The Ninth: Izuku
Welcome, readers! May your imaginations run wild and free in this new rendition of the world of My Hero Academia! This is a complete rewrite of my very first fanfiction – that I'm posting – so I hope you will all enjoy this.
This fanfiction came about into existence when I was searching for a good story about Izuku figuring out the powers of One For All quicker than he did in canon; not full power, but just how to control it. After a while of not finding one – that I liked – I decided to take it into my own hands and attempt writing a fanfiction to meet my own head canon.
And while I did get the writing out and a semi decent story, the writing was absolutely terrible up until the later chapters. Content was bare, character development was off, foreshadowing could've been better, consistency, I really wanted to add more references to other shows I like, and don't even get me started on the power scaling.
Anyway, because of all… that, I'm rewriting the fanfic and – hopefully – it will be better this time around. Keep in mind I have no idea what my direction is going to be with this story as my brain only has a base; this is most definitely being made up as we go along.
Also, expect OCs (Original Characters), quite a few of them, and maybe a few characters being OOC (Out of Character).
WARNING: LATE ANIME AND MANGA SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!
I DO NOT own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.
Now let's get this story going! No one really reads this part anyway; if you do, great job!
|Chapter 1: Origin
There are many lessons one can learn in life; some learn the hard ones earlier than most while others can go their whole lives not learning at all. All men are not created equal; that was the lesson Izuku Midoriya learned at the young age of four. You see, he is what – in his world – one would call Quirkless. If you don't know what that is, then let's have a quick little history lesson.
It all started over a century ago to the present day at the early decades of the second millennia; the Great Plague of the 21st Century had ended and the world was slowly building itself back up. However, in the old city of Qingqing, China, a child was born with luminescent properties. In other words, a child was born that glowed. While they didn't know it then, this was just one of many children that would be born with a Quirk. From that day forward, the rate of children showing never before seen meta-abilities only continued to grow.
Back then, all of the world's governing parties had to work around the clock to get even a slimmer of order back into their countries. Law reformations, safeguards; the shift in the paradigm caused severe backlash and it sent scared and confused people around the world into a frenzy. Even worse, while governments tried to regain order, a select few individuals began to use their new powers for their personal gain. Banks were emptied out, riots ensued, cults started, civil war was just on the horizon and many were only one bad day away from death.
However, the explosive increase in crime did not sit well with some and they could not sit back and watch as their world began to burn and innocent people were hurt. So those people began to fight back; small in number and not always backed by a power, people used what they could to fight off the rising chaos that they saw and keep their communities safe.
These were the first heroes, the vigilantes. And as time passed on, with their help, the world was able to regain a sense of order and peace; a shaky sense of peace but it was stable enough.
It was then that the governments decided to recognise what the vigilantes had done for them and offered all who wanted it an official position in law enforcement under the eye of the government. Many agreed, happy with what they were doing and, eventually, it led to the establishment of Heroes, an industry that would one day become the corner stone of their new society.
Hero, however, didn't always mean having a quirk; not all vigilantes had quirks, they had a feeling in their heart to protect and put ease into the hearts of others. Society seemed to forget this fact and thought only those with power could be a hero. That's why quirkless Izuku Midoriya was always picked on and outcasted; an ignorant world had lost its meaning of what a real hero was.
Izuku wanted to be a hero more than anything; ever since that day that he saw All Might on TV. The symbol of peace saved people, made them feel safe, all with a smile on his face. It would be an understatement to say Izuku wanted to be even half of what that man was; he wanted to be able to save people. Even if it was just one person, Izuku Midoriya wanted to be someone's hero.
Today, he was.
Izuku was at the playground and was currently standing in front of a boy with curly black hair who was crying on the floor. Across from him stood someone he once thought as his friend and two others.
"You can't do this, Kacchan!" Izuku shouted, spreading his arms out with a shaky but defiant look. "It's not right!"
Bakugou scoffed at his old friend's attempt at heroism and looked at him with clear disgust. "Trying to be a hero, Deku?" The other two boys that followed him around laughed. "Just get out of our way; that curly-haired new kid thinks he can just walk into our turf and think he's better than us 'cause he's got a rare quirk."
"No I don't!" The black-haired boy in question shouted before cowering back down immediately at the blonde's death stare. "I don't…."
Izuku, however, still stood strong. "Kacchan, if you use your quirk to hurt people then you're no better than a villain." The greenette immediately wished he had phrased that better as his old friend's face immediately adopted a scowl. "W-what I mean is-"
"What the hell did you just call me!" Bakugou yelled. "Stupid Deku!" He punched his fists together and a small explosion ignited.
On the blonde's sides, one of his followers grew a pair of wings while the other elongated his fingers. As soon as Bakugou rushed forward, they followed suit and…
Well… you can use your imagination.
After his beating, Izuku continued to simply lie on the ground. It wasn't anything bad, God knows he had gotten worse from the blonde, but it still hurt, nonetheless. His pain, however, was ultimately overcome by confusion as the boy he was defending hadn't left. Looking over to him, the greenette saw he had tears in his eyes as he looked right at him.
"Why'd you do that?" The black-haired boy asked, sniffing and wiping away his tears. "Why'd you take that beating for me?"
Izuku stared back at him before shrugging. "You just… you didn't deserve to be hurt by Kacchan just because he doesn't like you." He sighed before sitting up. "Better me than you."
The other boy looked at him with confusion written all over his face but quickly shook it off. "My…" He hesitated before sticking out his hand. "My name is Akira Hikaru."
'Huh?' Izuku looked at the hand with a tilted head and a sort of lost expression. "You want to talk to me?" He asked, bewilderment the most evident tone in his voice.
"Yes…?" Akira's statement was delivered with confusion as he also tilted his head and pulled his hand away. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"I'm …" Izuku gulped before dropping his head. "I'm quirkless." He failed to hold back the tears that began to build in his eyes. "You don't have to pretend to like me."
The black-haired boy tilted his head at his saviour's statement. "What?" He asked, his confusion continuing to grow. "You saved me from the mean boom-boom boy; I don't care if you're quirkless, I want to be your friend." Akira watched the other boy's eyes widen and he sighed. "Let's try this again." His hand once more stuck out again and he smiled. "I'm Akira Hikaru."
Izuku looked at the hand for a few moments before he shook off his surprise and grabbed at it with his own teary smile. "Izuku Midoriya."
That was the day Izuku made his first real friend.
And on that day, the rushing river that was his life changed course; his future was forever changed.
Aldera, Ten Years Later
"Okay! I can make it, I can make it, I can make it!" Izuku said as his legs moved as fast as they could towards his school. "Move faster, legs!" But apparently not fast enough for him.
The greenette didn't mean to be cutting it as close as he was but he didn't really think it was his fault. He wasn't five minutes out of his house when some random purse snatcher with a giant quirk had begun rampaging at Tatooin Station. His fanboy side had immediately kicked in and he couldn't stop himself from going to see it. Usually, Akira would've been there to stop him and drag right on to school, but the black-haired teen was having a rare sick day.
As soon as Izuku arrived at the scene, the villain had already been engaged by multiple of Musutafu's local heroes. The Punching Hero: Death Arms, The Firefighter Hero: Backdraft, and a few others were holding off the collateral damage the giant was causing and keeping the civilians safe. The real star of the show though was the one who swung in on branches of wood; Kamui Woods.
He was a relatively new hero, young but quickly making his way up the polls with his efficient work and heavy amount of charisma. His arrival on the scene started a cheer from the gathered crowd and it only grew as the tree man swung around the giant and made a fool out of him. Quippy lines that were sure to be in a comic book or cartoon show exited his mouth every time he spoke and it just made the people love him more.
However, just as Kamui went to charge up his special move and finish off the giant, another giant arrived on the scene with a kick. The figure was a blur at first but, when they lost momentum and the dust settled, it was clear that the one who had defeated the villain was a giant woman.
'Paparazzi' immediately found themselves at the sight and the giant woman revealed herself to be a brand-new hero that was just debuting; Mt. Lady. With this new information, Izuku knew that he'd have to update his hero catalogue and check the hero news board for her. In doing so, however, he also saw that he only had five minutes left until the first bell rang for his class.
And that caught us up to present with Izuku running far faster than any normal person should have been capable of without a strength or speed quirk and jumping across the buildings with the parkour skills of a veteran of the sport. The greenette really had Akira to thank for that though.
Growing up quirkless obviously had its challenges; daily discrimination and physical violence being one of them. To combat this, Akira had taken it upon himself to defend Izuku the same way the greenette had protected him on the day of their meeting. That eventually turned into teaching Izuku to defend himself in a martial art they had both mastered; Shaolin Kung Fu.
A simple martial art but one that turned both Izuku and Akira into the strong teens they were today. And while no dojo had actually taken Izuku in – all due to his quirkless status – Akira showed everything he learned to his friend and the greenette took to it like a fish in water; the black-haired teen could honestly say his friend was an advanced red belt in the art. Izuku's analytical nature was really what helped him advance so fast and that was eventually cultivated into a strategic mind with an affinity for battle.
*RRIIIINNNNGGGG*
'Yes!' Izuku mentally cheered as he arrived at his class door. 'And the teacher's always late so I'm here with two minutes to spare!' He smiled at what he hoped was a good start to his day.
"Oi, Broccoli Head." The rough voice of Izuku's favourite Pomeranian invaded his ears and the greenette turned around to see Bakugou walking up to him, slouched over as always. "Get out my way, I'm trying to get to class."
Izuku hesitantly stepped out of the way and averted his eyes from Bakugou out of annoyance more than fear. "Right; s-sorry, Bakugou." He mentally kicked himself for his stutter. 'Damnit, not again.'
While things had definitely improved over the greenette's life, Katsuki Bakugou had remained a negative constant. Well, not a complete negative; he mostly stuck to ignoring him and being constantly annoyed by his presence. The blonde had also stopped calling him 'Deku' after the greenette beat up one of his cronies.
"Stupid nerd, giving me a damn headache." Bakugou muttered underneath his breath as he took his seat, ignoring the greetings of all the extr- his classmates in favour of laying his head down and going to sleep.
'Well at least I'm off to an okay start.' Izuku thought to himself, unknowingly challenging the universe. 'Today shouldn't be too bad.'
Some Random Underpass, After School
'The universe has it out for me.' Izuku thought while walking home.
And he wasn't really wrong.
Class had been going relatively well for most of the day and the greenette actually thought he might actually make it through a day without Akira unscathed. However, at the start of their final period, their teacher had handed out the class's career forms and indirectly – though the malicious intent was there – called Izuku out for wanting to be a hero. The man's proclamation got the response he wanted and the children laughed; the real damage though was done at the end of the day.
'Seriously, who tells people to kill themselves and think they can be a hero?' Izuku took Bakugou's insults with a grain of salt but still, what a dickhead. 'And I am not a statistic waiting to happen.'
In his head, he was actually a little glad that Akira wasn't with him today. They had basically become like brothers throughout the years and – with his help – they kept a respectful and safe distance away from Bakugou and he to them. If he was here today, Izuku feared the school would've been torn down form their fight.
"Ugh…"
Izuku's every thought halted as the ground beneath him began to shake and the strange sounds of slushing echoed throughout the underpass. The greenette turned around quickly to the source of the noise and found a large amalgamation of sewage shooting out of a sewer grate. It didn't take long before the sludge began to shift around and take a monstrous form and two yellow eyes quickly presented themselves before locking onto Izuku's form.
"Well, well, well." The sludge started in a chilling tone. "A medium sized body suit." It smiled, revealing a row of perfectly yellow teeth. "You'll do perfectly." Before two sludge tentacles suddenly shot out of his body towards Izuku.
Now, while Izuku hadn't a clue in the world what was happening, he did know that just one of those tentacles were several crimes waiting to happen. Unenthusiastic of becoming a part of the statistics his class had always told him he'd become, the greenette threw his bag far away before dodging to the left. He repeated this action several more times as the sludge continued to try and grab at him, eventually earning himself a very frustrated look.
"Stop dodging, you little shit!" The sludge yelled, what Izuku thought was panic lacing its tone. "I don't have time for this! He'll be here soo-" Whatever the sludge villain said was drowned out by a loud laugh and the sewer grate from before smashing the bridge above them.
"HAHAHA, I Am Here!" A loud voice called.
…. Nah.
Both Izuku and the sludge villain slowly turned around to the new arrival and they both adopted different expressions; there was the shared feeling of shock though. Standing there, in all his glory, was…
"Holy crap, it's All Might!" Izuku said in an excited tone.
"Holy crap, it's All Might!" The sludge's tone, however, was much more fearful.
All Might observed the situation in front of him and frowned. "Attacking children?" A chill ran down the sludge's spine at the sheer power the man's mere voice exerted. "You're the worst kind of villain." His statement was delivered with his fist reeling far back.
Now, the sludge villain felt a little insulted here, thinking that there were several crimes that could be deemed worse than child murder. However, he didn't get to defend himself – which would've been in vain anyway – as All Might sent his fist forward with a mighty roar.
"TEXAS SMASH!" The large blonde's fist shot forward at bullet speeds and a wild torrent of wind shot out with it, turning the sludge into nothing but sewage on the tunnel walls.
Izuku watched the display of power with wide eyes and no short sense of awe. 'Oh my stars! That was so cool!' He was cut by his thoughts though as he saw All Might standing in front of him.
"Are you all right, young man?" The symbol of peace asked, a strong yet calming presence surrounding him as he knelt. "That villain didn't hurt you, did he?"
Izuku took deep slow breaths before he answered . "No, All Might, S-sir; I'm perfectly fine." Internal Izuku was currently screaming and shaking another internal Izuku who was also screaming.
All Might nodded before he got back up and started to pick off the sludge villain from the wall before placing them inside two bottles he happened to be carrying. "I'm truly sorry, young one, I didn't mean to get you involved in my crime fighting but this city's sewer system is quite difficult to navigate." He stated with a sheepish expression.
Izuku shook his head furiously at the man's apology. "I-it's fine, All Might, Sir." The greenette said quickly. 'All Might; apologise to me? Never!'
All Might chuckled lightly at the tense and serious expression on the teen's face. "Haha, there's no need to call me sir, young..."
Izuku stiffened. "Izuku Midoriya, All Might." The large man finished picking up the sludge villain and the greenette remembered something. Quickly fishing a pen and a notebook out of his bag, Izuku opened it to a page dedicated to All Might. "C-could I get your a-autograph?" He asked, hope in his eyes.
All Might laughed loudly and took the book and pen. "Of course." While signing, the man decided to discreetly skim the page's contents and was very impressed. 'Huh, this is pretty in depth stuff; I'd expect something of this detail from David or Nighte-' He cut off his own thoughts as he felt a strong sting in his side and he quickly handed the notebook back to Izuku before securing his bottles of sludge.
"Thank you so much, All Might!" Izuku exclaimed, unaware of the physical internal turmoil the man was going through. "I'll treasure this forever!"
The large blonde laughed one last time at the greenette's attitude. "Well, I've got to get this fella down to the police so they can take care of him." All Might said as he crouched down. "Stay out of trouble, Young Midoriya, and have a good day."
His statement, however, sent Izuku into a state of panic. 'Wait, he can't be leaving already; I need to ask him a question!' What happened next was quite possibly one of the dumbest things Izuku had ever done; an act so stupid that he'd be reminded of it far into his future. He grabbed right on to All Might's leg as he took off. 'Holy crap! We're flying!' The severity of his own actions hit Izuku immediately and he started mentally screaming. 'Oh, actually, the wind feels really nice up here.' The feeling of the air hitting his face, however, quickly served to calm him down.
Looking down at his legs, All Might saw Izuku latching on to his leg. "Kid, what are you doing?" He asked, shock and what almost sounded like nervousness lacing his tone. "I love my fans, but this is too much! Let go!"
Izuku looked at his hero incredulously before shaking his head violently. "Absolutely not! I'll die from this height!" He shouted, almost appalled at the large blonde's suggestion.
All Might adopted a sheepish expression. "Oh right, hang on then. I'll find a building for us to land on." His eyes trailed below him and he picked out a good space to land before angling his body. 'Damnit.' As he did so, he had to quickly wipe away a small trail of blood coming out of his mouth. 'Not good.' The worst part was something he hadn't notice yet; the sludge bottles were no longer in his pocket.
Izuku's flying trip eventually ended and he found himself missing the feeling of rushing through the air. 'Huh, that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be; it was like parkour but faster!' He thought, not at all worried about how close he was to death in that moment. 'Man, I wish I could fly.'
"That wasn't a very smart move, young man." However, he couldn't think on that for long as All Might walked up to him and shook his head. "You could've gotten seriously hurt just then." His tone was firm and he spoke with authority. "Bang on the door, someone will answer eventually." He began to walk away but Izuku stopped him.
"Please no!" The greenette pleaded, getting in front of All Might faster than the man expected. "Please don't go yet; I have a really important question I want to ask!" His eyes closed and he looked to the ground, missing All Might's body beginning to emit steam.
'So, this is how I'm found out.' The symbol of peace thought, nodding his head in reluctant acceptance. 'By a random superfan on top of a random building on my fifth anniversary of receiving this scar.' His thoughts turned sour at the end.
"Can I be a hero without a quirk?" Izuku asked as a trail of blood ran down All Might's mouth. "All my life, people have told me to give up on being a hero; give up on living. Not even my Mother believes in me." The large blonde was slowly becoming skinnier. "The only person who thinks I'm not worthless is my best friend, Akira. So, please tell me, can I be a hero?" He finally opened his eyes and looked in front of him…
Only to find All Might had disappeared.
"Uhh…" In place of where the number one hero had stood, was instead a skinny, frail blonde surrounded by steam. Silence immediately set in and the gaunt blonde was actually grateful for it. 'At least he's not screami-' His body cut off his thoughts as he coughed out blood violently.
"AHHHHH!" Alright, that got Izuku screaming.
"Of course." The skinny man grumbled. 'Jinxed it.'
Izuku started shaking lightly. "Who are you? Where did All Might go? What did you do to him-" He finally met the other man's eyes and his mouth stopped before his brain could tell it to. 'Those eyes…' Shadowed and sunken eyes yet they shone a bright blue like a light of hope in the dark. 'It is him.' These eyes couldn't– didn't belong to anyone else. "All Might?"
"Yeah, it's me." The blonde sighed, wiping away the blood as he sat down. "The great All Might." A tired tone laced his voice before his face turned serious. "I'm trusting you not to tell a soul about this, okay?" He said with a tone that sent a shiver down Izuku's spine.
"Yes, sir!" The greenette exclaimed with a bow before reluctantly looking back up. "Could I…" He tried not to shrink when the man looked at him. "Could I ask how you got like… this?"
All Might just nodded and lifted up his shirt, revealing an incredibly large scar that almost made Izuku hurl. "I got this bad boy from a fight five years back." He started, carefully running his other hand along it. "My stomach is about a third of the size it used to be and one of my lungs can barely work." A sigh escaped him before he put his shirt back down. "I can only be a hero for about three hours a day at most, then I'm back to being… this."
Unbeknownst to him, his explanation had sent Izuku into a news storm where he brought up every single fight of All Might's he could remember that could create an injury that severe. Several articles in the daily newspaper and the symbol of peace's own sub-board sprung to the front of his mind clear as day and he began to search for something big.
…
Nope.
He got nothing.
"Was the fight you got that injury from covered up?" So Izuku just decided to ask, surprising his hero with his sudden question. "I'm a big hero nerd, I've got basically every single major fight you've had in the past ten years in my head and, even if I go beyond that, there isn't a single battle that could've caused… that."
The gaunt blonde chuckled, ignoring the blood that dripped out of his mouth, and nodded. "Yeah, spot on; I made sure the world wouldn't know of the man who gave me this scar." He could see the question in the teen's eyes and sighed again. "I'm the guy that smiles without fear, kid, this world's immovable pillar. If the thought of me being hurt – especially this bad – got out… well, you're smart."
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Izuku said, nodding. "Villains would probably start to get more confident and bide their time building up their forces in the shadows; old movements like the Meta Liberationists and the Purity Guard could also possibly come back knowing that you were on your last legs."
Though extremely taken off guard by the greenette's extensive knowledge of the world's political state, All Might ignored it and nodded. "I try to smile to show others that everything's going to be fine but… it's just a brave face I put on; this job isn't easy." He looked back at Izuku and stood up. "You asked me if you could be a hero without a quirk… I'm sorry to say this." His back straightened and his eyes became soft. "But some villains just can't be beaten without power."
The implication of the man's words hit Izuku like a truck and he felt his world shatter around him. "What?"
"Heroes aren't the only professions in law enforcement though, if you want to save people." All Might quickly tried to salvage the situation and the sight of the boy's broken face. "Police officers and firefighters do good honest work; I saw your notebook, you could be a good consultant, quirk analyst, even a doctor if you tried." He knelt and put his hands on the greenette's shoulder. "It's good to have dreams, young man… but you have to be realistic."
Izuku looked into the man's eyes and shakily nodded, his mind hollow. "I… I understand." He watched as his hero stood up and walked away, leaving him with one last look of pity. It was only then that he fell to his knees. 'I worked so hard… I trained so much.'
The greenette simply knelt there for a while, taking in everything that had happened that day before standing up to leave. However, just before he did, an explosion caught his ears. His eyes shifted immediately to the source and he could spot a large smoke cloud forming. Izuku went to move towards it but stopped himself as he remembered All Might's words.
With a sigh, he walked over to building edge.
And then he jumped.
…
…
Izuku fell for a bit before he caught himself on the wall of the other building. His hand gripped on to a pole before he started jumping back and forth between the walls until he was on the ground. He didn't really register in his mind the strength and skill needed to safely execute what he just did and instead began his trek home. However, after a small bit of walking, he soon found himself in the presence of a large crowd.
'Right… my legs must've brought me here on reflex.' Izuku thought as his body began to unconsciously check his surroundings. 'Wait a minute...' The smell of burnt sugar, however, was enough to snap him out of his daze. 'These explosions…' His face morphed into one of horror and the greenette rushed through the crowd before he was able to see the familiar figure of his long-time bully and… 'The sludge villain?'
"Wasn't All Might chasing this guy earlier?" One of the crowd members asked.
"All Might, really?" Another inquired, looking around with hope in their eyes. "Where is he?"
'Oh my stars.' The murmur of the crowd reached Izuku's ears and he quickly came to the conclusion of the sludge's escape. 'When I jumped on All Might… this is all my fault!'
'This is all my fault!' Unbeknownst to the greenette, the symbol of peace was actually in the crowd with him and had very similar thoughts. 'I was lecturing that kid earlier about what it takes to be a hero and I can't even fix a problem like this; pathetic.'
The growing worry of the crowd made the two's thoughts even worse and they looked to the local heroes for some semblance of hope.
"Damnit, my quirk is no good for this!"
"I can't fit into the alleyway!"
"I'm too busy fighting off the fires from the kid's explosions!"
"My quirk isn't suited to this situation!"
And immediately felt dread set-in stone.
Izuku looked back to Bakugou and hated seeing the struggle that the blonde was having with the sludge. Even with all the animosity between them, he'd never wish this fate on him. However, they both suddenly locked eyes and the world seemed to stop for the both of them.
For Katsuki Bakugou, he saw the eyes of someone beneath him staring at him in what had to be the weakest position he had even been in. He felt frail, pathetic, vulnerable.
For Izuku Midoriya, he saw past the many complex emotions swirling in his old friend's eyes and focused on only one. He could see the fear in Bakugou's eyes; they were screaming for help.
And before he knew it, Izuku had dropped his bag and started surging towards Bakugou and the sludge villain. 'Hold on I'm doing what now?'
"Stop, you idiot!" Death Arms shouted. "What are you doing!"
"Get back here, kid!" Kamui Woods tried to reach him, but the fire started to flare and his arms flinched back. "Damnit!"
The shout of the heroes alerted the sludge villain of something happening and he paused his hostile takeover to see Izuku running towards him. Annoyance immediately set in. "Not this little shit again!" He spouted before shooting forward three tentacles towards his emerald assailant.
'Again?' The crowd and heroes thought collectively.
From his place in the sludge, Bakugou mimicked the crowd's thoughts confused look. 'Again?'
'Damnit! Legs, please stop moving; you're going to get us killed!' Izuku tried to reason with the lower half of his body but – as always – it decided to work on its own timetable. 'Screw it.' Realising that and seeing the incoming tentacles, the greenette decided to just roll with what life gave him.
It's worked pretty well so far.
Izuku's eyes shifted to a long, broken pipe lying on the ground and quickly slid under two tentacles to grab it before flipping over to the left, dodging another tentacle. He quickly got his bearings and his legs shot him forward before he jumped left again, running up the alley's wall before jumping towards the other one when a volley of tentacles came at him. One more tendril struck out at him mid-air, but Izuku twisted and batted it away before landing on the other wall and jumping towards the sludge.
"Ah! My fucking eye!" And landing a square hit on its eye.
The hit had its effect and Bakugou was given his much-needed breath of air. "You sludge fuck, I'll kill you-" Before being immediately sunk back into the sewage cluster.
Izuku, however, was already back up in the air for another attack and with much more height and – therefore – power. "Raaaagh!" The greenette struck downwards and hit the sludge's right eye so hard that it flew off alongside a portion of its face.
"AH! Damn you, you little SHIT!" The sludge jerked back further and Bakugou managed to force both of his arms out.
Upon seeing this, Izuku rushed forward directly at the sludge before reaching out to the blonde's arms. An act that did not sit well for said Pomeranian.
"What the hell are you doing here, nerd!?" Bakugou barked, keeping a tight grip on Izuku. "I don't need your help."
"Don't pull that crap, Kacchan!" Izuku saw the blonde's eyes widen but continued to pull as hard as he could. "Your eyes… they were screaming for help and I just… moved!" He looked at his old friend and smiled his wide smile. "So, I guess I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you die if I can do something about it!"
All Might felt those words hit him like a freight train. 'This kid…' The gaunt man started to steam as he felt something deep within the core of his power pulse outwards and reach towards the greenette.
Back to the actual fight, Izuku had already pulled most of Bakugou out from the sludge's hold, but he saw the villain regaining its bearings. Luckily, the blonde also saw this and let go of one of Izuku's arms to turn around and let loose an explosion that forced him out of the sludge for good. Bakugou was not, however, ready for being thrown back several metres like he was a ragdoll when Izuku pulled him out.
"Agh!" The blonde hit the pavement hard but quickly rolled back up and got himself into a crouching position before rolling his shoulders. 'The fuck was that?'
"Forget taking over someone else's body!" The sludge villain made its pleasure known and raised itself up to full height before sending out another flurry of tentacles. "I'm going to murder you!" His tone of voice really sold that he was going to.
In response to this, Izuku had picked up another pipe and was quickly batting off and dodging around multiple tentacles while moving backwards. Seeing the greenette in trouble, Bakugou had gotten up and – against both his own wishes and the wishes of the present heroes – started blasting away any tentacle that got to close to Izuku.
"Back off, sludge-fuck!" The blonde shouted, using his explosions to both dodge and destroy a number of tentacles coming at both him and the greenette.
The sludge-fuck in question, seeing that none of its attacks were working, retracted its tentacles before growing to full height and reeling its entire body back. "You're dead now, kids!"
However, before anyone could move, before the sludge could finish his attack, and before Izuku and Bakugou could block, a large blur entered the fight scene. And when everyone looked up to see what had saved the teens, they could only look on in awe.
"All Might?" Izuku asked, shock but mostly confusion lacing his voice. 'Isn't he on a time limit?'
"I really am pathetic." All Might said as he lifted up the sludge. "I told you the traits of a true champion and yet, I haven't lived up to those ideals." He reeled his fist back. "A hero always risks their lives for the innocent with everything we have! That's out job!"
The sludge villain knew it was useless to do anything but went for a suicide attack. "DAMN YOU, ALL MIGHT!"
Said blonde smiled widely before throwing his fist forward. "DETROIT SMASH!"
Pure, unadulterated power; that was the only way you could describe what All Might possessed. The wind pressure from that single attack temporarily created a tornado so great that it visibly shot up all the way into the sky and Mt. Lady had to shield the crowd with her body. After the small bout of fierce winds ended, the sky began to change and small droplets of water fell over the crowds.
"It's… raining." One of the crowd members said in astonishment.
Death Arms looked up in the sky to see a large cluster of clouds spiralling exactly above where All Might stood. 'Holy crap.' His arms dropped to his sides and he felt as though his muscles were deflating. 'He changed the weather with a single punch.'
The small droplets then soon turned to rain and it was like the sky itself was crying in amazement at the display of power the symbol of peace showed.
"Yeah, All Might!"
A cheer immediately rose from the crowd and everyone else followed suit and cheered with them. That cheer turned into a roar of applause when All Might shot his fist up in the air in victory.
And during all that, the two teens he saved could only stare at their society's pillar with the exact same thoughts. 'He's so cool!'
Later
The heroes quickly tried to make themselves useful after All Might dispatched of the sludge villain and were able to get him contained just as police arrived on the scene. Izuku and Bakugou were both pulled aside and were equally reprimanded for running in to fight the villain and praised for their bravery and skill; the greenette was even able to get Kamui Woods and Death Arms to sign his notebook.
After that was over, Izuku wanted to go and apologise to All Might but quickly found that he was blocked off by a sea of reporters and cameras. Paparazzi will be paparazzi.
'How do they always get here so fast though?' But it still stumped Izuku. 'Most of those news agencies are from different prefectures. Hell, one of them was from Hokkaido-'
"Hey, nerd!" Bakugou's voice cut through the greenette's thoughts and he stopped moving. "Turn around and look at me!"
Doing so, Izuku sighed. "Yes, Bakugou?"
The blonde didn't say anything and simply started walking before stopping a few feet away from Izuku, an angry look on his face. "Listen here, you damn nerd! I didn't need your help back there; I was doing just fine on my own!" His angry look changed to hesitation and he shoved his hands in his pockets. "But…thank you though."
Immediately making Izuku do a double take. "W-what?" The greenette stuttered out his question in shock more than fear. "Did you just say-"
"I said thank you!" Bakugou shouted, cutting Izuku off. "That doesn't mean you aren't still a useless fuck though." With that said, he walked away, leaving behind a confused Izuku.
Said teen stood there for two minutes, failing to process what happened. 'What emotions am I supposed to be feeling right now?' Today had been a rollercoaster, more than usual anyway. At least things couldn't get any crazier.
"I am here!"
Never mind.
"A-All Might?" Izuku almost fell over himself as he stepped backwards in surprise. "Why are you here? How'd you escape the reporters?" He really wanted the answer to the last question the most.
"Because I am the embodiment of justice! I am All Might-" The large blonde was cut off as he started to cough violently, blood leaking out of his mouth. 'Ah, I really need to start carrying around tissues.' He looked back to Izuku after taking care of himself and stood up straight. "Young man, I'm here to thank you. I'm also here to talk to you about the question you had earlier. If you hadn't told me about yourself than I would've just been another bystander watching. So, thank you."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "There's nothing to thank m-me about." He suddenly became downcast. "It was my fault he escaped in the first place; I only got in the way-"
"I'm not finished." All Might cut Izuku off before he could degrade himself. "You told me you didn't have a quirk, so when I saw you run down that alley, and do some pretty kick ass moves, I was inspired." The greenette looked at All Might in surprise. "There are stories about every hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common, their body moved before they had a chance to think." Izuku's eyes widened. "That's what I saw today. Young man, you too can become a hero." The inner Izuku's were currently trying to fight back all the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes. "Which is why, I've deemed you worthy to inherit my power."
…
…
Wha-huh?
"Wha-huh?" Izuku repeated the author's reaction; the inner Izuku's were working overtime to process what All Might said. "Inherit… your… poweeeerrr….?"
The sight of the teen's face drooping and his eyes becoming glazed was a bit too much for All Might and he laughed. "Hahaha! You should see your face right now." He exclaimed. "Listen well, young man, my power is a torch that has been passed down through generations. I am the eighth wielder of this power." All Might stuck his hand out and rainbow light emitted from his hand. "Its name is One For All."
"One… For… All…" Izuku slowly repeated, awestruck and staring at the rainbow lights. Inwardly, he could feel something deep within him stretch out to that light; he could also feel the inner Izuku's in his brain trying to get his body moving again. 'Have I taken a breath yet?'
"Yes, it is this cultivated power that has allowed me to save people." All Might explained. "It's what allowed me to become a hero and I want to give you that same opportunity."
"But… why would you want to give me this power?" Izuku asked, head sagging downwards as his thoughts spiralled into a hole of darkness. "What if I can't do any good with it?"
The symbol of peace laughed once more but this time it was soft and he knelt down to meet Izuku eye to eye. "Young man, today, when you ran through the fire and chaos all because you saw someone who needed help, you solidified in my mind that you deserve to be a hero." He placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder before standing up. "For some time now I've been looking for a successor; now, I've found you." Al Might held out his arm. "Do you accept?"
Luckily for the great pillar of peace, Izuku's body decided at that moment it needed to work again and Izuku quickly bowed. "Yes, All Might, sir! I accept your offer!"
All Might chuckled lightly. "No hesitation, that's good. Meet me at Takoba Beach in two days." The man began to walk off, but Izuku stopped him after the inner Izuku's had finished processing the whole day.
"Wait, All Might, can I bring someone tomorrow?" Izuku asked.
All Might looked at him sceptically. "This power is supposed to be a secret. I know you won't tell but I don't think I can trust anyone else with this." There was clear hesitation in his tone but the greenette continued his request.
"Please, sir!" Izuku pleaded. "He's my best friend, without him I don't even know if I'd still have the will to keep living." Though morbid, it was true. "And I think he might be able to help you as well." He finished.
All Might, while concerned for his new successor's mental health, was intrigued. "In what way?" He asked.
Izuku just ran his hand over the left side of his own body and All Might's eyes widened. The sheer thought of being whole again pulled him in and he quickly found himself nodding. "Alright then, I'll see you and your friend in two days, Young Midoriya."
With that, they both walked off; their futures changed and forever intertwined with one another.
Izuku had one thought on his mind though. 'How am I going to explain this to Mum?'
7,227 Words! That is the beginning chapter done and the origin is all laid out!
Welcome to my first fanfic and thanks for reading; I hope y'all are gonna enjoy this!
This fic's whole premise is just a massive 'What IF?' on Izuku going through the canon timeline with actually having trained before receiving One For All. I just found it weird that Izuku wanted to be a mainly fighting hero but only really ever researched instead of training.
The fic is also going to be host to my first OC which I've tweaked slightly to match this story's power scale. He's got a pretty rare quirk – at least in the sense of the MHA verse – and is also gearing up to be a hero; try guess who he's gonna replace.
Finally, if you couldn't already tell by the tags, you're looking at an IzuMina pairing for this story. Honestly one of my favourite ships.
Anyway, here's to hoping this doesn't turn out a complete mess.
Let's get started on the next chapter!
