Chapter 2 - The Price of Heroism

43 years ago

"Why did you take me on as a trainee, Shimura-sensei?" asked a young 17-year-old boy to the woman who was walking beside him on a regular patrol.

"Well, in my opinion, you can never have too many heroes! It's a privilege teaching the up-and-coming generation so they can surpass the current one," came the reply, as the woman, Nana Shimura, smiled down at her student.

Nana Shimura was an athletic woman with a youthful face and a smile that could light up a room. Her voice had a kind and caring undertone to it, and her visage spoke of a patient and carefree personality.

"But won't it affect Toshinori-san's training as well?" asked the boy yet again, this time pointing to a blond-haired youth with a well-built physique who seemed about the same age as the boy.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that!" came the blond's quick reply as he waved his hands in dismissal of the boy's statement.

"Toshinori-chan is right. You needn't worry about his training," affirmed Nana. "Besides, I'm sure Gran Torino will be happy to help young Toshi train!" The latter half of her statement was accompanied by a sharp smirk.

Toshinori froze mid-step. "W-What?" he stuttered.

"He isn't that bad," exclaimed Nana. "He believes in you, and that's why he pushes you so hard."

Toshinori Yagi was all but shaking in fear by now.

Nana promptly ignored him. "Besides, you have a good heart," said Nana, continuing the previous conversation. "I can feel it!"

"Wha-" the boy was clearly dumbstruck by her statement.

The veteran hero promptly stopped in her tracks and turned back towards him. "You need to believe in yourself if you want others to believe you," she said with conviction.

"It doesn't matter what Quirk you have or how strong it is." The passion behind her words could be felt by the listeners as if it were a tangible force. "You can only be a hero if you have the heart to sacrifice all that you have. You need to be willing to suffer for the sake of others and put your lives on the line for complete strangers. That's what it truly means to be a Hero. A figurehead of hope. A ray of light in a world filled with shadows." Her white cape flowed behind her, giving her an ethereal quality.

"It takes a good heart to be a true hero, and I can see that both you and Toshinori have that heart." Nana was now addressing both–her successor-to-be and her student from another hero course.

"Nurture those hearts and be the best heroes you can be. It doesn't matter that both of you are Quirkless!" Nana opened her arms with a flourish, which was only enhanced by the cape billowing behind her.

"But most importantly, remember to cultivate this quality in the generations that come after you. After all, it's a hero's job to inspire the next generation to act."

#

Present Day

Inko Midoriya was a middle-aged woman of 40 years and a proud mother of one. She could also be described as a very caring and gentle woman who wouldn't harm a mosquito even if it bit her. Unless her son was involved. Then she could, as her best friend put it, 'crack some serious skulls.' She had to be this way, though. After all, her son didn't have a Quirk of his own. And she was aware of how insecure Izuku was about it still. She loved her son with all her heart, Quirk or no. This also meant standing with him and giving him all the support he needed, even standing up for him should the need ever arise.

She knew her son was strong. No doubt about it. But she was a mother, nonetheless, and mothers tend to worry the most about their kids.

Speaking of worry, she was quite anxious about the fact that her son wasn't home yet, despite his school getting off about two hours ago. So worried, in fact, that she was just about to leave to make sure Izuku was alright when she heard the doorbell go off.

She rushed to the door to open it and almost tripped on the doormat in the process. When she opened the door, the sight that greeted her eyes was almost enough to make her faint. However, she held herself together for the sake of her son and rushed to hug him.

No sooner did Izuku close the door behind him that his mother smothered his face in her arms. She started to blubber incoherently as she hugged him.

"It's alright, mom. I'm f-" Izuku never finished his statement as his mother started to fret over him.

"Oh my God, what happened to you? Where were you? What were you doing? How did your clothes rip?! Oh God is that blood?!" Inko's concern skyrocketed with every statement as she saw more and more of the condition her son was in.

"O-Oh! Don't worry, mom. Actually, I got caught between a Pro trying to capture a Villain!" lied Izuku.

"WHAT?!"

It clearly didn't have the intended effect of calming his mother.

"Which Pro?" she asked calmly, yet her voice had a dangerous quality.

"It wasn't their fault! They told me to stay away, but I didn't listen because I wanted to see them in action and got caught in between as a result!" replied Izuku in a hurry.

Inko stilled. Then her right foot started tapping the floor at a rapid pace. "Izuku Midoriya!"

Izuku flinched at the hint of steel in her voice.

"I know when you are lying to me, young man. I'm your mother for a reason! Apologize this instant and tell me the truth," Inko continued.

The younger Midoriya trampled down his immense guilt as he prepared to refute her statement. It's for her own good, he thought. Telling her about the Villains I encountered or how one of them made me eat a weird fruit will only worry her more. Worse yet, if I tell her how that Villain died…

"Fine, be that way," replied Inko as if reading her son's mind. She gave her son a disappointed glare, her arms folded tightly.

"M-Mom!" Now Izuku was seriously contemplating telling her the whole truth as he couldn't bear to see his mom disappointed in him.

"What is it?" asked Inko, this time in a softer tone.

"N-Nothing," said Izuku, deciding against telling her.

Inko sighed. "Go get showered and change your clothes. Then we will go to a doctor to get your injuries checked."

"S-Sure, mom," replied Izuku.

"Also, you're grounded!" said Inko.

#

That had been roughly a week ago. His mom hadn't even allowed him to go to school since there was a gash on the back of his skull where he had been hit. His mom had freaked out when the doctor said that some stitches would be needed.

This was the first day he was going to his dreaded school after that incident. Aldera Junior High. The place of his nightmares. Not because he was bad in his studies but because of the treatment meted out to him in school. For you see, due to being Quirkless, he was something of a pariah and was scorned by his colleagues.

Izuku was undeniably a straight-A student and was nothing short of brilliant in his studies. In fact, he liked studying and learning new things, but he never felt happy in this place. Not only was he looked down upon by his peers and teachers, but the teachers themselves downplayed anything he accomplished. Which, as you can assume, didn't make for a fulfilling or even healthy experience.

Even now, he could hear the whispers of students around him as he walked to his class, not that they were trying to hide them.

"Hey, I thought he had left the school for good…"

"The idiot has bandages on his head now…"

"...what a disappointment!"

As sad as it was, Izuku had grown accustomed to hearing these sorts of comments. Even the occasional teacher either looked at him with pity or ignored him outright.

When Izuku opened the homeroom door, he was greeted by an explosive 'Deku!'

"I thought you had left this school for good and stopped chasing after me!" was the first sentence out of his once friend's mouth.

Izuku simply ignored him and went to sit in his seat, which only served to make the aforementioned former friend angrier.

"Just you wait and see what happens after class. Deku!" shouted Bakugo, the bully, as his hands lit up with small explosions.

#

It was time. The school had just finished, and Izuku was just about done packing his bag. The class was already empty as all the other kids had rushed out of the class as soon as the bell had rung.

Izuku was partly hoping that Bakugo would forget all about what had transpired in the morning.

"DEKU!"

So much for that, thought Izuku.

Katsuki Bakugo barged into the classroom and rushed straight toward Izuku.

Izuku gulped nervously and prepared for the worst as he watched his former friend approaching him at a fast pace.

Bakugo grabbed his shoulder with one hand and looked straight into his eyes.

"You think you're better than me, don't you, Deku?!" shouted Bakugo.

Izuku flinched under his glare."N-no, I don't, Kacchan-"

But he was cut off before he could say anything else. "Don't you dare go into UA. That's MY goal," Bakugo shouted over Izuku's voice.

"Huh?"

And with that, Bakugo left. Just like that. Leaving behind a very confused yet thankful Izuku.

#

There was a commotion on the far end of the street, and hearing people shouting and screaming on the sidewalk was enough to warrant some shopkeepers to leave their stores and come out to check what had caused such a ruckus in the afternoon.

A big, green slime was seen robbing a couple of stores before darting away from the crime scene using its appendages to grab at poles, street lights, and sides of the building to propel itself further with high speed.

"Another mislead hooligan," sighed a shopkeeper to no one in particular.

"These punks sure are persistent," another guy off to a side agreed with the general sentiment of the crowd.

"These petty villains are increasing in number day by day. Will the crime ever stop?" said the first shopkeeper.

Hearing this, a tall, lanky man with blond hair stepped a bit behind the crowd to obscure himself before morphing into a 7'3" giant of pure muscle.

The previously baggy clothes now fit him perfectly and showed off his muscles. His blond bangs, which were limp on either side of his face, were also standing up proudly.

"Yes, it will," said the man, proudly stepping forward and catching the attention of everyone around. "Why?" he had dropped his bag of groceries that he had been holding previously and exclaimed, "Because I AM HERE!"

"It's All Might!" This statement seemed to break the crowd out of its reverie, and they started to cheer and shout their encouragement to him.

The sudden increase in the volume of the crowd made the green sludge look behind him quizzically as he continued to propel itself forward to escape the Pro Heroes that would surely show up in the next few minutes.

He looked behind him and saw a fist hurtling toward his face "Oh shit!"

#

Izuku Midoriya was walking back toward his home. He was taking a different route back this time around. He was currently walking through an underpass. He was walking at a relatively slow pace with his head down, thinking.

He was quite puzzled about what had happened with Bakugo today. Things just didn't add up for him. Bakugo had been, dare he say, almost civil. This was a rare occurrence, if you couldn't tell. First time in years, in fact.

Bakugo had given Izuku his nickname "Deku" sometime after he had been diagnosed as Quirkless. It was a twisted amalgamation of the kanji in his name, meaning "a useless person" of sorts.

This had been the last straw for the companionship they had shared. Bakugo had adopted an admittedly distasteful behavior toward him after this. His peers had abandoned Izuku.

The admiration that Izuku had possessed for Bakugo so long ago had been overshadowed by his fear of him. That isn't to say Izuku didn't admire him still, as unhealthy as it was. But he could now see the bias and ego that the continuous praise of the adults around Bakugo had filled him with.

He knew there was a good heart in there with an immovable moral compass and willpower to give everything his all. But before achieving his dreams, he would have to realize that he wasn't always in the right.

Recently, Izuku had found himself musing whether or not he was awake at all. His life had changed so much in just under a week.

His whole worldview had been changed when he witnessed the brutal death of a villain at the hands of another. The sole witness.

Despite extensive research, Izuku could not find anything about the weird fruit he had eaten or what it did. It was honestly kinda scary that he didn't even know what the villain had force-fed him. In the same vein, he was unable to find anything of significance on Plasmamba as well.

He had sworn to find out who exactly was responsible for this senseless killing.

There had been reports about some villains disappearing off the face of Earth. This was actually more common an occurrence than what you would be led to believe by the Hero Commission, something Izuku had found out the hard way.

Izuku Midoriya had sworn that he would bring justice to all who lost their lives due to the games played by whoever was pulling the strings. And make no mistake, there was most certainly someone behind the scenes.

For the entirety of the week he had been grounded, Izuku had started doing research on villains and vigilantes.

This particular topic led him down a rabbit hole of history. Falsified history, to be precise.

A lot of official accounts made certain incidents seem a lot more important and impactful than they actually were. However, some huge incidents seemed to be missing from the history that was preached in modern times.

It's said that history is written by victors. Izuku couldn't help but agree with this statement. He had found undeniable proof that certain powers were manipulating facts. Be it by the Hero Commission or someone else entirely, many things were being hidden from the general public.

He had concluded that there was some sort of organization at play here simply due to the gaps in the history he had found. There had been some small decisions and incidents that had led to huge changes in the superhuman society. Unless one really looked for them, they were practically invisible.

While these incidents and decisions seem completely logical today, in that day and age, these would have been nothing short of irrelevant and insignificant.

So why make them? Because throughout the course of history, there seemed to be something that was manipulating the actions and consequences of this society at large.

The deeper he went, the more he solidified his theory. There was, most probably, an organization that made sure these radical ideas saw the light of day.

Yes, an timeline that Izuku had been using to track the course of history almost dated back to the infamous "Quirk Singularity'' theory.

Meaning that there were centuries of subtle manipulation taking place.

He had come to the conclusion that there was a secret organization because people simply didn't live for hundreds of years.

Izuku was quite lost in his own thoughts to the point that he had started to mumble to himself at a rapid pace.

So much so that he didn't notice a sludge-like substance trickle out of the manhole behind him.

Izuku came out of his stupor when he heard a loud clang. He looked behind himself to see a huge pile of sludge rising and twisting to form something that passed as a face, mainly because it had two large, beady eyes.

Before Izuku could even fully comprehend what was happening, he made a run for it.

Villain! was the sole thought in his mind as he made a break for the other end of the underpass.

"A moderate-sized invisibility suit!" shouted something behind him. The voice was weirdly high-pitched and warbled.

There was a loud–and frankly, disgusting–squelching sound as something hit his back with enough force to knock him over and leave angry, bright red welts. Not that they were visible at the moment. It was like a bucket of water was thrown at you with a ton of force. It was like being slapped with water, only you weren't wet.

Izuku guarded his face with his arms to save himself from the brunt of the damage that would be inflicted by the fall, only to have something, some sort of arm-tentacle thing, wrap around his abdomen and stop him mid-fall while pulling him closer to the owner of the said appendage.

As he was being pulled back rapidly, Izuku tried to resist, but as it was liquid-like, his hands couldn't grab it.

As more appendages came from his peripherals, he used his arms to slap away the villain's attempts to capture him. This was partially successful.

"You have impressive strength to be able to slap away my arms," chuckled the sludge villain. "You will make a fine protective suit!"

Then the main body was upon him, and despite his attempts to free himself, Izuku couldn't stop himself from being trapped by the sludge.

'Help me! Somebody!' Izuku made desperate pleas in his mind as he couldn't voice them.

'I'm going to…' Right then Izuku saw a huge silhouette come out of a manhole.

"[Texas Smash]!" was the last thing he heard before being blown back and out of the underpass.

#

Someone was tapping his right cheek with fervor and trying to get him to open his eyes. "Hey! Hey hey!"

So he did.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" came a relieved sigh.

Standing before him was none other than Japan's number one hero himself, All Might. The 'Symbol of Peace' and the 'Strongest Man in the World.'

"A-A-A-All Might!" Izuku stuttered. He wanted to say so many things but he wasn't able to think of anything at the moment. His idol was in front of him, in person! He felt like he was going to faint.

Then it came to him. "Autograph!" he shouted out of nowhere while All Might continued to give him a thumbs-up and his patent grin, showing his pearly white teeth that seemed to sparkle in the sun.

Izuku stubbled toward his notebook titled Hero Analysis for the Future – No. 13 to get his idol's signature. He opened the first blank page to see that All Might had already signed it.

"AAAAHHH!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs, "Thank you so much. This will be a family heirloom! The coming generations will treasure this…" Izuku had once again gone on a muttering tangent.

All Might simply chuckled at his antics.

"I'm sorry you had to get involved in the capture. That was a failure on my part but because of you I was able to capture this villain," he said, showing off two bottles with the sludge stuffed in them.

Hearing him talk, Izuku had already quietened down.

All Might continued, "I thank you for your support and I hope you will continue to support me, young man!"

Now, finally, All Might turned away and squatted, looking at his surroundings and at the sky, calculating his trajectory.

"Now then, we shall meet again through the television screen. I must be off!" said All Might.

"You're leaving already?" questioned Izuku, wanting him to stay a little longer.

"Pros must continuously fight against villains as well as time," said All Might without turning back toward him.

B-but I need to ask something, thought Izuku all of a sudden. His mind was clear now, free of distractions.

'You should give up.'

'I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm so sorry.'

'Go away, Deku!'

'Quirkless freak.'

'What an idiot! Thinking he can be a hero.'

Can – can I be one? A Hero? thought Izuku as All Might prepared to jump. He's going! I must do something!

All Might jumped. The wind pressure created by the jump alone blew away the fallen cherry blossom leaves on the road.

All Might looked at his left leg that felt heavier than usual.

Izuku was hanging there for dear life.

"Oi oi oi! I get that you are a firm supporter, but your enthusiasm is too much!" All Might yelled at the boy hanging onto his leg. "You must let go."

"If I do that, I'll die!" Izuku shouted back.

All Might was still mid-jump, which meant he was also in the air. "Ah, I see…" Then All Might promptly landed on a rooftop.

Izuku was still trembling from the scare he had gotten. "What a scary experience!"

"I must really go now, young man," said All Might as he walked towards the edge of the roof. "Ask the people in the building for some help, if you need."

"W-wait!" said Izuku.

"I can't," replied All Might just as fast.

'My time is almost up,' thought All Might. 'I need to get moving.'

"Can I be a Hero?" asked Izuku, "even though I'm Quirkless?"

All Might stopped.

"I have always been made fun of because I never had a Quirk. But can I truly be a hero that saves everyone with a smile?" Izuku continued.

"With a smile?" All Might turned back toward him slowly.

Then his body started emitting steam.

"Shit!"mumbled All Might.

Then smoke enveloped his form, much to Izuku's shock. However, what emerged from the smoke shocked him even further.

Gone was the tall and muscular form of All Might, and in its place stood a tall but skinnier version of All Might who still had well-built muscles, but they were far less pronounced. The white shirt that had fit so snugly before was somewhat loose on his frame now, though not much. Most notably, however, his face had become more angular despite there being a hint of a broad jawline. The two blond spikes of hair that stood tall and proud were now framing his face on both sides.

"Who are you?!" shouted Izuku, with shock written all over his face upon seeing this change.

"Quiet down, kid. I'm All Might," said the less buff All Might.

"Huh?"

All Might just sighed and sat down against the fencing of the roof. He looked at Izku with wariness. "Now that you know this, don't write about it online. About 5 years ago I fought a supervillain and I had defeated him soundly," said All Might in a serious tone, a clear contrast from his usually jubilant and reassuring tone.

All Might raised his shirt to show Izuku his abdomen.

Izuku covered his mouth in shock.

On the left side of his chest was a purple-red scar that covered almost the entirety of his chest and abdomen.

"But he also managed to get a powerful attack in…" continued All Might. "My respiratory system and gastric track collapsed, and the surgeries that followed left me haggard."

He lowered his shirt. "But I wouldn't let some punk keep me out of commission. Due to these injuries, however, my hero work is limited to 8 hours a day."

Izuku gasped.

"About 5 years ago…you had a clash with the supervillain Toxic Chainsaw."

"I see you're well-informed," replied All Might.

The Toxic Chainsaw incident just happened to be one of the odd incidents that Izuku found to be some sort of a cover-up. The official story said that All Might had gone undercover to track the supervillain down to explain his very noticeable absence for nearly a month.

When the supervillain had shown his face, All Might had taken him down in mere minutes, further solidifying his strength as the Symbol of Peace in the eyes of the public.

However, the fact still remained that All Might had disappeared for about a month before the super villain ever showed up.

"It's not bad to dream, young man…" said All Might as he got up, "but if I say that you can be a Pro Hero that saves everyone without a Quirk…" All Might looked Izuku straight in the eyes. "Then it would be a lie."

Just like that, Izuku's world shattered into a million pieces. He couldn't even say anything as his Idol walked toward the stairs.

"If you really admire the thought of helping people, then joining the police is a great option," said All Might as he turned to leave. "They are often ridiculed as 'villain delivery' but it's a fine occupation."

Izuku was left standing alone on the rooftop. Tears started to gather in the corner of his eyes.

Don't cry. You always knew the hope you had been clinging to was really just a flimsy string! Izuku tried to console himself.

There was a loud explosion in the city and smoke had started to rise a couple of blocks away. Izuku could see where it had occurred, but he didn't have the heart to check which Pros were on site. Plus, his mom had specifically prohibited him from going near any hero-villain confrontation.

So with a heavy heart, Izuku left the rooftop and headed toward his house.

At the same time in the stairway All Might noticed he had dropped the bottles with the villain somewhere.

"Shit!" he cursed.

#

Bakugo was in a foul mood. His wrists were starting to hurt from over-exertion. He was hurting all over from struggling. Above all, he was being strangled by a psychotic villain.

Not to mention the fire that had spread all around him.

"DIE! You dumb piece of-" Bakugo tried to shout but it only came out as choked gasps because of the sludge that was in his mouth, courtesy of the villain.

Another tentacle tried to wrap around his eyes, but Bakugo used his explosions to fend it off.

Going by the raw strength that the villain possessed, he would be able to snap him in half easily enough. Not to mention that it was gradually growing in size.

How is this idiot growing so rapidly? thought Bakugo as he let out a small chain of explosions to stop himself from submerging completely into the villain's body.

Despite being choked he forced himself to concentrate on the situation and surveyed his surroundings.

The fire–that was partially his fault–had now spread all around, increasing the surrounding temperature as more things caught on fire.

Some extras were screaming on the sidelines.

Another tentacle came at him, which he destroyed with a bigger explosion, or tried to at least. While he did manage to destroy the tentacle his explosion was nowhere near as strong as he had intended it to be.

He saw the torn tentacle regrow itself as fast as he had blown it apart.

Damnit! I need more sweat to show this two-bit street thug who's boss! Bakugo screamed internally as he fired yet another explosion.

His eyes widened even further as he took in his surroundings once again.

Why am I not sweating? There is a lot of heat, and I'm over-exerting myself. I should be sweating literal buckets by now!

The villain's growth had slowed down quite a bit. Not to mention, the more appendages he sent out, the smaller he got. Yet, it had regained his size and grown further in the blink of an eye.

Then it hit him like one of his old hag's smacks. Moisture!

"What a strong quirk! I can now take my revenge!" came the villain's disembodied voice.

He's absorbing moisture to grow, realized Bakugo.

Then, he did what no one was expecting him to do. He shoved both his arms into the sludge villain, effectively trapping himself.

"Finally realizing how pointless your struggle is?" mocked the villain.

The bystanders screamed upon seeing this.

"Save that boy! Isn't that what you're supposed to do?!"

"You can do it!"

"Do something! Hero!"

#

Izuku was walking. A relatively normal activity for people.

He was also looking at his half burnt notebook titled Hero Analysis for the Future.

His thoughts, however, were far from what he was looking at.

Why am I feeling so…hollow? I always knew deep down that it was impossible for me to be a hero. Even the greatest hero says so…

A big explosion was heard.

Izuku looked toward the smoke that was rising.

That's the place I saw from the rooftop!

#

Kamui Woods grunted in pain as he saved some people that had been caught in the fires. He had tried to capture the villain, or at least save the kid that was being held hostage, but it turned out that it was impossible to catch the villain.

Backdraft was still busy saving the civilians from the burning building and putting out the fires.

"I could use some help here!" shouted Backdraft as he stopped another civilian from entering the building.

"We can't assist at the moment," shouted Death Arms while wrestling with some tentacles that were attacking him.

"Our Quirks aren't suitable to handle this situation," exclaimed a sidekick before he was swatted aside and into a building by a long hand made of sludge.

Suddenly, everyone felt the ground start to shake.

"It's Mount Lady!" someone exclaimed.

A giant woman dressed in tights was seen running toward the site. She was easily as tall, if not taller, than most of the buildings around her.

Before she could come any closer, however, she had to stop due to the lack of room.

"I need at least two lanes to work!" exclaimed Mount Lady as she saw the small street full of people.

She then proceeded to shrink down to her usual size before running toward Backdraft to help him minimise the damage and protect the civilians.

While this was happening Bakugo had been heating up his hands.

Then he let out the single most powerful explosion he could muster, blowing a hole in the upper torso of the sludge villain and freeing his upper body.

"Ha! Take that, you shitty villain. You don't stand a chance against me," shouted Bakugo, breathing heavy from all the exertion.

"Don't tempt the vi-" Before he could complete the sentence, Death Arms was surrounded by nearly a dozen tentacles that smashed him into a building.

"Damnit! If only I had the power to blast him away!" cursed Death Arms as he prepared to engage the villain yet again.

The villain had now started rampaging. His tentacles were no longer coordinated and were targeting everything. The strength and the number of tentacles had increased exponentially.

"[Lacquered Chain Prison]!" shouted Kamui Woods as he used his special move to trap the tentacles rushing toward the crowd that had formed on the street.

Bakugo was firing explosions to free his feet from the sludge when he felt something break.

"AHH!" he screamed.

"You damn pests, I'll kill you all!" shouted the villain as he reformed his face and torso. "And as for you," he shouted, looking at Bakugo, "I won't let you escape. I'll shatter your legs if I need to."

The villain then sprouted two huge grotesque arms made of slime and pushed Bakugo back inside his body, almost completely submerging him in the sludge.

"We just don't seem to get close enough!" shouted Death Arms, frustrated at his lack of action.

#

Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might, had just joined the back of the crowd seconds prior and had seen the predicament of the hostage and how the heroes on the scene were unable to do anything.

Pathetic! he thought furiously. How could I let innocents get hurt because of my carelessness? I'm so pathetic!

Unbeknownst to him, a certain green-haired boy had been watching these proceedings with growing guilt as well.

I-I'm sure some hero will come, thought Izuku as he looked on in horror.

He then saw the helpless expression on Bakugo's face.

Before he could even register what he was doing, he started to run toward the villain.

"Idiot! Stop!" shouted Death Arms.

"It's suicide!" yelled a sidekick.

Some people in the crowd screamed.

Toshnori Yagi himself was shocked at the actions of the middle schooler.

How pathetic can I be? he admonished himself. How can I let a young boy face danger all by himself?

His skin started to emit steam as he got more angry still. Angry at himself.

Izuku ignored all of it. His mind was set on one thing and one thing alone: saving Bakugo.

The moment he saw Izuku, the villain recognised him, "you damn brat! Die!" he exclaimed.

While still running, Izuku threw his backpack at the villain, which hit him in the eye, making him roar in pain.

I need to run faster! thought Izuku frantically.

And he increased his speed.

Faster.

Faster. Else I won't reach in time!

At this point Izuku was pushing himself way past his limits. However, he continued to run despite his legs almost giving up on him with every stride he took.

His vision became tunnelled and he only saw Bakugo.

He was faster now, much more than he had ever been. His entire body was hurting as if all of his bones were being snapped.

Izuku fought against the pain and managed to accelerate even further. He was almost there now!

"Deku…" came a weak groan from Bakugo as he was shocked to see what Izuku was doing.

Izuku went straight at Bakugo with all his speed and slammed into the sludge that was keeping Bakugo in place. He didn't stop there, however, as he broke through the wall of the thick liquid and still continued going straight through the sludge villain with Bakugo.

In the blink of an eye, Izuku had run straight at the villain and had tackled Bakugo straight through the villain, freeing him.

"No! You little-" the villain was absolutely livid at this point as he lunged straight at Izuku.

There was a loud crash followed by deafening silence.

The dust settled and All Might was seen standing between the two boys and the villain.

"Is-is that All Might?!" the general public exclaimed with various degrees of shock, awe, relief and amazement.

"I admonished my fan and yet…" All Might addressed Izuku who had fallen back on his behind. "I failed to fulfil my own duty. How could I let something like a measly time limit distract me?" he asked rhetorically. "I thank you, young man, for reminding me of my duty!" All Might gave his famous smile to Izuku. "Because Pros always have to risk their lives!"

"All Might! I'll kill you!" shouted the villain.

"[Detroit…]" said All Might as he freed his arm from the tentacles that tried to hold him in place.

He reeled his arm back as blood leaked from his mouth in a trickle.

Then he threw the punch.

"[SMASH!]"

The punch didn't hit the villain directly, but the sheer wind pressure created by the punch absolutely obliterated him, and his sludge-like body was scattered all around the street and beyond.

The wind pressure was so great that it blew out the huge fire, and other Pro heroes had to secure themselves so as to not be blown away by it.

Mount Lady had quickly used her Quirk and was shielding the crowd from the worst of it.

Kamui Woods was clinging onto the rooftop with his arms, albeit barely.

Death Arms was helping Backdraft remain upright, who was, in turn, shielding more civilians.

Just like that, the villain was beaten.

'Is this the power of a top Pro!' was the collective thought of the Pro heroes as they watched All Might defeat the villain in mere seconds.

There was a stunned silence as they watched the No.1 Hero raise his fist in the air, a smile on his face.

Then the first raindrops hit the earth.

"Did-did he just make clouds from the updraft?" exclaimed a sidekick.

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed a person from the crowd as they watched, stunned, at the display of power.

"It truly is All Might!" came a shout.

"He changed the weather with just his right hand!" exclaimed another civilian.

This statement pulled the crowd out of its reverie as they started to shout words of encouragement and thankfulness to All Might.

From there, the situation was handled by the remaining Pro Heroes and the authorities.

Reporters had shown up to the scene as well and were currently trying to interview All Might.

Bakugo had been sent to the hospital because of the broken bones in his legs.

Izuku had received a talking-to from the Pro Heroes, but he hadn't listened to what they had been telling him.

"...it was borderline Vigilantism!" scolded Kamui Woods.

Of course, Izuku heard none of it. He was still in shock.

Death Arms sighed. "But that Quirk of yours is quite something…so if you ever want to be a Hero-"

He was cut-off by Kamui Woods. "I'll be glad to have you," he said.

Death Arms just narrowed his eyes at the up-and-coming rookie Hero muttering something about opportunists.

Death Arms caught Izuku looking at his feet blankly. He sighed and tapped Izuku's shoulder, pulling him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Izuku mumbled as he looked at the Heroes.

"The doctors say you're fine. So go home and rest well, alright?" said Death Arms, softly, this time around.

"Oh thanks," Izuku muttered and left the scene, still in a daze.

#

The sun was edging towards the horizon, bathing the street in rich, orange light.

Izuku was shakily walking back to his home. His limbs were still aching so he was quite slow.

Mom is gonna kill me today, thought Izuku as he continued on. I have been really lucky to survive not one but two run-ins with villains. He shuddered as he thought of what could have happened had he been even a little bit unlucky.

After calming himself he had started to ponder on what people had told him.

I can't be a hero, huh? he thought. Even All Might says so. I guess I can see where they are coming from, he thought. I guess I should be thankful. It's like All Might said, he said, trying to cheer himself up. I don't need to be a hero to fight for justice!

I should probably look into what kind of high school would be best if I want to join the police force. Maybe there are special schools for that as well.

"I Am Here!" came a sudden shout from ahead, startling him.

All Might came bounding out of a small street.

"All Might! I thought you were surrounded by reporters," said Izuku in disbelief. His idol had sought him out! Voluntarily!

"I was able to get away. How, you ask? It's because I am All-" said All Might in a jubilant tone before he was enveloped in smoke.

The smoke went away to reveal that All Might was once more in his skinnier form, spitting blood.

"Ahh!" screamed Izuku at the sudden transformation.

All Might coughed in his fist.

"Anyways," he said, changing the subject. "I wanted to thank you," said All Might.

"Thank me?" At this point Izuku was completely lost.

"Indeed, young man. I wished to thank you for reminding me what a hero truly is. Had I let my own problems stop me from saving people, I would have become nothing but a phony," he said seriously.

"You should not be thanking me," said Izuku, waving his hands. "I was the reason the villain escaped in the first place!"

"Nonsense," said All Might shaking his head.

"B-but-"

"I also wished to ask you something," All Might interrupted.

"You did?" asked an astonished Izuku.

"Young man, why did you save that young boy from the villain?" asked All Might.

"I…don't know," he answered honestly.

Hearing this, All Might's eyes widened. He looked at the young boy standing before him in a new light.

Izuku continued to elaborate his answer, "I don't know what came over me, but at that moment…the moment I looked at those helpless eyes, I stopped thinking. It was like I was able to feel the pain he was going through. He…looked like he needed helping. So, I did. It was as if my brain shut down and my body responded in the only way it knew how. Like it was some sort of instinct."

He's worthy…worthy of becoming a true successor of Master's ideologies, thought All Might.

"Young man, there have often been stories, legends of the topmost heroes…" he continued aloud.

Izuku was looking at his idol with all of the concentration he could muster. Unwilling to miss even a single word that was said to him.

"...where they say that seeing someone in trouble made them move on their own!" All Might's tone was getting louder and more passionate with each word.

Tears started gathering in the corner of Izuku's eyes as he listened to All Might's words. He had a feeling as to where it was going but he didn't dare hope.

"Young man, you can be a Hero too!"

Despite knowing where this was going, when he heard these words he couldn't help but let out a body wracking sob. The tears that had gathered were now flowing freely. His knees became weak and he slumped forward.

He clutched his chest in pain as he sobbed freely.

'You can't amount to anything, forget a good hero!'

'Do you think we are in the same league? Huh!?'

'Just give it up!'

'I'm sorry Izuku! I'm so sorry!'

'No Mom, what I wanted you to say was…'

'You can be a hero too!'

"I also wanted to know why you told me you were Quirkless earlier," asked All Might.

"What?" came the reply.

"I wanted to know why you didn't mention your Quirk when we met and instead introduced yourself as Quirkless," said All Might. "Did you want to keep your Quirk a secret?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Izuku was, quite understandably, confused.

"You turned into a bird earlier," said All Might as if stating a fact. "But I will respect your privacy if you don't want to tell me," All Might continued.

"HUH?!"

#

A/N: Yes, a Zoan.

Leave lots of reviews for me! Pretty please :)