Disclaimer: I do not own anything from My Hero Academia, nor do I own concepts of any other anime, manga or TV shows used in this story.
Author's note: This story is simply written for fun, I expect I would make plenty of amateur mistakes.
Texts like this are Izuku's voluntary thoughts from his perspective.
[Texts like this] represents thoughts that comes from his subconscious, where the majority of his quirk manifests. All of Izuku's subconscious thoughts are not actually verbal. To Izuku, they're merely flashes of notions that happen in very short moments. After all, they come from his intuition.
Chapter 4: Encounter
12:50pm
Crap! I forgot about the time again!
Dammit, I really hope Kacchan is already there to make my order for me…
Izuku was running at a jog towards town to be on time for the Special Lunchtime offer of his favourite ramen stall in an alley on Tatooin Shopping District. Aside from the fact that their food was delicious, it was one of those obscure places where few people knew about which Izuku preferred.
The route Izuku used was a shortcut he used to go to school. He made sure he could get to school in the shortest amount of time possible just so he can get more sleep. Izuku was making his way under a bridge that extended over the sewage system when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
[Anomaly detected]
Izuku slowed down to glance at the sewer entrance just beside him as a viscous dark brown sludge oozed out through the sewer cap.
Huh? What's that? That doesn't look normal…
[Analyzing target…]
That's a person?!
Just as the thought registered in Izuku's mind, a giant monstrous face appeared in the sludge and it muttered: "A medium-sized body…. to hide in…"
[ALERT: Threat detected]
[Assessing situation…]
Shit! I need to back awa-
With unexpected speed, the sludge lashed out to envelop Izuku's torso before he could react, then it started to force its way into Izuku's mouth and nose. "Don't worry... I'm just hijacking your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds and it'll all be over..." muttered a face that appeared in the sludge.
It's trying to suffocate me!
[Target assessment: Repel and neutralize]
Izuku tried to remove the sludge clogging up his face but to no avail, as his fingers simply sunk in and slipped through the goo. "No point in trying that. I'm fluid, you see!" boasted the attacker.
[Analyzing target physiology… complete; Mutation quirk detected]
[Quirk data acquisition complete]
[Formulating countermeasures…]
[Sludge: Fluid body, aggressive; Fix: Apply direct force repulsion, target rigid organs]
[Activating quirk: Puppet String]
Izuku immediately pulled out the chunk of sludge that smothered his face with Puppet String and took a big gulp of air.
[Scanning target anatomy…]
I can't turn around to see a target with this thing around me, but as long as I'm in contact with him I know precisely where all it's body parts are!
[Activating quirk: Air Cannon]
As soon as he managed to recover his breath, Izuku raised an arm and fired an Air Cannon shot without even looking. Air swirled around his forearm into a compressed spiral and violently ejected through his palm, directly into one of the sludge villain's grotesque eyeballs.
"What?! How did you- aargh!" exclaimed the villain as he felt a sharp pain that blinded him.
The momentary surprise made the sludge release Izuku, he reacted by leaping into a front roll to increase his distance from the threat.
It's stunned! Now's my chance!
[Combat protocols initiated]
Izuku proceeded to wail on the villain's exposed eyes with multiple precise Air Cannon shots, each impact caused the villain to scream in agony. Every inch the sludge tried to take towards Izuku is met with instant retaliation, and yet the villain has no intention of surrendering.
This thing doesn't give up! I don't want to cause property damage, but there's no choice now. I'm gonna have to-
"Fear not kid! I AM HERE!" said a familiar voice from the manhole the villain just came from, as a bulky muscular figure climbed out of it holding a grocery bag containing two bottles of soda.
Wait, is that…? HOLY SHIT ITS ALL MIGHT!
Izuku was stunned for a moment upon seeing All Might, which made him completely forget that he was trying to hold back a villain and just stood there frozen. The sludge villain noticed this opening and rushed at Izuku.
With blinding speed, All Might dashed in between Izuku and the villain, as he proceeded to throw a punch while yelling: "Texas… SMASH!"
Izuku watched as All Might's swing created a shock wave so powerful it splattered the villain apart.
[Analyzing force distribution…]
Holy shit. Watching his strength up close in action is no joke. That blow would've vaporized all that sludge had it actually landed. He managed to make a shockwave just strong enough to knock it out, then splatter it nearby and not all over the street? That means he's got such a precise control over his super strength that he can fine tune his shockwaves! Wait, that means all my note's analysis on All Might's long range attacks were wrong! He could potentially-
"Hey! Hey! Young man! Are you alright?" said All Might as he waved his hand in front of Izuku's face.
"Ohmygodholyshit," said Izuku as he was snapped out of his stupor.
"You're okay! Excellent! Apologies for getting you caught up in my villain hunt. Mistakes like that aren't my style, but… This is a strange land to me! And besides I'm off camera! Haha!" chuckled All Might as he explained in a heroic pose.
"But my success here is all thanks to you! Now I simply have to figure out how to scrape up this mess…" continued All Might as he emptied the two bottles of soda in a drain.
"Oh uhm let me help you! It's the least I can do to return the favor," replied Izuku quickly.
"Your offer is greatly appreciated, young man! However it is best if you stayed back, this evildoer could wake up at any moment, and I've put you through enough trouble!" declined All Might.
"No, no, I can actually make it a lot faster for you. Here I'll show you!" Izuku hurriedly went to take both empty bottles from All Might's hands. He held the bottles upside down on his palms, and used Puppet String to suck in the sludge remains into the bottles like a vacuum cleaner. "There! All done! I just want to say it's a great honor to meet you, All Might. Thank you for saving me!"
"You're welcome, young man! Impressive! How inventive of you to use your quirk like that!" praised All Might as he received the two bottles filled with the unconscious villain, and stuffed them into his side pockets. "Now then, I must bring this fellow to the authorities! You can catch me again on TV!"
[Analyzing target...; Inadequate mechanism detected]
Hmm? The bottles look like they could fall out at any moment, the pockets don't really fit.
Should I tell him? Probably not, I don't want to look like a nitpicker in front of him. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, he's All Might after all!
"Until next time! Thanks for your support!" announced All Might with a salute as he leaped high into the sky towards town.
Wow! I can't believe it! I just met All Might in person! I can't wait to tell Kacchan!
Wait! I forgot to shake his hand! I could've found out how powerful his quirk is! DAMMIT!
1:20pm
Crap, I got held up by that accident longer than I expected. Kacchan better not eat up all my fried shrimps like last time.
Izuku jogged towards the town area where Tatooin Shopping District was, when he heard a commotion as he got closer.
Why is there a huge crowd at the entrance? Some kind of event?
Wait, I'm hearing explosions, a gas leak? And there's Mt. Lady's head poking over the roof on the other side of the street!
As Izuku got closer he saw many pro heroes evacuating and keeping the civilians away from the area.
I can see Kamui Woods, Backdraft, Death Arms and a few other pros…
Damn, that's a LOT of fire…
The entire street was filled with panicked cries from the crowd and the heroes' relays of information mixed in the chaos. "I've got my hands full! Where are the firefighters?!" "How's it looking over there?!" "Go get him, heroes!" "Wow! Some sort of hardcore villain?!"
"Someone'll come!" "Until then, we need that kid to hold on just a bit longer!" yelled the heroes closest to the source of the commotion.
Izuku pushed his way through the crowd to get a better view. At this point, Kamui Woods had finished evacuating people from the fires and was keeping civilians away by using his Lumber quirk to make a makeshift fence.
[Scanning for Subject Kacchan…]
I don't see Kacchan anywhere…
I hope he made it out in time… This looks really bad…
What the- Isn't that the sludge guy from before…?!
Oh no… I should've warned All Might! This is my fault!
At the center of the chaos is the sludge monster Izuku just previously encountered, currently enveloping a teenager with its viscous form.
[Assessing situation…]
Death Arms is nowhere near as strong enough as All Might's punch, Mt. Lady can't fit in here with her quirk, Backdraft is too busy with the fires, Kamui Woods is obviously weak to fire… and I can't do much against that thing without harming the hostage…
And I don't have enough experience to know what to do here, I'd just cause more trouble for the pros…
I can't imagine how terrible it must feel suffocating inside that thing, I hope a hero with a suitable quirk shows up soon…
Hang in there… I'm so sorry!
Right as Izuku finished the thought, the villain turned around just enough for Izuku to see the victim's face.
[Subject Kacchan found]
Midoriya Izuku vaulted over Kamui Wood's makeshift fence towards the chaos with zero hesitation and went into a sprint.
[Analyzing target physiology…]
[Transformation quirk detected, assimilating…]
[Quirk: Lumber; Assimilation complete]
"HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU FOOL! STOP!" screamed Death Arms as he saw Izuku run towards the center of chaos.
"KACCHAN, I'M HERE!" Izuku exclaimed with an iron resolve as he continued to speed towards his friend, still at a distance. "Stay calm! Take a deep breath on my mark!"
[Activating quirk: Puppet String]
Izuku reached out and pulled away the chunk of slime stifling Bakugou's mouth. "NOW!"
Bakugou immediately took a deep gulp of air that returned some color to his face. "Deku! Get away from here you idio-" Bakugou was cut off as the sludge attempted to engulf him again.
That only bought Kacchan a few more seconds! Now think Izuku think!
"It's that kid again! You're dead!" declared the sludge villain as it started to move towards Izuku.
Art of War, page 24! "Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected"!
[Analyzing optimal course of action… complete]
"Don't panic!" Izuku yelled as he gave his best friend a knowing grin. The expression calmed down Bakugou, as he knew all too well what it meant.
I have a plan. Trust me.
"Now release your biggest smokescreen!"
Bakugou nodded and used his quirk to release as much smoke as he could at maximum output, making incomplete combustions with his quirk just like what Izuku taught him so many years ago.
The majority of the street is immediately flooded in a thick black smoke. "What's going on?! I can't see!" exclaimed the sludge villain.
"Get the civilians away from here! That kid's quirk is going berserk! He can't hold out much longer!" yelled one of the heroes.
[Combat protocols initiated]
[Activating quirk: Infrared Vision]
Izuku saw through his eyes a red and yellow shape of Bakugou, surrounded by a dark blue hue of the villain's form, with it's two eyeballs hovering above in orange. The surrounding shops were all covered in bright red and orange hues.
I know the sludge's entire body temperature! Good thing I analyzed it before!
And now that Kacchan stopped making explosions…
…I can do this!
[Activating quirk: Lumber]
From it's limited vision, the villain saw a large dark-green tree branch appear out of the smog and wrapped around it's victim, as two smaller branches stemmed outwards from it and jabbed both the villain's eyes.
"What the-AARGH! My eyes again?! What's happening?!" echoed the villain, as the pain and confusion made it lose it's grip on Bakugou. "…Get back here!"
Now to pull Kacchan away and retreat!
Ugh, this quirk feels weird! It's like having dozens of fingers!
Right at this moment, as Izuku was just about to think of his next step, he saw a familiar outline of a red and orange figure approach them through his Infrared Vision.
Is that All Might?! We're saved!
All Might's huge bulk pushed away the smog near him as he came within range, where he saw the sludge villain thrashing around squinting it's eyes, and two teenagers standing just beside it. The scene caught him by surprise when he noticed dark-green tree branches shrinking into one of the boy's arm.
"Young man! Weren't you-?!" All Might asked Izuku in astonishment as he was interrupted by the villain's attack. "I'm gonna kill you All Might!"
"Detroit… SMASH!" All Might retaliated with a mighty punch, it caused a massive shockwave that cleared all the smoke and fire from the street, and generated an updraft that instantly made the surrounding area rain.
The chaos started to subside as the crowd started to cheer and whistle. "He changed the weather with a single punch!" "Amazing! That's All Might!" praised the spectators.
All Might stood there in a heroic pose, smiled and waved for the crowd and cameras, but Izuku noticed that All Might had a glint of suspicion when he made eye contact with him.
What was that about?
"Holy fucking shit, Deku! You crazy motherfucker! I almost didn't believe you when you told me to make that smokescreen! That was insane! I still can't believe All Might showed up!" said Bakugou excitedly as the duo walked back home together.
"Yeah… I didn't think of a plan until I rushed in. Sorry…" Izuku said apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't be sorry you fuckin' idiot! You just saved my ass with that brain of yours!" retorted Bakugou as he jokingly punched Izuku in the arm. "Fuck it. Y'know what, Deku? This whole week, we can go for as much ramen as you want, everything's on me!"
The offer brought a smile to Izuku's face. "Alright, deal! But you better not steal my shrimps if I'm late again!"
"Then don't be late you fucking nerd! I'll steal all your fuckin' pork chops too if you don't come on time!" yelled Bakugou as they approached the Bakugou household.
"Damn, what are the fuckin' odds that we both got saved by All Might in a day?" Bakugou asked no one in particular as he opened the front door. "I'll see ya tomorrow at school then Deku!"
Izuku continued down the street and was about to turn a corner, when he was jumped by All Might sliding into a dramatic pose in front of him. "I AM HERE!"
"GAH! All Might?! What are you doing here?!" yelped Izuku. "I thought you were surrounded by reporters back there…"
"Shaking them off is nothing to me! After all, I'm All Might!" said All Might proudly as he puffed out his chest.
"Uhm… is this about the incident back there? I know I shouldn't have-" Izuku muttered self-consciously as All Might put up a hand to interrupt him.
"In a way, yes! But I'm not here to lecture you about your reckless actions!" All Might responded, as he gradually put on a serious expression. It made Izuku gape in shock as he had never seen All Might drop that famous smile of his ever, and that's saying a lot for a hardcore All Might fan like Izuku.
"Kid. You and I need to have a talk."
Feel free to leave a review. I'd love to know what I can improve on. Thanks for reading!