Deku the Hero of Smite: Chapter 2
By: jungleboy69
Chapter 2: An Act of Pure Courage
Inko didn't know why her son chose that strange book in the bookstore or where he got the amulet around his neck, but Izuku told her that it was a gift. Nevertheless, she took him to the park just as she had planned.
Upon arrival, she saw the other children already playing, some of Izuku's friends were among them. "Look, sweetie, some of your friends are by the playground." She said cheerfully, resting a hand on her son's shoulder and pointing at the other kids. "Why don't you go say hi to them? I'm sure they'll love it if you join them."
Izuku just stared despondently at the kids. "Yeah...sure mom." He spoke softly. Inko frowned worriedly. "Izuku, at least..." She started. "It's okay, mom." Izuku replied softly. "You don't have to say anything." With that, he opened the car door, hopped out and approached the playground.
Inko sighed heavily as she watched her son walk pass the other children and sat on the swings by himself. Grabbing her purse, she stepped out of the car and walked towards a nearby bench. Sitting down, all she could do was watch as her son sat quietly on the swing, ignoring all the other children that constantly ran pass him.
Meanwhile, Izuku was thinking about the strange woman he met at the bookstore and her strange words. He looked down at the amulet around his neck, gently running his finger over the carvings on them. "What did she mean by that?" He thought. "Why would she think I can be a hero without a quirk?"
"Could I really be a hero?" He wondered. "A hero who doesn't need a quirk?" He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice someone approach him. "Hey, hey, why are you sitting here all by yourself?" Izuku snapped out of his thoughts and looked to see a little girl about his age looking at him curiously with large, round, brown eyes.
She had fair skin and shoulder-length brown hair that was bobbed and curved inwards at the end, with two longer clumps in the shape of her cheeks and short bangs that reached a quarter down on her forehead. "Uh...hello there." Izuku stuttered, a little surprised.
"You aren't even swinging, what's up with that?" The girl asked as she stood right next to Izuku, making him turn red in embarrassment. "Are you sick or something? Do you know how to swing?" "No... nothing like that..." Izuku muttered. "I'm just thinking about something."
"Really?!" She asked, climbing on the swing next to him and swinging back and forth. "What's it about?!" "Say, that's a pretty pendant!" She added, noticing the amulet around his neck. "Where did you get it?"
"Oh, this" Izuku explained. "It's a gift from someone." The girl leaned in closer. "It's pretty; I like the carvings on it." She looked at Izuku with a wide smile. "Do you want to play?" She asked. "Uh...sure." Izuku replied, smiling back. "What do you want to play?"
"I want to play catch!" The girl proclaimed, before running over to a nearby bag and digging through it. A few minutes later, she returned with a small red and pink ball. "I just got this new ball and I want to play with it."
"Okay, that sounds like fun..." Izuku replied, feeling happy for the first time after two weeks. Stepping closer, he extended his hand towards the girl. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, by the way." He introduced himself. "Nice to meet you!"
"My name is Ochako Uraraka!" The girl replied, her smile widening as she eagerly shook Izuku's hand. As Izuku shook Uraraka's hand, he couldn't help but notice she had small pads on her fingers, like a dog or a cat's paw.
From the bench, Inko smiled at the sight, glad to see her son was making a new friend. "Seems our kids are hitting off nicely." The latter jumped and turned to see a middle-aged couple smiling at her. "Sorry about that!" The woman replied. "That little girl over there is our daughter, Ochako! We saw you watching them and I figured you were that boy's mother."
"Yeah, that's my son, Izuku." Inko replied, smiling back. "He's been depressed lately, so I thought taking him to the park would cheer him up." Ochako's parents grew surprised. "A young kid like that," Ochako's father asked. "What's he got to be upset about?"
Inko tensed slightly and looked down. "I'm not sure if I should talk about it." She replied. "What's wrong?" Ochako's mother asked in concern. "Maybe, we can help you." Inko sighed and shook her head. "I don't think anyone can help me or my son..." She replied.
Ochako's parents looked at each other. "You know," The father spoke up. "I may not be the best conversationalist, but I am a good listener..." "So, if you have something on your mind, my wife and I will gladly our ears." He added.
"Well..." Inko muttered as she gripped the fabric of her pants. After a few moments of thought, she eased up slightly and her shoulders relaxed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to talk about it."
"Hey, Izuku!" Ochako exclaimed. "Wanna see something cool!?" She grabbed the ball with both hands and the pads on her fingers began to glow faintly pink. With a bright grin, Ochako tossed the ball to Izuku, purposely throwing it low to the ground.
To Izuku's shock, the ball began to rise instead of hitting the ground. "My quirk can make things I touch unaffected by gravity! Pretty cool, right!?" "Yeah...cool" Izuku muttered as he caught the ball, feeling it trying to rise out of his hands.
"She has a quirk too..." He thought. "Of course she does, she's not a quirk-less loser like me..." Anger and jealousy swelled inside of him. "Why does this happen to me?! Why can't I get a quirk?! Why can't I be a hero and help people?!"
Growling in frustration, Izuku cocked his arm back and threw the ball as hard as he could. It flew pass Ochako, floating higher and higher into the air. Both children watched as it ascended into the air, passing the nearby trees. "Oh shoot, I forgot about her quirk!" Izuku thought, regaining his senses.
"It's okay Izuku, I can deactivate my quirk." Ochako said as she pressed her fingers together, a similar pink glow enveloping her hands. Moments later, the ball began to fall towards the ground. "Don't worry, I'll get the ball!" She added, racing after it. "It's just a bad throw!"
"No... I was being a jerk..." Izuku thought as he clenched his fists tightly and looked down at his feet, feeling guilty at his outburst. "Ochako just wants to be my friend, I shouldn't be jealous because she has a quirk. I should-"
*SCREEEEEEEEEE!*
Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of screeching tires. Looking up, his eyes widened in horror as he saw Ochako was chasing her ball to the middle of the street, with a car barreling towards her. "Oh no, she's going to get hit! What should I do?! What would All-Might do?!"
Without a second thought, Izuku took off running towards Ochako, his body seemingly moving on its own. By now, Ochako had managed to catch her ball, but failed to notice that she was in the middle of the street and unaware of the danger she was in.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down as Ochako felt someone shove her. Regaining her footing and spinning around, her eyes widened when she saw that it was Izuku who had pushed her. But before she could react, the car collided into him much to her horror.
"IZUKU!" Ochako screamed in terror as the car came to a screeching halt. "Izuku!" She screamed as she hurried to check on him...only to stop when she noticed the car's wheels still turning but not moving forward.
She heard some grunting and to her shock, she saw Izuku standing in front of the car, his hands on the car-hood and he looked like he was pushing it back. "Izuku..." She stammered. "You're...you're..."
"Ochako...!" Izuku grunted, straining and sweating as hard as he could. "Run...! Get...help!" "What about you?!" Ochako protested, not wanting to leave her new friend. "Never mind...about me!" Izuku told her. "Just...get...help!"
The car screeched louder and moved forward slightly. Izuku gritted his teeth as he felt his feet digging into the hard road. Not knowing what else to do, Ochako did what any kid would do. "MOMMY! MOMMY, DADDY PLEASE HELP!"
"That was Ochako!" Her mother said worriedly, bolting out of her seat. Looking around, she noticed the kids weren't in sight. "Where did they go?!" "Oh no, where's Izuku..." Inko asked as she got off the bench and frantically looked around. "We have to find them!"
"Don't worry!" Ochako's father assured the two women. "He was with Ochako, so if we find her, we'll probably find Izuku too!" The parents took off in the direction of Ochako's screams. By the time they found her, a small crowd had gathered on the street.
The three parents found themselves staring at a shocking sight. Izuku was standing in front of a car, holding it in place while it was trying to run him down. "IZUKU!" Inko screamed in horror. "What are you doing?! Run!"
Izuku grunted as he felt his feet slipping. "I'm not going to fail!" He thought. "I don't care if Kacchan thinks I'm a loser! I don't care if I never get a quirk!" As he did, his hands began to glow slightly in a golden light and he gripped tightly on the bottom of the car's hood.
The car creaked and began to lift by its front wheels. "Izuku, what are you...?!" Ochako asked. "I don't care if what anyone says!" The former yelled. "I'm going to be a HERO!" "RRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!" Izuku let out a mighty roar and with all his might, he lifted the car off the ground and held it up high over his head!
The whole crowd gasped in shock, particularly Inko, Ochako and her parents. Just then, the sounds of screeching tires and wailing sirens filled the air. At that moment, the crowd turned and were astounded to see All-Might land in the crowd.
"HAHAHA! No need to fear, citizens, for I am-" All-Might stopped short and his jaw dropped to see a little green-haired boy carrying a car over his head, as if it was made of feathers. "Sweet mother of-!" He called out in shock.
"All-Might!" The latter blinked and looked at the boy under the car. "Sorry to bother you..." Izuku asked. "Would you give me a hand and take the criminal out of the car?!" "Oh, of course!" All-Might replied, before ripping the car's door off and yanking the driver out of the seat.
"Thank you!" Izuku yelled and with all his might, he flipped the car over his shoulder, and it landed on its side with a loud *SMASH!*. The entire crowd even All-Might were astounded by this. "There..." Izuku panted, sweating like crazy. "It's...over..." He trailed off before he collapsed to the ground.
"IZUKU!" Inko screamed, hurrying over to her son and cradling him in her arms. "Izuku, Izuku, wake up! Speak to me!" "Is he alright?!" Ochako asked, approaching them with a worried look. "I don't know!" Inko replied, hysterically. "He's not breathing!"
All-Might's heart sank at the sight. Rage boiled inside him as he turned to the frightened criminal. "What have you done?!" He bellowed at him. "I didn't do anything!" The criminal squealed. "That kid just came out of nowhere! It's his own fault!" This infuriated All-Might further.
"Tell that to the court!" He roared, cocking a fist back and with one powerful punch, knocked the criminal unconscious. Throwing him roughly on the ground, he turned his attention to Inko and Ochako. Upon a closer look, he could see the unconscious boy who was now so pale that All-Might feared he was already dead
"Ma'am, may I check on something?" He asked, placing a comforting hand on Inko's shoulder. Inko gasped, realizing that she was in the presence of Japan's No.1 Hero. "Please, ma'am, would you mind if I check on your son?" All-Might asked again.
Inko stared at All-Might for what seemed like an eternity, tears streaming down her cheeks. But eventually and reluctantly, she nodded her head and gently handed over Izuku to All-Might. Placing his ear against the boy's chest, he was relieved to hear a faint heartbeat
"Ma'am, your boy's heart is still beating, but he needs help fast." All-Might told Inko. "With your permission, I'll take him to the hospital. I can get there faster than an ambulance would."
"Please..." Inko croaked out, sobbing uncontrollably as she clutched onto All-Might's pant leg. "Please, I beg of you! Please save my son!" "You have my word." All-Might replied, clutching Izuku tightly before he leapt to the air.
In all the excitement, no one seemed to notice an old woman watching from the sidelines. Her grey eyes watching All-Might as he bounded with the boy in his arms. "So, you have unleashed the powers of the amulet, young Izuku." She muttered quietly. "Impressive, no one has been able to withstand the raw power...of a god."
"Hoo! Hoo!" A white tawny owl flew down from a branch of a nearby tree and landed on her shoulder. "Oh hush, Bubo..." The old woman chided the owl. "Have faith, that boy wishes to be a hero more than anything."
"Besides, he willingly risked his life to safe that girl without a second thought." She added. "That's what a true hero should be." "After all, isn't it the Pantheon Alliance duty to watch over humanity?" She asked, making the owl hoot softly and rub against her face.
She smiled as she patted it on the head. "You have a great destiny ahead of you, young Midoriya." She added. "I look forward to seeing you again." With that, she closed her eyes and raising her arms. Suddenly, she began to shrink and Bubo lifted off her shoulder.
Feathers sprouted from her body and her arms became wings. Her feet grew sharp talons, and her face grew rounder with her nose and lips fusing together to form a hooked beak. Finally, her grey eyes grew larger and the transformation was complete.
Where the old woman was, stood a white great-horned owl. "Hoo! Hoo!" It hooted, beating its wings and lifting of the ground. Soon, the two owls were flying off into the sky.