Chapter 1.

All men are not created equal. That's the harsh truth that Izuku Midoriya learned at age four. In a small play park, under the blistering summer heat.

'Enough, Kacchan!' Izuku cried 'Y'already made him cry… stop it! I won't let you.'

The wild-haired, teary-eyed young boy stood, fists balled, in front of the other weeping boy who was being picked on by Izuku's old friend, Katsuki Bakugo, or as he called her, Kacchan.

The ash-blonde bully sneered at Izuku and laughed in his face.

'So Deku, the Quirkless wonder thinks he can play hero, huh?' Katsuki snorted as she punched her fist into her other palm. An explosion being generated from it.

Katsuki's friends then activated their Quirks as well. Shiroyama extended his fingers and Tsubasa spread his wings. They then charged forward, with Kacchan in lead, sporting manic grins as they circled in on their prey.

After a severe beating, Izuku lay, face up at the sky, with scorch marks and bruises across his small body. His eyes began to well up with tears. Why did he have to be so weak? Why couldn't he be the hero? Why did he have to be Quirkless? He asked these questions again and again. But, eventually, Izuku would acknowledge that this moment in his life would be his first and last set back.

10 years later, in the April morning, the daily grind was in gear. The sun shining brightly, the commuters moving swiftly, and a Villain was attacking the train station.

For want of an explanation. It all began in Qing Qing City, China, with the news of a bioluminescent baby being born. After that, "Paranormal Individuals" began popping up all over the world. The cause was unclear, but as time passed the "Paranormal" became the normal. A world of fantasy had become reality. At present, 85 percent of the world's population consists of superhumans with super abilities and a profession that everyone once only dreamed about, entered the spotlight.

'Wow!' Izuku exclaimed 'A giant villain!'

Ahead of Izuku's morning route to school, a ginormous Villain in tattered clothing with a horse-like face was standing atop of the local train station, trying to fend off a barrage of Heroes

Izuku was now older but was somewhat short for his age, his round face was framed by a short mess of fluffy dark-green hair which stuck up at odd angles around his head. His eyes were large and somewhat circular, their irises the same green colour as his hair. He had a set of four symmetrical freckles in diamond formations, one on each cheek. He wore a plain black gakuran uniform with yellow buttons, accompanied by white sneakers and a mustard-coloured backpack.

'GET AWAYYYYYY!' the titanic terror roared as it swiped at a fast-moving hero, who was easily evading it's fearsome attempts at damage.

Izuku knew he had to get a closer look at the action and began to squeeze into the onslaught of watchers. As he passed through the sea of spectators. The crowd's chattering began to flood through Izuku's ears.

'Turning into a monster? What a crazy Quirk! What did he do?' One onlooker asked.

'Tried to steal a purse and started rampaging when he got cornered.' Another bystander answered.

'A Villain appeared… That's right. I'm at the train station. Not sure when I'll get in.' A formal looking man spoke to his phone.

'Get him Kamui!' A congregation of fangirls cried.

'Who's fighting him?' Izuku gasped out as he escaped from suffocating inside of the collective. He managed to observe a bunch of heroes past the makeshift water barrier, constructed by the Rescue Specialist: Backdraft, a firefighter like hero with a Quirk that could create and manipulate water which he generated from his hydrant-like gauntlets. Over past the barrier, he witnessed the Baseball Hero: Slugger and the Punching Hero: Death Arms who were catching debris from the monster above's rampage with their super strength Quirks.

Izuku was enthralled with the titans right before his eyes. But he then noticed something else that snapped him back to reality. A little boy, with three star-like protrusions from the top and sides of his head, was crying.

'Oh, hey, are you alright?' Izuku asked.

'I lost my grampa.' The little boy sniffled.

'I'll stick with you until your grampa comes, okay.' Izuku said, which comforted the younger youth, clear in his half-hearted smile. 'Hey, how about we watch the heroes, huh?' Izuku then proposed.

Over the security line, the battle raged on. A young, slim Hero flipped out of the way of the Villain's wrath by way of stretching his wood-like arm on to the elevated train track's railing, hurling himself through the air and landing safely onto the train platform cover. The young hero's costume was a dark blue bodysuit that included a wooden belt, knee pads, and shoes.

'Illegal use of your Quirk during rush hour, as well as robbery and assault?' The wooden warrior lectured, 'You're pure evil.'

'Woah, look!' Izuku gasped 'It's Kamui Woods! The popular young superstar!'

The younger boy looked to the teen and asked with a curious expression 'Are you a fanboy?'

Izuku then stuttered out 'Uh, not exactly. heh, heh.' He also pondered how a child would have such an advanced vocabulary before swiftly disregarding it.

'For your crimes, evildoer. Your punishment is...' Kamui began to transform his arm into a bundle of branches, priming his ultimate move.

The little boy below's face lit up and he yelled 'Beat him, tree guy!'

Izuku then pitched in with the boy's excitement, 'Here it comes. It's his "Pre-Emptive Binding…" Izuku began

Kamui then swiftly reared his arm back and threw his fist firing his branches left and right, ready to capture the villain once and for all, and he cried 'Lacquered Chain Prison!'

'Canyon Cannon!' boomed a giant voice.

Beyond the train station came a mighty foot that striked right across the face of the giant Villain, sending him tumbling down to the road below, knocked out from the big and sudden impact.

It would be safe to say that Izuku and the little boy were a good mix of confusion and slight disappointment at the anticlimactic end.

The foot that kicks then landed onto the road next to the fallen criminal and the foot appeared to connect to a voluptuous young woman with long, voluminous, creamy blonde hair reaching her waist, with two shorter strands curled to frame her face. Her hero costume composed of a purple and pale tan-colored skintight bodysuit, accented with orange stripes. The suit appeared to have a pair of purple gloves and boots with orange accents on the edge of the cuffs. She also wore a purple domino mask with horn-like protrusions on the sides.

The gigantic heroine then bended over, carefully lifted the villain's foot and turned to the crowd with a smile on her face 'Today's my debut!' She announced with the same booming voice 'Nice to make your acquaintance! You can call me Mt. Lady!'

Izuku then noticed a barrage of paparazzi flood into the crowd with cameras flashing by the dozen at the new heroine.

The new hero then shrunk herself down as well as the Villain who seemed to deflate back to normal size. The police then came and put the criminal in restraints as Mt. Lady waved to the onlookers, fascinated by the all-new participant in the world of Heroes.

For want of a further explanation, along with the Paranormal abilities came an explosion in crime. While nations struggled to reorganise their legal systems, brave individuals took up the mantle of superheroes straight out of old comic books, protecting the people from evildoers. With public support, some quickly acquired the right to serve as heroes in an official capacity. Depending on their performance, they have the potential to earn government pay, fame and glory.

Speaking of glory, while Mt. Lady was hogging all of it, Kamui Woods seemed to have keeled over on top of the train platfrom, wallowing in jealousy after his spotlight taken.

After witnessing the event, Izuku was fascinated by the appearance of the new heroine and reached to his backpack to whip out his notebook, quickly scribbling and muttering under his breath

'Gigantification, huh? It's a common and quite powerful Quirk, but could the threat of public property destruction limit its use? Well, I guess it depends on whether or not she can manipulate her size at will.'

'Oh, Takkun!' An older gentleman, with similar head protrusions of the little boy cried out from t. 'Oh, my boy.'

The little boy, presumably Takkun, beamed and then leapt into the arms of the man.

'Grampa,' He exclaimed 'That green hair guy stayed with me.' He added

The older gentleman looked over and saw Izuku 'Taking notes, huh? I guess you wanna be a hero yourself. Good luck to ya kid.' He said.

Izuku looked back with hopeful eyes and abruptly gasped 'Thanks! I'll try.'

After the whole Villain mess was cleared up, Izuku managed to make it to school on time and was currently sitting in his homeroom as the teacher was lecturing to them about their futures.

'You guys are all third-years now.' The teacher announced 'It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures.' He picked out a couple of sheets on his desk and continued 'I would hand out these career forms, but I assume you all want to be heroes?' He finished.

After saying that, all of the students raised their hands and a couple of them activated some of their Quirks. One boy transformed his forearm into a massive rocklike hand. One girl burst her hand into flames. Another boy pulled his eyes out of their sockets and another transformed their head into a… woodpecker… coat hanger… wooden pointy thing? (Izuku had never really asked about that guy's Quirk)

Izuku also feebly stuck up his hand to the teachers question as they tried to calm down the class, reminding them Quirk usage was not permitted in school.

'Yes, I understand.' He said patronisingly 'You all have wonderful Quir…'

'Hey teach!' A brash voice yelled out. 'Don't lump me in with these extras.'

The origin of said brash voice was the bombastic ash-blonde bad girl herself and the seat ahead of Izuku. Katsuki Bakugo, who was now resting her feet on his desk

Katsuki was now a young woman of 14 and an average height, with a slim, muscular build. She had short, spiky, ash-blond hair with choppy bangs that hung over her eyebrows. Her eyes were sharp and bright red in colour. Her clothes consisted of a black traditional sailor fuku and black and white trainer shoes.

'As if I had anything like their crappy Quirks.' Katsuki scoffed.

The other students began shouting, booing and jeering at the young woman. Leading to Katsuki firing insults at them and their mothers in quick session.

The teacher rubbed his temple and seemingly managed to win back the classes attention after noticing what high school young Bakugo was aiming for.

'Ah, Bakugo, aiming for U.A. High, eh?'

That snapped the classes attention like a karate chop and a low chatter spread amongst the class.

'The national school?!'

'The cutoff score this year is 79, right?!'

'I hear they barely accept anyone!'

Hearing about the hefty conditions and conceptions about his choice of school made Izuku weak in the knees and caused him to slump his head onto his arms.

Katsuki mused at the 'extras' muttering. She then kicked her feet off the desk, climbed on top of it and began a lecture of her own to the class.

'The stupid chattering of extras!' She remarked with confident eyes. 'I aced the mock exam! I'm the only one here with the stuff for U.A.!' By now, it was clear Katsuki was filled with adrenaline and continued 'I'll bet I'll even surpass All Might and become the best hero out there! Not to mention I'll be one of the richest people in the whole world!'

'Oh, Midoriya, you're applying for U.A. too?' the teacher said.

Over a dozen pair of eyes turned and fell onto the wild-haired teen, who twitched in slight fear. The observing heads then burst into uproarious laughter. All of the students began to dismiss Izuku and remind him that good grades alone wouldn't get him into the hero program. The teacher was again rubbing his temple and left the class for whatever reason while mumbling to himself.

Izuku felt the need to try and justify his, admittedly "optimistic", decision and so stood up from his seat.

'Th-that's not necessarily true.' He stammered. 'Sure, there's no precedent but… but…'

While Izuku was trying to formulate his reasoning. Katsuki stared blankly unlike her chuckling classmates, until she dropped off her desk and thrusted her hand onto Izuku's desk, detonating a small explosion, which, literally, caused Izuku to jump out of his seat and force out a yelp.

'Come on, Deku.' She tilted her head while raising her smoking fist. 'Forget their shit Quirks. You're totally Quirkless and you think you can rub shoulders with me?!'

Katsuki began walking towards the jittering young boy as he backed away in fear.

'Wa… wait, no, Kacchan. I'm not trying to compete with you. Not at all!'

Izuku was scurrying away so much, he eventually bonked his head into the back wall of the classroom.

'It's just, y'know, been my dream. Since I was little… and well there's no harm in trying…' he said with a weak voice and watery eyes.

Katsuki's face scrunched in contempt as he began to yell at the dreamer.

'Try? Try?! Try fucking what?!' She raised her arms as she screamed at him. 'You're taking the exam just to fucking "try"?!'

The class were still chuckling at Izuku, which only made the young boy even more anxious.

Katsuki then dropped her arms to her side as she scoffed at the Quirkless boy and asked.

'What can you even do?!'

Izuku had nothing to say.

Over across the town trouble was afoot. A man was screaming in anger for someone to stop the thief who had just robbed his store. The thief himself had a liquid based body with a wide mouth with numerous teeth and bulging bloodshot eyes, sprinting at top speed with yen stuffed inside it's fluid flesh.

'Catch me if you can!' It gurgled with a hoarse, liquidy voice.

While the thief sped through the streets. Civilians gathered to witness the muddy miscreant.

'Someone's bound to show up, right?'

'This guy must've been inspired by the chaos this morning. Or I guess a lotta people out there just can't control their Quirks.'

As the bystanders chattered away, a man in a baggy white shirt and olive trousers carrying a shopping bag with a couple bottles of soda walked up to witness the ongoing engagement.

'There's no end to 'em' a bystander commented.

'Yes, There Is!' a booming voice announced. Heads of the crowd turn with wide eyes and suprise.

'Why, You Ask?' The man flexed his mountainous muscles and grinned ear to ear, strange, yet comforting in its magnitude. 'Because… I Am Here!'

The thief looks back and fear grips his soul.

At the end of the school day, while pupils discussed hanging out and going to karaoke. Izuku was staring down at his phone and swiping through message boards about that morning's incident. Izuku picked up his backpack and then went to grab his notebook, so he could get his notes in order at home.

The book was then suddenly snatched out of Izuku's hand. Izuku turned to find the culprit. It was Katsuki, standing over him with a shrewd expression.

'We ain't done here, Deku.'

'What's that, Katsuki?' One of her friends asked.

'"Hero Analysis For My Future"? Seriously, Midoriya?!' Another queried.

Izuku was slightly shocked but steeled himself so he could retrieve his precious notebook.

'C-come on. Give it back, Kacchan!' Izuku stammered out.

Katsuki responded by punching the notebook between her fists, causing a small explosion, which left it singed to a crisp.

Izuku let out a massive gasp and started feeling weak in his knees again. With his body shaking and his brows upturned in sorrow, he managed to mutter out a feeble 'Why?'

Katsuki responded by giving a sigh and tossed the smoking tome out of the open window to the ground below.

Izuku was speechless.

'Listen Deku,' Katsuki began 'the best heroes out there, they show signs of greatness even as students. And I'll be the first and only hero to come from this crappy middle school. The first to win the honour of becoming a student at U.A.'

Izuku couldn't help but see that Katsuki was being incredibly vain. She then walked over to Izuku and patted her palm on Izuku's shoulder, causing him to jolt in response. He could feel the singe of heat as smoke began to emit from Katsuki's hand. Her face was a false happy expression with plenty of mirth and venom dripping from her voice as she finished her monologue.

'So what I'm saying is, don't you fucking dare get into U.A., you damn nerd!'

Izuku froze in fear as cold sweat dripped down his face. Katsuki then freed her death grip on Izuku and moved to the door as her goons trailed behind her.

'Jeez… typical. C'mon, say something, man.' One of Katsuki's followers muttered.

'He can't say a thing.' Katsuki snarked. 'He's so lame. Even as a third year he still keeps living in a fantasy.'

Izuku couldn't take her comments anymore. He mustered up whatever courage he had left and turned with all his might.

Katsuki stared back with dark eyes as she showed off her Quirk crackling away.

'Got somethin' to say?'

Izuku froze up again and felt all his courage drop like a ball as he stood in the empty classroom, alone.

Izuku eventually made his way outside to recover his notebook. Discovering that it had fallen into a little sink of water with fish nibbling at its binder.

'That's not food, fish, It's my notebook.' Izuku commented to the retreating kippers.

'Ugh, that idiot.'

Izuku was upset and also angry with the treatment that Katsuki had pushed on him. Ever since they were young.

For some reason, that talk about heroes reminded Izuku of where his, above average, liking of those characters came from.

When Izuku was a much younger boy, he loved heroes. What kid his age wouldn't? They were strong. They helped people. They defeated bad guys. But Izuku's deep admiration (or what others may even call obsession) was because of one old clip.

Every day, Izuku was allowed an hour to use his mother, Inko,'s computer. The majority of those 6 years of restricted computer usage was comprised of re watching that same clip over and over again. His mother even remarked that the tens of thousands of views were from Izuku himself.

The clip in question was a recording during a big disaster a while back. In the aftermath, a certain hero made his grand debut. Through mountains of rubble and walls of flame, after ten minutes he had saved the lives of a hundred people. He was able to carry dozens of them on his back simultaneously. Despite all the wreckage and madness that swept his landscape, the hero smiled through it all.

'Fear Not!' His voice was like thunder as he rose above a wrecked bus. He was an exceptionally large man with an equally-muscular and well-defined physique, his whole appearance resembled that of a typical western comic book superhero. He had extremely chiselled features on his face with a strong jawline, pronounced cheekbones and busy eyebrows. He had short blond hair, swept backwards, with two distinct tufts that stuck up above his head. His strong features casted a dark shadow over his face, hiding everything but his bright blue eyes. His costume consisted of a skin-tight red bodysuit decorated with three large white circular symbols on his shoulders and chest with white lines connected to them that traced from his chest to his back shoulders. He wore a gold belt that had a silver buckle with red eyes. Below his waist, his bodysuit became blue with white accents along the side of his thighs and his feet were covered in shin-length gold boots trimmed with white and red accents.

'Why, You Ask?' The man grinned wide with a face that would never waver against any odds as he carried over 15 people on his back with ease. 'Because I Am Here!'

Izuku too, would attempt that same unwavering grin on his face all the time. Izuku loved All Might more than anything else. Izuku dreamed that when he got his Quirk he would become a hero just like him.

'I'm afraid there's no hope for him.' The doctor said.

Izuku froze in shock causing him to drop his All Might action figure to the floor with a loud clack.

'Th-there must be some sort of mistake?' Izuku's mother objected. 'The other kids his age have all started showing signs, but…'

'Pardon my asking, ma'am,' The doctor interrupted 'But you're fourth generation, yes? As far as Quirks, I mean.'

'Well, yes. I can pull small objects towards me' She demonstrated this by recovering the fallen All Might from the floor by waving her hand 'and my husband can breathe fire.'

The doctor then brought up an x-ray image of a foot on his screen and began pointing to it.

'By the age of four, a child should manifest either one of or a composite of they're parents' Quirks. However early Quirk research discovered one important finding.' He then specifically pointed to the pinkie toe. 'It has to do with the presence or absence of the extra joint in this toe. You see, humans have no need for parts they don't use. And those without the joint represent the next stage of revolution and Izuku here has two joints. It's becoming rare nowadays, but he possesses no Quirk at all.'

Izuku felt a feeling he had never truly experienced before. Unbridled. Unabridged. Pure despair.

Izuku spent the next couple days with a vacant expression. Every time he watched that old All Might clip, he did not jump excitedly and rave over the grandiose hero. He simply stared, empty, at his idol through the screen and at the posters that hung on his wall.

One day, Izuku's mother came to check up on her son. Izuku was once again staring blankly as the noises of rumbling emanated from the computer. Inko turned to leave before Izuku began speaking.

'Mom…' young Izuku whispered. 'No matter what happens, he'll always save you with a smile.'

Izuku turned around in swivel chair to face his mother. He was trembling all over. His eyes were welling up with sorrowful tears as he had a distraught, almost pleading, expression line his face as he shakily pointed his finger to the digital image of his idol.

'Mom… can I be a hero like that?'

Izuku's mother felt her blood run cold and she immediately rushed over to hold her son closely as her eyes welled up with tears as well, while young Izuku's started leaking down his face.

'I'm sorry Izuku!' Inko cried 'I'm sorry!

Back then, that wasn't what Izuku needed to hear.

But that's when Izuku decided to not care what anyone says! To keep his chin up and keep moving forward! By having the heart and all his Hero Analysis books, he was sure to become something great one day, he knew it! Izuku clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he began moving under a bridge.

Izuku kept trying to psyche himself, even if other feelings tried to drag him down. So much so he barely noticed the gelatinous sounds coming from behind him.

'A medium-sized body…' Something quietly panted 'perfect!'

Izuku sharply turned and saw a pile of sludge rising out of the nearby manhole cover. Izuku noticed that it was panting as if it was out of breath. It sported a pair of eyes and a large mouth. It was alive!

The monster then launched itself at Izuku, wrapping it's fluid form all over him as Izuku began to panic as the gel spread across his limbs, folding over him again and again.

'Don't worry.' The creature wheezed. 'I'm just hijacking your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds and then it'll all be over.'

The Villain's liquid face began contorting and Izuku's mouth was then assaulted with slime causing him to lose his breath.

'I'm saved. You're a real hero. I never though he'd show up in this town.'

As his mouth became completely covered in muck, Izuku tried to claw at the squishing slime.

'No point in trying that. I'm fluid, you see!'

Izuku was now in full blown panic as he could barely breath and his body was getting. He realised that he was dying! He was gonna die! He needed help! He was dying!

Izuku suddenly dropped his notebook out of his weak arms. The pages flipped to reveal one of his old sketches of his future Hero costume. Izuku knew he had so many things to do. He needed someone. Anyone!

'Fear Not, Young Man!' A voice like thunder announced as they sprung from the manhole cover with a mighty punch.

All Might stepped out of the manhole and stomped his foot onto the ground, shopping bag in one hand and his other fist cocked.

'I Am Here!'

Izuku's vision was blurry so he barely recognised his saviour as a humanoid. But that voice was definitely familiar.

'Texas' All Might reared back his fist as he rushed over to the shocked villain. 'Smash!'

All Might rocketed his fist inside of the sludge and it erupted into a mass of slime. Freeing Izuku of his fluid prison. The wind pressure from All Might's strike caused Izuku's face to appear as if it were in a wind tunnel and slowly drift to the land of sleep.

'Hey!'

'Hey!'

Izuku awoke to the noises of the booming voice and multiple gentle slaps to his cheek. He groggily opened his eyes and noticed the goliath of a man that stood before.

'Thank Goodness, You Are Awake!'

It was All Might. It was All Might! The No. 1 Hero! Izuku couldn't believe it. It was his idol! His hero! And he just saved him!

Izuku was so surprised and grateful that he scurried backwards like a terrified insect.

All Might chuckled warmly at the boy and then tilted his head up in a dramatic pose.

'Apologies for getting you caught up in my Villain hunt. Mistakes like that aren't my style, but this is a strange land. And besides, I'm off camera!' He then burst into exaggerated laughter.

Out of All Might's green pockets he showed off two soda bottles with some sort of green slime stuffed inside them. It was the villain, Izuku had realised.

'I have Contained The Villain! All Thanks To You, Young Man.'

Izuku was still flabbergasted by the presence of his idol. He was really here! Up close and right in front of him. Izuku realised… he needed an autograph. Izuku sat up and scrambled to find his notebook as fast as possible. It was right next to him. He picked it up and inside of Izuku's notebook, All Might already had written his signature across two of the books pages.

Izuku immediately sprung from the ground and deeply bowed to the ultimate hero.

'Thank you so much! I'll make it my family heirloom!' He cried.

All Might smiled and turned, stuffing the soda bottles into his pockets.

'Now I Must Bring This Fellow To The Authorities! You Can Catch Me Again On TV!'

'Wait… Is that it?... I'

'A Pro Battles Not Only Villains, But Also Time.'

All Might then crouched down and tensed himself. Upon looking as his idol was about to leave, Izuku then realised that there was still a question he needed to ask him.

'Until Next Time, Thank You For Your Support!'

All Might then launched himself from the pavement and rocketed into the blue skies. As All Might flew through the air, he felt a particular weight on his left leg. He then turned and saw the young boy attached to his leg. Holding on for dear life and clearly freaking out.

'Hey Now! Release Me! I Love My Fans, But This Is A Bit Much!'

'If I… Let go now… I'll die!' Izuku then yelled out as his facial skin flapped in the wind.

All Might firmly agreed with the boys assertion.

'I have… so many things to… ask you' Izuku cried.

'Okay, Okay. Just Do Me A Favour And Close Your Eyes And Mouth!' All Might asked to which the boy attempted to comply.

Izuku was so preoccupied with not dying, he didn't even notice the small drop of blood that had escaped All Might's mouth.

Darkness filled their eyes as they slowly came to. Cursing themself on how screwed they got dealt. If it weren't for that damn…

'Haven't you known him since you were kids?' One kid said as he held a cigarette in one mouth and another in his hand.

'Yeah, you went too far today.' Another kid agreed as he extended his fingers to grab the brandished cigarette.

'It's his damn fault for messing with me.' A girl with spiky blond hair said as she absent-mindedly kicked over litter in the alleyway.

'Seeing him trying to live in fantasy world, like when he was a fucking kid.' The girl then destroyed the soda can she'd been holding in an explosion. 'It just pisses me off.'

The girl turned around to her friends, noticing their surprised expressions.

'Hey, I thought I told you to quit smoking!' Katsuki yelled 'Get caught and that shit'll go on my record too.'

The boys then slowly raised their fingers as it seemed their voices had left their bodies. Katsuki's face of anger turned to that of confusion. She then noticed the sound of a large spout of liquid and heavy panting.

'A body…' The Sludge Villain heaved '…with a good Quirk.'

All Might managed to crashed down onto the roof of a nearby building and skidded to a halt. Izuku felt all the wind had been sucked out of him. He kept wheezing for air but he would need a lot more than what he was churning out.

'Of All The..!' All Might quietly groaned as he carefully jimmied at the rooftop door 'Listen, I'll Just Open This Stinking Door!' All Might lightly winced as the handle broke. 'Although, I Have No Time For Any Chitchat.'

Izuku had a moment of realisation and abruptly turned around.

'Wait!' He exclaimed

'No! I Will Not Wait!' All Might said as he moved over and gripped the rooftop railings.

'E-Even without a Quirk. Can I still be a hero?!' Izuku nervously asked. 'C-can someone without a Quirk become a hero like you?'

All Might slowly turned his head over to the young boy but suddenly began to tense up.

'Because I don't have a Quirk, I… well, maybe that's not the only reason. But I've always been picked on…' Izuku muttered 'Maybe that's why… I just think that saving people is just the coolest thing someone can do.' Izuku looked up with a noticeable glimmer in his eyes 'The way you save people with your smile. I want to be a great hero, just like y…'

What stood before Izuku was an exceptionally skinny man in a cloud of smoke with sharp, angular features and long limbs, his neck long, his eyebrows absent and his face heavily shadowed with sunken in bright blue eyes. He also wore incredibly baggy clothes. He, as well, had long blonde hair with two tufts that hung low over his face.

Izuku immediately screamed in fear at the mysterious skeleton-like figure.

'Y-you deflated! Are you a-a fake?! A-an impostor?! W-Who are you?!'

'I am All Might.' The skeleton said in a subdued voice. Then from his mouth, came a gush of blood.

'No way!' Izuku cried.

'Y'know how people hold in their gut at the pool?' "All Might" explained as he wiped his mouth. 'I'm like that.'

'No way!'

'A fearless smile, huh?' All Might sighed and sat down. 'Well, now you've seen the real me, kid. But, don't go writing about it on the internet, okay?'

'No way…' Izuku muttered.

All Might then lifted up his t-shirt to reveal an image which sent a shudder down Izuku's spine. All Might possessed a large scar, with many surgical staples holding onto the straying lines of skin, that covered most of the left side of his chest, it looked like someone had punched a small crater into his ribs.

'About five years ago, a villain did this to me. My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and I had to get my stomach taken out. I've wasted away because of the surgeries. I can only do my hero work for about three hours a day now.'

'Five years ago?' Izuku muttered. 'Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?'

'Huh, you've done your homework.' All Might clenched his fist. 'But that lowlife could never do this to me.' All Might then hung his head low. 'This was never made public. Or more like I asked that it not be made public.' He then looked straight into Izuku's eyes. 'A symbol of peace who saves people with a smile must never be daunted by evil.'

'The reason I smile is to stave off the overwhelming pressure fear I feel every single day.' Izuku felt his entire world pulled from under him.

'A pro should always be ready to risk their life. So no, I don't think that someone without a Quirk would able to truly be a hero like me.' All Might's words dragged Izuku further into despair. It was the same feeling he had, at that day at the hospital.

'I… see.' Izuku weakly whispered.

'But if you want to help people, becoming a police officer is always an option.' All Might said as he wobbled while rising from the ground. 'Those villain custody officers are often mocked, but that too is admirable work.'

All Might then sauntered over to the broken door and opened it. '… It's not wrong to dream. However, you need to be realistic.' All Might then finished as he slammed the door, leaving Izuku on the rooftop, alone.

As All Might walked down the stairs, he remembered something. He still had to get that Villain to the police. He made a grab for his pockets, only to find them empty. 'Oh no…' he thought. He then heard the faint sound of an explosion and saw a rising of smoke outside of the window. 'Oh no!' He thought.

The city streets roared with angry flame. Katsuki Bakugo, the eye of the storm, stomped through the streets and struggled to breath as she was covered by the living sludge, although she wasn't going to let that mudman take her body for themself. She attempted to blast them away, but the creature had already gained control of her Quirk as it lurched its fluid form inside her body. Creating numerous explosions, sending half of the public into a panic and the other into excitement as heroes tried to calm the situation as effectively as possible.

'A single-lane street?' Mt. Lady bellowed as she tried to stick her massive foot through the road. 'I can't get in!'

'Explosive fires are my weakness!' Kamui Woods yelled as he carried two middle schoolers in his branches. 'Someone else has to take this one!'

'Thanks, but I've got my hands full too.' Backdraft added as he sprayed down the fires with his sidekicks. 'Where are the firefighters?'

'Guy's too slippery. But that hostage with the explosive Quirk is resisting!' Death Arms panted.

'It's like a minefield out here, but we can't do anything against him!' Slugger concurred while heaving the smoke.

Katsuki attempted a revolt against the Villain. Struggling against the mud form, she let out a massive explosion. Sending many heroes cowering back to avoid the cinders.

'No good! There's no one here who can stop 'em!' Death Arms burst out.

'We just have to wait for someone with the right Quirk to show up.' Backdraft informed, as calmy as he could be.

Death Arms grunted in response, thinking if only he had the power to blow the goopy thug away!

Amongst the crowd, All Might had arrived. Wheezing from attempting to sprint over to the miniscule inferno. It was only once he skidded to a halt that he realised how the villain must have escaped. That kid. When he grabbed onto his leg back there.

All Might didn't have much time to think about it before his train of thought was disrupted with a painful throb from his condition. All Might knew he couldn't completely blame that boy. He should have just landed somewhere at ground level. Done something. Done anything else. He felt pathetic. Just pathetic.

Izuku felt pathetic as he plodded along and sighed with the singed notebook in his empty feeling hands. As he walked by, the voices of others spoke in his ears.

'However, you need to be realistic.'

'Even as a third year he still keeps living in a fantasy.'

'It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures.'

Even the best of the best told him. Izuku began to sniffle and tears started forming. But, he couldn't cry, he knew it already. Right? His dreams were fantasy, this was reality. But sometimes it's so hard to see. To ignore reality.

Izuku weakly turned as he noticed a commotion over the road and down a lane. Izuku shouldn't gawk. He should just stop and go home. It'd only make himself feel like a loser. But, Izuku noticed something. Fire. Fire was typical in a hero fight. But those flames seemed familiar, and the sounds too. Izuku went forth and see if his farfetched suspicion had any amount of validity. He stared at the swarm of liquid that dispensed explosions like… Katsuki? And that villain. It was the same monster who tried to take Izuku's body! But, when did All Might lose them? He had them in those soda bottles in his pockets. His pockets... The pockets Izuku grabbed to ask All Might his question!

Some civilians were muttering.

'Why're the heroes just standing there?'

'Seems the villain's grabbed a middle schooler.'

Grabbed? That meant that Katsuki was feeling the same pain he did! Izuku could then hear more of the crowd's talk.

'Hey, isn't that the villain that All Might was chasing?'

'All Might?! No way! He's here?!'

'Yeah, I saw him earlier'

'Wait, then where is he now.'

Izuku clutched his mouth in the heavy load of realisation that fell over him. It was his fault that All Might lost the villain. His fault that All Might couldn't stop them. His fault that Katsuki was suffering. Another hero had to show up to stop this. But there was no sign. Izuku couldn't believe this. He was so sorry. Katsuki just had to hang in there. Someone would come to save her.

In Katsuki Bakugo's eyes, there was pure, unbridled, fear. An emotion that was so rare to see in her. Her eyes were welling up with tears. She was struggling for help, and no one was helping.

Izuku ran.

The crowd were perplexed. The heroes were shocked. All Might was surprised. And Izuku was scared out of his mind, as he sprinted at full speed past the crowd and into the debris ladened street.

'Get back here! Kid! Stop!' a hero yelled. But Izuku couldn't stop. His body almost felt like it moved on it's own as his notebook fell to the ground at his rush.

The conjoined party ahead of him recognised the frantic boy, and the slimy member pulled the explosive into a rival rush. Wait. What was Izuku going to do? What could he do? 'Think! Think!' he repeated within his brain, recalling his notes. What was it, the easiest way to beat a villain? Hit them where it hurts? That sounded right.

Izuku then loosened his backpack strap and then tossed it right into the villain's face, above Katsuki's shrouded head, sending school supplies into his gelantenous form. Surprisingly, upon hitting the villain's eyes, it appeared to actually have taken a bit of damage.

Izuku reached the sludge, and started swiping away at it at Mach speed. Izuku managed to scrape away a part of the villain, and Katsuki was able to free her mouth.

'Why the hell are you…?!' Katsuki yelled.

'M-my legs just started moving. I dunno!' Izuku kept swiping away at the villain as it reared it's head.

Truthfully, there were a number of reasons why he shouldn't have ran over. But in that moment, it looked like she needed saving.

'You punk, stop getting in my way!' The villain had recuperated from the sudden impact and moved to take Izuku as well. The heroes prepared to make a mad dash rescue and an exceptionally large hand grabbed Izuku's forearm.

'The Lesson I Left You With… I Should Practice What I Preach!' All Might's veins twinge and muscles bulge with his fist rearing back in great tenseness.

'A Pro Should Always Be Ready To Risk His Life!' All Might boomed as blood gushed out of his face, sending his strong fist right through the villain.

The air split as a great wind flagged over the horizon. All Might's fist then touched the ground. Rain droplets began to fall. It seemed that the air pressure of his attack had an effect in a rising air current.

Izuku and Katsuki lay on the ground, exhausted and unconscious respectively. All Might coughed into his hand as the crowd began to chant at his awesome victory.

'Dude, he changed the weather with a punch!' The crowd roared in excitement as the number one hero stood tall.

'All Might! All Might! All Might!' They chanted, but was it only he who was the hero.

Afterwards, the heroes collected the villain's scattered body. The police had managed to get the villain into custody. The heroes got a bit mad at Izuku for endangering himself. Katsuki, on the other hand, got a lot of praise about her holding out for so long and some pros asked for her considering becoming their sidekick. Katsuki couldn't enjoy it though, there was something that couldn't allow her to.

After Izuku's talking-to, he began walking home at sunset. He wanted to properly apologize to All Might, but he figured he could just leave a message on his website. Today, had been quite crazy, he needed some rest.

'Hey, Deku!' Katsuki had caught up to him.

'I… I didn't need your damn help.' Katsuki rumbled with anger. 'As if you even could, huh?! Well?! I could've done it! I can't believe I let a frail Quirkless pussy like you pity me.' Katsuki then spun around and stomped off. 'Damn nerd!'

She was right though, Izuku had thought. He couldn't do much. He couldn't really do anything. But he still… he was glad. But now, it was time for Izuku to focus on a more relatively realistic future.

'I Am Here!' All Might zoomed, past a house, in front of Izuku. Giving him a slight jolt.

'All Might? Why are you here? How'd you get rid of the press?!' Izuku questioned.

All Might laughed in response. 'Shaking Them Off Is Nothing To Me! After All, I Am All Mi-' All Might coughed up spout of blood.

'Alright, I'll get to the point, kid.' All Might spoke as he wiped away his stained mouth. 'I've come to thank you and revise what I said earlier. As well, I gotta a proposal. Y'see, without you, if I hadn't heard your story. I'd have been nothing but fake muscles and insincerity. So, thanks!'

Izuku then started murmuring in response 'Well… no. I mean… it was all my fault from the start. I got in your way… even though I'm Quirkless, I tried to be like a her-'

'Exactly!' All Might cried. 'Of all the people at the scene. It was only you, a "Quirkless" boy, who acted. You spurred me to action.'

Izuku's heartbeat began to slowly speed up as he couldn't believe the words he was hearing.

'Most of the top heroes show signs of greatness even as children, many of them claim that their bodies simply moved before they could think.'

Izuku tensed up, he started falling over and his eyes welled as his heart began to fight it's way out of his chest.

'That's what happened to you back there, right?!'

'Yes…' Izuku whispered as he almost fell to his knees.

All Might then spoke the words that Izuku had needed to hear all of his life. His world rumbled.

'So, you can be a hero.'