A/n: *Sees the story got 140 favorites and 170 follows in four days*

…

I-I… I guess you guys really want this to keep going, huh?

Uh… well… okay! Here you go!

Chapter 2: Katzuku Vs. Sludge

Ten Years Later

"She obviously has increased strength and durability in her larger form. She's got to be athletic to kick downward from that height. I wonder if she can decide her size, or can only change to one size? Her metabolism must be through the roof to compensate for the change in mass. Otherwise, she'd pass out the moment she got bigger. I wonder how she-"

Smack!

Izuku jumped as someone's palm slammed down in front of him, right over his notebook. He looked up in surprise to find Katsuki sitting at the desk in front of him, giving him an annoyed glare.

"You're mumbling again, Deku," Katsuki grumbled, mindful of the mindless chatter going on around them. "Keep it quiet before someone else calls you on it." He sent a harsh look at a boy a few seats over, unfortunate enough to had met his gaze.

Izuku felt his cheeks warm as the boy quickly looked away. Doing a quick scan of the classroom, he saw several other students giving him sidelong glances, a few with unkind smiles on their lips. He shrank a little in his seat, quickly turning his eyes back to his desktop. "Sorry, Kacchan," he muttered under his breath.

Katsuki gave him a flat stare. "Stupid Deku, don't-" He cut himself off with a roll of his eyes, clicking his tongue in annoyance. He looked down at Izuku's notebook, raising a brow at the full-size sketch taking up one page. "That who you're mumbling about?"

Izuku perked up a little. "Y-Yeah. She's one of the new Pro Heros, Mt. Lady. She was part of a villain fight I saw on my way here today."

Katsuki growled under his breath, smacking Izuku's desk in frustration. "Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have left early today! I could have seen it in person."

Izuku gave him a sympathetic smile. "I made notes about the whole fight. Do you want to see them?"

Katsuki was already reaching for the offered notebook when the classroom door clicked open. Katsuki spun back around in his seat as their teacher walked in, muttering a quick "Later," to Izuku.

Izuku's smile widened just a bit.

For most of the day, class proceeded as normal, crawling by at a snail's pace. But just before they left for the day, their teacher had an announcement, picking up the stack of papers he'd arrived with.

"As you're all now third-years, it's time to start seriously thinking about your futures. Now, I've got printouts for various high schools and their requirements to hand out…" The teacher then smirked. "But I think I already know which ones you all want to see. You're all aiming to be heroes, right?"

The entire class erupted into cheers, several of them firing off their various Quirks in their excitement. The only ones not joining in the fun were Katsuki, who rolled his eyes at his classmates, and Izuku, who just shrunk into his chair.

"All of you, settle down! No Quirk usage while in class." There were murmurs of discontent, but everyone slowly calmed down and fell back into their seats.

Katsuki scoffed under his breath. "Bunch of extras," he muttered rather loudly, drawing dark looks from the students around him.

Izuku frowned at him, quietly warning, "Kacchan…"

Katsuki glanced back at him but was interrupted by the teacher. "What was that, Bakugo?" He called, giving the blonde a sharp look. "Do you have something to say to the class?"

Izuku stiffened, giving Katsuki a pleading look. Katsuki held his gaze for a moment, then smirked. Izuku's shoulders slumped, looking up at the ceiling in despair as Katsuki kicked his feet up on his desk, his smirk turning feral. "Just that you shouldn't go lumping us all together like that. This bunch of extras is gonna need more than their weak-ass Quirks if they want to be real heroes."

The class erupted again, this time in rage at the condescending blonde. Katsuki just barked a laugh at them. "You can all whine all you want. You all know you have no chance at being a hero. Not when you're competing with a real future hero, like me!"

That earned him some more grumbling, but seemed to draw the teacher's attention to one of the papers he was holding. His eyes darted across it for a few seconds, before his brow raised. "That's right! You're aiming to get into UA, right Bakugo?"

Katsuki's smirk grew even wider. "Damn straight! One day, I'm going to be standing up top with All Might, looking down on all these could-have-beens."

As Katsuki continued to draw the ire of the entire class, Izuku could only watch on in exasperation. It would forever baffle him how his friend remained the most popular kid in school when he was constantly pushing the buttons of everyone within it, student and teacher alike. He was partly impressed that Katsuki could stare down so much constant anger and scorn with a smile… if you could count Katsuki's feral, sometimes manic grin as a smile.

"It looks like Midoriya is aiming for UA as well."

In an instant, Izuku's entire body froze up. He stared at the teacher in horror, as if the man had just announced his coming execution. Katsuki stiffened out of his relaxed posture, then leveled the teacher with a fierce glare.

The class fell silent almost instantly, nearly everyone looking at Izuku either in bafflement or disbelief. The silence held for a few moments.

Then the whispers started.

"Midoriya? At UA?"

"Does he actually think he can make it?"

"With such a weird Quirk?"

"He can't do anything without… fusing. He'd need someone's help in every fight."

"He's useless on his own."

With every muttered word, Izuku shrank further and further into his seat. At the same time, Katsuki's face grew darker and darker. It didn't help that their teacher just looked around at the class in confusion, oblivious to why they had all suddenly quieted.

Izuku just stared down at his desk, growing more uncomfortable by the second as everyone kept acting like they thought he couldn't hear them, either not knowing or not caring.

"Seriously, that Quirk is creepy."

"Could he even be a hero like that?"

"What a freak."

BOOM!

The buzz of hushed gossip ended rather suddenly as Katsuki, with little warning, lifted his palm over his head and let loose a window-shaking explosion. Yelps of fright drowned out the (comparatively) feeble explosion as everyone turned to face the now standing blonde, them all flinching away from his murderous glare, teacher included.

"Aw, go to hell, the lot of you! I bet none of you morons would know a real hero if they punched you in the face!"

The resulting angered chaos was only broken when the principal burst in the door, demanding to know what the source of all the noise was. His question was answered when he caught sight of the blackened ceiling above Katsuki's head, the culprit looking wholly unapologetic.

"...You shouldn't have done that."

Katsuki looked at Izuku out the corner of his eye, then scoffed as he looked ahead. The two were a block away from their middle school, taking the long way back to their part of the city. If asked, Katsuki would say it was so he could get some more exercise.

Izuku knew it was because no one was ever on this stretch of road this time of day, so they wouldn't run into any other students taking this route.

"Give me one good reason why not," Katsuki said without looking at him.

"Kacchan, you got a week's detention."

"Ain't the first time."

"It's the second week of the year! ...won't your mom be mad?"

Katsuki gave Izuku a flat stare. "When I tell her why I got it, how do you think the old hag will react?"

At that, Izuku couldn't help but sigh. When 'Aunt' Mitsuki heard exactly why Katsuki had nearly blown a hole through the school ceiling, Izuku wouldn't be surprised if she gave the principal an enraged phone call on both their behalves. Especially if told through Katsuki's …blunt point of view.

"...it's not like they were wrong."

Katsuki turned to Izuku in surprise, then scowled as he whacked him lightly in the back of the head. "Deku, shut up. Your Quirk is a hundred times better than anything those extras have, and those idiots are brain-dead for not seeing it."

Izuku just rubbed the back of his head, not meeting Katsuki's eyes. "Not everyone sees it like you do."

Katsuki scoffed again, louder. "Like I said. Idiots."

His flippant words managed to coax a small smile out of Izuku, though nothing else. Seeing how his friend at apparently dropped the conversation, Katsuki shook his head with a light growl, the two continuing on in silence.

While Katsuki's words did cheer him up a little, Izuku couldn't help but dwell on his fellow student's reactions. He shouldn't have been all that blindsided, really. Those whispers had been the status-quo since grade school ended.

It had been different when they were younger. The first time Izuku had shown off his Quirk in kindergarten, no one had batted an eye. The other kids thought that him merging with the various materials around the classroom was cool, if maybe not as much as Katsuki's. And when he had shown off his Human Fusion Technique, as he'd named it, with Katsuki a few years later (it took that long for their mothers to let them fuse without supervision, just in case Izuku's Quirk had some drawback that wasn't immediately apparent), their grade had been absolutely smitten with Katzuku, especially when the Fusion showed off how he could make green explosions even bigger then Katsuki's.

It wasn't until middle school that their views started changing. The older their class got, the less enthusiastic they seemed to be with Izuku's Quirk. It didn't take long for Izuku to notice the odd looks the kids gave each other whenever he'd mention Fusing. Soon, people started to distance themselves from him, until it seemed Katsuki was the only one who actually cared for his company.

And once they became teenagers, the cruder of their classmates took the concept of Izuku and Katsuki fusing, and started taking it in a… different context. And whether out of ignorance or malice, no amount of Izuku's explaining or Katsuki's growling could convince them otherwise… or stop them from spreading rumors.

It was to the point that Izuku wondered if they even remembered that Human Fusion was just one part of his Quirk, instead of the whole thing.

Izuku was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realize Katsuki was talking to him until he felt the blonde's knuckles rapping on his head. "Hey! Earth to Deku!"

Izuku blinked himself out of his daze, looking up to meet his friend's eyes. "Oh… did you say something, Kacchan?"

Katsuki clicked his tongue. "Uh, yeah. While you were off in la-la land, I asked if we could head over to the beach to train together a bit."

Izuku perked up a little. "Oh! Uh… sure, I guess. My mom probably won't care. What do you want to work on?"

"My control," Katsuki said bluntly, looking at his open palm in annoyance as he let loose a few sparks. "I was hoping you had some ideas in that big nerd brain of yours on how I can decide the size of my blasts. Right now, my choices are either firecracker or dynamite. I've got nothing in between."

Izuku frowned as the two students continued down the empty street, entering the shade of an underpass. "Hmm… that might be tricky." He cupped his chin, bowing his head in thought. "The size of your explosions are based on how much sweat you have to ignite, but once you trigger the blast, it all burns up at once. Maybe with certain hand movements, you could control…"

Katsuki nodded along as Izuku spoke, his blank face making it hard to see just how much of Izuku's mumbling he was actually considering. He did keep flexing his hand, making more sparks as they walked.

Neither noticed the manhole cover they'd just stepped over shudder slightly. Nor the mass of thick, green sludge that seemed to seep out from beneath it, quickly gathering behind the two boys.

"That sounds like some Quirk, kid."

Izuku and Katsuki whirled around at the sudden voice. Their jaws dropped as they craned their necks, staring up at the shifting monstrosity of green sludge, bulging eyes, and giant teeth.

"What the hell!?" Katsuki yelled.

"A...a villain?" Izuku gaped in horror.

The shifting maw of teeth seemed to smile darkly. "In fact… I think I'll take it!"

Before either boy could react, the entire mass of sludge surged towards Katsuki, a tendril of it smacking Izuku away in the process. Katsuki tried to throw his arm up to blast the villain, but was enveloped before he could.

Izuku yelped as his head slammed into the pavement. He instinctively threw a hand over his forehead, already feeling the wetness of blood just above his eye.

"Hhmmm!"

Izuku looked up sharply at the muffled yell. His stomach dropped.

Katsuki screamed as the sludge encased his's mouth and nose, forcing its way down his throat. The bottom portion of the sludge mass bulged and was blasted out, and Izuku briefly saw Katsuki's sparking palm through the muk before it was swallowed again.

The villain laughed darkly. "Nice try. Struggle all you like, kid. In another thirty seconds, it'll all be over."

Katsuki tried to move anyway, bending and twisting in the villains hold, but it was useless.

He locked eyes with Izuku, panicked red meeting terrified green.

Before Izuku even knew what he was doing, his hands glowed green as he pressed his palms flat against the pavement.

The villain halted his laughter as the street beneath him lit up with a green light. The pavement seemed to be sucked out from under his form, rushing away. The villain's bulbous eyes swiveled through the sludge, following the glow in confusion…

When a stone fist hit him straight in the eye.

"Gah!" The villain screeched as he flinched back in pain, his grip on Katsuki loosening just enough for the boy to take a breath. The villain reared back, ready to retaliate, only to suddenly look down as he felt something clawing through his sludge.

"Let him go!"

It was Izuku, the boy's entire body, clothes, hair, and all, turned as black and solid as the tarmac now missing beneath his feet. The boy was digging desperately through the muk, throwing chunks of it aside as he tried to reach his friend.

The villain instinctively lashed out, a burst of sludge throwing Izuku back into the concrete wall of the underpass. Izuku cried out as he hit the wall with a sickening thud, leaving a large spider-crack as he slumped to the ground. He tried to push himself up, gasping in pain as he did. His body flickered green, shards of tarmac seeping out of his skin as he lost his hold over the material. He felt more blood drip down his face.

"Dek-gah!" Katsuki tried to yell to him, only to get cut off by more sludge.

"Grr… little punk." The villain growled as he focused on the prone Izuku, the mass of sludge shifting closer to him, dragging Katsuki along with it. A massive glob of sludge lifted off the ground, looking vaguely like a fist. "Just for that, I think I'll take you out first!"

Izuku lifted his head, but instead of the villain, his eyes immediately locked with Katsuki. His friend stared back as he sunk further into the sludge, only part of his face still visible. For just a single moment, Izuku was frozen by what he saw in his oldest friend's eyes.

Fear.

There was no thought, no warning. Without even realizing it, Izuku launched himself forward, right into the path of the villain's massive blow, his arm outstretched towards Katsuki.

He was so focused on reaching Katsuki, he almost missed the voice that suddenly boomed throughout the underpass.

"Your criminal ways end here, villain! For I-"

Izuku had only a second to recognize the booming voice behind him, his eyes widening and his face going slack.

Was that-?

Then his fingertips grazed Katsuki's forehead, and green light flooded the alleyway.

When Yagi Toshinori - better known throughout the world as Japan's number one hero All Might - got up that day, he had been prepared for a number of things. The horrendous traffic of mid-day Musutafu. The excited shouts of any fans who caught sight of him. The phantom rumblings of a stomach he no longer had.

And of course, stopping whatever villainy he happened upon in its tracks.

The last one was simply to be expected. Even if he had somewhere to be (such as right now. He'd most definitely owed Nighteye an apology later), he just could not stand by and allow a crime to happen. Not when he was fully capable of preventing it.

So when All Might saw the sludge villain flee across the street from him, he didn't hesitate to follow him. When the mass of slime tried to escape by throwing itself down a sewer grate, he was quick to follow. When he got turned around in the vast network of subterranean tunnels, he persevered until he got back on the villain's trail, clambering up the manhole exit after him.

...even if it meant his already limited time was getting a little low now...

What All Might was not prepared for, was the sight he found once he reached open air.

Once All Might had jumped out of the sewers, he called out the villain, ready to give him a good-old Texas Smash and add yet another victory to the legend of the number one hero.

Instead, he found the sludge villain looming over the battered body of a green-haired teenage boy. Chunks of what looked like black rock crumbled away from the boy's body, letting All Might piece together that the young man had foolishly tried to fight the villain and lost. The boy stared up at the villain in abject fear as it reared back what looked to be a fist.

All Might sucked in a deep breath, and readied to make the villain pay for hurting an innocent boy.

What happened next stopped his heart cold.

The boy… this beaten, bloodied, toothpick of a boy… raised himself up and lept right back at the villain, right in the path of what would no doubt be a killing blow. With no thought, no visibly active Quirk, and judging from the blatant fear on his face, not so much as a shred of a plan, the boy leapt straight into the jaws certain death, arm outstretched…

… towards the frightened face of another boy All Might hadn't noticed, helpless in the clutches of the sludge villain.

All Might instantly reared back his fist, ready to blow the villain to kingdom come before the worst could happen…

Then the world went green.

The sudden flash made All Might instinctively shield his eyes. He heard the sludge villain yell out in surprise and shock.

When All Might looked back, the green-haired boy was gone. Even stranger, the other boy had apparently worked his way partly out of the sludge during the flash of light, making his head of lighter green, blonde-flecked hair visible.

The villain shook off his surprise quickly, growling when he saw the other boy trying to escape. "Oh, no you don't!" He yelled, crashing himself down over the boy's head.

All Might, pushing his confusion aside, went to throw out his Texas Smash before the other boy got hurt, when-

"Get… OFF!"

All Might wasn't fully sure what happened next. What sounded like two different boys yelled at the same time, and the entire mass of sludge bulged and bubbled. The villain had a split-second to cry out in confusion, before promptly exploding.

With a sound like a cannon-blast, the villain was splattered apart in a massive green explosion, sending sludge raining up and down the street and splattering every square inch of the underpass, which cracked and groaned from the impact. All Might had to plant his feet so as not to be pushed back by the shockwave. Smoke filled the tunnel.

All Might let out a few deep breaths, looking around at the devastation as he tried to get his bearings. Remembering the boys he'd seen, he took a few steps further into the tunnel, waving apart the smoke.

He didn't have to go far, as he could see the young man standing right where the sludge villain had been holding him, arms outstretched and, strangely enough, suddenly shirtless.

Before All Might could say anything, the boy took a shaky step forward, stumbling into him, coughing and hacking as he waded through the sludge.

"Whoa! Easy there, my boy!" All Might said as softly as his booming voice allowed, holding him by the shoulder to keep him steady as he led him back into the sunlight.

The boy coughed a few more times, and All Might was concerned to see bits of villain sludge come up with every hack. After the boy was able to take a few normal breaths, he tilted his head up, his green-flecked red eyes squinting at first, before widening in shock. "A-All Might?"

The man in question tilted his head slightly at the boy's voice- er, voices. It was a tad strange, but he'd seen and heard Quirks do far weirder in his experience. He flashed the boy a beaming smile. "In the flesh, my boy! I was following that villain in the hopes of catching him, but it appears that you already had the situation handled!"

The boy blinked at him, then flashed a smile. "Yeah, uh… you're a bit late." The boy said hesitantly, like he was trying to joke but not wanting to overstep his bounds.

All Might just shook his head. "So it would seem. Still, it is my job to protect citizens such as yourself so that you need not resort to such means of self-defense. It would appear that I have failed in my mission today, and for that, you have my sincerest apologies." He gave the boy a deep bow, inwardly cursing himself for how true his words were. If the kid hadn't used his Quirk… if he'd been just a few seconds slower...

The boy looked at the Pro Hero like he'd grown a second head, waving his arms frantically. "H-Hey! You don't got to do that! You're the number one Hero! You had it handled."

Oh, the simple beliefs of a child, All Might thought to himself with a smile. How could a hero ever lose? Out loud, he said. "All the same, you have my apology regardless. Though, if you don't mind me asking, young man, how did you end up in this situation in the first place?"

The boy's face darkened considerably, gritting his teeth. He looked down at a heap of sludge by his feet, giving it a sharp kick. "This… bastard tried to kill Katsuki!"

All Might nodded, making sure to keep watch on the villain just in case he tried to pull himself together. "Oh! So you were defending a friend of yours? A noble endeavor, my boy!" All Might then grimaced as a glob of sludge dripped down from the ceiling and landed on his shoulder, one of the villain's eyeballs within it looking around frantically. All Might brushed it off his shoulder. "Though perhaps with a tad too much enthusiasm."

The boy watched as the eyeball bounced across the pavement, then glanced around at the muk-covered underpass. "Eh… maybe just a bit," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

All Might let out a deep laugh. "Do not feel too bad, young man. To leap into the fray in the defense of others is the best quality a hero could have." He then looked around, his brows lifting in question even as his grin never wavered. "Though I must ask, where is this young Katsuki? I think I lost sight of him in that flash of light. Did he panic and run off?"

Katzuku blinked up at the Pro Hero, then, strangely, looked suddenly indignant. He raised his arm high, his mouth opening wide like he was about to start yelling when he suddenly paused. He brought his hand down, looking at it as he flexed his fingers.

"Oh. Right. Fused." He let out of sheepish chuckle, even as All Might gave him an odd look. "Uh… well, you see, sir…" He paused, his brow furrowed as he thought. In the end, he just shook his head and sighed. "Eh, screw it. It'll be easier just to show you."

All Might put his hands on his hips, his ever-present smile lessening to appear thoughtful. "Show me? Show me what, my boy?"

"My Quirk. First though, uh… my name's Katzuku. It's... really awesome to meet you, All Might."

"It's a pleasure, Young Katzuku!"

The boy, Katzuku, beamed up at him. "Yeah, so… I just wanted to say hi. And, uh… bye."

The Pro Hero blinked. "Bye? But I thought you wanted to-"

All Might's question was cut off as Katzuku, who gave him a quick wave and a bright smile, was enveloped in another bright green light. Surprised, All Might instinctively threw up an arm up in defense…

... Only to blink in bafflement as the boy in front of him split right down the middle, and the two halves inexplicably became two completely different teenagers, one of which briefly kept glowing for a few seconds.

"Ugh…" The blonde one groaned, pressing a hand to his head. "Fusion never gave me that much of a headache before."

The green-haired one (who All Might dimly recognized as the first boy he had seen) was bent over at the stomach, his hands on his knees as he gasped for air, sporting a cut above his right eye. "Katzuku's… never... let off a blast... that big before…"

"Umm…" All Might looked between the two boys, his bright smile betrayed by the sweatdrop running down the side of his face. "What… just… happened?"

The two boys looked up, each having a different reaction. The blonde with red eyes just kind of blinked at him, as if just remembering he was there. The green-haired boy, however...

"A-A-Al-All M-M-M-M-Mi-Mi-Mi…" The boy's stutter seemed endless as he worked his mouth pointlessly, his eyes shrunken down to pinpricks and his whole body shaking.

Before the Pro could really start to wonder if the poor boy had gone a little too long without air, the blonde rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath. "And the Fanboying begins…"

Oh, All Might thought with a blink. A fanboy. That's easy enough to deal with.

Putting his hands firmly on his hips and puffing up his (aching) chest, All Might gave the boy a blinding smile. "Indeed, young man. It is I, All Might! The number one hero!" His little bit of pomp out of the way, he let his shoulders slump. "Now that that's cleared up… could one of you please tell me how the boy I was just speaking to somehow turned into you two?"

The green-haired boy stiffened at the question, ducking his head. "U-Umm...

The blonde, however, just jabbed his thumb towards the other boy without care. "It's his Quirk."

The green-haired boy's head snapped towards his friend, aghast. "Kacchan!"

Kacchan (All Might was going to assume that was a nickname of some sort) stared at him flatly. "Deku, it's All Might. Not just a real Pro Hero, the Pro Hero. If anyone ain't going to care, it's him."

The apparently-named Deku glanced apprehensively at All Might, his eyes darting between the Pro and his friend. Then he looked away, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

Kacchan clicked his tongue, but then looked back up at the Pro. "His Quirk lets him fuse together with things. If it's just random stuff, like rocks and crap, he turns into it. But if he uses it on a person, they fuse together into a single person."

All Might's eyes widened. "Truly?"

The blonde chuckled a bit. "The really cool part is the boost it gives people's Quirks." At All Might's questioning look, he let out a few sparks across his palm. "My Quirk lets me sweat nitroglycerin from my palms. But when we fuse, it lets our Fusion sweat nitroglycerin from anywhere, and the blasts pack more of a punch."

All Might blinked a few times. That would explain that massive explosion and where their shirts went. "That's… unique. So the boy I spoke to, Katzuku…"

The Deku boy bit his lip, finally speaking up. "He's me and Kacchan's- I mean, Katsuki's Fusion."

All Might folded his arms, absorbing the information. "I must admit, I'm a bit impressed, my boy. I've never encountered a Quirk such as yours." At the boy's surprised look, he let out a hearty laugh. "You have a great potential to do some real good in this world!"

To the Pro's surprise, the boy flinched back, disbelief plain on his face. "R-Really?"

All Might raised a brow at him, chuckling. "Of course, young man! With such a versatile Quirk, I'm sure you would have no problem achieving whatever goals you set. Why, I would even wager you could work your way into my old high school!"

The boy's eyes widened, his mouth working soundlessly. To All Might's worry, his whole body started trembling. "UA? Y-You… you think I could be a h-hero?"

All Might barked out a laugh. "Is that what you're worried about? My boy, from what I've seen today, there's no 'could' about it." He pointed right at the boy, giving his brightest smile. "Mark my words, young man! If you apply yourself correctly, I have no doubt that you will be a hero!"

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes, his breathing growing choppy. For a moment, All Might worried that he'd sent the boy into some kind of emotional breakdown. Thankfully, his friend gave him a hard thump on the back before he could grow worse. The boy shakily turned to the blonde, looking startled.

The blonde (Katsuki, he'd been called) chuckled, grinning. "Told you, Deku."

The boy took a few trembling breaths, before giving the blonde a hesitant smile. "Y-Yeah… I guess you did." He looked back up at All Might, then bowed deeply. "T-Thank you for the vote of confidence, sir."

All Might grinned. "It is well earned, my boy! Now, as enjoyable as our meeting has been, I believe you both should continue on your way. I need to contain this villain before he can cause any more trouble." As if to prove his point, he lifted his foot and stamped on a bit of sludge trying to slither away from him.

The boy nodded again. "Of course, sir. Right away, sir." Katsuki rolled his eyes as he handed the boy a backpack that he had dug out of the sludge, already holding a similar looking one. To All Might's surprise, they both pulled out clean t-shirts from the bags and slipped them on.

Well... when you have a destructive Quirk, I suppose you learn to be prepared, All Might mused to himself.

Before they left, however, the green-haired boy paused, looking down at his bag. "Um… All Might, sir? Can I ask you just one last thing?"

All Might grinned at him. "Certainly, my boy."

The boy blushed as he pulled a notebook out of his backpack. "C-Could I get an autograph?"

All Might couldn't help but laugh.

After finding an empty spot in the boy's notebook (which was filled with some rather impressive self-made hero bios that he could see) and splashing his signature across two full pages, All Might sent the boys on their way. He turned his attention back to the villain, who had managed to pull himself about halfway together in the meantime. All Might scattered him again with just the flick of his finger.

"All right, now to get you all cleaned up. But how to… ah, perfect! These bottles will work nicely."

As he set to work gathering up the sludge, he could hear the boys talking behind him as they walked.

"Man, not even in high school yet, and we already kicked a villain's ass!"

"Technically, Katzuku did it, Kacchan."

"He's us, it still counts! Though, you probably should have gone for forming Katzuku first, instead of just punching the creep. Seriously, that was a stupid move, Deku. He could have killed you, you dope!"

"I-It seemed like a good idea…"

"And then, you just jump right in front of the asshole without fusing with anything! Seriously, what the hell were you thinking, doing that?"

"Honestly, Kacchan… I wasn't."

All Might paused.

"… you were in trouble, and… my body just… moved."

Slowly, the Pro Hero turned around, looking back at the boys.

After a moment, Katsuki scoffed softly. "...you dumbass. You're gonna get yourself killed if you ever jump in like that again."

"Well, I had to do something to get you out! You were trapped and… you looked scared."

"Wha-hey, nonononono, I was not scared, okay? I had everything handled, just fine!"

"Uh huh… suuure..."

"What was that!?"

"Nothing, Kacchan."

All Might watched as they moved further down the road, something clicking in his mind. Before he fully processed what he was doing, he called out, "Young man!"

The two spun around, surprised. " Yes, Mr. All Might ...sir?"

All Might just stopped from laughing at the boy's nervousness. " I didn't catch your name."

The boy blinked that him, then gave him a wide smile. "Oh! It's, um, Izuku Midoriya, sir."

All Might nodded, humming to himself. "Hmm… well, It was a pleasure to meet you, young Midoriya! I'll be keeping my eye out for you in the future."

Midoriya's eyes widened, his mouth falling open. He managed to shake it off before his friend forced him to, giving a sharp nod and bright smile. "It was nice to meet you too, sir. I won't let you down."

All Might smiled as the two walked away and out of sight, before continuing to collect the splattered villain.

No, this was not how All Might expected his day to go. But… perhaps that just made it all the more significant.

If he hurried, he could still meet his old sidekick and not be too terribly late. That was good. He could use someone to talk to right now, to help him think.

And there was now a lot for him to think about.

One Month Later

"Okay, now try the pickup truck."

Izuku groaned under his breath as he released the cinder block from his arm, wiping the sweat from his brow. He shot Katsuki a slight glare, which the blonde returned with a flat stare, watching Izuku from his perch on a broken refrigerator. Izuku rolled his eyes at the lack of reaction, before placing his palms on the hood of the broken-down truck.

The two had stumbled across Dagobah beach a few years back, claiming it as their unofficial training ground. Izuku had thought it a shame that what had once been a beautiful beach had been reduced to little more than a junkyard, but it gave him access to plenty of materials to test his Quirk on.

Once his arms and upper torso were completely converted into the solid steel of the truck hood, Izuku walked over to where Katsuki was sitting. The blonde leapt off the fridge, gesturing for Izuku to move forward.

Having been given the go-ahead, Izuku set his feet and launched a stiff punch at the freezer door. The clang! of metal on metal sounded throughout the beach, and the freezer door completely buckled inward. Izuku continued with his strikes, not stopping until the refrigerator was so dented that it buckled at the middle and collapsed in on itself.

Izuku stared at his handy work, panting lightly.

Beside him, Katsuki huffed a laugh, slapping him on the back. "Standing to scrap in under a minute. We keep working like this for the next nine months, and UA will be a shoo-in."

Izuku smiled at his kind words, a rarity from his eternally angered comrade.

"I can't help but agree!"

Both boys looked up in surprise, towards the stairs leading off the beach. They were shocked to see the familiar muscle-bound Pro watching them in a simple tracksuit, hands on his hips.

"A-A-All Might!" Izuku gasped, a quick elbow from Katsuki halting his stuttering. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak to you both, my boys! And young Midoriya's mother was kind enough to point me your way. "

Izuku briefly wondered how his poor mother reacted when she answered the door to find All Might of all people standing there. He hoped she hadn't freaked out too badly… or fainted.

The Pro Hero chuckled as he approached. "I'm sorry it took me so long to return to you, but I had a lot of thoughts to sort through and soul-searching to do before reaching my decision."

"Decision?" Izuku shared a quick look with Katsuki, both of them curious about what the Pro was talking about.

All Might smiled at them, though this one seemed different from what they always saw on TV. It was subdued, with a hint of melancholy, yet still bright and cheerful. "There is a choice I have to make in a short time. I needed to sort through all my options before taking the proper course of action. And… I believe I have found it." He walked up to the two, putting his large hand on Izuku's shoulder, grin widening at his awestruck expression.

"Young Midoriya… if you'd accept… I want you to be my successor."

A/n: So, I need to be straight with all of you. This story might skip around a bit, at least at first. I'm assuming that if you're reading this story, you already know how things go in canon. Since I don't want to just rehash what already exists, we'll only be focusing on the changes made by Izuku's Quirk. So if there's some part of the story that's not addressed here, just assume it went down similarly to how it did in the official material.

Next chapter, we're hitting the good stuff, people. The UA entrance exam! Izuku's in for a wild ride… as is a certain round-faced heroine we all know and love.

But first, I need to get out the next chapter of LiLaL. See you when I see you!