"What the hell happened to you, All Might?!" Midoriya asked, knowing the man was injured by his father during their fight but not expecting it to be this bad. "Are you somehow hurt?"

"I'm happy you're not accusing me of being an impostor" the blond hero chuckled, before a cough wracked his form. "A little over six years ago I was badly injured in a fight and lost my left lung, stomach, left kidney and pancreas. Since then I've been badly emaciated by my inhibited digestive capabilities and by various corrective surgeries needed to buy my career time."

The man pulled his shirt up to reveal an ugly dark purple scar spiderwebbing outward from the left side of his abdomen. Midoriya felt sick at the sight, taking in just what kind of injury his father had inflicted on the Symbol of Peace to leave him this way. "Dad, what the fuck?!"

"So to go back to your question about if someone Quirkless can be a hero…that's a hard question for me to answer and would be even harder if it was not for this injury" All Might said. "But if someone of my strength can be injured to this degree…if villains the caliber of the one who injured me, a man so dangerous that the government covered up his very existence, still scheme out there, then I'm not sure if I can condone someone Quirkless entering this line of work."

For a moment, anger flashed through the teenager's mind. "You're really gonna tell me that despite having been born Quirkless and given an ancient super-Quirk specifically created to kill my dad?! Toshinori Yagi, you hypocritical fuck!" Then it hit Midoriya - it was Yagi's injury at his father's hands that had led him to brush him off. "I can understand him…but I still don't like it."

"I understand. What you're telling me is that either I should pursue some hero support-related field - law enforcement, medical care, gear development or marketing - or if I do heroics, I should aim for the lower-profile but higher-risk underground field instead of becoming a limelight hero" Midoriya said. "Actually, underground might make more sense for a lot of my activities - it would give me cover to use my Quirks with less scrutiny."

Yagi coughed. "Well, errrr, I guess there could be another way-!" he started, before the sound of distant explosions cut through the low hum of day-to-day life in Musutafu. Both Midoriya and Yagi looked towards the source of the noise, a plume of dark smoke rising from Tatooin Ward. "Uh-oh."

A few blocks away, Katsuki Bakugo thrashed for dear life, the giant mass of sewer sludge restraining him making sure to fire his blasts away from anywhere that could potentially harm it. "Hold still, kid!" it warbled, directing another attempted blast towards the local heroes that had gathered nearby. The explosion missed and lit a fruit stall on fire.

"What the fuck are those losers doing?!" the explosive blond wondered as he watched Death Arms, Backdraft, Slugger, Kamui Woods, Mount Lady and The Fly all argue with each other about why each of them couldn't go rescue him. "Am I hallucinating this crap or am I really about to die at the hands of someone made from shit because heroes are fucking useless?"

At that point, Izuku Midoriya burst from the crowd, an irate look on his face as he rushed towards the sludge man and the teenager caught in his grasp. "Deku coming to save my ass? Yeah, I'm definitely hallucinating this shit" Bakugo thought to himself, closing his eyes and preparing to meet his end.

To his surprise, however, the greenette yanked him out of the sludge, which felt somehow…thinner? Maybe it was just his imagination. A moment later, he felt a massive hand grab the back of his collar. Opening his eyes, Bakugo was stunned by the sight of his idol, All Might, holding back the sludge's pseudopod with one arm.

"To think I almost became a bunch of empty platitudes in a cheap suit…thank you for the reminder of what heroism means!" All Might boomed. "Now you should probably hold on for dear life, Young Midoriya! Detroit…SMASH!"

A hurricane exploded to life next to Bakugo's face, the sludge villain screaming as he was splattered all against the pavement. The blond was vaguely aware of his longtime victim hanging off of the back of All Might's leg and screaming at the top of his lungs, while people on the sidelines hunkered down as best they could until the winds dissipated.

A few moments later, a simple drop of water hit the teenager's cheek, followed by another, and then another. The sky turned dark and began to rain, while onlookers gawked in awe. Even that damned nerd Deku was looking around in amazement. "He changed the weather itself…with just one punch?"

"I didn't need your help, Deku!"

Izuku Midoriya sighed and rolled his eyes, turning around to face his longtime bully. "That's an odd way of saying 'thank you for saving my life even though I tried to bully you into suicide today', Bakugo" the greenette said. "By the way, you're welcome."

Bakugo actually had the audacity for a moment to look downright shocked, before regaining his composure. "W-Whatever! Just don't get in my way!" he shouted, before storming down the street. Midoriya watched him go, then laughed.

"Well, all's well that ends well, I guess" he chuckled, turning to head down to his own house…only to be surprised when All Might popped out from an alley into the middle of the road.

"I am here, with an offer-!" the man began, only to deflate in a puff of steam and spurt of blood.

"Sweet kami, are you alright?!" Midoriya yelled, pulling a few tissues from his pack and handing them to the pro to wipe the blood off his face. "How did you even escape the parasites back there after defeating the sludge?"

The man laughed and wiped the blood off his face. "Young Midoriya, thirty years as a professional hero and an additional nine spent learning about heroics across high school, undergraduate education and graduate school has given me plenty of experience dealing with the press" he said, a small grin on his face, before straightening to address the teen. "But that's not why I'm here!"

"You saved not just the life of that other boy back there, but you saved me as well. I would have become nothing but a cheap suit stuffed with empty platitudes about heroism, not the Symbol that society depends on, had you not moved me to act." With that, the Number One hero got down on his knees and bowed in a full dogeza to Midoriya. "I'm truly sorry for what I said earlier, because I was wrong - young man, you can become a hero."

Midoriya gaped and gasped at the man's apologetic display, but internally he was shocked for different reasons. "Holy crap, is he actually going to offer it to me?!"

Standing up, Toshinori Yagi held one hand forward and seemed to glow with an ethereal light. "You could become the kind of underground hero you mentioned earlier, but if you wish to be a limelight hero, there is another way you can do it. Izuku Midoriya…I possess the only truly transferable Quirk in the world, and would like to pass it along to you as my successor."

"The world's only what?!" Midoriya asked in surprise. Internally, his jubilance was reaching critical mass. "Oh my god, he actually offered it to me!"

"Over the years many people have wondered what kind of Quirk I have. A Strength Quirk? Speed? Maybe something that amplifies my statistics according to my moral righteousness? Personally, I always like to deflect by saying I just ate healthy foods growing up, but the truth is much different. My Quirk is a transferable energy stockpiling Quirk called One For All" Yagi said, the ethereal light in his palm intensifying a thousandfold. "I am this Quirk's Eighth wielder, and would like you to be the Ninth. Do you accept?"

"I accept!" Midoriya shouted without hesitation, immediately bowing.

"Excellent!" All Might laughed. "However, your physical strength needs to be improved a lot before you receive this Quirk - I have spent thirty-nine years cultivating its power and adding to the stockpile, so you risk crippling yourself if you're not in good enough shape for it."

Holding out a business card with contact information written on it, Yagi finished his explanation. "Meet me this Saturday at 6:00 AM at Dagobah Beach Municipal Park to begin training for UA High's entrance exam. In this form, I'm just Toshinori Yagi, All Might's secretary - and yes, that is my real name. Now I must go, and you should too, but I look forward to getting started!"

With that, the man turned and walked off down the street, presumably to hail a taxicab. Midoriya stared at the card in his hands for a few moments before pumping his fist and whooping in delight after making sure nobody was around to see his outburst. "I'm really getting One For All! Time to bring my uncle's Quirk back to the family!"

A few minutes later, Midoriya returned home and opened the front door just in time to be swept up in a crushing hug by his mother. "Izuku! I'm so glad you're safe!" she cried, hugging and crying on him. The teenager was used to his mother's emotional outbursts, but was still somewhat surprised by the immense strength she seemed to have hidden for years.

"It's good to be home, Mom" Izuku said as his mother released him. As he took off his shoes, the teenager continued to talk to the green-haired housewife. "Is Dad here?"

"Your father? He's back in his study again" Inko said. "If I had to guess, he's probably plotting bloody murder against that sludge man from earlier."

"Well that won't do at all; both Dad and I owe Dorome-san a debt of thanks now" Izuku said, tracing a path to the door of his father's office and knocking twice. "Dad? I'm home."

"Come in!" Hisashi said, his son obliging and opening the door to find the older man sketching out a murder plan on a napkin.

"Plotting to kill Mr. Sludge? That won't do; we both owe him one now" the greenette teen said, grabbing the plans out from in front of Hisashi.

"Care to explain why I shouldn't kill someone who tried to grievously injure you, Izuku?" Hisashi asked, crossing his arms.

Izuku smirked. "Well, without him creating that little incident with Bakugo, I wouldn't have been able to impress a certain hero into taking me on as his successor and making plans to give me a very valuable item that he is the Eighth holder of" the greenette said, watching his father's expression slowly morph from confusion to surprise to abject glee as his words sunk in.

"No way" Hisashi breathed slowly, disbelief in his voice. "He didn't-!"

"My training to become the Ninth holder of One For All starts this Saturday, 6:00 AM at Dagobah Beach" Izuku said, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. "I'm getting Uncle Yoichi's Quirk back in the family, Dad!"

The ever-stoic Demon Lord who had terrorized Japan's underworld for over a century couldn't hold it in anymore. With a whoop of joy, Hisashi Shigaraki embraced his son, a look of delight on his face. "Incredible, Izuku! You've accomplished my single greatest goal in less than six months as a villain!" he laughed.

Izuku chuckled slightly. "I guess I have, Dad. Could you call Oboro-san? I need to go meet up with Tenko and Himiko; this development means we're going to have to change all our plans by a lot."

Hisashi released his son, still smiling. "Of course! But before you go, I have two Quirks that I want to offer you to prepare for using One For All" he said.

"What do they do?" Izuku asked.

"Great Gains is an exercise Quirk that passively increases muscle and bone density based on diet and exercise; if that blond oaf is going to be training you, you'll need every advantage you can get to make the most of it" Hisashi said as his son rolled his eyes about his father's dismissal of his idol. "The other is Shock Absorption, which should mitigate any backlash you have from using it after he passes it to you."

"I'll take both" Izuku said, his Quirk's hunger acting up again at the promise of new fodder. The two shook hands, both briefly struggling for control in an amiable tug-of-war before Hisashi sighed and let the two parcels be consumed by Izuku's own Quirk factor.

One quick phone call later and the green-haired teen was in Kamino Ward, Yokohama, face to face with his League of Villains. "Good news, everyone!" he said. "The parcel known as 'O-F-A' is secure!"

That night, the lights were on at Oboro's Back-Alley Tavern long into the wee hours of the morning, closed for a "private party".

And if a D-Rank villain with a sludge body Quirk happened to disappear from a medium-security prison cell a few days later at around the same time that a perfectly legal soda company that totally wasn't a money laundering front hired a new accountant, well…whose business was that?

A few days later, Dagobah Beach Municipal Park

"...What a dump" Midoriya remarked, looking out over the trash and scrap metal piled high across the so-called park. "How could this happen, anyway?"

"Pretty bad, isn't it?" Yagi agreed in his "Small Might" form. "Further down the coast people used to dump trash in the ocean, and eventually the currents carried it ashore here. It later turned out to be the work of a hydrokinetic villain with a vendetta against the Shizuoka Coastal Commission and the trash stopped coming in that way, but locals saw it as a place to dump everything from tin cans to appliances free of charge…and now it looks like this."

Midoriya sighed. "Human pettiness and laziness at work again; why am I not surprised? I take it you plan on having me clean this?"

Yagi nodded. "You're correct. Heroes weren't always flying billboards the way they seem to be nowadays - back when I was a teenager, many were involved in community service efforts like this cleanup would be. I want you to show this community that you're a true hero long before you ever set foot in UA High."

To his surprise, the teenager already had his jacket off and was doing some warm-up stretches. "What are we waiting for then, Yagi-sensei? Let's get started!" the greenette shouted, pulling on a pair of reinforced gloves and practically leaping headlong into a pile of old washing machines.

"This kid…!" Yagi thought to himself, a smile forming on his face. "You've got it, Young Midoriya! I'll pull the truck around!" the Symbol of Peace shouted, his protege's infectious enthusiasm filling him with a passion for life he thought had died when he woke up in the hospital after his last fight with All For One.

Days turned to weeks, and then weeks turned to months as the villain heir followed his hero mentor's "Aim To Pass: American Dream Plan", slowly clearing the trash from the beach. Despite All Might's initial concerns about Midoriya's pacing, the teenager didn't suffer any exhaustion issues, assuring his mentor that he was simply getting enough sleep to not suffer any drawbacks - after all, Yagi didn't know about the exercise Quirk boosting his protege's fitness training. Not that it wasn't exhausting, of course - Midoriya was so tired when he got back from school and training that he barely spoke to his father and had no idea what Tenko was up to, though he knew they were doing something behind his back.

Finally, a crisp autumn morning came six and a half months later in late October, when Yagi parked his truck at the seawall overlooking Dagobah Beach and nearly choked in surprise. From south to north, every square inch of the sand was clear of trash and debris. Clear water lapped at the beachfront while seagulls dove down to grab clams exposed by the tide, and for a moment he even swore he saw a sea turtle dragging herself ashore to lay eggs.

And there, standing atop the last stack of appliances at the very edge of the beach where a recycling service came to pick them up every Monday, the Symbol of Peace saw his disciple raise one fist in the face of the rising sun and shout in triumph at the top of his lungs. "Oh…my…goodness!" Yagi shouted, buffing up into his muscle form and dashing across the beach just in time to catch Midoriya's fall.

"How does it look, Yagi-sensei?" the greenette asked breathlessly.

All Might's signature smile widened. "Young Midoriya, you've exceeded my every expectation. I didn't even think it would be possible to clean the beach by next February, yet you did it in just over half the time!" he said, carefully setting the teen back on his feet. "And look at you, kid! You were skinny when I first met you, but now? Now you're outright jacked!"

Midoriya smiled weakly and looked down at his well-muscled physique. Great Gains was truly an amazing Quirk, and at that moment the future hero and aspiring crime lord decided one thing was for certain - he was never giving it back to his dad. "I guess I have come a long way, haven't I?"

"You have truly gone beyond in the pursuit of excellence, and your effort begets a reward!" Yagi said, reaching up to pluck a strand of hair from his own head. "My own mentor once said that a gift you're given for hard work isn't a gift; it's simply what you deserve, what you are owed. Now…eat this!"

"...What?" Midoriya asked after a few moments of silence.

"The transfer works when you digest something containing the previous user's DNA" All Might explained. "I figured hair would be one of the least disgusting options."

"I have a thermos of coffee over there that you could put a drop of blood in; I think that would be significantly less gross than eating hair" Midoriya responded flatly.

A sheepish look crossed All Might's face. "Maybe you're right. Let's do that instead, Young Midoriya."

Several quick swigs and ten laps up and down the beach later, and a strange sensation like electricity flowed briefly through Midoriya's limbs, before settling into more of a low humming sensation vibrating through all his cells. "Yagi-sensei, I think I just digested it!" the teenager called, coming to a stop in front of his mentor.

"Glad to hear it, Young Midoriya" Yagi responded, getting off the recently-installed park bench. "In that case, I think it's time to start training with One For All. The ocean should be clear outwards from here within the range of your current power; go ahead and stir things up with a Detroit Smash."

"R-Right!" Midoriya said, turning and walking down to the shoreline. Taking a power stance, the green-haired teen focused on calling up the storm of energy from within the pit of his stomach, while also drawing on one of the newer Quirks in his collection. "Shock Absorption, just to be safe." The teen clenched his fist and opened his eyes, drawing one arm back as the incredible power within him flowed into the appendage and out into the world.

"Detroit…SMASH!"

A veritable storm of energy exploded into the world from the end of his fist, ripping a massive channel in the ocean outward for several kilometers before dissipating. A grin split Yagi's face as the wind whipped past his face, until he noticed his successor's bruised arm. "Young Midoriya, are you alright?!"

The teenager turned to face his mentor and held the bruised appendage up with a pained grin. "It doesn't feel broken, but it does hurt a lot. I think I may have sprained something; is there a good way to get this repaired before my parents panic?" he asked.

Yagi coughed blood for a second before grabbing his phone and hitting a button on it. "Pick up, pick up, pick up…" he muttered, before a voice crackled through the other end.

"Oh dear, Toshinori, you seem to have gotten yourself and your successor into quite a pickle this time."

"Nezu, how did you-?" Yagi began, before remembering who he was talking to. "On second thought, I'm not going to ask more questions about how you knew my successor had hurt himself. Just…tell Recovery Girl we're going to need her, okay?"

"I can do that. And to answer your question, I hacked all the cameras near Dagobah Beach. It's been a slow day here at UA."

"Right…" Yagi said, letting out a breath of relief when the line disconnected with a "click". "Young Midoriya, I'm going to drive you to UA to have your arm treated by Recovery Girl. You should rest on the way - take a nap in the truck if you feel the need."

The young man nodded wearily and followed his mentor to his obnoxiously yellow pickup truck, managing to get in with only one arm with mild difficulty. He quickly found himself dozing off despite the pain, the noise of traffic fading away as he found himself surrounded by a thick black mist with a large metal door in the middle.

"Where the heck am I? Is this a dream?" Midoriya wondered to himself. "And what's behind this door?" The green-haired teen reached towards the door, only for a hand to grab his wrist…a hand clad in a yellow glove.

A light coughing sound alerted him to the presence of a third person. Turning towards the source, he was met with the visage of a person he'd only seen once as a solitary photograph on his father's desk once, and when he looked back at the other individual he saw a woman noticeably resembling his mother.

"Uncle Yoichi? Grandma Shimura? Is this…the inside of One For All?" the teenager wondered.

"Hello, Izuku," his uncle said. "As you may have guessed, we have a lot to talk about."

Author's notes:

The pace is picking up as canon starts rolling along; this chapter we finished the Sludge Villain incident and most of Midoriya's training arc. To summarize…

All Might has recanted his previous statement on Midoriya's potential, but his concerns are much more valid than a lot of the fandom gives him credit for. We've seen exactly three notable heroes in canon with non-offensive Quirks - Nighteye, Midnight and Eraserhead - and currently two are dead and one is badly injured. I think Yagi's concerns are very justified.

Did I just give the Sludge Villain, of all people, a happy ending? Yes, yes I did.

Having access to a walking Quirk bank more than willing to let you take out a loan is incredibly handy. Great Gains and Shock Absorption are going to be valuable additions to Midoriya's arsenal, even if one just helps him get good exercise and the other is Flect Turn's Quirk if AFO had bought it at Wal-Mart.

Midoriya's improved fitness from the exercise Quirk and his use of Shock Absorption saved him from what happened to canon Midoriya in his first OFA use, but don't worry, this is about rock-bottom for his use of OFA. He'll get better.

Next chapter is going to be a little chat with the vestiges, our introduction to the Rat God, and a look at exactly what the hell Tenko and Hisashi have been working on recently. As ever, thanks for reading, and leave kudos if you haven't already.

Peace,

~DVD181

Next update: November 6th