Hello Earthlings! This is based (loosely) off the season 2 fantasy closing, and I hope you enjoy! I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer.

Long ago the kingdom of Uyay was at war. The rulers were cruel and bloodthirsty, caring little for their subjects. People blessed with magic terrorized the ordinary citizens, and most had given up hope on the kingdom. That is, until the thirty-fourth king of his era died, leaving his two sons. The oldest was one of the most powerful sorcerers in the kingdom, but he was cruel and disliked by many, so the same as the other rulers. The younger son was powerless, but he was kind and loved by many of the citizens who wanted change. The oldest son wanted to use the armies of Uyay to take over all of the kingdoms, but the youngest and his supporters rose up to fight him. The eldest was merciless and nearly defeated the youngest. When all hope seemed lost, the youngest went on a journey and found a magical sword that gave him extraordinary strength, speed and many other gifts. They brothers dueled, and the eldest brother and his most fervent supporters were defeated and exiled.

The youngest ruled in peace for several years, helping the poorer citizens rebuild from the war and the years of abuse and even founding the great Uyay Academy, a prestigious school for all who wanted to enter the service of the kingdom, whether that be in the form of soldiers, doctors, political advisors and more. Even the rulers of other kingdoms sent their children to the school. When he eventually became too old to rule, the king passed on his crown and the sword to someone equally brave, smart and kind, and the cycle repeated for many years. A new era had begun in this kingdom, an era that was full of peace and happiness Until the eighth king.

He was a warrior called All Might, who used the sword well but was also a kind day, he decided to go on a quest to try to find where the sword came from. He appointed his second, a cruel man called Endeavor, to rule instead. All Might never returned, and the kingdom started to fall apart.

Endeavor was a harsh ruler, who didn't care much for his subjects. With him in charge, intolerance for any being that was not human spread. Demons and thieves consistently attacked small villages and patrolled roads. The kingdom began to crumble.

The only hope for the kingdom was for the sword to be found and a new ruler crowned. But even if, by some miracle, it appeared, who would be worthy to wield it?

Izuku ran up the mountain towards his house- a pretty building with brown and green walls- from the village. "Mom!" he called as he ran through the door.

The green-haired older woman ran into the front room, looking panicked for a second before relaxing when she saw that her son was not dying or looking panicked. "What's wrong, Izuku?"

"Kacchan just returned to the village! With a dragon!"

"A what?"

"I don't know where he found it, but Tanisha told everyone at the market that she'd seen him in the woods, and that he had this huge dragon with him!"

Inko smiled. Of course he'd found a dragon. "Are you asking me if you can have the rest of the afternoon off?"

"Could I?" Izuku realized that he should probably be helping his mother make her medicines, but there was a dragon! Plus Kacchan, his old best friend, was finally back!

Luckily, she understood. "Of course, Izuku. Be back by nightfall!"

"I will! Thanks, Mom!" As her son raced out the door, Inko sighed. Her son didn't get many chances to show that much excitement lately. He was fifteen now, and for the past few years he'd been so serious all the time. She missed his childlike enthusiasm. Even though that hadn't lasted as long as it should've either.

Inko was an elf, who had traveled to Uyay at a young age. She had met a kind man, and thought he loved her. But he didn't, and when he found out she was pregnant he left her, not wanting the shame of having a half-elf child. Even Inko's parents had disapproved. She couldn't take the scorn of her close-knit village, so she'd moved out here. But here they didn't hate Izuku for being half-elf- they hated him just for having any elf blood. They were the only elves anywhere nearby. The woman knew that her son didn't have many friends growing up. The human children made fun of him for his green hair and pointy ears. But Inko was the best healer for miles, so the villagers tolerated her.

And Izuku was a great help- always willing to go find herbs in the woods, dry them, mash them, whatever his mother needed. He was very bright and could easily remember recipes and ingredients. He just… didn't want to be a healer. He wanted to be an adventurer, like a knight or a sorcerer. But he didn't have a sponsor to become a knight, and he had no magic. Inko hated it, but Izuku might be stuck for the rest of his life here, in a village that didn't want him. And once Inko died, he would be all alone.

It was any mother's worst nightmare.

The village's center was packed with people, all anxious to see the dragon. Most of them had never seen one before, only hearing the legends and myths. All of them were wondering how Katsuki Bakugo, the little kid who'd run off two years ago in search of treasure, had ended up with a dragon. Well, except Izuku. To him, that sounded like the exact sort of thing Kacchan would do.

The crowd went quiet as the nearby trees shook, as if something big was walking through them. Slowly. Really slowly. Like it wasn't trying to destroy anything. That wasn't at all like the dragons in stories. And then it appeared.

A magnificent red beast, with red eyes and long, curved claws. Some of the younger children cried out in fear as it stared at the village, like it didn't want to risk entering the cluster of buildings and hurt someone. And on its back was Kacchan. He was wearing a vest made out of fur and exotic jewelry, and he surveyed the village with the same old look of contempt. "Tch," he grumbled. "Same old dump."

The crowds cheered. They'd never had a hero come from one of their villages, and while they weren't quite sure if Kacchan had actually done something heroic, he had a dragon! That had to count for something, right? They all eagerly swarmed him, chanting and offering him food. The boy just shrugged it off, scoffing. "I'm not here to stay, extras, just here to make sure my folks know I'm alive! Calm down!"

"Katsuki!" His mother stormed out of the crowd, glaring. "What did I tell you about manners?"

"Nothing, hag! You-"

"I see you haven't improved while you were away! You're still a disrespectful little-"

"Shut up!"

Izuku sighed. Good to know Kacchan was still the same.

The dragon appeared to be being slightly stressed by all this attention, huffing out smoke and fidgeting. Kacchan seemed to realize this. "Well, you know I'm alive!" he yelled at his mother. "Bye!" The dragon and the boy took off into the air, leaving behind a crowd of screaming villagers and a very pissed woman.

Izuku shook his head. His friend was probably crazy. He snuck back out of the village and up the mountain before anyone saw him, and there was a dragon in the clearing outside. The boy did a double take, but the dragon seemed content to stay there, looking at him. Izuku nervously went inside.

Inko was talking to Kacchan in the main room, looking confused. "-sorry, but I don't know of any medicines that can help with that. But magic isn't my speciality. Maybe there's a witch you can talk to?"

Kacchan sighed, looking annoyed. "None of them know either. Just thought you might've heard some elfy-thing at some point."

"I'm sorry, Katsuki, but I haven't heard anything that I can remember. But I'll send you a message if I do."

Izuku didn't want them to catch him listening, so he shut the door hard behind him as he entered the house. His mother turned to him, smiling. "Oh, Izuku! Katsuki just agreed to stay for dinner!"

"No I didn't," the blond boy mumbled, but no one listened to him. And besides, he'd listen to Inko. He'd been coming over since the boys were five, right after they'd started school. Most of the kids had made fun of Izuku or just ignored him because of his half-elf-ness. Even some of his teachers in the one-room school were disdainful of him. But Kacchan hadn't been. He'd been rude, of course, but not any more ruder than he had been to anyone else. Once, when Izuku had been targeted by older bullies while walking home from school, Kacchan had even stopped them. He'd done that a few more times over the years. He also started coming over to Izuku's house and the two had played knights and heroes in the woods. Some nights he even slept over, when the blond's mother was being particularly… herself.

About two years ago, though, a stranger had come through talking about a great quest to find some great treasure. He'd left a map behind and Kacchan had found it. Even then he'd been strong, with a gift for fire magic. Not quite sorcerer level, but close. He'd run off to complete this quest and become a hero. SInce then, reports had trickled into the village about how he now called himself the Dragon King since he, you know, had somehow found one of the only dragons left in existence, and went around scorching bad guys and searching for adventure. People told their children about the Dragon King at night, the brave boy from their village who risked his life for glory. And Izuku and the few others who knew him well laughed.

Dinner went well. As usual, it was rabbit (which was relatively easy for Izuku to catch) and vegetables from the garden. At first Izuku was worried that it'd be too simple for Kacchan after months of (probably) eating with kings and nobles, but he seemed to enjoy the meal. A few minutes later, Kacchan stood up. "I gotta go. Things to see. People to deal with."

Inko looked disappointed. "Katsuki, I'm sure the world won't end if you stay one more night!"

"My dragon-"

"-will be perfectly safe here. I'm sure you're tired, and-"

"NO."

"C'mon, Kacchan, just for one night!"

Kacchan sighed. Loudly. He marched outside without saying anything. Izuku looked at his mother, who shrugged. A few minutes later, the blond boy returned. "The dragon's going to hunt in the woods," he said, sounding very exasperated. "He won't kill anyone. Probably."

That was… something?

For the rest of the evening, Inko prepared medicines while the two boys caught up. At first Kacchan didn't talk much, but after much begging he was happy to tell the other boy tales of his heroic, violent deeds. It was amazing. Kacchan was so capable, able to do magic and think on his feet. Izuku… was not. He believed that his friend would go on to become one of the greatest heroes in the world. Izuku would not.

A few hours after the boys went to bed, Izuku woke up. He wasn't sure why, he just had a feeling. It was similar to the way he'd felt right before the tornado had come through three years ago. Later, his mother had explained to him that he had a rare gift called elf-sense, which gave elves the ability to sense danger before it happened. It wasn't very useful, because it didn't tell him what the danger would be. But anyway.

Something was happening outside. He knew that with absolute certainty. The boy slipped out of bed, quietly walked around Kacchan's sleeping bag, and walked to the door of the cottage, grabbing his hunting knife as he went.

It was cold, and Izuku could barely see through the darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the dragon, rearing up on its hind legs. It looked agitated. Which probably had something to do with the other figure standing behind it.

It looked like the man was attempting to climb onto the dragon's back. And the dragon was twisting back and forth, trying to throw him off, but its wings looked like they were stuck to its side with a strange substance..

Before he fully realized what he was doing, Izuku yelled, "Hey!" and ran at the man with his tiny knife. The man, who was tall with brown hair, turned to look at his skeptically, laughing as he made out the figure of the short boy in the dark. He easily grabbed Izuku, pulling him into a chokehold.

"You won't ruin this for me, kid," he hissed. "I'm going to get this dragon, and then I'm going to become legendary- more than the dragon king, but the dragon emperor!" Izuku decided that this was definitely classified as evil person talk, but there wasn't much he could do. The man was making it hard for him to yell for help, he'd dropped his knife, and the dragon's wings were still stuck and it was beginning to look like its mouth was stuck too. Izuku should've woken up Kacchan as soon as he saw the man, but noooo. Instead he had charged an adult man with a knife meant for skinning rabbits! Why did he do this to himself?

The man pulled a small sword out of its scabbard next to his waist and lifted it to the boy's neck. Izuku braced himself for it to make contact with his skin when-

-out of nowhere a figure appeared. Tall and strong-looking, the figure carried a glowing sword. Those were unusual.

The thief cursed. "And who are you?"

"Simply a man who wishes to help a child in need!" the man boomed. His voice was strong and confident. He didn't look surprised to see a dragon. Plus he had a glowing sword. It looked a bit like the stories Inko used to tell Izuku about the Ruling Sword, the magic sword found by the younger brother and entrusted to each of the new rulers. Wait… was this…

The thief didn't seem to either know about the old stories or care. He just laughed. "I don't have time for you, knight!"

"Why don't you just let go of the boy, and then we can talk about what you want?"

The thief dropped Izuku. Then he ran at the man with the glowing sword with his sword. That… was probably not the best plan. WIth one swipe of the weapon, the smaller blade was hurled into the trees. The thief wasn't at all injured, just startled. He tried to hit the man's arm and make him drop the sword, but within moments the blade was at his throat.

"I see you are the typically 'all talk' kind of thief, correct?" the man asked dryly. He turned to Izuku. "Young man, is there a prison nearby?"

Before the green haired boy could answer, the thief moved one hand, quickly yelling a spell. Izuku's elf sense started screaming at him. He looked up to see the brown goop on the dragon falling out of the sky, heading straight for him. He wouldn't have time to duck out of the way. He wondered if it was poisonous, or if it'd just suffocate him.

Before he could find out, he saw a streak of light and then the goop was separated into two parts, falling safely to either side of him. He turned to see the sword-man smiling at him. Hadn't he just been about ten feet away literally seconds ago? "Fear not, young man!" he said confidently. "Everything is ok, because I am here!" This man… was like a real life hero. Like the kind Izuku idolized when he was younger.

This was… the awesomest thing ever!

The man turned around and looked towards the trees. It looked like the thief had run off. He frowned and started to run towards the trees but stumbled. He fell to one knee, coughing.

Izuku's eyes widened. The coughing sounded like some of Inko's patients, the ones who were really sick. Was this man sick? But he hadn't seemed sick seconds before, when he'd used the glowing sword… which brought up another matter: where did he get a glowing sword?

It couldn't possibly be the Ruling Sword… could it?

"Are you alright, young man?" he asked. Izuku was still a little bit in shock, but he nodded. The man looked out towards the thief, but he'd already disappeared into the woods. The man sighed, turning to the dragon. "Do you think you'll be able to get that stuff off your face and wings?" The dragon nodded. Izuku wasn't aware that that was a thing dragons did, but it definitely nodded. The man nodded back. "Good. Farewell, young man and dragon." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Izukuy wasn't entirely sure why he'd asked the man to stop, but he did, looking curious. The boy swallowed. "Are you… are you King All Might?"

The man sighed again. "How'd you guess, young man? The glowing sword?"

Izuku stared at him. "But… where have you been for the past ten years?"

"Trying to find where the sword comes from. It took a bit longer than I expected."

"Did you find out?"

"No. I didn't." The man looked sad for a second. "You should return to bed. That thief will not return tonight." Then he turned and left, with no warning whatsoever. Izuku was left standing alone in the clearing.

What… just happened?

Izuku didn't tell anyone about the man. Neither did the dragon, apparently, or else Kacchan would have been ten times more pissed. The two boys, Inko, and the dragons stood in the clearing early the next morning. Inko forced tons of food onto Kacchan, and he forced one hundred gold coins onto her. Then, with a "See you later, Deku," Izuku's friend took off into the sky.

Inko smiled, shaking her head. "That boy was always so… adventurous. It's barely surprising he found a dragon." She laughed to herself, humming as she went back inside to work. Izuku stayed out, watching the dragon get further and further away. He felt… something. Not quite sure what. It was a vague sense of…

Danger.

Some brownish substance appeared in thin air right above Kacchan and the dragon, about a mile away. Izuku's eyes widened as it fell, and the two trapped under it fell too, vanishing into the treetops on the mountain. From where the green-haired boy stood, it looked like the substance the thief had summoned last night.

Izuku didn't think, just ran. Again. This time he didn't even grab a weapon. He just ran into the woods, going in the general direction he'd seen Kacchan crash. He could be fast when he needed to be. As he got closer, he heard the sound of someone yelling and muffled explosions. He ran faster.

The dragon had knocked over several trees when it landed, creating a small clearing. It was still thrashing, but its legs were stuck together by the brown goop. Kacchan was also restrained. It apparently stopped him from using his fire magic, and his sword had ended up with the thief somehow. He was still kicking around as best he could, though. The thief was standing over him, looking bored and faintly irritated. He raised the sword. The dragon thrashed harder, but Kacchan just stared at him, defiant.

Izuu didn't think, just ran. He jumped onto the back of the thief, pulling him backwards sharply. The bigger man didn't go very far, but he was no longer directly over the other boy so, y'know, progress? The thief cursed, slamming Izuku against a tree. The boy fell to the ground, dazed, as the thief loudly growled. Actually growled. "What is with you, stupid kid? Do you have a death wish or something? If you had just let me take the dragon last night, we wouldn't be here right now! I don't want to have to kill kids, but I don't have a choice!"

"You could just… not steal the dragon?"

The thief snarled. "Oh you're real funny, aren't ya? When I have you hostage, no one will stop me as I burn this mountain to the ground! Wouldn't that be funny?"

"Step away from the boy!" a voice boomed from a few feet away. Everyone turned to see the man with the glowing sword. He held it high, pointing it at the thief. "Or else we will have to fight, and I think we both know who would win that."

"Of course I'm not releasing my hostage, old man! If you wanna help him, come over and help him!"

The man rushed forward, at a speed that couldn't be natural. He grabbed Izuku and thrust him out of the way before the thief had time to react. The two began to duel, but the man with the glowing sword obviously had the upper hand. The boy scurried over to Kacchan and began trying to pull off the goop on his face and around his arms. It wasn't coming off, and the blond boy was just getting more and more irritated.

"Ah!"

Izuku jerked his head over to see that the man with the glowing sword had… lost? He was kneeling on the ground, clutching his side, his sword several feet away. The thief looked equally confused, but laughed. "You hurt, old man? Want me to call a doctor?" The man was trying to get to his sword, but there wasn't time. The thief was already aiming his sword at his throat.

It was surreal, what happened next. Like something out of one of the adventure stories that he'd loved and, if he was being totally honest, still loved. Izuku clambered to his feet, rushing towards the sword, which seemed to pulse as he approached, shifting from dark blue to emerald green. That… may have been a good sign, maybe a bad one. Izuku didn't know enough about magic swords to tell. He grabbed the blade, and rushed at the thief.

He was filled with a strange sense of giddy power, like he was the strongest in the world. Like he could do anything. Izuku jumped, higher than he'd ever jumped before, the sword like an extension of his arm. The side of the blade smacked into the thief's head. He folded to the ground, unconscious.

The man stared at him. "You… used the sword…"

"Oh, is that bad? I'm sorry! I just reacted, and didn't really-"

"No. It is… a very good thing."

Izuku was about to ask him what he was talking about, but he was distracted by the sound of Kacchan grunting muffledly. He quickly went over and cut the goop off of his friend before moving on to the dragon.

"Deku! Shitty nerd! What did that asshole mean when he said that he tried to take my dragon last night and you didn't tell me? Why the hell would you just rush in like that? When did you learn to use a sword like that?" Little fires flared around the blond boy before disappearing. Izuku was very used to this and just ignored him as kacchan kept cursing loudly and yelling at him.

"Listen, young man, do your parents live near here?" the man asked quickly.

"Yeah, my mom lives in the house next to that clearing from last night." Very quickly Izuku realized that he had just told a complete stranger where his mother lived, and that was probably not the best plan, but he wasn't incredibly worried. He trusted this man.

The man sighed, and sat down. "I need to tell you something."

"... ok?"

"Will you hand me the sword?" After Izuku did that, the man continued. "This is… the Ruling Sword."

"... yeah, I know."

"Really?"

"Well you don't exactly see many glowing swords around here, sir. Especially swords which apparently belong to King All Might" Pause. Pause.

"Which is stupid!" Kacchan yelled from where he stood a few feet away. "All Might's dead! There's no way he'd let Endeavor rule if he were still alive! I mean, have you even seen what that asshole is doing to the kingdom?" He glared at the man accusingly.

All Might looked guilty for a second. "I am sorry, young man. I am a coward. I deserted my kingdom when it needed me. I deserve all of your judgement. But I am King All Might. You know the legend of the Ruling Sword- it'll only work for the true ruler."

"But why did you leave?" Izuku couldn't believe this. One of the great kings he'd always idolized… as a young man, All Might had driven back the Frue from the next kingdom over. Many spoke of his kindness and generosity. So why had he left?

"I left because…" All Might took a deep breath. "I wanted to go find the older brother."

"Yeah right! The older brother's been dead for centuries, idiot!"

"I wish he were. But he wasn't. I had heard rumors of him from the north- rumors of a shadowy group attacking villages and killing innocents. They called themselves the League of Villains, and I had an instinct that, even though they weren't anywhere near Uyay, they were still a threat. I told the kingdom I was going to find the origin of the sword and went to track down the man. And… I found him.

"He was one of the greatest dark magic sorcerers who ever lived. He had figured out a way to take the life forces of innocents and use them to keep himself alive, and he was coming here. We fought, and I was able to injure and delay him, but… he did this to me first." All Might raised his tunic, and Izuku gasped. On the man's stomach was a gaping wound, bloodied and infected by the looks of it. A strange blue light encircled it.

"The only reason I'm alive is because of the sword's power. I couldn't present myself to the kingdom and its enemies in this state! I thought the best course of action was to hide and search for someone else who could take up the sword. The headmaster of Uyay agreed to help me, as well as others. But it failed. For the past six years, my search has failed. Until…" he man looked straight at Izuku.

"W-what? Me?"

"Yes you. The sword has declared you the true leader and protector of Uyay." Izuku stared at him for a second before the silence was broken by-

"What the hell?"

Kacchan stormed up, glaring at the man. "What do you mean, Deku's the next king? He can't even fight! He's not an adventurer, he's a healer's son! He can't-"

"With the sword, the boy has a natural talent for fighting." Kacchan just gaped as All Might turned back to Izuku. "The fact that you rushed in with no weapon or magic to help your friend-'

"And I was doing fine on my own!"

"-is admirable. You seem like a brave boy, one who has the heart of a hero. So, what is your name?"

"I-Izuku Midoriya," the boy gasped. He couldn't believe this. It was crazy! He couldn't be the next king of Uyay! He was a half-elf with no magic. He didn't have a father, and his mother was a healer in a tiny mountain village. He had never even used a sword before today.

But… the sword had felt right in his hands. It felt like it belonged to him. He had used it like a master knight. That wasn't natural. And if this man was telling the truth, and this really was the ruling sword… he did look a bit like All Might. A bit skinnier, perhaps, but this man definitely looked very similar to the pictures Izuku used to see. The boy didn't realize that he was crying until Kacchan scoffed.

Izuku had a chance to become a hero.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now, you go to Uyay Academy." The two boys both stared at All Might.

"What?"

"Well, I can teach you the basics of being a king and a warrior, but the rest you have to learn through schooling. It's tradition for the Wielder of the Ruling Sword to attend the Academy. I have already informed the headmaster, Nezu, that I may be sending a new student his way soon. After the quest, of course."

"What quest?"

"The two Wielders, the old and the new, must go on a quest together. The old one trains the younger one in the basic things they need to know before sending them off to Uyay."

A quest? No one ever mentioned a quest in the stories about the Wielders. Izuku had always wanted to go on a quest. He grinned, excited. "All right, just let me go ask-"

"Stop right there, nerd." Kacchan raised his hand, cutting the other boy off, before turning to All Might. "I don't trust you. You're some rando who just showed up with a sword and told this idiot over here that he was going to be a king. Now, it's not that I don't believe you- there's no way Deku can fight like that normally- but he has zero survival instincts. And, if you're just picking some random idiot in the woods to be the next king of a fucking country, you probably don't either. Someone needs to keep the dumbass alive. " He crossed his arms. "That's why you are coming on my quest."

All Might looked confused. "Your quest? What are you talking about, young…"

"Bakugo. I'm the great Dragon King. Heard of me?" Kacchan didn't wait for an answer. "I'm looking for a witch who can make a specific potion for me. You two can come with me, and you can train him or whatever while I make sure Deku doesn't get carried off by some demon. That good?"

Izuku was well aware that the final question was fully rhetorical. All Might seemed to grasp that too as he smiled slightly and nodded. "Very well, young Bakugo. We will accompany you on your quest." Suddenly, he gasped and looked at Izuku. "Young Midoriya, I forgot to ask if you actually want to do this! It's alright if you don't, but please, do not feel like you have to accept half heartedly. It will be a long process, and at the end you may end up responsible for a kingdom."

Izuku couldn't believe how much his life had changed in the course of one morning. He had met All Might, who had told Izuku he was destined to be the next king. Izuku wasn't really sure he wanted that [position… but then he thought of all of the bad things that had been happening while King Endeavor was in charge. All of the demons and bigotry… that man could not continue to rule. He met the man's eyes after thinking for a few seconds. "I'll do it."

All Might grinned even wider. "Good." For a few seconds, Izuku felt overjoyed. He had a future and a chance to be great! And then he remembered something vital, and his eyes widened.

"My mother's going to freak out."

Well, how'd y'all like that? I may lose interest in this story soon… but I'll try to keep it going. Also in this AU Kacchan is a better friend because it's my AU and I'm not a good enough writer to handle their canon relationship. Anyway, please leave a review if you have constructive criticisms, words of encouragement of plot suggestions! Later, potaters!