Midoriya Izuku walked down the stairway of the building lifelessly. He held his head down as he replayed the scene over and over again.

"You cannot become a hero." All Might had said solemnly.

Even his hero–no–the number one hero had denied him his dream. Deep down, Izuku secretly knew that it was not possible. But it was just that, a dream. A sacred dream that he desperately wanted to keep.

But he couldn't.

Not without a quirk.

It was unfair now that he thinks about it. 80% of the population has a supernatural power called a quirk, while the other 20% are quirkless. Izuku scoffed at the thought. If there are quirkless people out there, I haven't met them.

"You cannot become a hero." The words echo in his mind over and over again. Tears leaked through the edge of Izuku's eyes as he finally mulled over his situation.

Kaachan was right. There was no way he was going to become a hero. The platinum blond haired boy's laugh rang through his ears. "Why don't you go jump off a building?" The boy taunted, "Maybe you'll get a quirk in your next life!"

With that, Izuku finally broke down, crouching on top of the stairs as he wiped his tears away. "Is it too much to ask?!" he wailed to nobody, "Is it too much to ask to be like everyone else? To become a hero!"

Nobody answered. But then again, who would? Nobody understood his plight. Nobody else knew the pain of not being discriminated against due to their quirklessness. Then again, he supposed that was one of the reasons why he desperately wanted to become a hero. To prove everyone wrong. And for a few years, that motivation was all that drove him: The want to be accepted, the fame and the glory, the number one hero had all of that. But to Izuku, those were subgoals. The fame, the glory, he did not care about any of it.

He just did not want anyone to make fun of him for being quirkless anymore. Izuku finished sobbing and stood up, walking down the stairs to return home.

Before he took another step, however, an explosion rang out through the city. Izuku lifted his head in shock and looked out the window. Smoke and flames were visible not too far from his location.

The next thing he knew, Izuku was standing at the back of a crowd, peering over the shoulders of civilians to view the action. Truth be told, Izuku did not know why he came. Call it instinct or whatever. It must have been because he always watched hero fights to analyze quirks.

Izuku pushed through the crowd, coming just behind the boundary. His breath hitched. It was the slime villain from earlier! Izuku qwickly put two and two together. It was me. He realized. Because I grabbed onto All Might, the villain fell out of his pocket and escaped!

He heard a muffled scream from the carnage. Inside the slime villain was Kaachan, desperately releasing his explosions in hopes of escape.

Horrified, Izuku tried to spot the heroes. What are they doing?! He thought to himself. Nobody was diving in to rescue Kaachan. They stayed by the edges, preventing the fires in the street from spreading any further.

Then, he saw him.

All Might.

Still in his skeletal form, the number one hero lowered his head with his fists clenched at his sides. His time for the day had been used up. Izuku realized. Nobody is going to help Kaachan.

Looking back at his high school bully, Izuku saw a look in his eyes that he had never seen before: Fear, desperation. He's crying for help.

Then he moved.

Izuku did not know when he started running, only that he was. His heart hammered in his chest with each step, advancing towards the villain at a breakneck pace.

"Hey kid, stop!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Stop him!"

Izuku ignored their cries in favor of charging ahead. Soon enough, the villain noticed him. "You again? Back for more I see. Fine, I don't mind. Have it your way!"

Tendrils of sludge shot towards Izuku. Thanks to some miracle, he was able to dodge the initial strike. His eyes scanned the villain's form for any weakness.

The eyes. Izuku realized. Aim for the eyes!

Dropping his bag off his shoulder, the boy chucked it at the villain's visible eye, temporarily blinding him.

"Gah! You little shit!"

It was enough time for Izuku to finally make his way to Kaachan. He started desperately clawing away at the slime, managing to pry it away from Bakugo's mouth, making it easier to breathe.

"Deku! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kaachan roared.

It was a good question. What he was doing was practically suicide. In fact, why should he rescue Bakugo? All the boy had ever done was beat him down time and time again. If he died, then his life would be the slightest bit , scratch that, it would be insanely easier.

But Izuku wanted to be a hero.

"I'm here to save you!" Izuku shouted back at him with a wry grin.

The sludge villain, regaining his bearings, growled at the boy in front of him. "You little brat!" He growled, "Die already!" A gigantic fist of sludge formed above Izuku, and all the confidence the boy had mustered disappeared. If that fist hit him, he was going to die.

But then again. Izuku thought to himself. I'd die doing something heroic.

A calm feeling washed over the boy. The horrified expression on his face matched his heartbeat as it slowed down, loosening until it became a sorrowful stare.

But the fist never came. "Well said, young man!" A broad voice hollered behind him. "DETROIT SMASH!"

A blast of wind snuffed out the flames around them, and knocked Izuku off his feet along with Kaachan. The sludge villain was torn off the explosive boy's body and thrown into a nearby wall.

Izuku stared at the sky wistfully. It was over.

Afterwards, Izuku would be given a lecture from the pro heroes about charging in. Especially since he had no quirk. Bakugo, on the other hand, was praised for his bravery.

It's not like you did anything special. Izuku thought. He was soon released and proceeded to head home. Halfway there, however, something caught his eye. A green light flew across the sky like a shooting star.

Izuku's eyes followed it for no particular reason. It looked pretty. However, the light was getting bigger and bigger. It took a second for him to realize it, but the light was heading straight for him.

His eyes widened and he backpedaled, only to fall onto his back. The light grew so bright that Izuku had to cover his eyes. This was how he was going to die. Crushed by a green meteor.

Not how he wanted to-

"Midoriya Izuku" a voice spoke. Izuku opened his eyes to the strangest thing he had seen all day. A green ring floated in front of him, bathed in emerald light. The right itself seemed to be made out of… Jade? It looked like jade. But the top of the ring had the symbol of a lantern on it.

What was going on?

"You have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen." The ring slipped onto his finger.

"Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."