to scream at him to leave, but he wouldn't listen. Eventually, he managed to remove enough sludge to grab onto Laura's wrist. He pulled hard trying to get her out, but the monster had a much tighter grip. It didn't look well…
Until Izuku felt a mighty hand grabbing his wrist. Both he and Laura saw another familiar face. The villain was stunned when he saw the same man who put him in a bottle in the first place. It was All Might.
"A HERO SHOULD ALWAYS BE READY TO RISK HIS LIFE!" he declared. "THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME! DEROIT… SMASH!"
With one mighty blow with his fist, All Might struck the ground where the sludge monster was standing. He blew up when All Might's fist made contact. The shockwave was felt by the entire town and somehow, it made the clear sky into a rainy day. Most people were in shock before they cheered.
For some reason, All Might left the scene leaving Midoriya and Laura with the other heroes and reporters. Some of the heroes scolded Midoriya for putting himself in danger while the others were amazed at how tough Laura was in resisting the sludge villain. But she always looked back at the boy who tried to save her.
Later on, when the sun started to set, Laura was on her way to her home that was burned into her mind by the Beyonder. Then, much to her surprise, she found Midoriya for the third time. But when she found him, he was being scolded by the same punk she confronted before the monster hit, Katsuki Bakugo.
"Listen here, Deku," Bakugo growled, "No one asked you to get involved! The next time you try to make yourself a hero, don't! Just remember your quirkless place and turn around!" Then he turned around and left.
Laura found her chance to go an talk to him.
"Quirkless?"
"WAH!" Midoriya screamed out in surprise. "Oh, it's you. Uh… Sorry. I don't think I got your name."
"Laura. Laura Kinney. What was that about being quirkless?"
"Oh, that's just Kacchan's way of making fun of me." Midoriya said. "You see, I wasn't born with a quirk. I'm part of 1/5th of the population that's completely normal."
"You don't have powers? And you thought you could take on that sludge monster yourself?"
"Well, I wasn't thinking about stopping him." Midoriya said. "I only thought of saving you. That's what a hero does, right?"
"Well, be more careful." Laura said. "Someone I care about died trying to save me. It'd be a shame if a stranger did the same."
"Well, how about we… don't be strangers?" Midoriya said. "I think we can be…"
"I AM HERE!" All Might interrupted as he dashed in from around the corner startling both the kids.
"ALL MIGHT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Midoriya shouted.
"I JUST WANTED TO…" He stopped himself when he saw Laura. "Oh, I didn't know you had a friend…" He was interrupted by a gush of blood that blew out of his mouth. Not only that, but his entire physique changed from a large, muscular man to a shorter, skinny stranger.
"What the…" Laura asked. "What… How…"
"Man, today just isn't my day." All Might said. "Okay, the truth is, this is what I really look like. I flexed myself to look like a big, indestructible hero. I can't hold it forever since I was gravely injured five years ago and I'd prefer it if you didn't tell anyone."
"Uh, of course." Laura said. "So, thanks for the save."
"Thank the kid." All Might said. "I thought I was powerless when that villain got ahold of you. Then Midoriya ran in even though I previously told him it's too dangerous for a quirkless kid to be a hero. Midoriya, you inspired me with a lesson I've forgotten."
"I… I have?" Midoriya asked.
"Yes. The greatest heroes are known to acting without thinking at such a young age. That's exactly what you did."
Izuku began to tear up before trembling onto his knees. Laura began to sympathize with her new friend. And she was especially touched by the next five words that came from All Might's mouth and changed Izuku's life forever.
"You CAN be a hero!"
Fantasy became reality. And that is the beginning of how Izuku Midoriya became one of the greatest heroes ever. And his friend, Laura Kinney, stood by his side the whole time.
Author's Note: I have been thinking long and hard about whether or not to ship Izuku and Laura. I've been thinking about it for days, and I have made my decision. ...I don't ship them. I'm sorry, but I'm not making Izuku and Laura a thing. And I have one good reason: they're just not a good match. Sure, they have a good relationship and they seem to bring out the best in each other, but they are just way too different to be romantically involved with each other, . I see them more as brother and sister. I understand that some of you might disagree with my decision, and I respect that, but you also need to accept that this is my opinion and this is my story I'm writing. I do want to ship Laura with somebody, but I personally don't think it should be Midoriya. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear about it. I hope you understand. Any and all comments are welcome.