Izuku wandered the streets, going nowhere in particular, flipping aimlessly through his hero notebook. He wasn't paying attention at all to the words on the page, instead opting to wallow in his own despair. The day's events kept playing again and again in his mind, however much he tried to cast them away.

"You should probably give it up."

"Make sure your dreams are attainable."

"You will never be a hero."

He sniffled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Don't cry, he told himself. You've known this was coming.

KKRAK BOOOOM

Another explosion snapped him from his daze, and he turned towards the sound. He found himself across the street from a huge crowd, fire blazing in the alley they were looking at. 'Huh. Guess I wandered here subconsciously.'

He walked over to the crowd, more out of habit than curiosity. What's the point, anyway? Everything I've ever done is useless. His eyes wandered up to the fight, and his mind immediately snapped into panic mode, wide eyes forming at the sight in front of him.

It was the slime villain who captured him, now larger than the buildings around him, laughing at the utter destruction he was causing. He was smashing everything around him, flames licking at the slime rushing around. Numerous heroes stood at the scene, desperately trying to control the flames or save people in buildings. Some of the heroes tried to land a hit on the villain, only to be thrown out fifty feet away. 'No… no, no, no! That's the villain who attacked me! How- that's impossible!'

His mind flashed back to the events of the day, All Might showing him the villain in the bottle, Izuku hanging on to All Might's leg, All Might on the rooftop, bottle out of sight. But… the bottle… if he dropped it, that means…

'It's all my fault.'

The crowd started whispering, anxious at the sight of the heroes' struggle.

"He has a kid trapped in there…"

"Isn't that the villain who All Might fought earlier?"

"All Might lost to him!? No, that's impossible…"

"He's destroying everything…"

Izuku clamped his hands to his mouth, trying his hardest not to spill his insides from disgust. He could barely hold himself straight, knees trembling, water brimming in his eyes. He wasted his energy on me… I'm the one to blame… Now he can't power up, and no one else can stop him.

He dropped to his knees, staring at the monster through the gaps in the crowd.

'It's my fault, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Someone will come, someone has to, please. Someone has to fix the mess I've made!'

The monster writhed, exposing the kid that was inside. Izuku hadn't even thought of the kid in his own misery. 'Some person I am'. The kid was struggling, much more than he himself had done when he was trapped. His face moved for a second, his eyes meeting Izuku's. It was a glance of desperation, of pleading. Izuku squinted, a hint of familiarity sparking in his mind. It can't be…

Before he could process another thought, he found himself running, not away from the fight like any rational person, but towards it. Adrenaline shot through his veins, and he pushed himself to go as fast as he could. "Kacchan!" he shouted, drawing Katsuki's attention to him. "Deku?..." the blond groaned, only motivating Izuku to go faster.

The fire flickered around him, stinging his skin but in no way deterring him. He heard faint voices shouting at him, probably the heroes, but he couldn't discern them. All he could focus on was Katsuki, stuck in the monster, just as he had been.

What do I do? What would a hero do? His thoughts flickered like lightning, scanning his memories for every hero battle he had ever analyzed. One page in his notebook stood out in particular. Of course! Page 25, book 13, Kamui Woods makes his enemies flinch! Maybe I can do something similar.

Izuku opened his Yellow Pocket Dimension Backpack and began to hurriedly find something that can be used as a projectile. "Come on, Come on... Ah!" Izuku grabbed something from his back and pulled out a giant stone hammer "T-This can do!" Izuku heard some "Woah!" and "What the-" in the crowd surprised that a giant hammer somehow fit into the boy's backpack as he flung his giant stone hammer into the Slime's Eyes.

WHOOSH

The projectile reached its target!

SPLAT!

PERFECT!

making the monster stumble. It staggered, creating a small opening in its body- tiny in comparison, but enough to reveal Kacchan's face. Izuku ran up trying to reach Kacchan's hand.

"D- Deku, why…," Katsuki muttered, still under strain from the binding of the monster.

"Kacchan…" Izuku's tears were out in full force now, nothing stopping them from hitting the ground. "I- I couldn't just stand around and watch you die!"

All Might grasped the street light's pole, unable to believe what he was witnessing. The kid he had lectured from earlier, the kid without a Quirk, without a power, wait... without a Quirk...? he just pulled out a giant hammer in his bag but still, he was the one fighting the monster.

He felt his limbs start to swell, the familiar strength returning to his muscles. 'I have to fight, no matter the cost. I have to be the hero!' His body grew, his anger fueling his drive. 'No matter what, I am All Might, the Symbol of Peace!'

The villain recollected himself, giving Izuku a harsh stare. "You... YOU! You squashed my Eye! I'm done playing with you, kid!" he snarled, bringing his slimy tendrils up. Izuku froze, glancing at the huge mass of slime about to smother him. He tries to block it, but he couldn't die here. He couldn't let Katsuki die here.

All Might dashed at the scene and managed to grab Izuku away from the villain.

"I truly am pathetic. I told you that pros always have to risk their lives, but now I see I wasn't living up to my own ideals!" All Might yanked Bakugou away from the monster. He charged an uppercut then

READY!

"Detrooooooiiiit...Smash!"

SPLAT WHOOOOOOOSH

K.O! NICE JOB!

All Might unleashed a tremendous punch on the villain, causing him to fall apart along with creating a big gust of wind. splattering the sludge villain, extinguishing most of the fires, and clearing up the small rain.

"Woah! He changed the weather with one punch!" A bystander cried out in awe as the crowd erupted into triumphant cheers.

Izuku's eyes welled up with relief. Rubbing his eyes, he stuttered, "A-All Might! Thank y-you!" 'He saved us even though he's injured and already tired out! He's so cool!'

The Symbol of Peace flashed the teens a grin, "Don't worry about it, kid. Happy to help!" 'Ugh, I need to get out of here before the reporters hound me. I'm already past my limit as it is.' All Might thought to himself as he turned from the slime splatter to the teens he just saved, "You two alright?"

All Might watched as paramedics and Pro Heroes looked over the kids, but he paid extra attention to the green-haired one. I know what I saw. Looks like I really need to have a talk with him.

After getting thoroughly chewed out by Death Arms and Kamui Woods for getting involved, all while Slugger and the police were practically fawning over Bakugou, Izuku decided to go home, his path illuminated by the evening sunset.

Lost in his own thoughts and the sound of his trudges, he didn't notice the sound of someone running until they called, "DEKU!"

Izuku turned around quickly, taken aback by the sudden arrival, "K-Kacchan?"

Bakugou clenched his fist as he roared, "Don't think I owe you or anything today! I had that Slime Bastard under control, as far as I'm concerned, you're still Useless! so don't think I've already settled with you!"

Bakugou then turned and... "Tch, fine. Thanks..." and then stormed off, leaving one very bewildered Midoriya behind. it's like, something was ranked up between Kacchan and Izuku. What was that about? Izuku gave a smile. I guess Kacchan's always gonna be Kacchan.

Izuku turned around, only to fall back with a shriek as a massive figure came barreling out from the nearby alley, "I am here, Young Midoriya!"

"A-all Might? I thought you got hounded by the press! What're you doing here?" Izuku managed to squeak, his heart still racing from the shock.

The hero let out a booming laugh, "HAHA! Escaping those journalists was nothing at all! Why? Because-GAH!" All Might spat out an impossible amount of blood as he shrunk to his true form, wrapped in a cloak of steam.

"Oh my god!" Izuku shrieked again, his already irritated eyes and naturally overactive tear ducts threatening to unleash a flood of biblical proportions.

All Might wiped his mouth and cleared his throat, "Sorry about that. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about your actions back there."

Izuku looked down at his feet as tears began forming, "I know. I-I'm sorry I caused so much trouble. I just...I don't know what happened. It was like-"

"Your body moved without thinking, right?"

Izuku's head shot up to his idol and nodded, "Y-yeah?"

All Might nodded in acknowledgement and spoke, "You know, all the greatest heroes showed signs as children. That they were destined to be pillars in society. And all of them share the same thing in common. They all acted without thinking about themselves. That's self-sacrifice. You get what I'm saying?"

Izuku nodded again, his heart beating faster with every word. 'Is he saying...what 'is he saying?

All Might took a deep breath and continued, "Kid, I told you that you couldn't be a hero. Yet, not an hour later, you're the only one to charge right into a villain to save someone else. And not only that, you put up a hell of a fight. And even beyond that, you inspired me to go beyond."

Tears were threating to fall, they weren't from sadness or despair. Izuku remembered the words of his teachers, his classmates. Everyone who told him that he couldn't be what he wanted to be. What he needed to be.

"Kid, you can be a hero."

There was no stopping these waterworks. His heart was positively bursting. His idol and the world's greatest hero had just told him - Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya - that he could become a hero! 'Finally! Someone believes in me! I feel like nothing else matters right now. I just want to remember this moment forever and ever.' He looked up at his hero and smiled as widely as he could.

All Might looked at the kid with a smile before noticing the other thing he wanted to talk about, "Oh, speaking of which: kid, I thought you told me you were Quirkless."

"...huh?"

All Might looked at the kneeling boy curiously, "You told me you were Quirkless, but you clearly have a Quirk. What gives?"

"...huh, but All Might, I AM Quirkless..." Izuku, having a confused look to All Might

All Might stumbled a bit "B-But, how did you pull a giant hammer right out of you bag earlier...?"

"Oh, this?" Izuku retrieved his giant stone hammer before, now he pulls it out on the bag again "It's just something for... self-defense...?" Izuku wasn't really sure why he has a giant hammer in his Yellow Pocket Dimension Backpack, maybe Mom put it there just in case...?

All Might Confused as well "N-no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how you pulled that giant hammer in that bag, clearly it doesn't seem to fit in there."

"O-oh um, I don't know either, I got this backpack from Subspace and it seems like there's a little pocket Dimension here." Izuku Clarified, he put back his giant stone hammer inside his backpack. "Subspace?", Okay this is getting really confusing.

All Might was a loss for words, "A-Anyway!"

"I believe you are worthy to inherit my Quirk."

Izuku swore he hear the Zelda: Link to the Past Treasure chest sound effect from somewhere.

"...WHAT?!" Izuku quickly began a new muttering storm as he fervently tried to decode All Might's verbage.

Sighing, the hero continued, "My Quirk is called One For All."

Izuku's eyes widened and he felt the air grow thicker as if the wind itself knew the significance of what All Might was saying. "One...For All?"

All Might nodded, "Yes. It's a Quirk passed down from person to person. Master to student. It's the crystallization of all of our combined strength, stockpiled throughout the generations and focused into one person. Anyways, you know about my injury, yeah?"

Izuku nodded quietly.

"Well since I can't use this power to its fullest, I need to pass it on to the next generation. And who better to be my successor than the not-so-Quirkless boy who rushed into the heat of battle before anyone else?"

"W-wait. You're offering me...your power? I'd be as strong as you?!"

All Might chuckled at the boy's awestruck expression, "Yes, you would be as strong as I am. Stronger, actually. Eventually."

"I don't expect an answer right away, but-"

"I accept." Izuku's eyes shone not with his confidence to fight, but with determination.

All Might looked stunned for a moment, but grinned soon after, "Good answer."