Chapter One: Saving the Day
For years now, Izuku had been friends with Setsuna and Katsuki. Ever since that day eight years ago, they had become rather close. Sleepovers occured weekly, and every time they would finish the night exhausted, but happy after hours of playing games on the latest console and playing games outside. Katsuki and Izuku had both been surprised to discover that Setsuna was the daughter of a wealthy family, and because of that, she would be taking a separate version of the Entrance Exam in ten months. She was recommended for the school, which meant she would be taking a test with the likes of Shouto Todoroki, the son of Endeavor. He was their age, but there wasn't much known about him because of the secluded life he lived under the number two hero's care.
But, that was the last thing on Izuku's mind as he walked into the final class of the day. Izuku sat down in between Setsuna and Katsuki, hanging his backpack off the back of his seat. The bell ran soon afterwards, and the teacher walked in, holding a stack of papers. "It's high time you all start to think about your futures. You're soon going to start high school, a very important stage of your life," he said with a serious expression.
He threw the nearly piled stack of papers into the air, causing them to fly through the air every which way. "Who am I kidding, you all wanna go into the hero courses, right?" the teacher said with a laugh. The classroom erupted into cheers, with the exception of Izuku and his friends, who remained silent, staring straight ahead of them. Or at least, Setsuna and Izuku did, Katsuki stood up on his chair. "Shut it, you wannabes!" the blonde boy shouted.
"I'm one of the only ones here who can even think of becoming a fully-fledged pro hero! You fucking idiots couldn't even become sidekicks for a D-lister!" Katsuki proclaimed, his arrogance on full display.
"Oh that's right, you, Midoriya, and Tokage are applying for Yuuei," their teacher stated, causing whispers to spread throughout the room.
"Are you kidding me?" one quietly said. "Yuuei only has an acceptance rate of less than once percent, how do they expect to all make it in?" the same student questioned.
"No way that Midoriya makes it in, he's too basic," another said.
"Yeah, his Quirk is way too straight forward for a school like Yuuei," a third responded.
"That's right!" Setsuna exclaimed, still sitting in her seat. "I actually received a recommendation, so I stand to have a good chance at making it into the Hero Course there!" she shouted, flashing a toothy grin towards everyone there. Her confidence in her own ability had skyrocketed while being friends with both Izuku and Katsuki, and now she was showing it off.
"I also have a good case to make it into Yuuei," Izuku explained, "My Quirk is very powerful, my strength is greater than anyone I know. Yuuei's Entrance Exam also takes into account a person's intelligence, of which me and my friends possess. Now, I am not sure if I can say the same for the rest of you. As Katsuki put it, you all stand a much lower chance of even becoming pro heroes than us."
The class was silenced by their show of will, the whispers now completely gone. The teacher cleared his throat, breaking the tension in the air. "Right. Well, my reason for bringing this up is that they have the ambition to go far. Meanwhile, the rest of you have barely applied for any high ranking schools." Izuku stopped paying attention to the rest of the lesson, as none of it protained to him.
By the time the final bell rang, Izuku was just about ready to take a nap. From what he had heard, it was one of the most boring lessons they had had all year. Granted, they were only a couple months into schooling, but this still topped the list for the school year up to then.
Izuku would've usually hung back afterwards to talk with Katsuki and Setsuna, but his mother had told him to get home as soon as possible, so he left as quickly as he could. While he walked out of the school, Izuku pulled out his phone to check the news. With how many heroes there were in Japan, there was almost always a major headline at the end of the average school day. Scrolling through his news feed, Izuku walked under a bridge on his standard route home.
The only thing anyone seemed to be talking about was the debut of a new heroine, Mount Lady, which Izuku happened to have witnessed in person. She definitely would be popular, if not from her looks, then from how powerful her Quirk was. Growing to large sizes and seemingly becoming stronger at a proportional rate was a useful ability for heroics, even if you weren't that strong normally.
Izuku was too busy reading the articles about the new pro hero to notice the sound of the sewer lid rattling slightly as the lid slid away from its spot. That was why he was taken by surprise from a massive villain who seemed to be made only of sewage. The Sludge Villain cackled. "You'll be an excellent skin suit!" the criminal exclaimed gleefully.
Every moment was agony for Izuku. The Sludge Villain was forcing his mass inside of Izuku's body, pushing his organs out of the way to do so. Each breathe hurt, until the Sludge Villain plugged his nostrils as well. Izuku could feel his consciousness fading, but he held onto the small bit of life he still had. Izuku needed to get home. He couldn't make his mom cry.
A burst of some sort of energy burst to life from Izuku, freeing him from the Sludge Villain. As Izuku fell to the ground, a booming laugh echoed throughout the tunnel. "Have no fear, why? Because I am here!" called the voice of the Symbol of Peace himself. Izuku began to cough up the mass that made up the villain, and All Might rushed to help him. "Are you all right, young man?" questioned the blonde hero.
Izuku nodded, his mind not focused on meeting the pro hero, even though it was one of the best things to happen to him. He needed to figure out what had just happen to him. Nothing that had came out of him before. The gurgly voice of the Sludge Villain roared to life, the criminal rightly angry. "Damn you, All Might!" yelled the furious villain. All Might smiled widely, cocking back an arm as the Sludge Villain barreled towards him, a single, massive tendril shooting out of his body.
"Texas Smash!" declared the Symbol of Peace, using the attack of the same name to blow the Sludge Villain to bits. Not missing a beat, All Might ran to the nearest soda machine and purchased two with some money in his pockets. Then, All Might twisted the lids off of both and went to work, scooping up any amount of the unconscious Sludge Villain into the bottles.
Izuku couldn't help but smile despite the shock he was in. All Might had just rescued him from certain death. Whatever had came out of him had drained him a lot, and now he just wanted to fall down and rest. If the Sludge Villain had gotten ahold of him again, Izuku surely would've died. "Thank you, All Might!" Izuku said with a big grin.
All Might gave him a thumbs up. "It's nothing! After all, it's my job as a hero to protect the citizens of Japan!" Izuku nodded, preparing to ask him a certain question lingering in the back of his mind. "I'm afraid I must leave, I have to take this criminal to the proper authorities!"
All Might prepared to leap to the sky, and a quick bit of thinking causes Izuku to grab onto his leg the exact moment he jumped. Now soaring through the air, using the Symbol of Peace as a glider of sorts, Izuku was noticed by the hero. All Might began to try and push Izuku off his leg. "Hey! Get off! I love my fans, but this is a bit much!" exclaimed All Might.
"I can't let go!" Izuku protested. "If I do, I'll fall to my death!"
"Oh, right!" All Might said over the wind rushing past them. "Hold on!" All Might instructed, something Izuku hadn't planned on stopping any time soon. All Might began to descend, landing on the roof of a large building.
Izuku got to his feet, taking a big step away from the massive hero. "Why did you do that, young man?" All Might asked with a serious tone. Izuku cleared his throat, the hero looking very intimidating now that his smile has slightly faded. "That was very dangerous, you could've gotten yourself killed."
"Well, um, I needed to ask you a question. I still do, actually." All Might raised an eyebrow, his expression softening. "Ever since I was little, my Quirk hasn't been the best. My Quirk only gives me super strength and my tail. Well, there's also something else I only just figured out how to do. I want to go to Yuuei, I really do, but I don't think I can." What his classmates had said to him earlier was slowly getting to him. His Quirk really wasn't flashy at all. "My Quirk isn't cool enough to impress people. I wouldn't be a good hero at all. But, do you think I can become a hero? You have so much experience, you have to have an answer, right?"
Before he could answer, All Might disappeared in a puff of smoke. "All Might!" Izuku yelled in alarm as he saw the sickly thin form of a man who must've been All Might. Blood trickled from All Might's mouth.
All Might let out a shaky sigh. "Yes, I am All Might," he said while pulling up his shirt, revealing a large scar over one side of his ribs. "A while back, I got into a fight. It was really bad, and I almost died during it. In the end, I lost a couple organs. I can only be All Might for about three hours now." The news had actually picked up on the fact that All Might wasn't as active as he used to be, and Izuku had also noticed that. It had been around the time Izuku was nine that All Might's work had lessened.
"Was it the fight against Toxic Chainsaw?" Izuku asked. All Might shook his head.
"You really know your stuff," All Might complimented. "But no, this fight isn't known to anyone outside of a select few individuals. If word of this conflict were to get out, Japan would lose faith in their pillar, if not the whole world. But, you didn't come to hear this old man's story, you had a question."
"Can you become a hero? Yeah, anyone with a Quirk can. With enough hard work, anyone can become a hero, so long as they have a superpower," All Might answered. Izuku was relieved to hear the Symbol of Peace's response. If the number one hero thought he could do it, why couldn't he?
"Okay," Izuku said. "That's all I needed. Thank you, All Might!" Izuku smiled, and the thin All Might returned the grin.
"You're welcome. Now, I really do need to take this villain back to the police," All Might said with a laugh, patting his pocket. His face turned to that of shock. "He's gone," All Might realized. An explosion sounded off in the distance.
The world around Katsuki was burning. A result of his efforts to fight back against the Sludge Villain, who had now ensnared him. The criminal had come from two soda bottles that had fallen from the sky, busting on impact. Setsuna was unconscious, lying in the alley nearby after being knocked out by the Sludge Villain. On top of all of that, the Sludge Villain was forcing himself inside of him.
The pro heroes there weren't doing anything to help him, even though he was the one in the most danger. Sure, Kamui Woods had a reason, his skin was made of wood, if he stepped into the fire, he would die before doing anything useful, but the others? Death Arms could do something, he was just standing there. Mount Lady was trying to make her way to the scene, but she was too large to fit. Backdraft was holding back the civilians, which was important, but he would be better fit to douse the flames roaring on the ruins of the building. Some sidekick was hanging out with Death Arms, not even looking at Katsuki.
It was at that moment that Katsuki saw Izuku standing in the crowd of people. He looked guilty, as if he blamed himself for Katsuki getting captured. When Izuku saw the fear in Katsuki's eyes, he burst forward. Katsuki mentally pleaded for Izuku to stop. He was just going to get himself killed by running towards him. If the Sludge Villain did take over his body, the heroes could easily take him down then. Katsuki might die, but that would just mean that everyone else would be safe.
Izuku clawed at the Sludge Villain's mass, alerting him to the green-haired boy's presence. "You again!? Screw off, punk!" the Sludge Villain shouted, swinging a massive tendril down at Izuku, who rolled out of the way and continued clawing. Attack after attack came, but Izuku managed to avoid every single one, all the while tearing at the Sludge Villain. Eventually, Katsuki had been freed enough to speak.
"Get the hell outta here, Izuku!" Katsuki gasped. If Katsuki could've hit Izuku, he would've. He was being stupid, if he kept trying to save him, he was going to get himself killed.
"I can't do that!" Izuku yelled, not giving up on his efforts. "If I won't save you, who will?" he shouted as tears began to run down his cheeks.
"Die, you fucking brat!" the Sludge Villain shouted, a tendril larger than any other one before now formed. It was too big to dodge, even for Izuku. He was going to die because of how heroic he was.
The tendril came and, much to Katsuki's surprise, it was caught by the Symbol of Peace. All Might didn't have his signature grin, in fact, he looked pissed.
"Young man, I told you could be a hero, and now you shall see the true values a pro must have!" All Might yelled. "A hero always has to risk their life, every single day! Detroit Smash!" with a mighty punch, All Might sent a wave of pressurized air that tore through the Sludge Villain, freeing Katsuki from the villain's grasp entirely. All Might held a fist to the air dramatically, rain beginning to fall.
A man in the crowd gasped and shouted, "He changed the weather with a punch!" A chant was started, honoring the Symbol of Peace with his name. All Might had saved the day.