Chapter Two

The Hero I Want to Be

Izuku was questioned a lot by the authorities after the ambulance had finally arrived to take his mother away. She had lost a lot of blood, but she wasn't out of the fight for her life yet.

Due to the nature of the wound, Izuku was taken in for questioning. As his file said he has a Quirk, he was handcuffed just for safety.

"Midoriya, what happened in there?"

Izuku looked from his hands up at the officer, who held a stern but compromisingly soft look.

"I-It was my Quirk… It was me, I mean," he corrected, shaking his head. "It's still new, so I… Hurt her."

The man nodded and sat across from him now. "And what is your Quirk, exactly? Nothing on file says what it is."

Izuku had been awaiting this question the entire time since the incident had occurred a couple hours ago. He thought of the best way to describe it all, coming up with a way that wouldn't label him as dangerous.

That meant leaving out Musabori's existence, of course.

"I'd describe it as… A pocket dimension, I guess," Izuku said, looking down at his right hand. "I-I feel like that's what it is. I can store and retrieve things from it."

"Hmm… I see," the officer said, nodding. "Does that include organic matter?"

"I-I think so."

The man was silent for a moment. He was quite burly and hairy, almost unnaturally so, so it was likely something to do with his Quirk. He removed his hat and scratched his head, shrugging to Izuku.

"Well kid, the weird thing is, there were clear indications of bite marks on your Mother's neck," he stated. "How do you store things exactly?"

Deciding that showing the man might be a bad idea, Izuku just did his best to explain.

"I can think about it, and it just happens," Izuku thought. "I-I feel… weird… If I havent used it in a while. S-So when I was hungry from using my Quirk all day, m-maybe that triggered it!" His voice got more nervous and excitable as he spoke.

The officer raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you store things with your mouth—"

"No!" Izuku shook his head. "I-I don't know what that's about. I'm sorry…"

The man sighed and stood, to the door, then back at Izuku.

"We'll release you soon so you can go see your Mom," the officer told him. "But I hope you understand that Quirk incidents, although quite common, are still to be carefully monitored. For the safety of everyone."

Izuku nodded. After the man left, he clutched his right hand deathly tight, unable to feel anything there, but hoping that it would hurt Musabori somehow.

Why? I thought I understood…

Nobody answered him. Musabori had been silent since the incident, probably from Izuku smashing his hand on the ground several times while waiting for ambulances to arrive. Surprisingly, his hand wasn't too banged up— It seemed like Musabori's existence made at least his right hand much stronger than usual.

A little bit if time passed before the door opened and Izuku was taken by a few officers to see his Mother in the hospital. They watched him closely as he approached her, but he stopped halfway, gulping and remembering what had happened.

I won't get too close to her, he had decided. She looked surprisingly peaceful, despite the large bandaging that likely covered many stitches. They had done good work to save her life, but Izuku still couldn't get the horrific images out of his head. Mom… You've always believed in me, so I won't let this Quirk beat me.

"Oh? You think I'm trying to compete or somethin'? Buzzzzz— Wrong! I'm the one whose— "

Izuku opened his right palm before himself. "Create Item." He visualized the fork that he knows Musabori had eaten, and sure enough, it appeared in an instant.

"What do you think you're—"

Izuku took the fork in his left hand, jabbing it towards Musabori's eye. He could feel a physical reaction from his Quirk, as the metal prongs were merely a centimeter away from the eye.

"This is my body," Izuku spoke softly through gritted teeth. "You're my Quirk. Let's get along."

He retrieved the fork again and turned away from his unconscious Mother.

I've got a lot of work to do… I won't let you down, Mom!

After finally being allowed to return home, Izuku felt the silence of the empty home more than he ever had before. He looked around his room at all of the All Might posters and other various merchandise of the #1 Hero.

How can I harness a rogue Quirk?

He tried to imagine All Might struggling with his Quirk when he was younger, but found it difficult to think of. Even his childhood friend Bakugo had almost always done well with his Quirk, despite his explosive temperament .

Izuku thought of the incident that he saw happen a couple months back, with a slime villain. It had attacked a student from his middle school, on a route Izuku normally would have taken. Luckily, All Might had chased the villain there and captured him.

If I was in that situation, could I even move? Would I have the guts—- No, there's not enough time to overthink it, I gotta do what I can!

Thus began Izuku's period of self-training, starting with a test to see what he could truly do. However, he was now being monitored wherever he went by agents specializing in Quirk-related Incidents.

I need to be careful, he thought as he sat at the park, looking towards where the agent was sitting near a tree a ways away. I can't let them see me lose control or anything!

Izuku took a deep breath and hopped up to his feet, approaching his target for his first test— A large rock that went up to about his waist. It probably weighed more than anyone with super strength could hope to lift,

He placed his left hand on the rock's cold, rough surface.

"Devour!"

There was a small jolting sensation, but nothing appeared to happen.

"Tsk tsk, that's way beyond your limit," came Musabori's voice in his head.

Izuku hesitantly opened his right hand, looking down at Musabori's bored-looking expression on his palm. He looked around, making sure nobody could see.

"How do I increase the limit?"

"Aint that obvious? Jeez— You unlocked new skills by suckin stuff up, right?"

It clicked in Izuku's mind. He nodded in understanding.

So… I've probably got a 100-point limit right now… This rock is big and heavy, so it costs more than 100 points, thus I can't devour it. I'll need things I can devour to make my limit stronger.

"But… How are the point totals decided?"

"Hell if I know!" Musabori made a sort of snorting laugh. "Besides the basics, I'm learning along with ya!"

Izuku couldn't believe that, the memory of Musabori attacking his Mother appearing in his mind. His Quirk obviously knew more than it was letting on, but he wouldn't let that distract him too much.

"I'll trust you," Izuku decided to say, even if he couldn't believe it.

"Thatta boy! Trust is important," Musabori commented, though it sounded very insincere.

With that, Izuku jogged along a path in the park. It wasn't quite busy that day due to the Summer heat, and he felt himself growing tired pretty quickly. After all, Izuku was quite scrawny, and had never really worked himself out, originally thinking his smarts would be enough to get him into U.A.

Once he reached a patch of trees, knowing nobody could see, he quickly devoured a bunch of smaller rocks, then continued on. As he passed by smaller objects like rocks and branches, he'd scoop them up, finding to his dismay that they aren't worth much at all.

So complex stuff like books cost a lot, as well as big heavy things, he concluded. Simple stuff just isn't worth it.. Except…

Izuku stopped, panting and wiping sweat from his brow as a thought suddenly came to him.

Wait… That rock I got was 7 points… But it only costs 5 points to resummon it?

He opened his left hand, thinking of the particular rock he had snagged a moment ago. "Summon Item."

The rock appeared quickly. He tossed it in the air a bit, thinking about the possibilities.

Since I lost the rock's points, it cost 12 points in total to resummon it, Izuku thought. But if I get something like that book, worth 80 points… I can create a copy for only 10 points. So that means…

Izuku looked around and saw that the agent tailing him was now on their phone. He sighed, wondering what they could be reporting. Then a thought crossed his mind… Something he normally would have never done.

He made his way towards the agent, who was momentarily distracted. Moving around the tree to approach their blindspot, Izuku reached out and suddenly snagged their phone from their hand.

"Hey, what the—"

By the time the man looked at Izuku, he had already devoured the phone. Izuku smiled and gave a small wave to him.

"H-Hi sir," Izuku said politely.

"Not funny kid. Where's my—"

Izuku suddenly handed him his phone. The man took it, looking at it before shaking his head.

"I know this sucks for you, but try to understand that we're here for your safety," the agent told him, before focusing on typing on his phone.

"Yes sir… I-I'm sorry."

Izuku turned and walked away. He gulped, his hand a bit shaky as he looked down at the smug-looking expression of Musabori.

"How much was that phone worth?"

"A whopping 100 points— And smooth job making a copy," Musabori commented with a snicker. "He'll never know the difference!"

"S-So it's really an exact replica," Izuku spoke, a bit wowed by that.

Now he could test his hypothesis. He took a seat where the agent could see him still, but he faced away so his exact actions would be unknown.

"Create Item," Izuku muttered.

The phone appeared in his hand. He looked it over, then spoke: "Devour."

The device was enveloped in darkness and disappeared. Izuku looked down at Musabori, who seemed to be looking away in thought.

"Well…?"

"It seems like copies are only worth a small amount based on what the original item was worth."

Izuku sighed. "So… It's a bust?"

"Nah— That replica of the phone gave ya 20 points. I got a feelin' that if you did another one, it'd only be worth a fifth of that too."

"I-It's really like a game," Izuku said, slinking back, defeated. "Like somebody balanced it out…"

Musabori sighed, and Izuku felt like he was pacing around in his mindscape.

"It is pretty weird, aint it? Like— Why do I exist? Why can I think?" Musabori let out a noise of frustration. "If only there was a book or somethin' that'd conveniently tell us everything. That's how it'd work in a game, yeah?"

"Books… Books!"

Izuku shot up, and started to jog off. The Sun was descending towards the horizon when Izuku reached his destination— An old book store that he had occasionally visited with his Mother.

Once inside, he nodded politely to the old owner, who didn't pay him much mind.

Don't think about what you're doing…. It's fine!

Izuku went to where he couldn't be seen, grabbing a very dusty book. He used his Quirk, the book vanishing.

"Nice! That sucker was 60 points!"

"So… not all books count as the same, because their contents are different," Izuku spoke softly, smiling a bit. "Okay… I can do this!"

He created a copy of the book, putting it back. Then he moved to the next book on the shelf, repeating the process. He did this over and over, trying to move around the store and not look too suspicious. Eventually, he found a book that actually seemed interesting, involving the history of Quirks, and checked out with it.

"Thank you so much," Izuku told the shopkeep with a lot of enthusiasm. As he exited the store, he smiled down at Musabori, feeling a bit of exhilaration. "How much?"

"Heh.. Why don't you see for yourself? You got a skill to see now! It's 'Status'!"

Izuku nodded. "Status!"

He gasped a bit, surprised as words and numbers began to fill his vision, a couple of meters in front of him. His eyes scanned it all, and he felt a bit dizzy from the intense possibilities of it all:

Point Total: 840

5 Points - Summon Item

10 Points - Create Item

20 Points - Reconstruct Item

100 Points - Deprivation

200 Points - Restoration

500 Points - (Permanent) Vision of the Void

800 Points - Manipulation

Izuku looked up at the fading daylight, deciding to return home to think about it all.

So, I've found a way to grind points, essentially, he thought. This Quirk… It's so much more than I could've imagined!

As he reached his home, he looked back and saw that the Agent was getting into their car. The fact that he never approached him, meant the phone must for sure be working fine.

"Musabori?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Why did you attack my Mother?"

There was silence for a moment. Izuku was still standing at his doorstep, hesitant to enter a place that held such negative memories now.

Musabori sighed. "When I'm hungry, I kinda lose control, what can I say?"

Izuku could feel the truth in his words— But it was missing something. Musabori knew more than he was letting on, and Izuku wanted to press him on that— But using his Quirk so much had left him feeling a bit weak.

Hungry, in fact.

"Well… Let's have dinner."

"Hmph, yeah, that might be a good idea."

Summer came and went, and Fall seemed to end in the blink of an eye. The U.A Entrance Exams were fast approaching, set to happen near the beginning of Spring, exciting every hopeful Middle Schooler in town

Izuku had done well thus far to hide his newfound Quirk from his classmates. He had accepted their constant mocking, deciding long ago that getting into U.A was all he really needed to do to show them what he's worth.

However, fate unfortunately had other plans for him.

One day, during a particularly rowdy day for Izuku's Middle School class, everyone seemed riled up to talk about their future High School endeavors.

"I can't wait to be as cool as Best Jeanist,"

someone had said.

"Why wouldn't you wanna be All Might, or Endeavor? They're way cooler!"

Izuku smirked a bit at his classmates' comments, as he jotted down some thoughts into his journals, which was one of many he kept to note different Quirks and Heroes information inside. Now, his newest journals had mainly been about his Quirk, and ways to utilize his skills he had been slowly acquiring.

"What's with that look, Deku?" Someone snickered. "Popping an All Might boner again over his name being mentioned?"

There was resounding laughter, and as he ignored it, staring down at his journal, someone crumpled up some paper and threw it at him—

But he suddenly caught it with his right hand without looking up, and in an instant, the paper shriveled up and vanished.

The room got quiet. Izuku, surprised by the lack of noise, looked up and saw that the entire class was staring at him in shock. Then he realized why, and gasped.

C-Crap—-

"Deku…" The boiling voice of none-other than Katsuki Bakugo rumbles through the silence. Everyone parted, looking nervous as they watched the boy with the explosive temper approach Izuku's desk. "What the hell was that?"

"U-Uh, I—-" Izuku gulped, quickly closing his journal. "It's just…"

Bakugo slammed his hands down onto his desk, looking down at him with a fierce look.

"You have a Quirk, don't you?" Bakugo scowled. "I thought your nerd-ass face looked more smug these days."

Their classmates began to mutter amongst themselves, which only seemed to make Bakugo's fierce look grow angrier. Izuku held up his hands defensively.

"It's n-not much, it's just, uh…"

"Not much?! We could smoke this punk!"

Izuku mentally kicked Musabori.

"Oh yeah?" Bakugo gave a wicked grin. "Go on and show us your Quirk, nerd."

"That's… D-During classtime—?"

"Yes you fuckin dork!" Bakugo, patience all gone, reached out towards Izuku, his hand sparking.

A small explosion occurred from Bakugo's palm. As the smoke cleared, he was surprised to find that Izuku was no longer in his seat. Instead, he was now standing a few meters away, looking confidently at Bakugo. Their classmates were shocked.

"H-He dodged?"

"Midoriya's got a scary look… Scarier than usual."

"Bakugo too…"

Izuku's confidence wavered a bit as he saw that Bakugo was overflowing with anger, his eyes offering a death sentence to Izuku.

"Hey! Everyone have a seat already," came the voice of their teacher up front, having just arrived. He smacked a book on his lectern and looked over at Izuku and Bakugo. "Midoriya! Bakugo! Take your seats."

Bakugo slowly turned away towards his desk, but as he began to walk, he looked back over his shoulder and muttered:

"After class, you're dead, nerd."

Needless to say, Izuku wasn't looking forward to the final bell like he usually was.

As it chimed, Izuku was quick to escape the classroom before anyone else. He briskly made his way through the hallway, but looking back, he could see two of his classmates that were usually Bakugo's lackeys following him.

Gotta get away, gotta get away!

Izuku made his way towards the stairs, but found that Bakugo was coming up the stairs already.

H-How?!

He continued down the hall instead, passing a stairwell leading to the roof. However, beyond the stairs, Bakugo also appeared, smirking wickedly. Izuku gasped and ran up the stairs towards the rooftop.

The door was locked, but that didn't mean much to Izuku, as he used Deprivation to dissolve the handle, deciding he'll fix it later. Once out onto the rooftop, he came to a sliding hault, as he saw that Bakugo was waiting for him there.

"Hey there nerd," he said, smirking as he cracked his knuckles. "Glad you showed."

Izuku turned and saw their two classmates blocking the door.

I see… One of them used a Quirk to lure me here, Izuku thought, realizing the Bakugos he kept seeing must've been faked somehow. I can still get away though, I—

As Izuku turned back to Bakugo, he saw the boy's outstretched hand reaching towards his face. He hadn't even heard him coming, and Izuku's unfamiliarity with any sort of physical

confrontation left him unsure of what to do.

Luckily, Izuku wasn't alone.

"Get down you idiot!"

Izuku quickly ducked, as Bakugo sent an explosion right over his head.

"Sock it to him! Go on!"

Izuku clenched his right fist tightly. He had never done anything like this, nor had he ever really considered it. Yet… Wasn't this what Heroes did? They stood their ground and fought.

Kacchan…S-Sorry!

Throwing his fist up, Izuku connected with Bakugo's jaw, hard. This made him stagger backwards, seemingly stunned by the blow. Behind him, Izuku could hear noises of surprise.

"Don't let the goons distract ya, you gotta capitalize on this!"

"B-But I don't even want to fight," Izuku muttered.

"Welcome to the real world, idiot! Ah… Damn, he's already back in it."

Bakugo, recovering, spat some blood to the side, cracking his fingers as he stood up and grinned at Izuku.

"So the fuckin' nerd throws punches now ey?" Bakugo made tiny explosions pop at his palms. "Now I don't gotta hold back at all!"

Crap… How can I get out of this?

Musabori sighed. "You aren't weak like you used to be," he told him. "You gonna waste this opportunity to take me for a spin?"

Izuku gulped and raised his fists, realizing that Musabori was right, unfortunately.

This is… About becoming the greatest Hero, Izuku told himself. I have to take the steps towards becoming the hero I want to be, and that means—-

Not letting Kacchan do whatever he wants!

Bakugo held a hand behind himself, and it exploded, propelling him straight towards Izuku at a speed that, normally, would have been too much for Izuku to respond to.

But not anymore. After all, Izuku had some upgrades.

As soon as he saw the opening, Izuku took it, running forward and sliding right under Bakugo's oncoming fist. The spiky-haired boy was only surprised for a moment, before turning and throwing out an explosion, which Izuku avoided by rolling to the side.

"Where you goin, Deku," Bakugo growled. "You chicken now all the sudden?"

Before Izuku could say anything, Bakugo suddenly threw something at him. Izuku instinctively ducked the thrown object, which seemed to be a small piece of rubble, but that proved to be a mistake as Bakugo suddenly exploded towards him.

Crap…!

Izuku's eyes flashed with a slight blue haze, and he held his right hand out towards Bakugo's outstretched hand.

"Die!" Bakugo smirked as he made a big explosion that surely would've had the power to KO Izuku instantly.

However, the smoke bellowed out and then began to converge, swirling around Izuku's hand before vanishing completely. Bakugo's eyes widened, and Izuku grit his teeth, worried about his next action.

"Energy Release!" Izuku muttered, and suddenly, the same explosion blasted out from his hand, sending Bakugo flying back across the rooftop.

The force of the blast made Izuku stagger and fall back onto his butt. He winced, slowly getting up, feeling a bit exhausted already as he saw the dust and smoke settling a little ways off where Bakugo had landed.

I wasn't sure I could absorb it, Izuku thought, sighing in relief. That was lucky.

Izuku had picked up quite a few skills over the past few months. Notably, he had unlocked the "Vision of the Void" permanent skill, which, when activated, enhanced his perception many times over. That, along with energy absorption and energy release, were only a couple of the things he had garnered— And they were already enough to fight against the top student in their school.

I don't have many points left, so I hope that this was all…

He glanced at his status as he thought of the skill, bringing it up in his vision:

Point Total: 1330

5 Points - Summon Item

10 Points - Create Item

20 Points - Reconstruct Item

100 Points - Deprivation

200 Points - Restoration

500 Points - (Permanent) Vision of the Void (UNLOCKED)

800 Points - Manipulation

1000 Points - Force Absorption

1000 Points - Energy Release

4000 Points - (Permanent) Breath of the Void

Izuku's point total growth had slowed a bit overtime. The strategy he had used to increase his total just wasn't worth the strain, in the end, as using his Quirk too much tended to physically drain him for a while. He needed to find a way to earn higher point amounts, but bigger objects tended to weaken him almost instantly, thus his current level of points seemed like a tough ceiling to break through.

At least, to his relief, Musabori hadn't changed physically since growing his mouth.

"What the hell are you thinking about? You're in a figh—"

Izuku's vision went blurry as he was suddenly punched hard from the side. Then another punch landed in his gut, then another across his chin, which sent him falling back to the ground.

As he fell, he saw Bakugo, his uniform scuffed, glaring at him.

"Don't get cocky," Bakugo managed through his clenched teeth.

Crap.. I… Can't focus… Izuku fell back onto his back, and felt too out of it to do anything as Bakugo stood over him.

Grabbing Izuku by the collar, Bakugo lifted him up a bit, raising his other fist.

"Maybe if you'd stayed Quirkless, you wouldn't get your ass kicked," Bakugo spat.

Then, as his fist came down for a final strike, Izuku's vision faded to black… But he wasn't fully unconscious.

There was a peculiar noise that rang out, one that terrified him. The sound of flesh ripping and blood being spilled.

Mom…?

He remembered what had happened when he let Musabori have control, even for a moment. He thought about his childhood friend Bakugo, and wondered what might happen if he went unconscious and Musabori could do as he pleased.

Never… Again…!

That was enough for Izuku to wake up again, having just taken a hard downwards punch from Bakugo. He let out a gasp as all of his pain caught up with him, and Bakugo seemed surprised that Izuku was still conscious.

"The hell—"

Summon Item…!

Izuku lifted his right hand, thinking of several items, which he released all at once. The many books that spilled out made Bakugo back up to avoid them, confused, and that was the moment Izuku needed to do his next move.

Manipulation!

Sitting up, Izuku held his shaky hand at Bakugo, and suddenly, black tendrils sprang out from the rooftop, grasping onto his legs and arms.

"What the hell… Is this?" Bakugo tried to pull away, scowling as he tried to fight against their strength, being held in place.

I'm out of points… This is… It…!

Izuku lunged forward, stumbling and struggling, nearly falling over as he ran at Bakugo, rearing his right fist back ready to strike him.

"Kacchan…!"

Bakugo growled, shouting in gargled anger as he struggled against the tendrils. "Deku!"

Then, as Izuku threw what would be the last punch he could muster, something came in and pushed Izuku away, making him stumble and fall to the ground.

Coughing from the exertion of the fight, Izuku looked over and saw one of their teachers standing not far off, shaking his head. His arm, which he had extended using his Quirk, returned to normal.

"Two bright students… Reduced to this," the teacher spoke. "And this close to the entrance exams?"

The tendrils released Bakugo, who fell to his knees, breathing a bit heavily as well. They both looked away from the teacher and each other, the ramifications catching up to them.

Izuku hit the ground out of frustration, shaking his head, wondering where he's gotten the confidence to be doing things he normally wouldn't do.

Is… My Quirk…Taking over? Is this… Who I'm gonna be…?

For once, Musabori was quiet— And that only added to Izuku's anguish.

To Be Continued

The One and Only Chance