MHA/SVTFOE – Chapter 4: What it Takes to be a Hero

[The Scars of a Symbol]

As the question of the young man resounded in his head, All Might remembered himself when he was the young Midoriya's age. This kid had moxie, that was for sure, but he didn't want to fill his head with lies, he wanted to fully explain how hard his goal was going to be. He turned around to see the flustered teen with his eyes closed, clearly extremely embarrassed about asking this to one of the most powerful people in Japan, if not the world.

All Might: "Without a Quirk?"

At that moment, smoke began coming out of All Might's body.

All Might: "Oh no, holy shit, goddamnit…"

Izuku was completely unaware of this situation, too busy with his self-pity.

Izuku: "It might've been because I don't have a Quirk, but I'm always made fun of. Maybe that's why… I don't know. But I think that saving people is so cool. Saving people with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero, like you!"

When Izuku looked back at All Might, the smoke was clearing up. In place of the muscular symbol of peace was a scrawny skeleton of a man. Izuku never screamed louder than that day.

Play Jonathan Young - Sono Chi no Sadame.

[Encounter at the Pier]

Many thoughts were swirling through the mind of Marco right now. He had been walking aimlessly, realizing he had walked all the way from his household to the town of Musutafu where his parents did their pro-hero work. He figured he might as well go see Izuku.

However, before he went to do that, he felt somebody put his hands in front of his eyes.

?: "Guess who!"

Marco: "Hey Jackie."

When Marco turned around, he saw his girlfriend, Jackie Lynn-Thomas. She was just slightly shorter than him and had tanned skin and platinum blonde hair with an aqua streak. She wears a green and white shirt, an orange seashell necklace, cyan jean shorts and blue and white sneakers. She had a skateboard with her, probably going to the skate park by Marco's guess.

Jackie: "Hey babe, you good? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Marco: "Well, more like an interdimensional princess a- You know what? I'll just explain it to you."

15 minutes later at the pier…

Jackie: "Damn! Quite a crazy day."

Marco: "Tell me about it."

Jackie: "So on a scale from 1 to 10, how angry are you right now?"

Marco briefly looked at his girlfriend with a grin.

Marco: "I thought I was the therapist. But anyway, I'd say something like… *Deep thinking* 18,5."

Jackie: "It ain't 100 like usual so that's good."

The two proceeded to laugh away the pain of the situation. It would never cease to amaze Marco how quickly his anger would sublimate by simply being in Jackie's presence. He felt as if Jackie was the one person who wouldn't frustrate him in the slightest, the one person who completely understood his struggles, who didn't judge him for the way he was born or acts.

Jackie: "So, in all seriousness, what are you gonna do now?"

Marco: "I guess I'm going to bring back bending or something? I don't know, it's not exactly as if anybody is going to tell me what to do so I'll just wing it."

Jackie: "… Really?"

Marco: "Yeah."

Jackie: "It will never cease to amaze how quickly you get over shock, just 20 minutes ago, you were losing your mind but now you're acting so calmly over something so huge."

Marco: "Oh well, living a life as depressing as mine either makes you ridiculously motivated or numb to everything. Or both, just depends on what kind of person you are. Anyway, I should check to see whether or not somebody put Izuku in a trashcan. Love you."

Jackie: "Love you too.

Marco then walked away, not realizing he was still being watched by a frog-like monster.

?: *Russian accent* "So that boy is in charge of princess. Well, will just have to take him out too."

He then laughed sinisterly before disappearing into the shadows once again.

[Unraveling of the Might]

There he stood, the walking popsicle stick taking the place of All Might.

Izuku: "What the fu- you deflated into a walking skeleton, what's going on?!"

All Might: "Calm down, young man! *Sigh* I suppose I owe you an explanation and an answer."

Before he could answer, he coughed up some blood, freaking Izuku out. Was that really All Might? No, it had to be a fake.

All Might: "You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing? It's like that."

Izuku: "No way! All Might is fearless… He saves everyone with a smile… He's the greatest…"

That praise both elevated the skinny man's spirits and yet made him feel so guilty. This was a boy who very clearly had a rough life, similar to his, and here he was, breaking the delusion that kept his grandiose image of his hero alive. Well, better get this over with. All Might sat down, instinctively making himself small for he felt weak and defeated at that moment.

All Might: "A fearless smile, huh? Now that you've seen me like this, young man, make sure you don't write about it online, even accidentally."

Izuku: "… All Might sir, not to disappoint you but whatever you're about to say, I promise you, at least three people already know."

All Might: "Really?"

Izuku: "Carrie, Monty, Info-Chan, they got eyes and ears everywhere."

All Might: "Oh well, at least do me a favor and make sure they won't tell."

At that moment, All Might pulled up his shirt, showing a massive wound on his stomach.

All Might: "It's an injury I got from an enemy's attack five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I've become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects. Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day."

Izuku: "That can't be… Five years ago… Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"

All Might: "You're well informed. But a punk like that couldn't defeat me. This fight was not made public to the world. I asked that it not be made public. I will save people with a smile! The Symbol of Peace cannot be daunted by evil. I smile to show the pressure of heroes and to trick the fear inside of me."

At the mere mention of a hero possessing fear, Izuku looked shocked and recoiled.

All Might: "Pros are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say: "You can become a hero, even without a power." It's possible, sure, but only a small percentage of the powerless would make it. If you are that small percentage, go right ahead, but I wouldn't bet on it going well."

Izuku: "I see… But what about Mumen Rider, you publicly praised-"

All Might: "He has the spirit and bravery of a hero but still, if he was here, he wouldn't want you doing anything you weren't prepared to do. If you really want to become a Quirkless hero, prepare to suffer years of grueling training. Or don't and get killed."

Izuku flinched at the idea.

All Might: "If you want to help others, you can also become a police officer or a Devil Hunter or something. They're often teased but hey, somebody needs to do the paperwork and deal with the demon problem."

All Might began walking away, leaving the teenager to himself.

All Might: "It's not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what's realistic, young man."

He then left the roof and went down the stairs.

Izuku needed to see Marco immediately.

[Explosive Attitude]

Star had been wondering for a while now, having reached Musutafu herself. She hadn't really known where she was, she just asked people for directions and ended up where she was. She was a little nervous she would do something stupid and earn the ire of an aggressive stranger.

Speaking off, as she was thinking this, she wasn't paying attention, bumping into a spiky haired teenager. It was Bakugo who had his goofy ass goons following him as usual.

Kacchan: "Oi, looking where you going, dumb bitch!"

Insulted for obvious reasons, Star turned to explosive asshole with an angry look.

Star: "I'm sorry, what did you just call me?"

Kacchan: "Ya heard me, bitch. Now, get out the way!"

Kacchan proceeded to push her aside, causing her to fall in a nearby puddle. Bad move because right at that moment, Marco happened to appear, not looking very happy about that.

Marco: "What's up, Kacchan?"

Kacchan: "The hell, where did you come from?"

Marco: "Not important, I don't like you assaulting the innocent, quit doing it or I'm telling Mariposa."

Kacchan *Panicked* "I mean, I don't think we have to do that. Hey bitch, I'm sorry."

Marco: "There we go, now get out of here before I drop your asses one by one."

Kacchan and his goons proceeded to walk away whilst the explosive teen whispered bitch-ass, hoping that Marco didn't hear that. Marco then helped up Star, telling her to follow him.

Star: "Thanks for the help."

Marco: "Don't mention it."

Star: "So anyway, about this whole thing with that display earlier. What was all that about?"

Marco: *Sigh* "Once, we had a thing called Benders. They were humans capable of bending the elements using martial arts. They disappeared after World War II, and nobody's seen them since. But here's the thing, there is one individual who can bend all four elements and as it turns out, I'm that individual, meaning I have to bring balance to the world.

Star: "Oh… Didn't, uh, didn't know that."

Marco: "Don't feel too bad, it could've been way worse."

Despite that statement, Star still felt very guilty. She just put a giant burden on the shoulders of an already frustrated guy who was just trying to get by. Not that she knew all that much about Marco yet, they had briefly talked earlier that day, but just based on what he told her and his tone of voice, he already had enough to deal with. Marco… Wasn't really all that fazed. Living in the most chaotic country in the world made it so the only thing that still faced him was magic and that was pretty much it. He got over his shock pretty quick after some thinking.

Marco: "Could you quit with the pouty face? It's really depressing."

Star: "Sorry."

Marco: "Listen Star, I could be doing worse and… You know, I've always wanted to be a hero, help the little man, and well, somebody's got to do it so… Thank you."

Star: "Well, you're welcome then."

At that statement, Star's smile returned although it came accompanied with a blush which Marco for the sake of his own sanity decided to ignore for now. Wouldn't be the first time a housemate got a crush on him.

However, before Marco could make a snarky comment, an explosion went off on the other side of town. Intrigued by this, Marco ran towards the scene of disaster with Star following closely behind him, neither realizing that their arrival on the scene was premeditated.

[A Triumvirate is Formed]

Why had he run to this scene? Izuku didn't know, he just felt compelled. He knew he had no business still caring about this hero business but everything about it drew him closer. The excitement and action spoke to him in a way nothing else did. He knew, despite his physical inability to be a hero like All Might, he wasn't built to be anything else, realism be damned.

However, this was something new completely. He saw Bakugo being held hostage by a gang of monstrous creatures, ranging from an armored bear/unicorn hybrid to an anthropomorphic fly. At the helm were two monsters. Ludo, a short grayish-green bird monster who wore a mossy green cloak and a creature's skull he wore as a crown, and Toffee, a blue-skinned lizard creature with slicked-back dark purple hair who wore a business suit. Weirdly, Toffee's right middle finger was… Missing.

Near the scene, which was up in flames from Bakugo's explosions earlier, Jackie laid on the ground, trying to get up despite the fact she was coughing up blood. Toffee, looking emotionlessly to the scene, stepped on her stomach, making her cry out in excruciating pain.

Toffee: "Interesting ability you have, human. It seems you can take on the traits of different creatures which I presume are fauna in your world? No matter, if you don't stay down, I'll have to take you out."

Ludo: "Yes, show these pathetic humans the might of my army! HAHAHA!"

Toffee looked back at Ludo with a look of contempt on his face.

Toffee: "Sir, don't forget what we came here for."

Ludo: "Ah yes, yes, well, Buff Frog said this girl is the girlfriend of that Marco boy who has to take care of the princess. They'll arrive, I'm sure."

Izuku was close enough to hear the two monsters going back and forth, now becoming even more stressed as he saw Marco arriving with a girl close behind him. Heroes began arriving on the scene to save Kacchan and Jackie, Death Arms jumping in to punch away Toffee, accidentally punching a hole through his chest. Death Arms himself was shocked but Toffee was unbothered, regenerating quickly from the attack and slapping away the Punching Hero halfway across the city.

Mount. Lady was unable to come through because of her size, Kamui Woods was saving civilians, unable to work with all the fires, Backdraft was putting out fires, you know, hero shit. Either way, chaos was afoot.

Marco and Star finally arrived at the front. Seeing his buddy, Marco instantly went in for the hug.

Marco: "Hey man, you good? I imagine that Bakugo was hard on ya earlier."

Izuku: "U-um, Ma-Marco?"

Marco: "By the way, this is Star Butterfly, Star, this is my best friend, Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku: "Marco, please look."

Marco listened to Izuku, seeing the scene. However, he couldn't care for any of that. All he saw was Jackie in pain. A burst of epinephrine came into Marco's brain, unimaginable anger flooding his brain. His eyes briefly lighted up, not quite a full Avatar State but close enough, like Aang at the Air Temple. He began smoking, fire beginning to spring up from his skin.

Star and Izuku both looked at the scene themselves. While Izuku felt very bad for his friend and could not look upon this scene much longer, Star felt guilty for the destruction for she knew of Ludo and his monster army. Had they really followed her to earth? All of this was indirectly her fault. She couldn't stand it. If she is what they want, she'll gladly go kick their butts back to Mewni.

Izuku meanwhile… He began to breath. He was hoping that perhaps, if he could get a hold of this ancient power, he could be a help instead of a burden. As the oxygen entered and left his lungs, he began to garner up the strength he sought. It was faint and not all that powerful, but it was enough for now.

Unexpectedly, Star grabbed her wand, yelling "Dagger Crystal Heart Attack", firing off heart-shaped daggers, temporarily making most of the monsters back off and giving Kamui a opportunity to sweep in and save Bakugo.

Izuku: "Zoom Punch!"

Izuku extended his arm, using the Hamon to soften the pain, and uppercut Toffee away from Jackie, allowing her to limp away to safety, confused as to what the hell the local Quirkless kid Marco was friends with just rushed in to save her but nonetheless grateful. Izuku himself had very little idea how he even managed to do that, as it was more of a spur of the moment thing but was nonetheless happy he was off some help.

Marco: "This is for putting your hands on Jackie!"

Not exactly knowing what he was actually doing, Marco had blasted off, covering himself in a cloak of fire, blasting apart Toffee, who regenerated from the attack quite quickly. Once reformed, Toffee slapped Marco right at Izuku, sending both of them back into the crowd. Jackie and Kacchan, now looking onto the fight from a distance, were still processing the whole event. However, seeing Izuku trying to fight these monsters made Bakugo angry beyond belief whereas Jackie was just happy to see Marco get to using his powers, hoping this sets off some opportunities for him. Star tried to attack Toffee but was grabbed by the face and thrown away too, although she managed to hold onto her wand.

The three stood up shortly thereafter however, undeterred by Toffee's strength. Izuku got an almost bloodthirsty look on his face, his Hellsing heritage coming out in the face of these monsters. Marco's rage was still visible, his body blowing off steam like a locomotive. As for Star, she was simply determined to get these pests out of her sight and away from citizens.

Izuku: "That's all you got?! I will smite you unholy demons back to where you came from!"

Marco: "And is slapping people across the battlefield all you can do? Your originality is gone like your hairline!"

Star: "What we're trying to say is…"

All three: "We'll fight you for as long as we have too!"

Toffee was merely amused by the threat, whilst the other monsters cowered, knowing Toffee was the only one that at the moment was an actual threat. But there, in the distance, a frail man looked upon the scene.

All Might: *In his mind* "I severely underestimated that boy's determination. They want to keep fighting, despite the odds. Rest now you three, I shall take over!"

All Might, despite not having the energy, transformed into his buff state, in an instant jumping over the crowd into the battlefield.

Izuku: "All Might…"

All Might: "I really am pathetic. I wasn't putting what I said to you into practice, young man. Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice."

All Might punched Toffee back into the other monsters.

All Might: "Pros are always risking their lives!"

All Might, through the blood spraying from his mouth, yelled "Detroit Smash" and with one punch, he blasted back the entire army off into the sky, putting out all the fires and creating a huge whirlwind. When the attack was done and over with, All Might was panting, and his arm was smoking but he had defeated them.

In that moment, something incredible happened.

Random citizen 1: "Rain?"

Random citizen 2: "Don't tell me it's from the wind pressure just now? And updraft developed and… He made clouds?"

Random citizen 3: "With just his right fist, he changed the weather!"

All the three teenagers could do was stare in awe. What a hero.

[And So, You're the Next]

After the fight, Izuku had gotten to talking with Star and they hit it off pretty quick and soon, it had seemed like the time just flew by as the three talked about everything on their way back home.

Star: "Man, did you see him jump in and he was all like "Pros are always risking their lives!" and then he went like woosh, and all of the monsters went blasting off into the sky!"

Izuku: "I know right? That was awesome! Hey Marco, what did you think of it?"

Marco: "It was cool but honestly, I was too busy dealing with the pros reprimanding us."

Izuku: "By which you mean?"

Marco: "Telling Death Arms he needs to get his wannabe super strength having ass out of here before he gets jumped."

Star: "Gets jumped?"

Marco: "It's human slang."

Kacchan: "Hey! You three!"

Kacchan and Jackie came running up, to the surprise of the teens.

Star: "Hey, you're that jerk that pushed me into a puddle and didn't thank me for saving him."

Kacchan: "I didn't need any of your damn help, from none of you! And you didn't help me, I had everything under control, got it?"

Marco: "Dude, you were held in a headlock by a giant toad, you didn't have shit under control, now get your pompous ass out of here before I tell Mariposa on ya."

Kacchan: "Wow, can't even deal with me yourself."

Marco: "Oh don't get me wrong, I could deal with you myself, I'm just trying to help you out. After all, the only way she'll ever take a bite out of you is as her dinner."

Kacchan: "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, Deku, you're a Quirkless failure-"

Marco: "Just going off on all of us."

Kacchan: "And this dumb bitch, I don't know who you are, but I don't like you!"

Star: "What is wrong with this guy?"

Kacchan: "Don't think you can look down on me!"

Marco: "How do you manage to be so insecure, yet such an arrogant clown?"

Kacchan: "Are you trying to make owe you!"

Marco: "No, just shut up!"

Marco was getting visibly frustrated from this conversation and just started ignoring what's going on. Kacchan yelled angrily one more time before turning around and walking away, leaving a confused Star, frightened Izuku and angry Marco.

Marco: "Well, that was incredibly unpleasant."

Star: "Is that how he's like all the time?"

Izuku: "He told me earlier to kill myself."

Marco: "… He's not gonna the last the night."

Jackie, who had been standing there in shock the whole time, took her turn to speak.

Jackie: "Yeah, sorry about that guy, I don't know what his problem is."

Marco: "That's fine Jackie, I'm just… Glad you're okay."

Jackie gave him a smile which he returned, holding his hands as she did so. This for some reason Star couldn't explain made her feel… Jealous. Oh well, enough time to worry about that later.

Star: "Hey Marco, who's your friend?"

Marco: "Oh right, Star, this is Jackie Lynn Thomas, Jackie, this is Star Butterfly, the so manyth transfer students that'll be staying with me."

Star: "Nice to meet you! Are you and Marco friends or?"

Jackie was a bit amused at the fact that Star hadn't realized yet that she and Marco were together (it was so obvious) so she looked at Marco who could tell exactly what she was thinking. They could just be straightforward and tell her or they could do the right thing and see how long it would take for Star to realize they're dating. And we all know they're gonna do the right thing.

Jackie: "Yup, just friends, nothing more than that, 100%. Anyway, I've some business to take care of, Marco, see you tomorrow at school?"

Marco: "Sure thing."

Jackie: "Alright, bye then, nice to meet you Star!"

Jackie had practically sped off on her skateboard after that. Izuku was going to retort to what she had said because he knew they were actually dating, however, before he could, suddenly, from around the corner, All Might appeared proclaiming "I Am Here!". He deflated to his skinny form shortly, thereafter, spitting up a ton of blood. Wiping himself off, he turned to Izuku.

All Might: "Young man. I come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion. If you and your friends hadn't been there, if you hadn't told me about your life, I would've turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you."

Izuku: "That can't be… I barely even did anything…"

Marco: "Neither did those useless dickheads, can't beat up a Demon-Level Threat all working together but can reprimand a couple kids for embarrassing them. Cowards."

Izuku: "Either way, we got in the way of your work, and I said all those impertinent things even though I'm Quirkless…"

All Might: "That's right. It was because it was none other than the timid, Quirkless you at the scene that I was able to act."

Izuku: "I mean, does it really count? I did have Star and Marco backing me up, they did most of the work…"

Marco: *Whispers* "Star, let's back off so he can take the credit."

Star: *Whispers* "Sure thing."

Marco and Star then took a couple steps back, leaving Izuku to it, although they remained within hearing range of the two.

All Might: "Young man, true as that may be, that doesn't change that you, a Quirkless kid, rushed in to save those other teens."

Unexpectedly, Izuku began thinking about his mother's words all those years ago. It brought tears to his eyes. As much as he tried to stay strong, her words reverberated through his head, bringing him to his knees. Here he was, being praised for his bravery by the number one. It was almost too good to be true.

All Might: "You can be a hero. Dreams can become reality."

That sentence would shape the rest of Izuku's life.

Play CG5 & Annapantsu - Shining Star.