Chapter 2: The Storm Inside

Midoriya Izuku had never been popular at his middle school, though he was used to people talking about him in some way or another; The words, "nerd," "fanboy," "otaku," and, "Quirkless," followed him around like his shadow, with no way to get rid of them. Bakugou and his friends usually made sure of that.

The day after the Sludge Villain had attacked different words followed him around. Or, more accurately, different phrases.

"Was that him on the news?"

"Couldn't be."

"Where do you think he kept the hammer all this time?"

"Think he's been lying this whole time?"

Even with all the attention he got being different, Midoriya couldn't help but squirm. Everyone seemed to be taking a wide berth of him, as if he was carrying some sort of contagious disease.

Jeez...they all have Quirks, he lamented as the final bell rang, why are they acting like this just because mine came with a hammer and some weather changes?

He supposed it made sense though, unfortunately. Deku had spent most of his life trying to be as invisible as possible to avoid the ridicule that came with being Quirkless. Showing up on the news with a lightning hammer was probably going to turn some heads.

It wasn't until lunch someone, a girl a year younger than him he had never even spoken to before, finally asked him about the news. "E-excuse me?"

Midoriya looked up at the smaller girl, standing across the table. "Y-yes?"

"That was you, right?" She asked, breathlessly. "On the news? Aren't you... you know... "

Deku rubbed the back of his neck. He and Thor hadn't talked about whether or not he should go announcing he was the God of Thunder or anything like that. And with how new he was, the attention that might bring didn't seem... desirable.

"W-well that's what I thought," he stammered. "But when I picked up that hammer to save Kacchan, I guess something just clicked in me. G-guess I'm a late b-bloomer, huh?"

The girl just nodded and ran off to another group of students to gossip. Midoriya hoped that would be a passable enough story for the time being.

All the same, the final bell brought a wave of relief to Midoriya as he stepped outside into the sunlight. The rays of sun warmed his cheeks, and Midoriya wondered if a bolt of lightning could really be summoned to transport him on a day like this. Thor had snuck a note in Deku's pocket the night before, simply instructing to leave Mjolnir on his balcony, which, of course, he complied with.

Thor was certainly no All Might - no one was - but the Avengers were a very fascinating research subject when he first began taking Quirk history. Many documents were lost to history about the fates of some of them, but one of the biggest debates of scholars was whether or not Thor's claim to godhood was genuine. Right behind whether or not The Hulk was still alive somewhere.

After the last twenty-four hours, Midoriya really had no choice but no believe it. Thor would have to have no less than five different Quirks to accomplish his recorded feats, maybe more. Even godhood seemed more likely.

Further than that, The Avengers - Thor in particular - were some of the first documented Heroes in history. The thought of learning directly under one of them was something Midoriya couldn't pass up. It was the chance of a lifetime!

"OI!! NERD!"

Midoriya grimaced and turned around, thoughts interrupted. Bakugou and his two lackeys were storming up to him. For a second, Midoriya was nervous; he didn't want to have to fight. He was sick of fighting. But there was a rumble in the air that was almost soothing.

"Where's THAT SHITTY HAMMER?!" Bakugou scowled, rolling up his sleeve.

A cool breeze rolled in, and as Katsuki approached the Quirkless boy, a lightning bolt came down from the cloudless sky and struck Midoriya, sweeping him away and knocking Bakugou flat on his ass for the second time that week.

"DAMN IT!" Bakugou screamed, punching the ground.

--

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to that," Deku panted, putting his hands on his knees once he arrived in the throne room of Asgard.

"You better, you're the God of Thunder now!" Thor chuckled. "You left the hammer on your balcony, right?"

Deku straightened himself up and nodded. "I did."

Thor grinned. "Now...what would you say if I told you that you could summon Mjolnir with your own mind?"

"Yeah, I know." Deku replied. He held out his hand, and with a rushing of wind, and a few seconds pause as Mjolnir flew across several planets, the weapon snapped itself into the boy's palm. "I figured it out yesterday when Kacchan tried to lift it."

Thor slumped forward a bit, looking deflated and clearly disappointed. "Really letting the wind out of my sails here, Midoriya."

"S-sorry." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "It just kind of... happened."

Thor rebounded and swelled himself up with gusto once more. "Well then, lesson two...fighting Frost Giants!"

Midoriya yelped and dropped the weapon, cracking the floor tile. "W-wait! Lesson one is summoning the hammer and two is FIGHTING GIANTS?! I thought we'd ease our way into this a little!"

Thor bellowed with laughter. "You don't ease your way into lightning, Midoriya! LIGHTNING STRIKES! NOW COME!"

--

It didn't take more than a few days, several bruises, and a black eye for Midoriya to figure out that Thor's version of, "training," consisted traveling to several planets and fighting mythological beasts.

"You've got what I would call a hero's instinct, Midoriya," Thor explained on Friday afternoon. The two of them were crouched behind a boulder as an undead dragon breathed green flames at them from the other side. "Even when acting to save your friend Kachow, you acted without thinking, and wielded Mjolnir with expertise."

"I-it's a little bit harder to do when someone isn't in danger." Midoriya replied, peeking out from behind the boulder, ducking back as more toxic breath was spewed at him. "...did you just call him Kachow?"

"That's what the warrior training is for," Thor shrugged. The flames subsided. "NOW STRIKE! THIS BEAST STOLE MY GOLD PLAYSTATION CONTROLLER!"

"THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE?!"

"STRIKE NOW, BOY!"

Midoriya jumped from the behind the boulder, spinning Mjolnir by his side, and chucking the hammer towards the head of the undead dragon. The dragon ducked, and reared back for another blast of fire, when Deku called for Mjolnir to return. The hammer burst through the back of the skeletal beast's skull, and the rest of it collapsed onto the stony terrain, dead.

"Very good. The boomerang tactic works well on beasts; they tend to forget a threat that is not in it's line of sight," Thor congratulated, walking over to the beasts horde. "Help yourself to some treasure, Asgard's vaults are already loaded."

Midoriya caught his breath and watched as Thor rifled through piles of gold until the god finally found his customized Playstation controller. "Huzzah!" The Asgardian cried, "I say thee nay, dragon!"

Deku rolled his eyes, but pocketed a few gold coins; maybe he'd buy something nice for his mom.

--

The months passed. As Autumn arrived, Midoriya explained to Thor that he would be trying out for UA's Hero Course in one months time.

"Ah yes... I think you'll be prepared." Thor agreed. "Still, hundreds of years later, and Midgard still requires licensing for Heroes. You think they'd have learned."

"Yeah, I remember reading that there was a lot of struggle about the Sakovia Accords. What side were you on?" Midoriya asked, curiously.

"Pfft. I was off planet," Thor waved a hand. "I had better things to do while Tony and Steve - Iron Man and Captain America as you know them - threw tantrums. So. Anyway. Your battle prowess has improved immensely. I think you'll be ready for any sort of hero examination with just one more proper lesson."

"What's that?" Midoriya asked. His curious heightened a bit; usually Thor just referred to his lessons as, "feats of strength."

"Wielding Mjolnir is not simply muscles, hammer tosses, and lightning strikes," Thor explained. "Though, that's pretty cool. Mjolnir simply harnesses and concentrates the power bestowed upon you. It is a great responsibility. You, young Midoriya, are a Person of Mass Destruction."

Midoriya gulped slightly, and nodded. Thor continued, "you've mastered creating air currents and lighting within the hammer to attack. You, however, have the ability to alter the weather all around you. Hurricanes. Torrential rain. Lightning and Thunder, obviously. These are not abilities to be taken lightly, but you need to know how to do them, should the time ever come. The power of nature can level entire cities, so you need to know how to control that within yourself."

In a strike of lightning, the two were transported to a large, open field. Thor looked around. "This will do. Midoriya. Spin your hammer, and feel the storm inside of you. Be the storm. And then, create the storm. Bring the rain."

Reaffirming his determination, Deku nodded, grabbed Mjolnir by the strap, and spun it over his head. Unfortunately, creating the storm and manipulation of the weather was harder than he thought. Summoning a bolt of lightning was easy; it was part of battle, all it took was the mental energy of wanting to zap an enemy.

The creation of torrential rain and wind was harder. It wasn't battle relevant in this moment, and Midoriya had no idea where the wind was to blow from. His thoughts scattered to the surroundings, eyes darting around from one end of the field to another. Panic began to rise in his chest as nothing in the sunny clearing changed.

After a few hours, Thor stopped him. "Aye, lad. This is the hardest lesson, hence why I have saved it for last. We'll try again tomorrow. But remember. The storm is in you."

Deku nodded, gripping Mjolnir to his chest tightly. "I won't let you down, Thor!"

--

Days passed, and with the UA Hero Exam looming overhead, Midoriya seemed no closer to summoning the storm within himself than he had been when he first started.

Despite the mounting frustration and discouragement, Thor remained optimistic. Weather manipulation was, after all, the most complex and difficult powers that came with being the God of Thunder. The weather itself was dictated by so many things; air currents, moon patterns, changing climates, and more. For one being to alter all of that, even temporarily, necessitated a lot of concentrated energy.

It was the Friday before the examination when something changed. Midoriya left his middle school, and absentmindedly summoned Mjolnir as he exited the building. By now, many of the students had grown accustomed to the sight and knew to give Midoriya a wide berth as a magical hammer sped to his hand. It was a bright, sunny day, and usually the feeling of the sun's warmth against his face was reassuring for Deku. Today, it just felt like a taunt.

Maybe the hammer is wrong? Midoriya thought, staring down at the weapon in his hand. Maybe I'm not worthy, or have a storm inside me. I mean, it's a hammer? It can't be that smart, can it?

Before he could speculate further though, a deafening noise rang in his ears, and he was thrust forward onto the ground. He dropped Mjolnir and rolled across the pavement, groaning in pain. He was given no chance to recover, as two bodies quickly pinned down his arms and grabbed at his hands.

As his vision and hearing returned, he realized those two bodies belonged to Bakugou's friends, holding down his arms and forcibly trying to close his fists so that he couldn't summon Mjolnir. Katsuki himself stood above him, looking down at him with a look of disdain and malice.

"Tch," he grunted. "That's what I thought. Without that hammer, you're still a shitty Deku, aren't you?"

At the words, Midoriya struggled, trying to pry his hands open or throw Bakugou's lackeys off of him. But even with the increased muscle mass he had gained under Thor's tutelage, he couldn't force the two teen boys off his arms when they were spread out like that.

Bakugou turned and looked at the weapon that lay on the school walkway a few feet away. Looking up, he saw a crowd was drawing around them. A smile snuck across his face - the kind of smile reserved for when he was showing how strong he was. What was the point of being the strongest without an audience, after all? He looked back down to Mjolnir. "Let's see you get into UA without this..."

"Kacchan! Don't!" Midoriya cried. He wasn't sure if Mjolnir could actually be destroyed, but the fact that Bakugou, the strongest kid his age he knew, was trying to do so wasn't setting him at ease.

"Do it, Bakugou!" Sneered one of the boys on Midoriya's arm.

An explosion rang out in front of the school, prompting Midoriya to squirm harder. As the smoke, cleared Mjolnir stood, unharmed.

Katsuki growled. "Shitty hammer! DIE!"

Two more explosions rocked the ground, causing the pavement to shake and rubble to smack against Midoriya's forehead. The pain mixed with frustration, and the green-haired boy could feel his heart pounding furiously in chest. It almost sounded like a rumble as the blood rushed to his ears. "KNOCK IT OFF, KACCHAN!"

Dust and debris cleared once more, showing Mjolnir had not budged, even as the sidewalk under it was beginning to crack and crumble. A few girls in the crowd snickered, making Bakugou's eye twitch.

Bakugou's fists clenched and he rounded back towards Midoriya. "WHAT THE SHIT IS THIS SHITTY HAMMER MADE OF?!"

"LEAVE IT ALONE!" Midoriya shouted back. Bakugou's two friends pressed their weight down further against his arms at this, causing Midoriya to grunt.

Bakugou stared down at Midoriya as if he had grown a second face. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?!" He gave a small kick against Midoriya's head. "I'm going to destroy your stupid hammer, and you'll know your place, nerd."

The pain and laughter from Bakugou's friends mixed with the anger Midoriya was already feeling. He heard thunder in his ears, and the beating of his heart on adrenaline sent feeling of pin pricks along his entire body. His arms felt like they were on fire, and for a minute he saw a look of worry cross the face of one of the boys holding him down.

"Uh...hey Bakugou?" The friend called.

"Shut up," Bakugou sneered. "I'm busy."

It was unfortunate that he chose not to look back. If he had, Bakugou might have noticed that Midoriya himself was changing. The boy's normal green eyes were now glowing blue, and his hair was standing on end.

Midoriya wasn't sure why these particular words came to mind; perhaps because Thor talked about having said them so much in his early days. But as Bakugou raised his hand to attack the hammer once again, Izuku opened his mouth. The shout that came out shook the entire school.

"I SAY THEE NAY!"

At the words, clouds formed in the sky, covering the schoolyard in darkness. Lightning cracked, thunder roared, and the heavens opened up to pour rain down upon the entire middle school. Bakugou tried to form an explosion, but the heavy rain completely put out any flames he tried to ignite.

With a surge of strength, Midoriya turned, throwing the two boys off of him, and stood to face Bakugou. The two childhood friends glared at each other with gritted teeth. Midoriya marched forward, seething with anger, eyes ablaze in an icy blue color. Bakugou, to his credit, matched the steps of his counterpart, until they were only a foot or so apart, glaring at each other.

Midoriya raised his hand so that it was level with Bakugou's head, a few inches to the right of his shoulders. Within an instant, Mjolnir flew to Deku's hand, the weight of the hammer on the same level as Bakugou's head.

It was only for a brief instant, but Deku could tell the message was received loud and clear. In that moment, Bakugou flinched, his anger falling and giving way to a look Midoriya had never seen on the taller boy's face before.

It was fear.

The fear was quickly replaced with same anger. Students began to disperse around them in a panic, as the air around them was charged with electricity and adolescent rage.

The situation could have turned very dangerous. It could have turned into a bloody fight. But it was in that moment, Thor sent a lightning bolt to summon Deku to Asgard, leaving a lone Bakugou to fume and stir in his embarrassment.

--

It took Midoriya a moment or two to calm down once in the halls of Asgard, and when he did, he saw Thor looking at him with a smile that wasn't full of it's usual vigor for battle. No, the smile seemed a bit more forlorn.

"So... you summoned the storm," Thor mused, voice quieter than usual. "And without Mjolnir. That's truly an impressive feat for someone so inexperienced."

Deku looked at his feet. Despite the accomplishment... it didn't feel right. "I lost control, I guess. I just... Kacchan made me so mad, trying to attack your hammer."

"Your hammer, Young Midoriya," Thor corrected him. "I'm not...overall shocked that it was in this manner you were able to first bring out the raging storms that come with the title. Come, sit with me."

The two turned and sat on the stairs below the throne. Thor looked down at this own hands. "I, too, first learned how to summon a storm in anger. I'm not surprised that it was in the same you learned as well."

There was something of a melancholy tone in his voice as he told the tale. "What do you mean?" Midoriya asked.

"When I was a boy, my brother Loki," Thor glanced down to see Midoriya had already taken out his notebook at the mention of the God of Mischief. "Put that way, we're not doing the nerd thing right now. Anyway, Loki and eye didn't see eye to eye as children, brothers as we are. When we were teenagers, I was lured to the seaside far from home by the call of a siren."

"Was that Loki?" Deku asked.

Thor nodded. "That time, yes. Usually a siren either meant a good fight or, well... er, ask your parents."

"I'm 15, Thor. I know what sex is," Midoriya deadpanned, though his cheeks took a red tinge at the word.

"Anyway, when I arrived, Loki arranged an avalanche on a near cliff. Rocks pinned me underwater."

"That's... Kind of terrifying." Deku gulped.

"Pfft," Thor waved dismissively. "That was one his tamer attempts to kill me, in the long run. Anyway, fearing for my life and enraged, I called forth a tsunami. Nearly killed Loki and myself."

"I see..."

"That's also why I pulled you out of there," Thor pat Midoriya on the back. "You grew up with Kachow, didn't you?"

Deku nodded, ignoring the misnaming.

"Aye. I figured as much." Thor stood. "Such bonds can breed complicated emotions and rivalry. Be wary of your own powers, young Midoriya. Never allow a loss of control to take an innocent life."

Midoriya gulped but nodded. "I... I understand."

"Good!" Thor exclaimed, clapping his apprentice on the back. "Enough lectures! Let us work on control of these abilities! You have an exam coming up, the first step to being a Great Hero Worthy of the title God of Thunder!"

As Thor turned away, Deku got up to follow, but look down at Mjolnir first. This power, amazing as it was, came with a heavy responsibility. He would just have to use it wisely.