"I just wanna say that I'm gonna win."
Absolute silence filled the stadium following Katsuki Bakugou's declaration. His hands never left his pockets as he walked off the stage, his blonde hair spiked in its usual imitation of an explosion.
He barely even heard the jeering and booing from the other students, and didn't spare as much as a glance for the disapproving stares from his classmates. These extras didn't understand. UA needed to make a show of strength after the disastrous events at the USJ, the winner needed to show not just the League of Villains, but the world that UA was still strong, and there was nobody better to send that message than Bakugou. The other students were competing for attention, to get into a good agency, so self-absorbed in their shitty little lives. He was so far above their level it was laughable. The only one who even came close was that icy-hot bastard, Todoroki.
Todoroki had been the closest thing to a rival Bakugou had ever had. Ever since he and Iida had lost to Todoroki's team in the mock fight in their first week of class, Bakugou had sworn that to be Shoto's last victory, and now he had a chance to prove that in front of the whole world.
Bakugou sneered. Like I'd ever let that half cold bastard beat me again.
He barely listened to Present Mic bleating out the rules of the footrace. Bakugou had a strategy. Fly straight to the finish line, over what he could, and through whatever else was in his way. It wasn't until they assembled at the starting line that he saw Deku.
It took him a moment to realise that he wasn't hallucinating. It didn't make sense. There was no way the nerd could have gotten into UA. The school even had to pause the entrance exam to have the green haired idiot removed, because he couldn't defend himself against the robots without a quirk.
"Deku?!" He cried, grabbing the green haired boy by his shirt. "What the HELL do you think you're doing here, huh? Audience members should be in the stands, not on the track, you damn nerd!"
"Good thing I'm competing then." Midoriya smacked his old friend's hand away from his shirt without so much as a stutter in his voice.
Bakugou sputtered, his mouth opening and closing in silent rage.
"If you think for one second," He fumed. "That I'll let a damn nerd like you ruin UA's image-"
"Hey," Izuku said, raising his hand placatingly. "I just want to do my best to represent my school."
Bakugou's rage gave way to calm confidence. His face twisted into a sneer.
"You'd better do your best." He glared down his nose at the green haired boy. "Or you'll be dealing with me."
"Wouldn't want that. Good luck with the race, Ka-chan." With a sly grin, Izuku stood ready, his right hand holding on to his left arm, just above some freaky wristband. It was sleek and black, dotted with glowing green veins and white tendrils.
Bastard. Bakugou thought. Now I'm gonna have to show off twice as much to make up for his weakness.
As the last students filed into place, Izuku lifted his left arm, poking at the wristband with his free hand. Bakugou watched as the tendrils slithered out of place to make way for part of the watch to raise outwards. He was so transfixed with Deku twisting part of the wristband, now glowing a sickly green, that he didn't hear Present Mic's countdown, and before he could react, he was frozen in place by Todoroki.
"Damn it!" He cried, igniting the sweat on his feet. His shoes exploded along with most of his lower pant legs, but he was free. Explosions from his palms rocketed him forward, until he was just behind Todoroki. "DAMN YOU DEKU!"
Seemingly out of nowhere, a massive green bug flew past him.
"See you at the finish line, Ka-chan!" It waved at him, giggling as its papery wings carried it into the air.
With one of his eyestalks facing backwards, Stinkfly saw Bakugou faceplant in surprise, while the boy with the ice quirk faltered and slipped.
"Looks like nobody expected Stinkfly!" He gargled, zipping far above the track. Stinkfly was one of the transformations he was the least familiar with, being so obvious and with abilities that weren't easy to practice in secret, but flying in a footrace was too good to pass up. It didn't take long for the race to continue in full force, Bakugou in particular didn't waste any time speeding after him at a blistering pace, leaving the ground pockmarked with craters in his wake.
Stinkfly imagined he could hear insults being hurtled his way. It just made him giggle more.
In a flash of olive tinted steel, a massive hand appeared in front of him, causing Stinkfly to yelp in surprise and strain his wings to their limit, weaving through the massive fingers.
"The robots from the entrance exam!" He squealed. "Good thing I didn't go Canonbolt! Stinkfly's got the upper hand here, since none of them can fly!"
Stinkfly twisted in the air, rolling out of the way of a desperate grab from the robot. As he left the Robot's range, he pelted the appendage with globs of firmer sludge, ensuring that the arm that nearly caught him was locked firmly in place.
"This is amazing!" He squawked. "Stinkfly is much more manoeuvrable than I thought! I need to go flying more!"
A massive explosion behind him drew the attention of two of his eyestalks.
"Oh man!" He gaped. One of the giant 0-point robots was frozen in place by a massive ice fissure, while another was a smouldering husk on the ground. "Ka-Chan sure has gotten stronger since joining UA!"
Stinkfly fixed his eyestalks on the course ahead, spotting the next obstacle in the distance, a gaping, canyon-like rift in the track. It didn't even slow him down, and with a quick glance backwards, he realised that it didn't hinder his nearest competitors either, with the Ice Quirk boy sliding over with ease, and Bakugou merely flying over, toppling a few of the more precariously balanced earthen towers through the sheer force of his explosions.
"I've never seen him so determined." Stinkfly muttered, before his eyes widened in dawning horror. "Oh man! Because I'm ahead he's completely focused on catching me!"
Stinkfly glanced backwards and, noting the murderous fury blazing brighter than his explosive quirk, involuntarily gulped.
"Better keep the pace up."
An open stretch of track greeted them next, but Stinkfly paid it no heed. Halfway across the Omnitrix on his forehead started flashing red, beeping every other second or so. "Oh no! Not good!" He pushed his wings to their absolute limit, flying as close to the ground as he could. He barely cleared the minefield when he reverted back to his human form in a flash of red light.
Izuku rolled as he hit the ground, barely losing momentum before he was up again, running with all his might towards the finish line. Behind him, the heartbeat pace of explosions grew louder, like a belligerent percussionist threateningly banging his drums.
"DEKU!" The voice of his childhood tormentor was so loud, it felt as if Bakugou was right there behind him.
Which, all things considered, was entirely possible.
A moment later, Izuku emerged from the tunnel, crossing the finish line less than a second before Bakugou. Izuku heaved for breath, a smile splitting his face.
"I AM HERE" He cried out in joy, punching his fist into the air.
The crowd exploded, roaring with applause. The whole stadium vibrated with the force of the celebration. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes, threatening to sting their way down his cheeks from the sheer, undiluted elation. In that moment his face was on every screen in the stadium. Present Mic blared his approval, and even Eraserhead's stoic, bandaged silence was somehow uplifting in that moment.
Izuku closed his eyes, relishing in the roar of the crowd, letting it seep into his hearts and bones, and for the first time since he was four years old, he believed that he really could be a Hero.
A moment later, Izuku heard a different kind of roar. Neither uplifting nor celebratory. A predatory, savage rumble that made his bones feel like splinters.
"DEKU! What the hell do you think you're doing, you worthless nerd!?" Katsuki cried as he tackled Izuku to the ground, pinning him there with his arm on the boy's throat. "Since when do you have a quirk, huh?"
"What's it to you?" Izuku kept his voice level, neither a challenge nor submission. He grinned. "Now get off before you get disqualified. I want to win fair and square."
Bakugou blanched, before he smiled involuntarily. He got up, his face taking on a feral grin.
"You actually think you're good enough?" He growled, shaking his head as he stalked from the finish line. "Damn nerd."
Izuku stayed there, on his back in the dirt, relishing in his victory for a moment before a calloused hand entered his vision. He gladly took it, letting a boy with a black feathered bird head help him up.
"I apologise on behalf of my classmates." The boy said, nodding his head in the direction of the departing Bakugou. "They're not the most social. I am Fumikage Tokoyami."
He bowed deeply.
"Izuku Midoriya." Izuku replied, returning the bow. "Pleasure to meet you."
"I have seen you in the mess hall during lunch time." Tokoyami noted. "Class 1-B?"
"General studies." Izuku replied. "But if I do well enough in the festival, I hope to join the hero course."
"General studies?" Tokoyami asked in surprise. "With a quirk like yours? How did you not pass the entrance exam?"
"Let's just say my quirk… manifested late." He said, his hand unconsciously going to the Omnitrix around his wrist.
"Well, Midoriya," Tokoyami continued with a respectful nod. "Keep it up and I'll see you in class."
"Let's hope." Izuku smiled. "Come on, I wanna see the rest of the race."
6 Months Earlier
"Well that went disappointingly close to how I pictured it." Izuku sighed, leaving the train that had dropped him off near Dagobah beach. It wasn't a long walk to the trash covered beach, but it was long enough to feel embarrassed tears start to run over his cheeks.
What was I thinking? He chastised himself. Trying to get into UA without a quirk?
He descended the stone steps to the beach, weaving his way through to the edge of the sand, where gentle waves blissfully stacked more empty soda cans on the little piles that made up most of Dagobah's surface area.
In the ten months since the sludge Villain attack, Izuku had taken it upon himself to clear out parts of the beach between studying and training, in the rare moments when he had free time. He had nearly cleared half the beach of trash by the time the entrance exam came around.
Izuku watched the water gently lap the sand, finally letting the tears he had been holding back pour down his cheeks.
"This is where I belong." He choked. "With the rest of the garbage."
A bright blue light drew him from his angst. The source of the light was a round, swirling disk of blue and white streaks, pulsing gently, like a whirlpool in space. Izuku's eyes widened as a man stepped through, stumbling, and falling into the sand.
The man was dressed the same way people in the 1950's assumed a time traveller would dress, all bronze accents, goggles and enough frills to choke a horse.
He was also bleeding from a gash in his side so wide, Izuku could fit his head through it.
"Woah!" Izuku floundered upright, aiming for the stairs. "Hold still! I'll get help!"
"N-No time for that… I'm afraid. Worry not, it's only fatal." The man spoke, in a soft voice that was at once youthful, and more ancient than the stars. "In fact time is something we don't have enough of as it is."
Izuku knelt down next to the man, inspecting the wound closer. The edges were blackened and the wound seemed to be growing, as if the air itself was consuming the man's flesh.
"Izuku Midoriya." The man laughed softly. "You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to find the right you."
"Me?" Izuku blanched. "What? Why me?"
"Please." The man begged. "No time. We've already had this discussion some time ago. Or is it later? No matter. The end draws near."
"What can I do?" Izuku pleaded. Watching a person die while he could only watch dug into his heart in ways he didn't know he could hurt.
"Take this." The man held up a black orb, somewhat slick with blood.
Without hesitation, Izuku reached for the orb, only for it to leap onto his wrist, sprouting white tendrils and wrapping itself tightly to his flesh, leaving no visible seam. With a cry of surprise, Izuku bolted upright, shaking his arm.
"Please!" The man begged, snapping Izuku out of his terror. "He is coming for it. The conqueror. He will find it, and he will find you. Your world is in great danger, Izuku Midoriya, all because of that device on your arm."
"What is it?" Izuku asked, staring at the slick black surface, shrinking and pulsing into a thick, black wristband.
"What you've been waiting for." The man replied, his voice growing faint. "Your chance to be… a… hero…"
Before his eyes, Izuku watched the man's skin turn ashen grey, and with a gust of wind, the Time Walker was gone.
Now alone on the beach, Izuku stared at the device affixed to his arm while the light of day slowly drained away into the oily darkness of night.