Six years ago, across the ocean...
David and Melissa were sitting in front of their family doctor in hope of finding out the younger Shield's quirk. It has been a year since her peers have started showing signs for their development. So to find out if there is a problem, they finally consulted a professional.
"I am sorry Mr. Shield, but Melissa here appears to be Quirkless , when quirks first started appearing there were many theories as to what were the cause of these 'Individualities', there was one thing in common there, that people with quirks have only one joint in their pinky toe, kind of like yourself. These individuals have evolved into a more streamlined form of the human body, and as you can see here, Melissa have two joints, so it's safe to say that she may never develop a quirk", the doctor handed the X-ray scans to David, "My records say that Mrs. Shield was also Quirkless, then this occurrence is not surprising and moreover indicates that Melissa indeed inherited this from her maternal side, I hope this clears up any doubts the two of you may have".
Melissa was frozen, her worst fears were becoming a reality right before her eyes, her dream of becoming a Heroine was crumbling, before she could drown herself in self pity, David spoke up, "Yes, thank you, we'll be taking our leave now", he picked up the almost lifeless body of Melissa and carried her home.
David couldn't stand to see his daughter so broken, after all, she was the light of his life that kept him alive after the untimely passing of his wife. Melissa was the only thing keeping David's mind and soul together.
Melissa was sitting on the couch staring into nothingness as David, in an attempt to cheer her up knelt before her with a small smile on face, "Hey Pumpkin.. come on don't be so grim, you know quirks aren't everything, right? I mean look at me, the only thing my quirk does is allow me to Bend my fingers a little more than a normal person."
Melissa's eyes were filled with tears as she jumped and tightly hugged her father, "I know, it's okay dad, and... thank you".
In the park, a young Melissa reflected on how cool and awesome the heroes are, because they all have a quirk that they use to save other people..
Melissa's friends approach to ask her to play Heroes with them using their quirks, but one reminded the others that Melissa is Quirkless, they apologized for being so inconsiderate. Melissa told them to not worry about it, they are just playing. She tells herself that she doesn't mind being Quikless, and she can play with them as the person who needs to be saved .
While playing, she noticed that people frequently looked at her with confusion, downcasted looks, and pity for not having a special power like them. Although Melissa tried to downplay her condition, in reality she was still heavyhearted for not having a quirk like the rest of the kids.
Then one day, David woke up to Melissa poking him in his side after he had fallen asleep while working on support items, she asked him if he ever wanted to be a hero.
He told her that he never put thought into it, because with his quirk, it would be a quite difficult task. Melissa felt greatly confused by the answer, before she could inquire any further, a loud knock was heard as a pound.
" I AM HERE! " All Might exclaimed as he entered the home, making his way to David's workshop, he was greeted by the sight of a small blonde girl standing behind a very tired dad.
" Well, hello Young Melissa, it is I! ALL MIGHT! I am a hero from Japan! it's a pleasure to meet you!", he greeted Melissa, while intimidated by his presence, she greeted him back with a small hello.
"Hey Toshi, It's been a while… ", David tiredly mumbled from his seat, " Ahh yes, since my debut I have been called to many pleads ", All Might sincerely said.
David noticed the perplexed expression on Melissa's face, "Oh, Melissa, All Might and I go way back to our college days, when he was an exchange student visiting the states from Japan. In our olden days we were an awesome Hero-Support duo, and since then, I had been creating All Might's hero costumes till this day!".
" As a matter of fact, I am Here! For the new suit your father had created for me!", Melissa beamed at the realization that the hero was currently wearing one of her father's designed costumes.
After a while, Melissa was walking down the street headed towards the park, while her father and Mr. Might caught up with each other.
At that moment, a person called David's house alarmed, telling him to run away as soon as possible because a huge tornado had suddenly formed in the town and was headed straight for them.
All Might sprung into action and picked up David and bolted to drop him to safety first and then deal with the Tornado, as he was carrying his friend he heard, "Toshi, Melissa! She's outside, please find her please!".
Complying with David's demands, All Might dropped him at a safe distance and sped off to find Melissa. When he reached back to the town the whole block was demolished. All Might watched in horror as the tornado grew more violent, and he realized if he retaliated now, there could be many casualties.
Melissa quickly ran to the hero, hoping that her father would be there among the crowd the hero was forming due to panic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what most people would miss, a short old lady was wheezing hard, trying to remove the heavy debris on her legs. What happened next, Melissa doesn't even remember.
"Young Lady! Come back here!", she ignored the Pro hero's pleas who was ushering the group of people away from the destruction. It was so exhilarating, it just felt so right for her. Dodging a few sharp rocks and loose wires, she finally made it to the old lady, not knowing that the cause of destruction was just a few meters away.
"Child... you got to escape, leave this old bag alone, save yourself!", the old lady pathetically coughed. Melissa couldn't help but cry, she wants her to leave but the younger Shield doesn't want to. "No! How can I leave you here when you need help!", with all the strength Melissa could muster, she lifted the huge chunk off the lady's legs, pushing it with her back.
Making sure that the elder wasn't hurt, Melissa placed her onto her back. It was when she felt the harsh winds pulling them in, but she wouldn't give in. A couple of people saw the two and helped them away from the tornado.
Melissa was about to pass out when she heard a faint, 'Detroit Smash', and everything went silent.
Melissa awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar room, she looked up at the plain white ceilings, when she saw the complementary TV, realization hit her that she was in a hospital room and all the past events of the day came rushing back.
She was lying in the hospital bed, her right arm wrapped up in bandages, she uncomfortably shifted when she saw the news was on, and an area that seemed oddly familiar. Melissa carefully heard the and found out that it was their home block and the footage showed Mr. Might carry multiple people on his back and then… he cocked back his arm and he.. completely diminished the tornado with a SINGLE PUNCH!?
Suddenly the door of her room opened and her Father, along with Mr. Might walked in, David rushed to hug the now conscious Melissa and kissed her temple, "I am so glad you are alright, All Might told me what you did, why did you scare me like that!?".
Melissa looked down sadly, "Sorry dad..".
" David if you don't mind, can I talk to Melissa about something. I will only take a few minutes but this is important ", All Might said not in his usual upbeat tone,
This made Melissa shiver as she was expecting him to be scolding her about the way she acted, and most likely interfering with his work.
As David reluctantly nodded and took his leave, All Might took a seat beside Melissa, " Young Melissa, I am blissful that you are alright, but the way you acted out there was very reckless, you could have gotten badly injured " .
Melissa was not the type to talk back to adults but she felt compelled to defend her actions, "B-But Mr. M-Might! If I d-didn't do a-anything, that lady would've died! As soon as I saw her, my legs started moving on their own, b-before I-I knew it, I was lifting the debris off of her".
" Good, now David tells me you want to become a hero, can you tell me why?" , well that certainly wasn't the response Melissa expected, especially now that she was officially Quirkless.
"I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe, I-I think s-s-saving someone is the coolest thing someone can do", she paused as her voice came out muffled between soft crying, "It doesn't matter anyway Mr. Might, I'm Quirkless after all… ".
Strangely All Might's demeanor didn't change, there was no look of pity on his face as he comprehended the information,
" So?... Young Lady, I commend your bravery but more importantly I want to thank you, your actions deeply inspired me today. So what if you are Quirkless, of all the people at the scene, It was you who acted! You spurred me into acting without any hesitation.
Most of the top heroes have shown signs of greatness in their early years, many of them claim that their bodies moved before they could think almost on their own, and today.. that's what happened to you. You saved that old lady from an almost sufferable death without any care for your own life, today… you acted like a true hero! ", somewhere in between All Might's speech, Melissa had started crying pouring all of the bottled up emotions inside.
" Young Lady, always remember a Hero is not known for their quirk, a true hero is known for their heart, and you have the heart of a hero! Listen to me well, never give up on your dreams because something seems unachievable, nothing on this godforsaken green planet is impossible…
MELISSA SHIELD... YOU TOO CAN BECOME A HERO!" All Might ended his speech as he patted Melissa's head who was hugging herself. That was when David slammed open the door, demanding what he did to his sweet-innocent daughter.
David and All Might encouraged Melissa to pursue her dream to become a hero as they also planned for her fitness, both of the Shields unaware of the real plan Toshinori had in mind.
It was decided that Melissa will start basic exercises and learn multiple fighting styles to help her with hand to hand combat. Of course, Melissa's progress was checked monthly by the now pronounced 'Uncle Might'.
After a few months, All Might finally took his new costume and went back to Japan, promising both Shields that he will be back.
As the years passed by, All Might became the Number 1 Hero and World's Symbol of Peace. Melissa was ecstatic about the fact that she was personally being trained by a man of such greatness who also happens to be her Uncle.
When Melissa turned nine, she was professionally trained in many martial arts, weaponry, and sword fighting. It was at this point when All Might had his devastating battle with AFO, which he seemingly won. He was gravely injured and couldn't return to the states for many months, but he knew he'd have to face their scolding.
Melissa turned 11 when she reunited with All Might after all this time, first she was surprised to see who was the lanky sort of man standing at their door bell. After hearing the story of how All Might defeated an evil overlord, which came with a price to his health, she understood the reason behind his absence.
David, Melissa and the now deflated Toshinori were sitting in the living room of Shield household, where Toshinori was explaining the events that transpired in his time away from them.
Toshinori's demeanor slowly changed into that of what most people would just assume as a constipated look, especially when he closed his eyes in concentration, "You should know something about my quirk and my past, I trust that both of you and what we speak here won't leave this room. The true name of my power is One for ALL… ". And so, Toshinori explained the legendary quirk he was entrusted with.
The Shields were dumbfounded once the explanation was over, "Okay so let me get this straight, your quirk was bestowed upon you by your Sensei, and this transferable Quirk goes way back to the dawn of quirks, and since it is a Stockpile Quirk, as it's passed on, the more powerful it'll become, but you won't last long with this power now that your body was drained of its use. Based on its transferable ability, you're looking for a successor and since you're training my daughter you...?" David trailed on.
"In a nutshell, yes, Melissa has a true heart of a hero and I believe she deserves to be my successor and one day even surpass me!", Toshinori continued as he ruffed up Melissa's hair, "And I'm going to say this, I am not going to force this quirk on you, this is her decision, if she wants my awesome power or not!".
Melissa didn't even think twice before she nodded her head vigorously, "Yes Uncle Might! I will do it!", determined to make her father and mentor proud.
"No reluctance? Huh, that's how I figured you'd respond, but I can't transfer it right now, because as of now, your body isn't fully prepared yet. My quirk is basically a hurricane of pure power that an unprepared body will detonate if they try to inherit it", both father and daughter paled, but understood that a great power will come with consequence. (Oh sweet lord, the three don't have any idea how true this is.)
"David, I know you wanted her to join a hero school in states, but as of now I can't move here, so I would propose that Melissa come to Japan to attend a middle school there, her Japanese is already fluent and I already picked her a safe private institution for her that can be trusted with our secrets, then she can join the high school I attended", Melissa was excited as she turned around to use her innocent wide puppy dog eyes on her father.
"Hmm, that would certainly help her training the quirk, not to mention I truly respect Nedzu, I may have met him only a couple of times but that is one terrifyingly smart animal, and over the years of working with you I have learned to trust your judgement, although... it will be lonely around the house without Melissa, Hey! Maybe I can finally move on with the I Island idea!", David said his thoughts out loud.
All Might and Melissa cheered at the approval David gave them.
"That's great news David! Now Young Lady, you better pack up for Japan, after all, school will start soon. spend as much time with your father, as you can, here is your school's admission letter and your ID - card, Now I must be off, I do have to set up things back in Japan for your arrival after all!" Toshinori beamed as he handed over a couple of envelops and an ID card to Melissa. It seemed that he was a few steps ahead of them already.
David and Melissa gave a quick glance to it that read...
Somei Private Academy
Melissa Shield,
Quirk: Super Power
'O-Oh..?'
Notes:
Heyyaa Folks, gtm here
again a big thanks to our editor Notthismfcker96 for his amazing work.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, there is much to come and will be updated frequently.
This is my first Fanfic constructive criticism is welcomed..
I imagine many of you viewed our dear David Shield as 'Quirkless' well there ya go..!
Next time
Middle School encounters,
Quirky revelations
And a blooming Friendship!