Chapter 1 – And Then There Was One
"Why are you being so mean Kacchan?!" a freckled young boy shouts, standing defensively in front of another boy who has tears streaming down his face. "I-if you keep on hurting him, I-I'll stop you myself!" he stammered.
The target of his frustrations, Kacchan and his two friends, laughed in response. "How are you gonna do that Deku? All your quirk did was make a watch!" he shouted, glee and anger contaminating his voice in equal measure. "Are you gonna tell me the time," he mocked, "Oops, I forgot it can't even do that." The trio of bullies once more burst into laughter as tears filled Deku's eyes. He wanted to argue, to be a hero, but he knew it was pointless. Worse, he knew they were right. How was he going to stop Kacchan and his amazing quirk from doing whatever he wanted when he was powerless?
As the bullies began closing in, he realized a harsh truth of this world: not all men are created equal. Some are born more powerful than others and some are born without any power at all. But that isn't an excuse to give up, to allow the evil in the world to go unchecked. Even if it took all his willpower and amounted to nothing, he would not, could not stand by when someone needed saving. This was what 4-year-old Izuku Midoriya promised to himself, this was his first step to becoming the world's greatest hero.
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"The first known incident was in Keikei city, a baby was born who radiated light. This was the first quirk. After this, reports of babies born with superpowers started popping up in all places at a quickening place, giving rise to the age of quirks."
"Thank you, Chieko, I suppose you were listening after all" said the teacher whilst motioning for the previous speaker, a teenage girl, to sit down. "Continuing on, today we live in a superhuman society, about 80% of the population have a quirk and this numbers continues to rise each generation. Who can tell me what happened when these quirks started to become more prevalent in our society?"
"A bunch of pathetic criminals became pathetic fucking villains instead," a now teenaged Kacchan replied with a grin on his face.
"Language Bakugo, but yes with the rise of quirks came the rise of villains and then the rise of heroes." At this statement about half of the class began to cheer and holler which the teacher allowed with a slight smile on his face. As he waited for the class to calm, he reached for a stack of papers on his desk. When they were once again quiet, he spoke "As third-year students, it's time to start thinking seriously about your future, about where you want to be and what you want to do in life."
"Now I'm sure you all want to go into the hero track- "the teacher was once again cut off by raucous cheers from the class, all of them showing off the unique abilities. "Yes, yes, you've all got some impressive quirks however I should remind you that public quirk usage is still illegal. As I was saying you should all have a backup plan just in- ", for the third time in as many minutes, the teacher was cut off. This time by none other than Bakugo.
"Hey teach, don't lump me in with these pathetic extras, they would be lucky to even make it on the hero course let alone actually becoming fully-fledged heroes!" Bakugo exclaimed, spurring offended murmurs from the rest of the class. "I'm going straight to the top, to UA and I'm the only one from this shitty school who even has a chance! I'll beat All Might himself and become the number one hero. Everyone around the world will know my name and it all starts with UA High!"
"That's quite enough Bakugo. Whilst I'm proud of you and Midoriya for reaching for the top, that is no excuse to demean your fellow classmates." The class as one were stunned into silence, staring at the teacher before turning their heads to the back of the class where a nervous Izuku sat. "He's trying for UA, he's basically quirkless!" Whispers and snickers began to break out from amongst the class as they processed that Izuku Midoriya, the Deku, was going to try to get into the most prestigious hero school in the country, possibly even the world.
"DEKU! You're even worse than the rest of these extras! Your quirk is nothing but a shitty fashion statement, why would they let someone like you in when they could have the best of the best?" Bakugo shouted, enraged at Midoriya's audacity to try to compete with him. "N-no Kacchan you've got it all wrong," Izuku stammered, "I'm not trying to compete with you. It's just that I've wanted to be a hero all my life. I may not be as powerful as you but if there's a chance I have to try!"
"That's the problem Deku, you don't have a chance." Bakugo sneered.
"Enough Bakugo!" the teacher said sternly, "Now I'm going to pass out the forms…"
/
BRRIINNNG! The bell rung, signalling to the class that school was over for the day. As the teacher left and the rest of the class trickled out, only four students were left behind. "I don't know what you think you're doing Deku, but we're not done here!" Bakugo stated menacingly whilst swiping a notebook from Izuku's desk. "What is that, his diary?" the chubby student with wings asked. Written on the front of the notebook were the words 'Hero Analysis for the Future!'
"Don't tell me you're taking notes on how to be a hero? Hahaha, that's pathetic!" Bakugo exclaimed. In a fit of bravery, or stupidity, Izuku made a lunge for his notebook however he was easily side stepped and shoved onto the floor. "Listen Deku, most heroes, the real heroes, show promise early on. People see them and they know that they're destined for greatness. I'm one of those people, and you're not. I can't have you ruining my image by applying for U.A. so here's a word of advice Deku. Don't apply to U.A. or else!" said Bakugo before lobbing the notebook out of the window, directly into the pond below. Izuku just sat there, no longer even trying to defend himself.
"That's just sad," another boy with extremely long fingers said, "I thought he would at least have a little fight left in him, but I guess even he knows by now he's just a worthless Deku."
As the trio of teens were leaving, Bakugo half-turned to leave Izuku with one last comment, "Heh, if you want to be a hero that badly, there's only one thing you can do. Pray for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof." With that the bullies left Izuku alone in the classroom.
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'That idiot!' Izuku thought, 'You can't just go around telling people to kill themselves. What if I Really did it? Then he would never be a hero!' As Izuku reached down to rescue his now soggy notebook from the pond's fish, he took note of the watch on his wrist.
It was a large, thick wristwatch with mostly black and grey colouration. There were two white bands going around it, ending at the corners of the watch's faceplate. Below the faceplate was a neon green button that did nothing when pressed. The faceplate itself was a grey circle with a green hourglass symbol inside of it.
'What a useless quirk,' Izuku thought, 'It can't even tell the time!'
/
"Mom, mom look!" A younger Izuku screamed in happiness holding up his arm so that his mother could see what had happened. With a bright, green glow Izuku's quirk had activated for the first time, leaving his previously bare wrist adorned with a futuristic looking watch. "Izuku! My little baby's growing up," Inko Midoriya stated, "When did this happen?"
"I was watching my favourite All Might video and there was a green light and then the watch was there and then I ran to come tell you! Now that I have a quirk, I can be a hero like All Might!" Izuku rambled. "Of course you can sweetie, but what does it do?"
'Unfortunately, that was the problem. Over the last decade, I must have spent months trying to get the watch to do anything, but it just sits there.' Izuku moaned internally, 'None of the quirk specialists we went to could figure out what it was supposed to do, and I think mom just gave up at some point.'
"Mom, I-I can still be a hero, right? Like All Might?" Izuku, tearfully asked his mother.
"Izuku, I'm so sorry."
'That's not what I needed her to say. My dreams were shattering around me, I had no one who believed in me. I didn't even believe in myself. So, I gave up. At least until that day in the park, when I stood up to Kacchan despite knowing I was powerless. That was the day I made a promise that I would become a hero whatever it takes.'
/
As Izuku was about to enter a tunnel on his way home, he was interrupted by a loud gurgling sound coming from a nearby drain cover. Seconds later a green being made of dark green sludge burst from the drain, laughing boastfully before turning its putrid yellow eyes towards Izuku's shocked form. "Oho! You will make a nice skin suit for me to hide in. Be still and this will all be over for you soon," the sludge man stated ominously. Before Izuku could even think of running, the sludge surrounded him, covering his face and restricting his breathing. Izuku tried to struggle but the villain just laughed, "I'm only taking your body. It'll be easier for both of us if you just accept it. It'll only hurt for a minute!"
'I … can't … breathe,' Izuku thought desperately whilst his struggles weakened, 'My body … I'm dying.' "Hahaha, you're my hero kid," were the last words Izuku heard before his vision faded…
Pat. Pat. Pat. Izuku groaned as he regained consciousness due to the hand insistently patting his face. "Come on kid, you can do it," a familiar voice said. Izuku's eyes snapped open, staring straight into the eyes of his hero, All Might. "Am I in heaven?" Izuku questioned, still in awe of the hero standing in front of him. All Might let out a booming laugh, "HAHAHA! No, my boy. You had a nasty run in with a villain I was chasing, but I arrived before any serious damage was done." All Might replied, his signature smile still stretched across his face. That was when Izuku noticed All Might holding two bottles, filled with a familiar green sludge.
'All Might is standing right in front of me. All Might saved me from a villain. I almost died! But All Might saved me and now he's standing right there!' Izuku internally fanboyed before making a mad scramble for his notebook which was lying on the floor. "Please, sign my notebook!" Izuku shouted, quickly flipping to the first empty page. Except it wasn't empty, All Might's signature was already scrawled over a double page spread! All Might's laughter snapped Izuku out of his trance, "Thank you so much, this will be a family heirloom, a treasure passed down for generations to come!" All Might once again let out a laugh, "Well, I've got to get this evil doer to the station. Stay out of trouble, see you around."
"Wait … you're leaving already?"
"A hero's work is never ending young man we are constantly fighting time as well as out enemies! Now stand back I'm about to take off."
'I can't let him leave yet, there's so many questions I still need to ask him.' He thought.
"WAIT!" Izuku shouted.
All Might turned towards him, surprised, "What is it young man?" he asked. "It's just … my quirk. It's just a watch that doesn't do anything, I'm basically quirkless. Do you think there's anyway I could still be a hero like you?" Izuku asked hopefully. All Might turned to face Izuku, his smile eerily absent. "Kid I would have died a thousand times over without my power." He said, "Without power to protect you, you would just put yourself and anyone you tried to protect into harm's way. If you genuinely want to help people, you could become a police officer. Many people look down on them but without them villains would never be put behind bars. It's a fine profession."
"It's not bad to have a dream young man, but you have to make sure it's realistic. Understand?" All Might questioned softly, leaving before he could here Izuku's answer.
"No." Izuku muttered, "I don't understand. All my life I've wanted to be a hero despite everyone telling me I couldn't, what's one more name on that list. I didn't give up ten years ago and I refuse to give up now!" That's when Izuku noticed something that had never happened. His watch, his utterly useless, unchanging watched … had changed. The once green hourglass symbol had turned yellow and was spinning rapidly. As Izuku stared at it in shock, the faceplate reverted to its previous colour before rising from the rest of the watch. Izuku briefly observed an unfamiliar silhouette before he was enveloped by a flash of green light.
When the light faded, Izuku had changed. For one, he was now taller than he used to be. For another he was bright green and seemed to be made of goo. The watches faceplate was now on his chest and some sort of small machine was hovering above him. His body was still humanoid but in no way could he be confused for a regular person. It seemed he was now living Goop.
"…WHAT THE FU- "
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AN/ First chapter of my first story not much different from canon besides the obvious: Izuku has a quirk, doesn't know about skinny might and never had to save Bakugo from the sludge villain. What does this mean for the future?