Hey, back with chapter 2 of this story. I edited chapter one to end better, as requested(? Idk the guy had a point). This ones gonna be after a time skip, so there's gonna be a bit of backstory here, but it should cover a portion of canon now, so here's hoping right?
Izuku sighed as the day came to an end. School was going to end in a little under a year, and then he'd take the entrance exam to get into UA High. He wasn't sure if he was ready, to be perfectly honest with himself. Although he had seen all the weapons he could potentially create, 'traced,' he reminded himself dutifully, though he could only trace his twin swords, Kanshou and Bakuya. Even if he could only trace them, he would be a hero, and he had trained his body well enough for that fact. Gone was the scrawny kid that had only dreamed to be a hero, and now stood in his place a hero that would go far, unlimited weapons or not.
He, ever the curious student, had always wondered who the man in red, and that desert in large, was. Every time he'd go back and see if he could trace any other weapons, he was stopped by the man, and was always asked the same questions.
'You do know that's hell you're walking into? The hell that's being a hero of justice that saves everyone?'
Every time he had asked what that meant or why he couldn't trace any of them except Kanshou and Bakuya, the man would say that 'he needed to prove himself a hero that would save' before he would get access to his vast armory.
Although, that doesn't mean that Izuku hadn't tried to converse with the man, and he had some mild success in that department. He had learned that his name, or rather codename, he guessed, was Archer, and he was from a land not unlike Izuku's own. He always, Izuku observed, had a faint smile that showed kindness, but also a deep sorrow and regret. He had yet to ask about that, though.
Speaking of his quirk, his life had gotten better after he had awakened it. Kacchan no longer bullied him, although he still glared at him every once in a while, and the other student's no longer ignored him totally. Still, he had no friends, whether it be because of his social anxiety, or how they treated him during his tenure as quirkless. Could be a mix of both, if he were being honest with himself.
The doctors, on the other hand, were astounded by the fact that he had a quirk. He had the pinky toe joint, which meant he shouldn't have a quirk, and yet here he was. Added to that was the fact that his quirk wasn't related to his parents quirks in anyway, really. Sure, whenever his mom used her quirk, the stuff she was grabbing with her telekenesis glowed a soft green, but that was about it. He still had his analysis hobby, so he tried to figure it out himself, but to no avail. There just seemed to be no connection.
Izuku was snapped out of his reverie when the teacher got their attention one last time.
"End of year tests are coming up, and now I have to give a big speech about what you guys might want to do for your future," he started, holding out the papers they had submitted corresponding to the topic. "But who am I kidding, all of you kids are going to try out for the heroics courses, aren't you?" With that, he threw the papers in the air, while the kids yelled and used their quirks in excitement.
"Hey, hey, calm down, you're not allowed to use your quirks here," admonished the teacher, though no one listened. Looking through the list of schools the students were planning on attending, he called one of the students out. "Though it seems Bakugo is trying for UA, one of the top hero schools in the country." Said rambunctious blonde piped up, slamming his hands down on the desks, making a much louder sound because of his quirk.
"Damn straight I am, and you all best believe that I'm gonna be the top student to make it in this year!" he announced to the class, hands popping and smoking.
"It also seems Midoriya is trying out for the heroics course at UA," added the teacher. 'Gee, thanks for throwing me under the bus there, teach,' the greenette thought in exasperation. Bakugo turned his head toward Izuku, an expression of mild annoyance marred his face, although it seemed to temper itself as the years went on. 'At least he doesn't seem to hate me, not anymore at least. Still, it might be a better idea to get out of here before that changes.'
As the final bell for the school day chimed its last note, Izuku was already half way out the door, hoping to avoid a confrontation with Bakugo. He had almost made it when he felt a hand on his shoulder, lightly forcing him to turn around.
"Oi, Deku, so you're trying to get into U.A., huh?" Bakugo asked, squeezing Izuku's shoulder ever so slightly. Izuku, unflinchingly, spoke.
"Yeah, I am Kacchan. Why?"
"Out of all these extras with shitty quirks, you have the best bet on even coming close to challenging me in the tests. At least your quirk can do some damage, unlike the rest of these rejects. I just wanna make sure you're up for the task," responded Bakugo, taking his hand off of Izuku's shoulder. Izuku glanced down, then met Bakugo's eyes, and opened his mouth
"And what if I'm not?" Izuku asked, genuinely curious as to why Bakugo was even asking.
"Then I'll crush you with the rest of the extras," Bakugo replied, grinning ever so slightly. Bakugo walked passed Izuku, heading out the door. Before he got to the end of the hallway, he looked behind him and called to Izuku. "Ten months! You got ten months to prepare for those tests, and you better give me a challenge, Deku!" With that, he walked around the corner, and outside the building.
Izuku stood for a second, mildly shocked, then shook his head. He walked out of the building, heading for town.
'This was supposed to be a shortcut,' Izuku mentally complained, glancing at his phone's map. As he walked under an overpass, a terrible smell hit him right in the face. Out of a manhole, a monster made of sludge appeared. It writhed as it crawled out of the sewers, the rank smell exploding even further outwards. The monsters eyes finally formed on top of the writhing mass, teeth following in suit. Finally, fully formed, the monster looked towards Izuku and let out a breath.
"Finally, a suitable meat suit to get away from that annoying hero. C'mere kid, this won't hurt a bit." The monster slithered towards Izuku, who snapped from his shock, and jumped back from the monster. He flexed his palms, and the familiar green energy sparked to life, tracing Kanshou and Bakuya into existence, ready to defend himself. "Oh, that's a fancy quirk you got there, but I don't see how that give you an advantage here. My body just so happens to be made completely of sludge, there's nothing those fancy little knives can do to me," the sludge monster laughed haughtily.
Izuku grit his teeth, and steeled his resolve. "Even if I can't do anything to you, I'm still going to try my best to hold you off until someone else comes that can do something." With that, Izuku dashed forward, dodging past a tendril of slime the villain sent his way. He slashed down through the sludge substance, cutting it off. "Heh," Izuku chuckled, "it seems you forgot that sludge isn't fully liquid. And that means it can be cut." Izuku sprinted forward, using years of physical training to out speed the villain. As he neared his enemy, the monster smirked, and, in a burst of speed, enveloped Izuku, covering his nose and mouth.
"Now now, don't struggle kid, this'll only hurt for a minute," the villain purred into Izuku's ear, whose world was slowly becoming darker with ever passing second. In an act of desperation, Izuku tried to cut himself free of the monsters grip, but with every cut he made, a new layer of slime would take its place.
Izuku could only hear his own heartbeat, as it got fainter and fainter. As his eyes dulled, images of the only two people who truly believed in his dream of being a hero popped into his head.
'Mom, Archer, I'm sorry. I guess this is where that dream ends,' Izuku thought, finally accepting his fate.
Then he felt it. A gust of wind, accompanied by the loudest voice he had ever heard.
"TEXAS SMASH!"
A veritable whirlwind started under the overpass, and the sludge villain was sent flying off of Izuku, breaking apart from the force of the gale. Izuku popped up on his butt, gulping down air at a pace faster than he ever thought imaginable. As soon as his brain connected the dots as to what happened, he snapped to attention, and scrambled to his feet. Stood there, in civilian clothing no less, was All Might himself. How could he not recognize the Symbol of Peace, what with his 7 foot stature and signature hair style and smile. Izuku frantically searched around for his notebook, already thinking of asking for an autograph.
"Whoa there, young one, are you looking for this?" All Might asked, handing over Izuku's open notebook. Izuku glanced at the page, and noticed that it already had All Mights signature scrawled on it.
"All Might, thank you, you don't realized how much this means to me," Izuku said as he began to tear up. The shock of the last moments events began to wear off, and Izuku's tear ducts just couldn't handle it, as tears began to stream down his face. All Might glanced down, already done packing the villain away in what appeared to be a pair of two liter soda bottles.
"Are you feeling better, young one? Do you need help getting anywhere?" inquired All Might, feeling responsible for the kid that got caught up in his heroics. Izuku shook his head no, but then a question suddenly popped into his head.
"All Might, sir, do you have time to answer a question of mine?" Izuku looked up at the towering giant, who shuffled a tad uncomfortably.
"I am truly sorry, but I cannot take any questions at the moment. Now I must be off, for I have to take this villain to the proper authorities," All Might said, as he crouched down to jump. "Wait!" Izuku called, latching onto the hero as he took off.
"Young one, what are you doing?! Get off of me right now!" All Might cried in shock. Izuku, who was not prepared for the speed of All Mights leap, was having trouble responding.
"I-If I do t-that, t-then I'll f-fall!" explained Izuku, nervously looking down to the ground. He was amazed by how high up he was. All Might sighed, as he looked towards the building he was planning on landing on. He landed as gently as he could, and Izuku rolled off of him, still shaken by his impromptu flight.
"Are you ok, kid? If so, then I really must be off," All Might said, in a hurry. 'Shit,' he thought, 'I'm gonna run out of time at this rate.' All Might checked his body, and sure enough, there was steam rising from his body, a sure sign that he was gonna run out of time soon.
"Wait All Might, I just have one question, can you please answer it," pleaded Izuku, hoping that the number one pro hero would listen to him. 'Do I really have what it takes to be a hero? Even with an incomplete quirk like mine? All I can do is analyze objects, and even then it seems like I can only trace Kanshou and Bakuya, even after all my attempts at tracing other things. Maybe I'll have to put more effort into tracing other things. Maybe…' Izuku snapped out of his mental mumbling fit before it got to powerful for him to stop. He glanced towards All Might, who had a sheen of steam rising off of him.
"All Might, are you ok? You have this-" Izuku was cut off mid sentence as a veritable explosion of steam rocketed off of All Might. An emaciated All Might stood there, blood dripping down his now angular chin. "W-What? Where's All Might, and who are you!?" Izuku questioned, searching around frantically.
"Ease up, kid. The truth is, I am All Might." All Might said, motioning his hands in a placating manner. He sighed as Izuku tried to calm himself down. "Hey, kid, you know those guys that suck in their guts and flex to get girls? It's pretty much like that," he explained, hoping his slightly crude analogy got through to the kid. Izuku calmed down enough to ask a question that had been burning in the back of his mind.
"What happened? How did this happen?" he asked with a tilt of his head. All Might sighed and lifted up his shirt, revealing a nasty purple twist on his body. "I got this scar five years ago in a fight with a villain. Half of my respiratory system and my stomach were destroyed, and had to be removed. Because of that, I can do hero work for only three hours a day." All Might sighed again and put down his shirt over the wound.
"5 years ago?" Izuku began to mumble, "but the only notable fight he had was with the Toxic Chainsaw, and he wasn't powerful enough to injure All Might like that." Before the mumble storm could truly start, All Might interrupted him.
"It was a fight that I had asked to not be televised or brought to the media." explained All Might, gaining Izuku's attention again. "Now, back to the subject at hand, since we're here, what was your question kid?"
Izuku gulped, but steeled his resolve again. "All Might, can someone with an incomplete quirk become a hero?" All Might looked at Izuku calculatingly for a moment, then opened his mouth to answer.
"Kid, if you don't know the full extent of your quirk, and something managed to activate, or something went wrong, people's lives could be at risk. You could attempt to go to a hero school to fix the problem, but if you can't gain a clear insight into your quirk, then I'm sorry, but I don't think you can become a reliable hero."
Izuku looked at the ground, and sighed. "I guess that was expected. Well, I've kept you long enough, All Might. Maybe I'll see you some other time." With that, Izuku opened the door, and walked down the stairs. All Might sighed, disappointed in himself, and clutched the pocket the bottles were in. Feeling nothing, he looked down.
The bottles were missing. One thing crossed his mind.
"Shit."
Izuku decided to take a detour, letting fate take his feet where they were supposed to go. Rounding the block, he saw something that made him take a double take. The sludge monster was right there. How? All Might was supposed to have him. Then he remembered when he grabbed on to All Might for the substitute flight lesson. 'Ah, so it's my fault, eh?' Izuku thought dejectedly. He walked closer to the scene, hoping to see some heroes in action to help balance out this otherwise bad day. Then he made eye contact with them.
Those crimson eyes that he could recognize in an instant.
The villain had Kacchan. He needed to do something. Time seemed to slow down for Izuku, as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Looking towards the person whose hand was on his shoulder, he saw Archer, looking down at him.
"What are you going to do, Izuku Midoriya? Will you save him like the hero you aspire to be, or will you save yourself and let someone else do the job for you?" Archer asked, the most serious expression on his face Izuku had ever seen. "Archer, I gotta do something! If I don't and a hero suitable enough doesn't make it, then he's gonna die! I have to do this!" Archer, for the first time, smiled with a face full of pride.
"Then allow me to give you a hint about your power. It's broken up into three basic stages: analyzing the weapon or object, retaining the phases of its 'lifespan' that it went through. Creation, use, it's breaking points, everything. Stage two is projecting that analysis into reality. Third step is reinforcing that projection into reality. What if you were to use one of those steps on their own?"
Izuku thought about it. He had never thought to think abou this power in a series of steps, as far as he knew he only analyzed and traced things. Maybe, just maybe, if he were to reinforce his body, maybe he could save Kacchan. It was worth a shot.
He looked Archer straight in the eyes and said, "I'm gonna save him. Just you watch."
As time returned to normal, he heard Archer say something. "I hope you follow your ideals and become a hero I know you can be. Just like he was."
"Trace On!" Katsuki's eyes widened as he heard those familiar words. Izuku, limbs cloaked in green veins, streaked towards the villain. Even his eyes, usually a deep emerald, now glowed an electrified green. The ground shattered ever so slightly every step he took. Katsuki struggled even harder, managing to get the slime off of his mouth and nose.
"Deku! The fuck you doing here!?" Katsuki cried, for once showing the smallest amount of worry for Izuku. Izuku reached out to Katsuki, and cried;
"I'm here to save you, Kaachan!" Katsuki grit his teeth, and struggled to reach his hand out to Izuku. By this time, the villain had noticed what was going on, and went on the offensive against Izuku. He slapped a tendril of slime towards Izuku, and smiled at the satisfying smack he heard, and watched as the boy fell and rolled backwards, finally ending on his feet.
Izuku outstretched his hands, and flexed his palms once again. Green energy, crackling like lightning, enveloped his hands as Kanshou and Bakuya were once again pulled into existence. Still reinforcing his body, he dashed forward, eyes glowing with a righteous resolve. More tendrils came his way, and he slashed the blackened sword in his left hand, using the pure white blade in his right to block a tendril that went for the opposing side. Stomping on the ground, he dashed forward, rolling to the side when a host of whips blocked his path. As he recovered, he threw his swords, which flew parallel to each other, and quick traced two more, running right behind the swords he had thrown.
"Kacchan, I swear you'll get out of this, one way or another!"
'What is that kid doing!?' All Might thought in shock, blood shooting out of his mouth. The kid he had met earlier, the one with the incomplete quirk, was risking his life when everyone else stood at the wayside. 'Some hero I am, huh? Letting a kid do all the work.' Then he saw the kid take the hit, and that brought him over his proverbial edge. 'Is this all that I've been reduced to? A man that cares more for his own time than the safety of the people he swore to protect?' With that, he began to inflate, and, just as the kid threw his swords, he acted. Jumping over the crowds, he landed in front of the villain, already in a punching stance.
"DELAWARE SMASH!"
All Might's ferocious strength whipped up another gale force wind, this time even stronger than the last, that blew away the sludge villain. The resulting shock to the air pressure changed the weather, and slowly, raindrops started to fall on the city.
"Whoa, did you see that?"
"Yeah, All Might appeared and suddenly, the villains gone and its raining!"
"Did he really change the weather with just a punch? Awesome!"
Murmurs were traveling through the crowd, where both Bakugo and Midoriya were being simultaneously berated and praised. After all was done, Izuku snuck away, homeward.
Izuku sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day, on the street that his apartment resided on. He perked up a little, hearing footsteps that sounded more akin to stomps behind him. Turning, he saw Bakugo walking up to him.
"Hey, I didn't need your help back there, but since you risked your life, thanks. Next time though, I'll get out without you or your shitty help!" Bakugo declared, pointing straight at Izuku.
"No problem, Kacchan. I'm just glad that I could help somehow," replied Izuku, a small smile appearing on his face.
"You better be ready for the entrance exams, cause there, I'm gonna prove I'm the strongest around!" Bakugo called over his shoulder as he made his way home.
'Never change, Kacchan, never change,' Izuku thought with an even wider grin. He turned back around to head home, but was startled onto his butt when All Might suddenly appeared, yelling his signature phrase.
"I AM HE- blergh,"
'Well, he tried I guess.' Izuku thought, chuckling slightly as he recovered. Finally getting to his feet, he looked at All Might, who was in his skin and bones form. "Hey, what're you doing here, All Might? Shouldn't you be hounded by the press right now?"
"Come now kid, every hero worth his salt has to have a way to avoid the press," All Might chuckled with a smile. "Anyway, kid, what's your name?"
"Izuku Midoriya," he responded with a tilt of his head, "why do you want to know?"
"Well, after this conversation, hopefully I'll be using that name a little more. Now Midoriya, I have to apologize. I said some things back there, where I really didn't take things into account. I retract my statement, and I can proudly say that you can be a hero."
Izuku at this point was tearing up. "Thank you, All Might, you don't know how much that means to me." He was trying his best not to cry, but the Midoriya Waterworks were flowing strong as ever. All Might chuckled and patted Izuku's head, calming the crying boy down slightly.
"As much as that apology was needed, that's not the only reason I'm here. Midoriya, what exactly do you think my quirk is?" All Might asked, a knowing grin on his face.
"There's been a lot of speculation as to what your quirk is, some say a strength enhancer, some say your a mutant type of some kind, and there's even a small group of people saying you got blessed with full invincibility. But that couldn't be right, or cou-" Izuku snapped out of his mumbling when All Might gave another gentle pat on his head.
"As fascinating as that was, none of those answers were right. I've always avoided the question, cracking a joke and zipping off as soon as I could. You see, my quirk is a stockpiling quirk, passed down to me like an Olympic torch. It's name is One for All." All Might proudly raised his hands up, the sunlight seemingly intensifying, making the emaciated stature of All Might's true form look just, if not even more, imposing and grand than his heroing form.
"W-What? How is that possible, a quirk that can be transferred? If this got out, then it could change the research of quirk genetics as we know it. Are there-" another soft pat on the head stopped yet another mumbled rant.
"Hey, Midoriya, don't hurt your head trying to figure out the secrets of things that haven't been discovered yet," All Might chucked, then continued. "The reason I'm telling you this is because I want you to be the next successor of One for All. Can you take the challenge and be the next Symbol of Peace?"
"All Might, you don't realize how much I want to, but you were right about one thing today. I'm not fully aware of all that my own quirk can do, much less the stress of figuring out another. I don't even really feel worthy of your quirk in the first place." Izuku looked down, but then looked back straight into All Might's startlingly blue eyes. "But, I'll keep training, and by the time of the U.A. Sports Festival, if you haven't found another successor by then, then I'll take One for All." Izuku met All Might with the fiercest and most determined look he could.
All Might stood there, shocked for a moment, but then finally shook his head and chuckled. "Well then, I'll keep you on that one, Midoriya. I was going to offer to train you, and that offer still stands, whether you take my quirk or not. What do you say to that, Midoriya?"
Izuku couldn't help but laugh. "I would love to train with you. Where do you want to meet?"
"Just give me your contact details, I'll let you know later tonight." With that, they exchanged contact information, and Izuku headed home, near dead on his feet from the days events. Before he went to sleep, his phone went off on his night stand. Written on the screen was one sentence.
"Meet me at Dagobah Muninciple Beach tomorrow at 6 AM – All Might"
And with that, his journey finally began.
Man guys, sorry about the really late update, but life's life yknow? Anyway, im sorta happy about this chapter, like, I know I could have done better, but I wanted to get this out, and it's still not bad by my standards. Only thing is is that I feel I made bakugo to friendly, but here, he really has no reason to hate izuku. In cannon its mostly because izuku was quirkless and tried to help him that one time. Here that didnt happen.
Anyway, I kinda want your guys opinion on something. Should I give one for all to izuku, or give it to someone else? I feel that would make izuku way to powerful, but im not sure how I feel writing another person with the power. Just feels wrong to me, for some reason yknow? But if you guys want it, ill try to write it!
Stay indoors unless you have work or something, and most of all, STAY SAFE!