"Fucking assholes..." Katsuki scowled, trudging by himself with his hands in his pockets. He needed to be alone and away from the parasites trying to leech off his upcoming thought back to all the words Izuku's friends had spoken to him and no matter how hard he wished to ignore them, they still burned in his memory.
"I'll show 'em. I'll become the next #1 Pro Hero, just wait and see!"
Katsuki kicked a bottle full of liquid as hard as he could to vent his frustration, letting it bounce on the wall before landing in a trashcan without the cap. As he prepared to continue on his way, a large shadow began looming over him.
"What the fu-?"
"An invisible cloak... with a great Quirk!" shouted the Sludge Villain as he pounced onto Katsuki.
Meanwhile, Izuku was still freaking out as he saw the skeletal husk of a man that had once been All-Might. The man sighed as he could see that if he didn't speak up, they'd be here all day.
"Suppose I should start with the obvious; What you're seeing is the effect of my Quirk. It increases muscle mass and subsequently physical ability. I can hold it for about seven hours at a time. It would have been three hours per day, but luckily a friend of mine was able to heal a few injuries I got battling a dangerous villain."
Izuku was still stuttering and trying to form coherent sentences. Shaking his head, All-Might walked over to him and slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Izuku took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "It's...so weird. I've never seen you without your smile before."
"I put on the smile for the sake of the people. There's a lot more fear behind it than you might think. And please, don't go spreading it around. There are only a few choice select people I trust to keep this secret."
"Wait..." Izuku said. "What did you mean by the injury you got?"
All-Might sighed and lifted up his shirt to reveal a gruesome-looking crater-like scar over the left side of his torso.
"Ugly, isn't it? Five years ago, this had my guts spilling out of it. I was in a fight with the Villain to end all Villains. I still won, but it nearly cost me my life. Luckily, the Combat Medic Hero: Sister Sage was with me and used her skills to replace my missing organs. Without her, I'd be running on fumes by now."
"Wait, five years ago...the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?" Izuku asked.
All-Might chuckled. "You sure know your stuff, kiddo. But no, that low life couldn't even dream of doing this sort of damage to me. This was actually a fight most of the world never even heard of. A Villain that's known only to me, and a select few individuals."
"I guess even the Symbol of Peace can feel fear, huh?" Izuku said, bowing his head.
"That's the mark of being a hero, smiling even through the tough times. This job isn't easy, and I have seen Heroes fall, either dying to a lucky Villain or even becoming Villains themselves when the pressure got too much. It's the lucky ones, or the ones that keep a gray line, that make it to retirement with their careers, lives, and reputations intact. It's a job where you always put your life on the line."
Izuku frowned. "From the way you say it, it sounds like Quirkless people couldn't even become Heroes."
"Heroes can come from anywhere. It's not just about fighting villains." All-Might clarified. "Is that the important thing you wanted to ask me?"
"Well, you see, I was born Quirkless...But I worked so hard to get strong. My friends all have such amazing Quirks of their own and they stuck by me, they always said I'd be a great Hero if I put in the work...but I still have this lingering doubt in my mind that-"
"IZUKU, YOU BONEHEADED RECKLESS JACKASS!"
Izuku winced as he turned to see his friends all arrive, Ghidorah having turned into a blue phoenix using the power of the [Bird-Bird, Model: Phoenix], and had carried Maple, Katarina, and Aki on his back. Ben had come in with a simple Flying Quirk, and Ryu had carried Tony, Bella, and Kirby on his back as he climbed the building.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ben snapped. "Don't you know that All-Might can jump at speeds Mach 100?!"
"Speaking of All-Might, where is he? Did he ditch you after he found out you were a stalker?" Tony sarcastically asked as Izuku blushed in embarrassment while All-Might sighed.
"Kids, I AM All-Might. This is what I really look like."
Silence. Deafening silence filled the rooftops. It was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop, and a loon was heard in the distance...
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"
Izuku and All-Might winced and looked at each other, realizing that this might take a while...
*One Explanation Later...*
"So that's the basic gist of it." Izuku finished as his friends had all calmed down and managed to fully wrap their heads around what they now knew.
"Okay, okay, I think I get it..." Ben said, massaging his temples.
"I think my brain just melted..." Bella groaned, dizzily.
"Even if my brain did melt, it'd just regrow itself..." Tony sighed, cursing his Quirk.
"The truth is sometimes more unbelievable than fiction." Ryu mused.
All-Might shook his head and chuckled. "Yeah, not what you kids were expecting, was I? Well, when I'm like this, just call me by my real name; Toshinori Yagi."
"Okay, who here thought today was gonna end up like this?" Ghidorah said rhetorically, nobody even bothering to answer
"Well, I know I can trust you kids to keep this a secret for the time being. For right now, I need to get this Villain back...to..." His words died in his throat when he realized the bottle with the Sludge Villain was gone. "That's not good..."
Izuku got a bad feeling. "Uh-oh... I think I may have caused him to drop out of your pocket when I grabbed onto you..."
"Wow, talk about a huge inconvenience!" Bella said sarcastically.
They both heard a sudden explosion going off from the other side of the district.
"And here I was about to ask what else could go wrong today..." Ben sighed.
"Never taunt Murphy's Law, Ben," Ryu replied.
"I gotta bad feeling about this," Toshinori said before transforming into his All-Might Form again. "Don't worry, Young Midoriya. I don't blame you for this. Accidents happen all the time, and the only course of action we have is to clean it up!"
He quickly leaped off in the direction of the explosions. Izuku and his friends looked at each other before nodding as Ghidorah roared and used the [Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon] to transform into an Eastern Dragon with bright blue scales, a flowing mane of hair, and roughly the length and size of a school bus.
"Hop on, guys!" Ghidorah said as most of his friends got on his back as he took flight in the same direction as All-Might. Ryu was the sole exception, growing a pair of angelic wings from his back using [Aera] and flying along with his friends.
The Ten Elites soon arrived at the scene of the crime to see it was in a shopping district and, after Ghidorah transformed back to normal, pushed through the crowd to get a better look at what was happening.
"Damn, he's really causing a scene!" Bella said.
"This is bad. How could a guy made of sewer shit cause this much destruction?" Tony asked.
Suddenly, the person the Sludge Villain was attacking came into view of the Ten Elites and they all looked in shock to see it was Katsuki!
"Hey, it's Bakugou!" Ghidorah noted.
"Oh, okay then. Nothing of value is being lost!" Ben said and turned to leave before Ryu grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"We gotta do something!"
Izuku was silent as he began to analyze the situation. The Pro Heroes currently on hand were in various states of helplessness. Backdraft was trying to keep the fires from spreading, Kamui Woods, Death Arms, and Metal Bat were trying to keep civilians out of the line of danger, and Mount Lady couldn't grow to her full size without risking causing further damage by accident.
"Why aren't the Heroes doing anything?!" Asked one civilian.
"Apparently, the Villain captured a schoolboy and is abusing his Quirk, creating explosions! None of the Heroes can get close in fear of harming the hostage!" Another replied.
Izuku's eyes focused on the Sludge Villain, who had turned around just in time for Izuku to see Katsuki, a one-time childhood friend to someone whom he heavily disliked, trapped within the villain, struggling to get out. His eyes were no longer one of arrogance and contempt but filled with desperation and fear, begging for someone to help him.
Izuku didn't even think about what he was going to do next. He sprinted right past the police officers and heroes without a second thought.
"IZU!" His friends cried as they chased after their friend.
"Hey kid, come back here! It's too dangerous" Death Arms shouted, too surprised to grab Izuku.
"Aki! Hit him in the eyes!" Izuku ordered.
"Got it!" Aki said as he turned one of his arms into its Buster Cannon form and fired a solar energy shot, beaning the Sludge Villain in one of his eyes and making him scream in pain.
"Bella! Alien Time!"
"Oh yeah!" Bella grinned as a green hourglass symbol glowed on her chest before bursting into magnificent emerald light. In her place was a blue humanoid moth-like alien with green eyes and a cloak.
This was Bella's Quirk, [Alien Shift], allowing her to shapeshift into all sorts of different aliens, each with their own powers and abilities. The alien she had currently transformed into was Big Chill.
Breathing out a cold mist, Big Chill managed to freeze up the Sludge Villain's body, allowing Ghidorah and Tony to reach Katsuki and pull him free. Tony grunted as some of the flames had gotten on him but he easily healed from the first and second-degree burns.
"Why the hell are you assholes helping me?!" Katsuki demanded.
"Simple...Because that's what Heroes do!" Ghidorah stated simply.
"Noo!" shouted the Sludge Villain as he tried to bring Katsuki back in but his body was still freezing and sluggish.
Toshinori had arrived and had just been prepared to take down the Sludge Villain himself when he saw the actions of Izuku and his friends, his eyes widening in amazement when he saw Izuku running to help Katsuki without even thinking and his friends quickly following suit.
"Can it be...? Have I finally found the one?"
"I'll kill you!" The Sludge Villain screamed as he whipped his arms out. Everyone quickly dodged out of the way, which was easy because the Villain was still quite slow. Before more could be done, Toshinori decided it was finally time to take action.
"You and your friends certainly have what it takes to become exemplary Heroes, Young Midoriya! Not just anyone would rush headlong into danger with a reassuring smile on their face!"
Katsuki, who was being checked up on by Ghidorah and Tony, was flabbergasted at what he saw. Like Izuku, he idolized All-Might above all else as he looked around in confusion.
"Yeah, it's a long story..." Big Chill said, turning back to Bella.
"DETROIT SMASH!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Sludge Villain cried.
With a massive punch, All-Might created a shockwave tornado that reduced the Sludge Villain to pieces of himself. A sudden rainfall occurred, created by the tornado when it caused the clouds to move.
"Whoa, I had no idea All-Might was strong enough to change the weather." Ghidorah whistled.
Izuku's mind was racing. Not even improving one's muscle mass and physical strength could account for what All-Might had just done. There was another force at work here. Still, with a smile on his face and his fist raised to the heavens, All-Might reassured the people that the danger had passed, as the onlookers cheered.
Izuku and his friends were heading home, all of them tired and wanting to unwind with some video games. The Heroes scolded them for acting so recklessly but also praised them for managing to step in to handle a situation that even they couldn't.
However, Toshinori, who had gone out of his All-Might Form, had intercepted them, wishing to speak with Izuku specifically.
"By now I'm sure you've realized... an ordinary Strength Enhancer-Type Quirk alone cannot accomplish what I did today. I normally wouldn't be saying this, but there's a reason I'm explaining everything. You see... Five years ago, I decided to contemplate retirement."
"RETIREMENT?! THE SYMBOL OF PEACE?!" Izuku screamed in disbelief.
"Hey! We are standing right here!" Tony snapped angrily, cleaning out his ears.
"The Villain who nearly ended my career, and life, is one that has been fought before, and only I have ever come close to truly ending his threat," Toshinori explained. "But Combat Medic warned that he may not be gone for good. And I only barely survived against him the first time... This means I need to pass the torch so my successor might succeed more."
"And you're telling us this, why?" Ben asked.
"Because...I have chosen Young Midoriya to inherit my true power!"
"True power...?" Izuku whispered, his eyes widening.
"You had our curiosity. Now you have our attention." Ghidorah said.
"There are stories behind every Hero. How they become great. Rising up from adversity, or just finding a reason to fight evil. But most have one thing in common... Their bodies moved before they could have a chance to think." Toshinori explained. "Tell me something, Young Midoriya... Did you think before you moved when you raced to save that boy?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, it was just instinct. Bakugou may not have been my friend anymore...but I couldn't just let him die, he looked like he needed saving and so...my legs moved on their own."
"And we didn't think much either. We just followed Izuku because we figured he had a plan." Bella added.
"I thought so," Toshinori said, giving a genuine smile. "I saw your eyes only looking forward, towards your intended path. I need someone to take up my mantle when I retire, and I think you'd make the perfect Heroes in order to do so."
"You mean...?" Izuku asked.
"Believe it or not, kids, I was born Quirkless," Toshinori said, not even giving the kids time to gasp as he continued. "In truth, my power was given to me. One that stockpiles power with each successive user. The strength I have is my own power, alongside the power of seven predecessors."
He held out his palm, glowing energy coming from it.
"The name of this power... This Ultimate Quirk... Is...ONE FOR ALL!"