Swords and Superheroes

by MKDremare-Riser

Growing up, Izuku wanted nothing more than to be a hero. To save others with a smile, bringing hope to all. But being Quirkless, those dreams were routinely crushed and mocked. Even the Number One Hero All Might couldn't bring himself to tell him that it was possible. That is until Izuku took a look into a special type of book. (On Hiatus)

1. Unbelievable Wonders

Izuku sighed as he walked to school. Another day, another round of bullying as always. Sure, he did managed to have friends somehow, but other than them, no one really believed in him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his good luck charm, a strange red metal palm-sized 'book' that wouldn't open no matter what. But the title... the title was what gave him courage. It helped him get those friends who did believe in him, after all.

"I'm counting on you for a good day, Brave Dragon," he said softly, as he back into his pocket.

"Hey, Izuku!"

The green-haired teen turned around, and saw his only three friends approaching him.

"Did you see that villain fight with Kamui Woods?" Aozora Tenjo, a boy with spikey brown hair, asked, grinning big.

"Are you kidding? Of course he'd have," Rikuo Yamada, a taller boy with long gray hair, said, rolling his eyes.

"Must suck for Kamui Woods, though, since that Mt. Lady woman stole his spotlight," Kaina Ogawa, a redhaired girl with long bangs but short hair, chuckled.

"Yea, it was on my route here, actually," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head. "Her Quirk's super useful, but in the city, I don't imagine that she'd have a lot of room to move around as a giant. She could easily cause more damage if she isn't careful, and judging from how her costume worked, I don't imagine she can get shoes to actually protect her feet-"

"Muttering to yourself again, Deku?" a passing by student said, making Izuku freeze. "Better make sure Bakugo's not around to hear you, you freak."

"Hey, piss off from him!" Rikuo said, glaring at them.

"No one asked you anything, Sasaki," Kaina said, crossing her arms.

"Tch, whatever," the student said. "Don't know why you guys hang around some Quirkless loser like him."

"Hey, don't mind him, Izuku," Aozora said, patting Izuku's back. "After all, I've got the feeling that today's gonna be great!"

---

In Class

"Alright everyone, I know that I'm supposed to be giving you these career forms to fill out," Izuku's homeroom teacher said, looking at his students with utmost serious, before grinning and grabbing a hold of the stack of papers in front of him. "But who am I kidding? I know you all want to become heroes anyways!"

The class cheered and showed off their Quirks, though Izuku and his friends kept quiet.

"Yes yes, you all have wonderful Quirks, but remember, this is still school! No using them without permission!" the teacher said, though not really doing anything to stop them all. A snide scoff came from the back near Izuku. It was Katsuki Bakugo, an ash-blond boy with red eyes, who happened to be a former friend of Izuku's.

"Don't lump me in with these losers, teach!" Katsuki said, sneering at his classmates. "I'm on a whole other level than all of these extras!"

"Oh shut it, Bakugo! Your Quirk isn't so great!" one of them said, as the class yelled in agreement.

"Like I care what you two-bits think!" Katsuki laughed. "I'm the only one here who's got the Quirk and guts to become a hero!"

"Yea, that is true, Bakugo did apply to UA's Hero Course after all," the teacher said, recalling Katsuki's application to the school.

"No way! That's one of the best hero schools out there!"

"They only ever have like, two classes each year! It's impossible to get in!"

"Especially since everyone in Japan's got their eyes on UA, too!"

"That's right!" Katsuki said, jumping up onto his desk. "I'm the number one student in our school! I aced the mock exam no problem! Getting into UA's basically a guarantee for me! I'll become the best damn hero here! Not even All Might could hold a candle against me!"

"Oh wait, Midoriya, Tenjo, Yamada, and Ogawa also applied for UA's Hero Course as well," the teacher said. The classroom took one good look at Izuku, before bursting out laughing.

"Midoriya thinks that he can get in!?"

"What a joke!"

"You can't do jackshit without a Quirk!"

"At least Tenjo and the other two make sense, they got useful Quirks!"

"Hey, lay off him!" Rikuo said, silencing some of them.

"Yea, there's nothing wrong with him trying!" Kaina said.

"Y-Yea, there's no harm in trying right-" Izuku said.

"DEEEEEEEEKU!" Katsuki screamed, slamming his hands on Izuku's desk, making it explode. "You think a Quirkless loser like you can be a pro hero!? Fat fucking chance! Without a Quirk, you're nothing!"

"B-But Kacchan-" Izuku stammered.

"Step off, Bakugo!" Kaina said, standing up. "Mr. Morikawa, tell him!"

"Yea, Bakugo, quit it, or something," the teacher said, barely halfheartedly. "Anyways, let's get class started now."

The class shimmered down as Izuku shrunk in his chair. It sucked, having so many people berate him for having no Quirk at all and yet still wanting to become a hero. But at least he had three friends. All thanks to Brave Dragon.

---

A Few Years Ago

Izuku sighed as he walked home from school. Yet another day of being bullied, especially by Katsuki. He missed the days of when he and the ash blond boy were friends, exploring the woods and playing games together. But ever since Katsuki got his Quirk, and, well, he didn't, their relationship deteriorated pretty quickly. He was lucky whenever there was a day that Katsuki didn't blow him up.

He sighed, and walked down the street towards his apartment. It would've been uneventful, if he hadn't spotted some sort of red metal book on the ground. The green-haired boy walked over to it and picked it up, looking at the dragon on the book's cover and its title, 'Brave Dragon'. He tried to open it, but find out that it was almost impossible to do so. "Come on... open why don't you?"

No dice. He shook his head, and just stared at the book for a few minutes. He's never heard of a book called 'Brave Dragon'. It was peculiar, though. Something about this felt... special.

"Hey, Deku!"

Izuku froze, and saw Katsuki and his friends approaching him. "H-Hey, Kacchan, how're-"

"Save it, Deku," Katsuki sneered. "I remember you owing me some lunch money, right?"

"I-I already gave you mine today-"

"And I need some tomorrow."

"I-I'll give you it tomorrow, then, I-"

"Hm... nah, I think I want it now," Katsuki said, knocking Izuku down when he spotted the metal book in his hands. "The heck is that?"

"I-I don't know. I just found it," Izuku said.

"Well, whatever it is, you should give it to me. After all, it says 'Brave' on it, so it's obviously not for you," Katsuki said, sneering as he motioned Izuku to hand it over. "I won't take your lunch money for tomorrow if you do."

"I..." Izuku looked to the book. Something about it... spoke to him for some reason. "... No."

"What was that?" Katsuki said, frowning.

"N... No! I'm not going to hand this over!" Izuku said, his grip tightening around 'Brave Dragon'. "I don't know why... but I just can't let you have this!"

"... Looks like we gotta teach you another lesson, Deku," Katsuki said, as he make a few sparks pop from his hands as he and his friends approached him. Izuku shuffled backwards, trying to get away. "Now, hand that over, or-"

"Hey!"

Katsuki turned around, and saw three new kids to the block approaching them. One of them, a brown-haired boy with extremely spikey hair, ran over.

"What do you think you're doing!? Bullying's not nice!" he said, helping Izuku up.

"Butt out of this, this is between us and him, don't get in the way-" one of Katsuki's friends, a winged boy named Tsubasa, said.

"Like we're just gonna let a bunch of jerks like you do anything!" a red-haired girl with long bangs and short hair said, stomping her foot. "Rikuo, get them!"

"I'm not going to use my Quirk to beat them up, Kaina," a white-haired boy (who Izuku assumed was Rikuo) said. "But seriously, aren't we all a little too old to do something like this?"

"Stay out of this! Like we said, this is between us and him!" Katsuki said. "Besides, he's Quirkless. You wouldn't want to deal with a loser like him-"

"Who cares about that!? Bullying's wrong no matter what!" the brown-haired boy said, shocking Izuku.

"Yea, so just quit it!" Kaina added, pointing at them. "Come on, Rikuo, get them!"

"Really, aren't we all big kids?" Rikuo repeated.

"Tch, if you want to fight us, it's four against three, since Deku here's completely useless!" Katsuki said, pointing at Izuku with his thumb. "So it's gonna be in our-"

"Katsuki! Where are you!? Get your little butt over here!" Katsuki's mom yelled, catching the boy's attention. The parents of his friends also began calling out, having heard their kids voices out in the streets.

"Hmph, seems like you just got saved from a beating yourselves!" Katsuki said, as he and his friends went off in separate directions. "But the next time you get in my way, you won't be so lucky!"

"You alright, um... Deku?" the brown-haired boy asked.

"A-Actually, my name's Izuku Midoriya," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head. "K-Kacchan just calls me that as a mean name..."

"Oh, okay! Well, I'm Aozora Tenjo!" the brown-haired boy said, giving him a wide grin.

"Kaina Ogawa!" the redhaired girl said.

"Rikuo Yamada," the white-haired boy said. "We're all new to the neighborhood."

"A-Are you all related?" Izuku asked.

"No, but we might as well be!" Kaina said, swinging her arms around Rikuo's and Aozora's shoulders. "Our parents have been friends since they were kids, and they're gonna open a restaurant here in Mustafu together!"

"Wow, really?"

"Yep!" Aozora said, pointing over to Izuku's apartment complex. "We've moved there!"

"Oh, that's where I live.."

"No way! We should hang out then!" Aozora said, patting Izuku's shoulder.

"Y-You wouldn't want to hang out with me," Izuku said, sadly. "I-I'm just a weird Quirkless kid..."

"That's right... So that guy picks on you 'cuz you're Quirkless?" Rikuo said, very sternly.

"Y-Yea... we used to be friends until we found out that I'm never getting a Quirk while he got a really good one..." Izuku said, his eyes drifting to the ground.

"That's so dumb!" Kaina huffed, crossing her arms. "It's not like you could control how you were born, right!?"

"I-It's not just that, it's... I... also want to be a hero in spite of it," Izuku admitted. "I know, it's impossible for me, everyone tells, but-"

"I don't see why you can't try," Rikuo said, shrugging.

"Wha- really?"

"Yea! There're like, pro heroes who don't actually do a lot of fighting, right? Like rescue heroes!" Aozora said.

"And there're some pro heroes who don't even have Quirks made for combat, too. Like there're a bunch of martial artist-like heroes who can handle themselves and help others," Rikuo added.

"You can totally become a hero, I think!" Kaina said, nodding. Izuku stared at them for what seemed like forever, before tears began dripping down from his face. "O-Oh! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yea, I am," he said, wiping his eyes with his arm. "It's just... no one's ever told me that, before. Everyone said it's impossible, but-"

"Well it's not!" Aozora said, crossing his arms. "If no one else believes in you, then we will!"

For the first time in a long, long while, Izuku felt himself make a genuine smile, as his grip around 'Brave Dragon' tightened. Rikuo took a look at it, and seemed to recognize what it was.

"Oh! You found one of those, too?" Rikuo said. He dug into his book, and pulled out a similar book. His was a dark gray, with the image of a large turtle and a snake, and its title was 'Genbu Shinwa'.

"Hey, what a coincidence! We found our own!" Aozora said, taking his out. It was a green book, with the image of a green ninja and the title 'Sarutobi Ninjaden'. Kaina followed up, revealing hers to be a blue book with the image of a blue lion and the title 'Lion Senki'.

"W-Where did you find those?" Izuku asked, as he examined all four books.

"We just came across them one day," Rikuo said, shrugging. "We don't know what they are."

"I think they're good luck charms," Kaina said, as the three held theirs out to compare to Izuku's. "I mean, you finding it let us help you, right? That's good luck I think!"

"Y-Yea, it was..." Izuku said. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem! It's what friends do!" Aozora said, wrapping his arm around Izuku's shoulder.

"Y-You really want to be friends?" Izuku said, shocked.

"Yea! I feel like there's some sort of destiny between us, right?" Kaina said. "I mean, how else do you explain us all have the same sort of book?"

"And we're living in the same complex, so why not?" Rikuo said. "Everyone deserves friends, right?"

Izuku stared at them blankly for a few minutes, before grinning even wider. "Yea! Let's... let's be friends!"

---

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts as the bell rang, and he packed up his bag. His hand reached down into his pocket, and he pulled out Brave Dragon for a quick second to look at it when Katsuki snatched it from his hands.

"You still have this stupid book?" Katsuki said, scowling. "Is the title what's making you apply to UA? Bravery isn't gonna save you from being splattered on the pavement."

"G-Give that back Kacchan!" Izuku said, reaching for Brave Dragon.

"Yea, that's not yours to begin with!" Kaina said, hands on her hips. "So just give it back, Bakugo!"

"Oh yea? What's even in this stupid book?" Katsuki said, deciding to try and pry the book open, only to find that it was shut incredibly tightly. "Gah fucking damn! Why's this so hard to open!?"

"Maybe it's because of your charming personality," Rikuo said dryly, the taller boy snatching Brave Dragon back from Katsuki. "Don't you ever have anything better to do than to put down others?"

"Tch, still didn't want that book to begin with," Katsuki grumbled, as he stomped off.

"You alright, Izuku?" Aozora asked as Rikuo handed Brave Dragon back to Izuku.

"Y-Yea, it wasn't too long to begin with," Izuku said, sighing as he put the book back into his pocket.

"That still doesn't make it okay," Kaina said, shaking her head.

"Let's forget about that jerk and go home," Rikuo said. "We're gonna have to do a lot of studying and stuff to make sure we get into UA, right?"

"Yea! Of course!" Aozora said, flashing him a thumbs up as they walked out of the classroom.

---

Somewhere Else...

"The time to begin our new story is soon," an armored man said, his voice garbled by modulation. He wore a purple bodysuit with gold and black accents, with a black waistcoat on the right side of his waist. On the left side he had a sword with a serrated golden blade and purple guard and handle holstered. Around his waist was a purple belt, with a strange buckle at the front that held a strange opened book. He wore silver torso and shoulder armor, but his right shoulder armor was peculiar, for it was a black dragon head with a visor. His helmet had a similar visor, with black fins on the right side of his helmet. But the most peculiar thing of all was the large blade jutting out of his helmet, resembling his sword.

He walked to a painting, which slid away to reveal a large bookcase full of strange metal books. He reached for one, and pulled it out.

"It's about time we get this started, really. Been a few years too long," an armored woman said with an equally modulated voice, crossing her arms as she looked at the armored man. She was dressed in a tight gray bodysuit with fishnet-like patterns and maroon accents. Around her thighs was maroon rmor that gave her the appearance of wearing 'baggy' pants that stopped at her knees and a maroon skirt around her waist. A dark maroon breastplate that resembled a spider hugging her torso with its eight purple legs, with four green eye-like gems at her collarbone. Her shoulder armor resembled small maroon spiders as well, holding onto her shoulders with purple legs. Around her calves was maroon shin armor, and around her waist was a silver belt with a black buckle at the front. On her right arm was a maroon gauntlet with purple accents and a black handle in her right hand, with a blade sticking out above it. Like the armored man, her gauntlet had a strange book attached to it, on the outer side and near her elbow. Her helmet resembled a spider, and she had a visor that appeared to be made from her helmet's 'legs' closed together, with a thin 'ponytail' decoration trailing down the nape of her neck, and a scarf around her neck that split into five strands. Likewise, she had a blade that resembled her gauntlet's sticking out of her helmet. "Don't you think so, you three?"

She turned to three people that were sitting at a table. One of them stood up and looked at the book that the armored man was holding. He was a young man with dull blue spikey hair and red eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket with a gray turtleneck and chains and a pair of squarish glasses.

"Yes, we've bided our time long enough," the man said, as he examined the book. "Hm, so you're choosing Golem, are you, Calibur?"

"Indeed," Calibur replied. "Is there anything wrong with it?"

"Yea, I'll tell you what's wrong!" a young orange-eyed woman growled, baring her fanglike teeth. She was dressed in an open fur-lined vest, her chest wrapped in a sarashi, and tight leather pants. Her wild yellow hair was tied back into a ponytail, though it was still uncontained. "Why does Syth get to have his Mamono released instead of mine!?"

"Does it really matter, Animalia?" another young man said, looking at her. He had green hair with red streaks, a short braid behind his ear, purple eyes, and dressed in a black cloak with dark red accents. "We'll eventually release other Mamonos in the future."

"But I want to see mine rampage first!" Animalia said, slamming her hands onto the table. "At least let one of mine go wild too! Aren't you mad that your Mamonos won't get to rampage, Fabel?"

"We can't afford to release too many at once, since there's only so many times we can use an Alter Ride Book," Fabel said, getting up and closing the painting to hide the bookcase. "It's takes quite a bit of time to make new ones, and we'll need to conserve as many as possible until we can open the Wonder Ride Books."

"If it helps settle you down, I can promise that the one I choose for next time will be one of yours," the armored woman said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Feh, I suppose that will do..." Animalia grumbled. "But I'm holding to you on that promise!"

"Right," Fabel said, nodding before turning towards Syth. "Now go find a good place to release Golem, Syth."

"Of course I will," Syth said. He snapped his fingers, and a portal made out of pages appeared. He looked to the armored woman. "May I ask you to keep an eye on Golem, Katara? He might run into trouble with the Sword of Logos, after all."

"Hm, might as well," Katara responded, popping her neck. "It'll be nice to let Dokuyaku exercise. What about you, Calibur? I bet your sword's eager as well."

"Not now," Calibur said. "I'll watch from here for now..."

"Suit yourself," Katara said, shrugging. "Let's go, Syth."

The two walked into the portal of paper, and the paper scattered before disappearing. Fabel smiled, as he looked to two strange devices. They were a pair of wooden hands that were suspended in the air by strings attached to wooden tripods. Both held quills, and underneath them were two blank books. "The beginning of a new story will be soon upon us..."

---

At an underpass

"Man, why does everyone in our class have to be such big jerks?" Kaina grumbled, as the four friends walked. "It'd be bearable if it was just Bakugo, but no, everyone just has to be mean."

"The guy's only 'popular' 'cuz he's got one of the strongest Quirks in school," Rikuo pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that if he had a weaker Quirk, people would be annoyed with him."

"I mean, it's not like he isn't going to be a great hero," Izuku weakly defended. "Kacchan's just... hard to get through."

"Izuku, you don't need to defend Bakugo every time we rag on him," Kaina said, looking at the green haired boy. "The guy would literally beat you up every time he thought that you were looking at him funny."

"Who cares about dumb ol' Bakugo anyways?" Aozora scoffed. "We've got plenty on our plate to focus on! We gotta do a lot of work to become heroes, right?"

"Yea!" Kaina said. "Let's show them all that we can all be heroes!"

As the four of them cheered on, they failed to notice a slimy mess coming out of the manhole behind them.

"Hmmm... four choices," a voice said behind them. They turned around, and saw a sludge-like man coming on from behind them. "I'll go with you, greenie!"

The sludge-like man slammed and pinned Izuku against the underpass wall, and made tendrils to grab and pin the others as well. To their horror, they saw the man shoving himself into Izuku's mouth.

"Izuku!" the three shouted, trying to pry themselves out of the sludgy grasp of the villain. Izuku grasped at his throat, trying to figure out how to force the sludge villain out. Rikuo created a small rock in his hand, and threw it at the sludge villain, managing to strike him in the eye. The villain winced and cried out in pain, though he wasn't deterred by the momentary distraction.

"Don't worry, this will only hurt for a few more seconds!" the sludge villain cackled. "And since your little friends saw me too, I'm gonna have to just kill them to make sure that they-"

"You won't be killing anyone today, villain!"

"Oh shit," the sludge villain said, turning his eyes towards the manhole that he came out of. The manhole shot up into the air and implanted itself into the underpass's ceiling, and a blond muscular figure flew out of the manhole. The four teens couldn't believe their eyes at what they were seeing.

"Because I am here!" All Might, Japan's Number One Hero, announced.

"Shit shit shitshitshitshit-" the sludge villain said, raising a tendril, but it was too late. All Might reared his fist back, and threw out a mighty punch.

"Texas SMASH!" he shouted. The mighty punch created a powerful blast of wind, which pulled the sludge villain away from the four teens, and more importantly, out of Izuku's body. The villain screeched as he lost consciousness from having his body scatter apart. The three ran over to check on Izuku, who was retching out whatever was left of the sludge villain in his body. And everything he ate that day.

"Dude, are you alright!?" Aozora fretted.

"Y-Yea, I'm-" Izuku sputtered before vomiting more.

"Here, boy, drink this ginger ale!" All Might said, pulling out a couple of bottles out of his pocket and handing them to Kaina. "I was doing a little grocery shopping when that villain passed by the convenience store I was at!"

"Here you go, drink up," Kaina said, opening up the bottles and handing them to Izuku, who drank them all in some hefty gulps after he had finished expelling all of the sludge villain's remains in his gut.

"T-Thanks, All Might sir," Izuku stuttered, in deep awe of his idol. He dug into his backpack and pulled out one of his his Hero Journals. "C-Can you sign this for me!? I'm a huge fan of yours!"

"Sure, young man! It's the least I can do to assure a fan who got attacked!" All Might laughed, as he took the notebook. "To whom am I making this for?"

"I-I-Izuku Midoriya, sir!"

"Hahaha, what a fine name!" All Might said, handing Izuku's Hero Journal back. Izuku stared at the signature, awestruck "Now, how to take this villain to the police station..."

"How about these bottles?" Rikuo said, picking the empty ginger ale bottles.

"A great idea, young man!" All Might said, taking back the bottles and immediately gathered up as much of the sludge villain as he could into them. "Well, it's about time that I take this villain to the proper authorities. Take care, you younglings!"

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts, and looked to the Number One Hero that was about to depart. He had thousands of questions running in his head, but one stood out. One that, while his friends had given him answers to, one that he wanted to hear from All Might himself. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He latched onto All Might's leg. The others reflexively mimicked him, grabbing a hold around Izuku and All Might's leg.

"Hey hey hey hey, you four! What do you think you're doing? This a little too much, even for me!" All Might said, looking down at the hanger-ons.

"Yea Izuku, what the hell!?" Kaina said, realizing what they had just done.

"I-I-I'm sorry, but there's a question that I really, really need to ask you, All Might!" Izuku said, as he held on for dear life.

"Alright, alright, I'll answer one question, but I really need to get going soon!" All Might said. "Just hold on until I find a roof to land on!"

The four nodded and held onto All Might's leg as tight as they could. As the Number One Hero turned his head away, he coughed lightly into his hand, and felt the unmistakable dribble of blood coming out from the corner of his mouth.

---

In an alleyway

"Man, those three weirdoes really like sticking up for Deku, huh?" one of Katsuki's lackeys said, as they walked through the alleyway.

"Yea, I still don't get why they think he's worth the time," another said, as he lit a cigarette. "What do you think, Bakugo?"

"Who gives a shit about those losers do?" Katsuki growled, as he kicked a bottle away from him. "They're not going to go anywhere with that Quirkless bastard dragging them down."

He turned around, and glared at his lackeys before grabbing the box of cigarettes and blowing it up. "And stop smoking! If you shitheads get caught smoking with me around, it'll go on my record, too! And I can't deal with shit like that before getting into UA!"

"Sorry, Baku-" the smoker apologized, when he and the other one noticed a looming shadow over Katsuki.

"A good body... why don't you let me borrow that, kid?" a sludge-like villain said, as he engulfed Katsuki before he could react.

---

Somewhere on a rooftop

Syth and Katara stood as they looked out at the city before them.

"Quite a nice day, isn't it?" Katara said, rubbing her helmet's chin in thought. Syth flipped the Alter Ride Book opened, and pages flew out of the book, and began stacking together to form a humanoid figure.

"Gansekiou Golem," the book announced. The papers scattered and burned away, revealing a monster whose head was pot-like with two giant stone hands grasping on it, a large left hand, and a book cover on its gut. "Wake up, legend Megid clad in rock."

"How may I serve you, Lord Syth?" the monster said, bowing to the blue haired young man.

"I need you to go and cause some havoc, Golem," Syth said. He pulled out an all-white book from his pocket, and handed it to him. "Find a good place in this city to cause chaos in and create us more Alter Ride Books."

"Of course, Lord Syth," Golem said, nodding.

"I'll joining you, but mostly to observe," Katara said, walking towards Golem, and holding a blue metal book in her hand titled 'Peter Fantasista'. "I'll only join when the Sword of Logos appears so that they don't interrupt you. And to try to open this Nagare Book. We'll attempt to kill two birds with one stone."

"As you wish," Golem said, as he and Katara departed.

---

Somewhere on a different rooftop

"Alright, make this quick!" All Might said, his smile hiding his slightly aggravated mood. The four teens took in deep breaths, their arms numb from clutching onto him.

"Yea, Izuku, what's-" Rikuo began to ask.

"S-So! I want to know something!" Izuku said, cutting everyone else off from talking. "C-Can I be a hero without Quirk!?"

"Huh?" All Might said, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that what this is about?" Kaina said, crossing her arms. "You know the answer is yes-"

"I know what you three think, but I... I need to hear an answer from the Number One Hero himself!" Izuku said. "I... I was born Quirkless, but I've always wanted to be hero. All my life, I've been told that without a Quirk, that I wouldn't be able to save anyone as a hero. Only my friends have ever believed in me... but I want to know, if you think it's possible! I... I want to be a Symbol of Peace, just like you! To save people with a smile! I've admired you for so long, and-"

A giant cloud of steam burst from All Might, forcing the four to close their eyes. "Dammit, my time limit!"

"Ack!? What's going on!?" Rikuo said, waving his arms around to make the steam dissipate.

"All Might, are you all riiIIIIIIIIGHT!?" Izuku said, as the steam cleared and they could all see. Standing where the gargantuan tall man of muscle once was, now stood a skeletal tall man of bony proportions with a sharp triangular chin.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Aozora shouted, as they backed up from the stranger.

"... I'm All Might," the man said, a stream of blood flowing down his chin.

"No fucking way," Kaina said, staring at him.

"It's the truth," the man sighed, as he sat down. "You know how some guys suck in their gut while they're at the pool to look buffer? I do the same sort of thing nowadays."

"You do!?" Aozora said, his eyes still wide at what he was seeing.

"Yea... I guess that you've seen me like this, I should at least show you the reason why I'm in this form," All Might said, grabbing the bottom hem of his shirt. "Don't go blabbing about this to anyone else or online, I can't have people knowing that the Number One Hero's in this sort of state."

He pulled his shirt up, and they were greeted by a horrifying sight. On the skeletal man's left side was a mess of stitches and scar tissue, discolored and disfigured from what appeared to be from multiple surgeries. "Five years ago, I got into a fight with a villain like no other. It was kept secret from the media so as to not cause a panic. He hit me hard, but I hit him back even harder. But as a result of that battle, I lost parts of my stomach, my lungs. Basically my digestive and respiratory systems are shot. Because of all those surgeries, my body's practically wasting away, to the point where I can only do roughly three hours of hero work a day now."

"N-No way..." Izuku said, as the shock of seeing All Might's wound subsided. "W-Was it the fight against Toxic Chainsaw-"

"Hm, you really know your stuff. Nah, that punk couldn't do a thing against me," All Might chuckled bitterly. "But this is the reality, kid. Hero work is incredibly dangerous. The reason why I smile nowadays is to stave off the pressure and fear I feel now when I fight. As the Symbol of Peace and Japan's Number One hero, I can never be daunted by the likes of evil... so I'm sorry to say, but I don't think it's really all that possible to be a hero without a Quirk. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big, but you should do it within the boundaries of what you can do."

"B-But what about rescue heroes!? And martial artist heroes!?" Kaina interjected.

"Yea, they don't always use their Quirks, but they-" Aozora said.

"That's the keyword there. 'Don't always'. That's true, but they still have Quirks, don't they?" All Might pointed out. "The Wild Wild Pussycats' Ragdoll has a Search Quirk that lets her track down up to 100 people and weaknesses. Uwabami's Snake Hair heightens her senses and help her with searching for people in disasters, and is even useful for tracking down villains. And Gunhead's Gatling might not be powerful, but it helps him distract villains while he uses his martial art skills to subdue them. They might not rely on using their Quirks, but it's a great help to them. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big, kid, but you should do it within the boundaries of what you can do. Try policework. It isn't glamourous like heroism, but it's honest work that still helps-"

"How can you say that!?" Kaina shouted, catching All Might off guard. "Are you saying that it's- that it's wrong for Izuku to want to be a hero!? That those bullies of his are right!?"

"Bullies?" All Might said, his eyebrows raised. He took a look at Izuku, and realized how downcast his eyes were.

"Yea, a bunch of jerks always pick on him for being Quirkless! Even when he's staying out of their way!" Aozora added. "They always pick on him because he's an easy target!"

"If we weren't around, it'd might've been worse," Rikuo said, his coolness hiding his anger. "He's constantly told that shit all the time."

"I didn't... I didn't know," All Might said, as he realized how overtly harsh he had been. "I just thought that I should be honest-"

"It's... it's alright," Izuku said, the light in his eyes dead. He turned around, and walked towards the roof's entrance. "I always known it was unrealistic to begin with..."

"Izuku, wait!" Aozora said, as he and Rikuo ran to follow him. Kaina as well, but she turned around and glared at All Might, who stood there.

"I hope you're happy, crushing his dreams just like that," she said, before leaving the roof. All Might sighed, and pinched his forehead.

"Way to go, Toshinori, some hero you are..." All Might mumbled, as he walked through the door after waiting for a few minutes to make sure he didn't come across them and make things awkward. He climbed down the stairwell in silence, and dug his hands into his empty pockets when he reached the bottom. "I guess the least I could do is take this villain-"

All Might froze. He dug his hands into his empty pockets. "No... did I-"

An explosion went off in the distance, just a few blocks away from the building he was at. "Oh no..."

---

At the site of the explosion

Katsuki struggled to breath. It wasn't hard to see why, since there was a sludge villain trying to shove himself down into his throat. In his struggling, he released several Explosions, causing buildings, cars, and trees to catch on fire. Heroes were on the scene to stop the villain, though with the fire and explosions, they couldn't reach them.

For a man that had lost parts of his lungs, All Might managed to run all the way to the scene, albeit rather winded. He felt sick in whatever remains of his stomach. This was all his fault, another thing to add on his list of screwups today. First crushing a bullied boy's dream right after he gave him an autograph, and now accidentally letting a villain escape him.

Just what could he do? He reached his time limit for the day. Just how helpless can he be?

---

On top of a rooftop

"Oh my, look at all this chaos happening," Katara said, as she and Golem watched a villain made of sludge use his victim's Quirk to blow everything up. "So is that blank Ride Book reacting?"

"It is, but not by much," Golem said, holding out the book Syth had given him. The white book had began turning black at the top right corner, though only a little bit. "It's just as we thought, only chaos created by us would fill out the Alter Ride Book."

"Hm, what a shame," Katara said, looking down at the street.

"Should we move to a new place then, Mistress Katara?" Golem asked, ready to walk away.

"No, let's stay here," Katara said, moving her hand to stop Golem. "After all, wouldn't it be chaotic if there was another villain attack immediately after this one?"

"A good point," Golem said. "But when will we start?"

"At the moment when everything seems to have just settled," Katara answered, a smile forming underneath her helmet.

---

A few blocks away

Izuku stared at the ground as he walked, completely despondent. That was it, huh? Not even his idol believed he could become a hero like him. He was right, though. All those rescue heroes and martial artist heroes had Quirks that still benefit them in their line of work, so what hope did he have when he was Quirkless?

"Izuku! Izuku slow down!" Kaina said, as she and the other two hurried to join Izuku. Izuku paid no heed, and kept on going.

"Izuku, we-" Aozora said, when he bumped into a woman. "Oops! My bad!"

"It's alright, kid," she said, walking off with her friend, a rather burly foreign man.

"Izuku, you shouldn't listen to him-" Kaina tried to say.

"No, I need to face reality, you guys," Izuku sighed, coming to a stop. "He was right, I really don't stand too much of a chance without a Quirk. Even rescue heroes and martial artist heroes need them."

"Who cares what the guy says? He's old!" Aozora said.

"Honestly it seems like he was a little more jaded thanks to that fight," Rikuo said, shrugging. "Still really uncool of him to do, though."

"He's been a hero longer than any of us have been alive, though-" Izuku said, when they heard an explosion a couple blocks away. "Oh, looks like there's a villain attack now..."

"Hey, why don't we go and see it?" Kaina said, wrapping her arm around Izuku's shoulder, pulling him towards the block.

"Yea, observing a villain attack might help you get out of that-" Aozora said, when they all froze at what the saw. The sludge villain from earlier had managed to escape from All Might, and had a hostage within himself, much like what happened to Izuku earlier.

"How did he-" Rikuo whispered to his friends.

"The bottles he was in must've fallen out of All Might's pockets when we grabbed onto his legs!" Kaina whispered back as the realization and horror kicked in.

"This... this is my fault!" Izuku said, his face paling. "If I hadn't jumped onto All Might's leg-"

"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?" Aozora said, noticing that they were either holding civilians back, saving civilians that were nearby, or putting out the fires. Some were even just standing around.

"They must not have a hero whose Quirk's strong enough here!" Izuku said. "S-Someone will come! A hero always comes-"

The hostage managed to turn his head around, and they recognized the red eyes and ash blond hair.

"The hostage is Bakugo!?" Aozora said.

"What are the odds?" Rikuo muttered.

Izuku covered his mouth. As much as Katsuki bullied him, he didn't deserve this. Someone had to do something, a hero has to-

"Do you desire courage?"

Izuku froze at the strange voice. He looked around, trying to find the voice.

"Do you desire courage?" the voice repeated. For whatever reason, Izuku's hand moved down to his pocket, and he gripped Brave Dragon.

"I... I... I-!"

"Then move."

Izuku made a mad sprint out of the crowd, dodging the heroes and police officers that were forming a barricade between the fight and the civilians.

"IZUKU!" Kaina, Rikuo, and Aozora shouted, watching their friend run towards Katsuki and the sludge villain.

"What is that kid doing!?" Death Arms said, as he and the other heroes began to chase him. "He's gonna get himself killed! Stop him!"

"It's that fucking kid again..." the sludge villain grumbled, recognizing Izuku from earlier.

"Deku-?" Katsuki garbled as the green-haired boy rushed towards them.

"What am I doing!? What should I do!?" Izuku thought. All of a sudden, he remembered Rikuo throwing a rock into the villain's eye, blinding him for a second. So he took off his bag, and chucked it as hard as he could at the villain's face. His books fell out of the bag, striking the sludge villain's face and eyes. He cried out as Izuku got close to him and began trying to dig Katsuki out.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Katsuki demanded, as Izuku managed to get a bit of the sludge off of his face.

"I-I don't know! My feet- they just started to move!" Izuku cried, tearing up. "All I know is that- is that when I saw your eyes, all I wanted to do was help!"

"Stop! Get away!" Katsuki said, as he began to recede into the sludge villain. "QUIT IT!"

"Time for you to-"

"I don't think so!" All Might said, having instantly appeared between the villain and Izuku. He grabbed a hold of him and Katsuki, ripping the explosive teen out of the villain, as he glared at the frightened villain. "I should thank you, kid, for reminding me! That heroes always put their all into saving others!"

With a mighty yell, he reared his free hand back, and threw it down, creating an air pressure so immense that the sludge villain instantly splattered everywhere. "Detroit SMAAAASH!"

Rain began to fall down from the sky, as the crowd around cheered.

"He changed the weather with a single punch!"

"That's the Number One Hero for you!"

"All Might! All Might! All-" the crowd chanted, when the strangest sight occurred. A giant wall of light formed in front of them all, one that ran across the buildings.

"What the-" Death Arms said, approaching the wall of light, only to be knocked back several meters from touching it. The crowd murmured, when they saw a villain walking through the wall of light like it was nothing. The villain had a head that was covered by a clay pot with giant stone hands holding onto it, a large left hand, and a strange statue-like face. In his right hand was a strange white book that was slowly becoming black from the top right corner, and on his abdomen was a book cover-like panel.

"Now then, it's time for a new story," the villain said, as the book cover-like panel glowed a sickly purple. 'Pages' flew off it and fell to the ground, and to everyone's surprise, they turned into strange identical villains. The villain spawn charged at the crowd of people, forcing all of the heroes to run between them, though there were far more than they expected.

"What type of Quirk just makes grunts like this!?" one of the heroes said, as he was swarmed by the villain spawn. All Might raised his hand and threw them down, creating a blast of air strong enough to send them flying back. To everyone's surprise, a great deal of them shattered, but reformed almost immediately.

"Evacuate everyone! I'll handle this!" All Might said, as the other heroes obliged and hurried the bystanders away, with one of them carrying the exhausted Katsuki. All but four disappeared, as they managed to sneak into an alleyway.

"What's going on!?" Aozora said, as they peered around the corner and watched All Might punching and knocking all of the villain spawn away from the retreating crowd and heroes, making sure that none of them got close to them.

"Did you notice the book he's holding!?" Rikuo said.

"Yea... it looked like ours..." Izuku said, horrified as he pulled Brave Dragon out of his pocket. "Do... do our books have anything to do with this?"

"Should we do anything to help?" Kaina said, watching as the Symbol of Peace fought on his own. "He hit his time limit earlier, so he must be having a hard time right now!"

"Kinda hard to say that when the guy's swinging those things away like paper balls," Rikuo pointed out.

"She's right, though. If this keeps up, he'll be in big trouble!" Izuku said, forgetting about how his idol had crushed his dreams earlier. "There's... there has to be something we can do!"

"So this is the power of the so-called Symbol of Peace..." the villain said, rubbing his chin. "It doesn't matter how strong you are, you won't be able to beat-"

"DETROIT SMAAAASH!" All Might shouted, throwing his fist again, the air pressure created from the punch destroying all of the villain's spawn. The villain braced himself, managing to keep himself from flying away. "I don't know what your endgame here is, but I'll make sure that it won't happen!"

"Whether or not you're in the way won't change anything! A new Alter Ride Book shall be created!" the villain said. The hands on his head detached, and began to soar towards All Might, who dodged their grasp, though they flew and destroyed a couple of nearby buildings. The villain slammed his large left hand into the ground and pulled out a giant chunk of the street, and threw it at All Might. The Number One Hero slammed his fist into the street chunk, blowing it appear and making the rubble fly into the villain. To his surprise, when the rubble landed on the ground, it began flaking away, as if it had been paper. He looked around, and started noticing that all of the damages being made were resulting in buildings and objects flaking away like paper.

"What the- "All Might began to mutter, when he gritted his teeth and coughed, feeling blood trickle down his chin. "Dammit, I'm really hitting my limit! I have to end this quick before-"

"Seems like I have to step in."

All Might hacked up blood as he felt a blade pierce through his left side, and looked down at the blade as it slid out of his side.

"Dammit-!" All Might said, turning around and swinging his fist at the assailant behind him. The attacker leapt back, avoiding his punch.

"Impressive, All Might," the assailant said, tapping her chin in thought. "Dokuyaku's poison should've taken effect immediately. I suppose you're much tougher than I thought."

"Poison-!?" All Might muttered, when he began hacking up more blood. He looked down at his wound, and saw that it was beginning to turn a sickly green. He struggled to keep standing, but he felt to his knees.

"Ah, there we go," she said, walking towards him. She kicked him across the chin, knocking the man back before stepping on his wound.

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" All Might cried out. A cloud of steam erupted from him, and the four teens watched as the skeletal form of the Symbol of Peace replaced him. The man laid on the ground, still and unconscious.

"Hm, so you were hiding amongst those people," she said, wiping the blood off her gauntlet's blade. "I wonder... is this your natural form? A result of your endless fighting against villainy? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. You're like any human in the end. Just getting caught up in one thing that you don't pay attention to your surroundings. I guess I should put you out of your misery now."

The villainess reared her right hand back, ready to stab All Might when a metal bladed whip came and wrapped itself around her arm.

"So you've finally made a move now, Katara!?"

She turned around, and saw a woman with steel gray hair dressed in a unbuttoned jacket, a gray tank top, and tight black pants. In her hands was the handle of the bladed whip that was holding back the arm of Katara. Its handle was black, with a large silver square device with a triangular handguard separating it and the handle, and trigger underneath her index finger. Standing next to her was a burly redhaired Caucasian man with a thick beard wearing green flannel, blue jeans, and a black jacket tied around his waist. In his hand was a large but short cleaver-like sword with a large brown handle, and a blocky handguard-like device similar to the bladed whip, which also had a trigger.

"So you were here, Jian? Gram?" Katara said, unfazed.

"Trust us, it was a coincidence that we were here today," the woman said, as she pulled her bladed whip to drag Katara towards them. Katara pried the bladed whip off her arm, using the momentum to charge at them. The burly man swung his sword at her, making Katara lean backwards to avoid the attack.

"It's time we take back Dokuyaku and the Wonder Ride Books you've stolen back!" the man said. He and the woman pulled out two metal books from their pockets.

"Blacksmith's Journey!"

"Little Red Rider Hood!"

The two flipped the cover of their books opened, and voices came from them.

"The story of a certain swordsmith whose swords were filled with demonic power..."

"A certain red hooded girl traveled to her grandmother's house who was followed by a hungry wolf and saved by a passing-by hunter..."

"Those books-!" Rikuo said, as they all pulled theirs out like Izuku.

"They have these!?" Aozora said, looking at his.

The two strange people inserted their books into their respective swords, revealing that the strange devices were docks for them. Music started to play when two giant projections of their books formed behind them. They pressed the trigger, opening their book projections.

"Transform!" the two announced. The woman whipped her bladed whip around, metal-like energy flying from it, while the man swung his sword downwards, green leaf-like energy flying from it.

Armor began to form around them. For the woman, she wore slim silver armor with cyan trim, with a dark navy bodysuit underneath it. Her forearm armor had blade-like fins underneath her wrists and two cyan tiger-like stripes, and the back of her silver gloved hands had three short sharp claw-like blades. Her shoulder armor was round and clung closely to her shoulders, and also had blade-like fins like her gauntlets. Around her calves were silver armored boots, with two blades on the tips of both feet. On her waist was a silver belt with a large black belt buckle, and two strange holsters on the sides of her belt, one holding two books and one holding only one. Her helmet was silver, when a chain similar to her bladed whip appeared and wrapped around it, forming an X-shape before tightening around her helmet, and the metal-like energy she slashed earlier returned to her face, changing into a curved blue X-shaped visor that ran along with the chain. When it finished tightening around her helmet, it created a blade that looked similar to her bladed whip's tip.

"Blacksmith's Journey! Swing around! Whip around! Ka-Shing Ka-Shing! Whipping Sword of Chained Metal Kurogane! Write this down! The master swordsmith sharpens the blade!" her whip announced.

For the Caucasian man, he wore brown bulky armor with plates of dark green, and a greenish blue bodysuit. His knee-high boots were brown with green plated armor and white fur around the cuffs, with his armored gloves being similar in appearance. Even his large bulky brown armor had white trim. Around his neck and head was a red billowing hood. His helmet was brown with a white faceplate and a blade-like horn that resembled his sword's, with two small antler-like horns on each side, and like the woman, the green leaf-like energy flew back onto his face, giving his helmet the appearance of a log being chopped in half.

"Little Red Rider Hood! Printing! Planting! Strike the tree down with all your might! Chop! Chop! Chopping Sword of Hardened Wood Keirin! The huntsman uses his trusty ax to save the red hooded girl from the wolf!" his sword announced. The man took his sword and pressed a button on the back of the guard, making the blade flip around before pulling the blade up to extend it, and bent it down to turn it into an ax head. "Chopping!"

The man charged at Katara, while the woman began whipping at her. Katara dodged the bladed whip and sprung back to avoid the man's swing. She rolled away before springing towards the man, her gauntlet's blade pointed out, though he blocked it with his sword. Golem spawned more minions, who surrounded the two newcomers, forcing them to split and fight them all.

"Golem, finish off the Number One Hero, will you?" Katara said, motioning to the downed All Might. "He might be trouble later on if he survives the poison."

"Of course, Mistress Katara," Golem said, as he walked towards All Might.

"Wait, that's All Might!?" the woman said, looking at the skeletal man on the ground. "What the hell did your poison do!?"

"I don't quite know, but it doesn't matter. A behemoth of a human he may be, but still human," Katara said. "And humans are always so frail in the end."

"Damn, Gram go and-" the woman said, when Katara kicked the man, and pressed down on the left page of book on her gauntlet.

"Spider Bite!" the book announced, and from it, came a large mechanical-like spider. The spider hissed and attacked Gram, attempting to bite him though his armor and sword proved to be strong enough to block it. Golem's minions joined it, forcing the man on the defensive.

"Seems like he's a little busy with my little friend," Katara said, rolling her neck before running at the woman. "So let's keep this between us, Jian."

She pulled down on the pommel of her bladed whip, making it contract and turn into a double-edged straight sword that she used to block Katara's blade. "Chained!"

As the battle raged on, Golem approached All Might, ready to finish him off. "You humans are so fragile. It's why when we change the world, you'll-"

A discarded soda can flew and hit the back of Golem's head. He turned around, and saw a trembling Izuku, who had just thrown.

"L-Leave him alone!" Izuku shouted, as his friends remained hiding in the alleyway, motioning to him and mouthing to him to get back. "I... I won't let you hurt him!"

"... You're either extremely brave, or extremely stupid," Golem said, turning his attention onto the green-haired teen. "I suppose I can kill you first, since that man's not going to go anywhere in his state."

Izuku's chest heaved in and out. What was he doing? He already recklessly jumped into save Katsuki, so why was he doing this again?

"Do you desire courage?"

"That voice again..." he muttered, as he dug into his pockets and pulled out Brave Dragon. "Is... is it you, Brave Dragon?"

"Do you desire courage?" the voice asked again. "Does the fire burn within your chest?"

"That Wonder Ride Book-! Where did you get that!?" Golem said, seeing him pull it out.

"Do you seek to right the wrongs of this world?"

"I... Yes! I want to help others!" Izuku shouted, confusing the people around him. "I want to save others with a smile on my face! I want to be someone that- that won't back down when evil strikes! I... I want to be a hero!"

"I see..." the voice said. "Then I bestow upon you my powers, and the Sword of Flames, Rekka!"

All of a sudden, the cover of Brave Dragon shined brightly, almost blindingly so, forcing everyone to cover their eyes, helmeted or not. Izuku's hand trembled as he touched the cover, and for the first time, opened the book.

"Brave Dragon!"

A red serpentine dragon soared out of the metal book, flying into the clouded sky. It disappeared behind the clouds, only for a flaming sword to fly down and plant itself into the ground in front of Izuku.

"There once was a God Beast possessing a great power that would destroy everything..."

"That's-!" Jian said, seeing the sword.

"That kid opened Brave Dragon!?" Gram said.

"Kill him, Golem! Right now!" Katara commanded.

Golem yelled as the hands on his head flew towards Izuku, only for a wall of fire to form, protecting the green-haired teen. He stared at the burning sword, and grabbed it without a second thought, feeling it calling to him. The sword burned brightly, and changed shape, becoming smaller and dagger-sized, its handguard becoming shaped like a flame, and protected by a black sheath-like belt buckle.

"Holy shit, our books can do something like that!?" Kaina said, pulling out Lion Senki and staring at it.

Izuku examined the sword before placing it on his waist. A red belt formed around him, securing it to his body. He closed the book, and inserted it into the sheath. Like Jian and Gram, a projection of Brave Dragon formed behind him, and he gripped the handle of his sword.

"Trans... Transform!" Izuku cried out, pulling out the sword. As he pulled it out, the sword grew in length, becoming a more proper sword than its previous dagger-like appearance.

"Rekka Unsheathed! Brave Dragon! One Rekka Book! When the dragon of valor and the Sword of Flames Rekka meet, the crimson sword will penetrate evil!" the sword announced, as it glowed red. Izuku took the sword, and swung in, making a cross slash of fire fly from him that strike Golem in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Armor began to form around Izuku as he looked at his hands. The right side of his armor was red, with a large horned dragon head with a yellow eye as his shoulder armor, and a flame-like blade ran across his right gauntlet. The left side of his armor was black, with red stripes that ran along it. The center and inner sides of his legs were white, and on the right side of his helmet were three spiked horns on his cheek. A giant blade-like horn that resembled the tip of his sword adorned his helmet, separating the red half of his helmet from the black half, with a white forehead. The fiery cross slash flew back towards him, and collided with his face, creating a flame-like visor.

"Izuku!?" Kaina said, her jaw agape as they all stared at their newly armored friend.

"Just... just what is this!?" Izuku asked, when he heard the voice speaking to him again.

"Dodge left."

Izuku moved to the left immediately, and managed to avoid Golem's punch. He swung his sword into Golem's back, sparks flying as the blade slashed his back.

"Thrust."

Before Golem could recover from his back being attacked, Izuku thrusted his sword into the villain, fire erupting from the tip that sent the rock-like man flying backwards.

"This... this power... it's unreal!" Izuku said, examining the sword. Katara attempted to run and attack him, but Jian pressed down on the pommel of her sword, changing it back into a bladed whip.

"Unchained!" "You're not getting away from me, Katara!" Jian shouted, lashing her whip out. It wrapped around Katara's arm, and she pulled him back. All the while Gram was still having his own battle with the mechanical spider.

"Tap the page of the Wonder Ride Book."

"Wonder Ride Book-? You mean this book, whoever you are?" Izuku said. He switched hands with his sword, and tapped the left page of the opened Brave Dragon.

"Brave Dragon!"

Fire coated his right hand, startling him for a second before he realized that it didn't hurt at all. As Golem began to stand up, Izuku curled his hand into a fist, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Brave SMAAAAASH!"

He reared his right arm back and threw a punch. A blast of fire flew from his arm, shaping itself into a dragon before exploding against Golem's chest.

"Nice one, Izuku!" Aozora cheered on, while Rikuo used this opportunity to go and grab the injured All Might and take him to safety.

"We'll take care of All Might, Izuku! Just hang in there!" Kaina said, as they tried to stop the bleeding.

"This power... I'll use it to save everyone, and I'll protect their smiles!" Izuku shouted, pointing his sword at the villain.

"Finish him off."

"Huh?" Izuku froze at the words.

"Finish the Mamono off."

"The Mamono-? I can't kill a villain! That's... that's-!"

Izuku didn't have a lot of time to ruminate on the words, as Katara had escaped Jian's grasp and slashed him in the back, sparks flying as her blade and his armor made contact. He staggered, and the villainess kicked him down. Jian attempted to help him, but more of Golem's minions surrounded her, preventing her from getting close or use her whip effectively.

"I'm quite surprised, I certainly didn't expect to see a child like you to become Saber," Katara said, pointing her blade at Izuku. "But I'll be relieving you of Rekka and Brave Dragon."

"Saber? Rekka?" Izuku said, as he glanced down at his sword. Katara raised her arm above her, and swung it down towards Izuku. He blocked it with his sword before kicking her off. "What are you talking about!?"

"It doesn't matter. You and All Might will be dying soon," Katara said, when Gram pulled out another book, and inserted it into a slot below his sword's book dock.

"Seiryu Saga! Chop! Keirin Printing Strike! Chop!" it announced. He raised his sword above his head, and swung it in a circle into the mechanical spider and Golem's minions, creating a streak of three green talon-like energy slashes, destroying all of them. He didn't waste any time and pulled out a different book, scanning it twice.

"The Dance of the Deer! Chop chop! Keirin Printing Strike! Chop chop!"

He swung his sword, releasing a large antler-like energy projectile into Katara, knocking her away from Izuku. At the same time, Jian pulled out her own second book and inserted it into a scanner underneath her sword's dock.

"Mauling Jaws! Ka-Shing! Kurogane Writing Strike! Ka-Shing!"

Shark teeth-like metal energy projections formed alongside her sword's edges, which she swung around herself, striking all of the minions around her and destroying them as a projection of a shark spun around her. Gram ran towards Izuku and helped him up.

"Got to say, didn't expect to meet the new Saber today, either," Gram said. "Or that they'd be so young."

"Just what are you-"

"We'll explain everything later!" Gram said, as Katara recovered and charged at him, only for Jian to strike her back with her bladed whip. "Right now just destroy the Mamono! We'll keep her busy!"

"But killing a villain-" Izuku protested.

"That thing isn't human to begin with! Closest thing that I can describe that thing is that it's a demon!" Gram said, swinging his sword at Katara, who grunted as it made contact with her, knocking her off her feet and letting Jian reel her in. "So don't hold back!"

"But-"

Golem took this hesitation to punch Izuku across the face, knocking him backwards before using his head's giant hands to grab him in a tight hold.

"Hm, we just need a little more," Golem said, checking his book as Izuku struggled. "Once this book is done, this place and every human will be nothing more than a memory."

"What!?" Izuku said, looking down at Golem.

"You humans are so pathetic! Holding back because you're afraid to take a life? Ha!" Golem mocked, as his giant hands tightened more, making Izuku yell in pain. "Meanwhile, we Megids can kill and kill, raising our numbers while you suffer!"

"M-Megids? So are you really not humans?" Izuku said, as he processed what Golem had said.

"Of course not! We Megids are a superior race! Chosen by the Omniscient Tome, to take back the world that's rightfully ours from the humans!" Golem shouted.

"Do you understand now? They are not human. They cannot be reasoned with. They will not stop until they have taken too many lives to count. This will not be the only place sacrificed for their desires. If you desire courage so, you must be prepared to fight."

"I... I-!" Izuku cried, as he began breaking free of Golem's grip.

"What the-!?"

"I won't let you hurt anyone here!" Izuku shouted, throwing the giant hands off himself and pressing on Brave Dragon's page again.

"Brave Dragon!" Izuku's fist ignited once more, and he stared down at Golem. "I'm... I'm giving you one more chance! If you turn yourself over, then you-"

"Don't bullshit me!" Golem shouted, as he grabbed another chunk of the street and pulled it out. "You will regret ever crossing the path of the Megids!"

Golem threw the chunk of street at Izuku, who released the fire around his fist into it, shattering it into pieces and forcing Golem to cover his face to prevent the rubble from hitting it.

"Sheath your sword, press the trigger, and draw it again," the voice instructed. Izuku nodded, and as he moved his sword towards his belt, it shrunk down, fitting into the sheath before pressing the trigger and drawing it out once again.

"Final Page! Rekka Unsheathed! Dragon, Volume One Slash! Fire!"

Flames ignited around Izuku's sword, and he charged towards Golem while he was distracted by the rubble, his blade pointing to the ground before he swung it in a horizontal slash. "San Diego SLASH!"

The sword went clean through Golem, bisecting the villain. Fire began to consume him, and he yelled as he exploded in a fiery cloud of dust. The wall of light disappeared, and the damages that Golem had inflicted to the area had vanished. Izuku turned to face where Golem was once, and was shocked to see that Golem's remains were turning into paper that flaked away into ash. The book he was holding too had returned to being white before disappearing altogether.

"Feh, seems like this was a failure," Katara growled, having been too distracted by Jian and Gram. Her hand went towards the blue book in her belt's holster. "And it wasn't this book that was awoken..."

"You're not going anywhere, Katara!" Jian shouted, swinging her whip at her. Katara pulled out a lavender book and scanned it on her gauntlet's wrist.

"Endless Hydra! Sneaky! Dokuyaku Deciphering Strike! Sneaky!"

Katara reared her arm back, and threw out a punch, launching a multiheaded snake projection from it. Jian and Gram blocked the attack with their swords, knocking it back, only to find that Katara had escaped.

"Dammit, she got away..." Jian said, looking around the area. She and Gram closed their books and removed them from their swords, which disappeared in a glint of metal and a breeze of petals respectively. Her gaze fell onto Izuku and his friends, who were trying to help All Might with his wounds. "Oh geez, that's really bad..."

"C-Can you do anything!?" Izuku asked, staring at the two strangers. "Just... Just what is this!?"

"We need to take him to Northern Base, it's just about the only place that we can treat the poison and... what else happened to him," Gram said, pulling out a brown book with the title 'Book Gate'. "We'll explain everything there."

"Book Gate!" it announced as Gram opened the cover.

"Open Gate!" A nearby door changed shape to that of a old wooden door. Gram opened it, and to the four teens' surprise, a strange library-like portal tunnel had formed in it.

"I'll carry him, just follow us," Gram said, picking up All Might onto his back. He and Jian jumped into the portal, and the four teens followed in reluctantly.

---

Northen Base

"Alright, just come in through here," Jian said, as they walked down a hallway. She opened a door, and Gram went and laid the injured Number One Hero onto a bed. He went to a cabinet, and began scouring through some medical supplies. "Luckily we have and can make an antidote for Dokuyaku's poison. By the way, why have you untransformed yet?"

"Oh, uh... I don't know how," Izuku said, having remained in his armored form, sword in hand. "I'm... I'm really sorry about it."

"Pft, that's alright, this is all new to you to begin with," Jian chuckled. "First, just put your sword back into the Swordriver, close your Wonder Ride Book, and remove it."

"O-Okay," Izuku said. His sword shrunk down to dagger size, and sheathed it into his belt. He closed Brave Dragon, and pulled it out. His armor disappeared in gentle embers, and he pulled the belt off his waist. "So that's how it works..."

"So with that all out of the way," Kaina said, taking in a deep breath before yelling, "Do you all mind telling us what that was all about!?"

"Yea, like these books!" Aozora said, pulling out Sarutobi Ninjaden from his pocket.

"No way, you found one, too?" Jian said, her eyes wide.

"We all did," Rikuo said, pulling out Genbu Shinwa while Kaina pulled out Lion Senki. "It's how we all became friends, since these books were similar."

"Man, that must be like, destiny or something," Jian said, crossing her arms and whistling. "Well, for starters, those are Wonder Ride Books. They're special books made from pieces of something called the Omniscient Tome."

"The... Omniscient Tome?" Izuku said.

"Yep. That book has all of the world's knowledge, stories, and history in it," Jian explained. "It has a lot of magical power, and pieces of it were created and scattered from it in a centuries-long war over it. All of the Wonder Ride Books contain some power from it. And from the Omniscient Tome came these swords as well."

Jian held her right hand out, and a metal glint flashed in her hands, forming her sword in it. "The Seiken. Magic swords that not only use the powers of the elements, but also can channel the power of the Wonder Ride Books. Mine is the Whipping Sword of Chained Metal, Kurogane. Alton's the Chopping Sword of Hardened Wood, Keirin. And yours, kid, is the Sword of Flames, Rekka."

Izuku looked at the sword in his left hand and Brave Dragon in his right. "Rekka, huh?"

"Yep, the fact that you have it means that Brave Dragon recognizes that you're worthy of holding it," Jian said, smiling at the boy.

"Okay, so does this mean that our Wonder Ride Books will give us Seiken, too?" Rikuo asked, as Aozora tried to open Sarutobi Ninjaden.

"Only if they determine that you're worthy of it and their powers," Jian replied. "The spirits are picky. Usually they'll pull you into their Wonder World territory to do so, but I guess Brave Dragon decided to forgo that for you, kid."

"Indeed."

Everyone looked at Brave Dragon, eyes wide.

"Izuku, your book! It talked!" Aozora said, pointing at it.

"I mean, it was talking already before, but this is a different voice," Kaina pointed out.

"You can actually talk!?" Izuku said, ready to open the book.

"Don't open the book when you're not going to become Saber. It lets out my power," Brave Dragon said.

"So have you been awake this entire time?"

"No. I only awoken once your heart's courage resonated properly with me," Brave Dragon replied. "It will be the same for the others, as they will only awaken when your friends resonate with them properly, and even then they must prove themselves within their territory."

"Alright, so how many Seiken exist? Does one exist for each Wonder Ride Book?" Kaina asked.

"Nope," Jian said, shaking her head. "There are only 22 Seiken, but 5 of them went missing near the beginning of the war, and we still haven't found them. Nor the Wonder Ride Books aligned with them. And around the Dawn of Quirks, more got lost, too. The only way we can find them is if someone finds one of the Wonder Ride Books aligned with them, and they successfully resonate with the spirits."

"So they're still missing long after I've slumbered? Troubling," Brave Dragon said.

"And two of them fell into the hands of the Megid," Gram mumbled, as he treated All Might. "Kurayami. Dokuyaku. We have to get those back at all costs."

"Hm, so Jaaku and Spider have chosen to aid them, have they?"

"The Megid? That was that Golem guy, right?" Rikuo said.

"Technically, yes. He was a Mamono, an artificial demon made from an Alter Ride Book," Gram said. "Before you ask, Alter Ride Books are counterfeits of pieces of the Omniscient Tome, and only have a fraction of the power. At least the Mamono ones. Their leaders, the proper Megids, are the ones who manage to steal pieces of the Omniscient Tome and gained its powers, but they're not able to make more without weakening themselves."

"They get around that by using blank Ride Books to absorb the real world into it by destroying everything within the walls of light that you saw earlier," Jian added. "Our world came from the Omniscient Tome to begin with, as well as the Wonder World."

"Wonder World?" the teens said.

"It is the parallel manifestation of the Omniscient Tome. While this world contains humanity's existence, the Wonder World contains all of the stories, ideas, and knowledge from the Tome itself," a new voice said. The teens turned around, and saw a redhaired woman in white walking in. "The Megids are trying to get into the Wonder World to obtain more power, but the pathways between the two have been shut, and only the spirits of the Wonder Ride Books will allow people in, but only in their territory."

"Um, who are you?" Kaina asked.

"I am Athena, the leader of the Northern Base of the Sword of Logos, a secret worldwide guild dedicated to defeating the Megid," she explained. She turned towards Izuku. "I welcome you, Saber."

"There's that word again... What is Saber?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, my bad. Saber is the name that the Swordsman of Fire is known as," Athena explained.

"All Swordsmen and Swordswomen have codenames," Jian stated. "I'm Jian, and Alton's Gram."

"They're not your real names?" Aozora asked.

"Oh no, not at all," Jian laughed. "My real name's Makane Kogane."

"I'm Alton Greenfield," Gram said, as he finished tending to All Might. "All Might should be fine, just give him some time."

"Oh my, is that the Japanese top hero I've heard so much about?" Athena asked, taking a peek at him. "He is... skinnier than I thought."

"It's... kind of hard to explain," Rikuo said, as the teens looked to the ground.

"Yea, a lot happened, and- Wait, that's right! A lot happened! And we just left the scene!" Izuku said. "People are going to wonder where All Might went and-"

"You shouldn't worry too much," Makane said, waving him off, when a knock came from the door. Athena opened it, and there was a knight-like soldier with white armor and a gray bodysuit with a helmet with a simple diamond-shaped black visor. Around his waist was a belt with a single page-like card inserted in it.

"We've taken care of editing the memories of everyone that was trapped in the Alter Ride Book wall, Madame Athena," the knight said, saluting her. "Everything that happened when the Alter Ride Book wall was created has been removed from memory."

"Thank you for the update, my good Page," Athena said, nodding as the knight left them.

"Who was that?" Kaina asked.

"That was a Page, they're our support," Alton said. "They handle protecting people and getting them to safety, as well as making sure that all the damages are gone and that their memories are altered just a bit."

"Wait, why? Shouldn't people know about all of this?" Rikuo asked. "This seems like it would be really important."

"I get your concern, but the thing is, the Omniscient Tome, the Wonder Ride Books, the Seiken, they're all extremely powerful," Makane explained. "Even the copied pages the Pages use to transform into are pretty strong. The Megids came about because they wanted to take the Tome and use its powers for selfish gain. With our hero society, there's bound to be people who'd want to do the same, and might even join the Megids willingly."

"Is the Tome really that powerful?" Izuku asked, his grip on Brave Dragon and Rekka tightening.

"Indeed. It contains everything that has been and everything that will be. Whoever holds the Tome, holds the power to change everything. It must never be completed to avoid it ever falling into the wrong hands," Brave Dragon explained.

"It's not complete?" Aozora asked.

"Nope. Like we said, the Wonder Ride Books are pieces of the Tome, and the Tome itself had been separated into three parts. We have one, the Megids stole another, and the third's... we don't know where the third is, but neither do they," Makane stated. "But there is a possibility that if ours and the Megids' parts come together, it'll draw out the third, so we still can't risk it."

A low moan began to fill the room. Everyone present turned to look at All Might, who sat up and rubbed his head.

"What... what happened-" he asked, when he realized he was in his skeletal form in front of strangers. All of a sudden, he bulked up. "Oh, uh, don't mind the- GAH!"

"Take it easy, Mr. All Might," Athena said, as she walked over and gently made the man lay down. "It is obvious that you're injured, so you must rest."

"... this has been a terrible day," All Might mumbled. "Too many people know about this form now-"

"It is alright, your secret is safe with us," she said, with a kind smile. "We of the Sword of Logos are too familiar with the importance of secrets."

"How much did you hear?" Alton asked.

"Just... just the part about the Tome's power," All Might answered, as he checked his wound. "Damn, this is going to really affect my hero work now..."

"Sorry, it's the best we can do for now," Alton sighed. "We don't have too many people with strong healing Quirks around here, and the Sword of Healing's one of the missing Seiken. That alone should be able to heal you completely, old injuries and all."

"So what did happen to you? If you don't mind me asking," Makane asked.

"... I suppose that since I'm aware of this secret now, I should all tell you mine," All Might said, closing his eyes. He told them all about his fight with the villain that caused his massive injuries, and how it was shortening his ability to work as a hero. And in turn, Athena explained more about the Sword of Logos, and their role in the world, and their war against the Megids. "But now that I've been poisoned in this old wound, it's probably even shorter now..."

"Damn, a villain powerful enough to cripple Japan's Number One Hero like that?" Makane muttered. "No wonder you want to keep this a secret."

"And this as well... I suppose that you'll want to change my memories?" All Might said.

"And ours?" Izuku said.

"Well, we actually can't change yours," Makane said, to their confusion. "Once you're chosen by the spirit of the Wonder Ride Book to hold their sword, you're the permanent user. Memory alterations won't be affecting you anymore."

"So is it the same with us?" Kaina asked.

"Sort of," Alton replied. "You've been chosen by the spirits' subconscious will, but they're not yet fully awakened, so you're not immune. We just have to wait and see what will happen."

"I see..." Izuku said. "Can... can we keep All Might in on this secret, then? It's not fair if I get to remember his secret but he doesn't remember mine."

"There is no issue with someone as important as Japan's Number One Hero knowing of the Sword of Logos' existence. Your secret is safe with ours," Athena said, nodding.

"Thank you... and I... I suppose there is one more secret that I want to share with you," All Might said, as he looked to Izuku. "Young man, today, you've reminded me of just what a hero needs to do. You have the spirit of a true hero within you."

"That he does, his soul resonated strongly with Rekka and I," Brave Dragon added.

"It was... I... I couldn't stand back and let Kacchan suffer like that."

"Kacchan?"

"Katsuki Bakugo, he's one of Izuku's bullies," Rikuo explained. "He used to be his friend until they had a falling out over his Quirklessness."

"I see... then you are much more of a hero than I thought. Wanting to help someone, even though they tormented you? That alone is the mark of a hero," All Might said. He sat up, and moved his legs over the side of the bed, and bowed to Izuku. "I am truly sorry for tell you otherwise today."

"I-It's alright, I get why... honestly, if I hadn't become Saber, I'd probably won't have a chance at all with heroism, still..."

"Which is why... why I want to make you my successor."

The teens, Makane, and Alton looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You see, my Quirk isn't an ordinary one. Its name is One for All. It is one that can be passed down to another, growing stronger and stronger with each new torchbearer. I was the eighth, and I want to make you the ninth, young man."

"Wait wait wait, your Quirk can be passed down!?" Izuku said, as he began mumbling, "ImeantherehasbeenalotofdiscussionoverwhatexactlyyourQuirkisbutmostpeopleassumethatit'sjustaphysicalboostingQuirkand-"

"So you can pass down Quirks!? Why didn't you consider Izuku-" Kaina began to shout.

"I... I've been on the fence on choosing a successor," All Might said. "I've been shouldering the burden as Japan's Number One Hero for so long, that I had never thought about retiring. A former sidekick of mine who knows about One for All has tried to get me to pick a student at my alma mater, but picking a predetermined successor like that... never felt right to me. But seeing you step in to save that Bakugo boy, someone without a Quirk. How can't I not give you a chance at being a hero?"

"I... I... I accept! I'll become your successor, All Might sir!" Izuku said, completely blown away by the offer and chance to become like his idol. "B-But how will I-"

"Slow down, we need to take this one step at a time," All Might said, holding his hands up. "Firstly, we'll need to spend whatever time we can to train your body to become a sturdy vessel for One for All. Otherwise your limbs might just explode right off."

"Explode!?" the teens exclaimed.

"Yes, I don't know how durable you've become because of taking that book and sword, but it's something I don't want to risk."

"He should be durable... to a decent amount," Makane said, rubbing her chin in thought. "We'll have to train you too on how to use a Seiken as well. You can do all of that in Liberation. It's a training room that alters time so that you can get a week's training in a day."

"Really? Wow, that really cuts out a lot of work for us, then," All Might said, impressed.

"Downside is that you have to wait about two days after using it, since it's not good for a person's mental health," Alton said. "Constantly sticking yourself in a room that you spend a week in only to see that it was only one day outside the room isn't good."

"Still, that works out. With those two days between usage, we can work on the schedule I have in mind," All Might said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Can we join Izuku on that?" Aozora asked. "We're all working to be heroes, too, and Izuku's our friend, so-"

"Of course, I'll be happy to train you all. It's the least I can do to make it up to you after what I said today," All Might said.

The teens all congratulated each other in excitement.

"And since we have these Wonder Ride Books, we can become swordsmen, too!" Aozora said, grinning widely.

"And swordswoman," Kaina corrected.

"So what other Seiken do you have?" Rikuo asked. "And what are the ones these are connected to?"

"Well, including yours and the ones the Megid have, there's only 8 right now," Makane said. "Three here, two at the Southern Base, two in the Megids' hands, and yours."

"There're so many that go lost!?" Izuku said.

"The Dawn of Quirks was a turbulent time, a lot of chaos was happening, even outside of the war between us and the Megids," Alton said. "But it seems like the missing Wonder Ride Books are beginning to make a reappearance, judging by the fact that you all found four of them."

"Yea, I wonder why, though..." Makane said, closing her eyes.

"Something is on the horizon of this world," Athena said, closing her eyes and thinking. "All we can hope for is that other goodhearted people will find the remaining Wonder Ride Books and take up their swords to protect both worlds..."

---

"Hey, Jiro! Come on, I want to check out the CD store!" an orange-haired girl said, waving to her friend, a girl with short dark purple hair and long earphone jack-like earlobes.

"Alright, alright, Taiga, I'm coming," Kyoka said, as she followed her friend. It was going to be one of the last times she hung out with Taiga like this. She'll have to start working out and studying 24/7 if she wants to stand a chance at getting into UA's Hero Course. It was one of the most difficult hero schools to get into, and since she wasn't exactly the most physically strong person around, she'll have to figure out how to use her Earphone Jacks in combat.

On their way to the CD store, Kyoka noticed something that glinted in the bushes in front of a restaurant. For whatever reason, she was curious, and went to get it. It was a strange pink metal book, with a big candy house and the title 'Hanselnuts to Gretel' on the cover. She tried to open it, but found that the cover was sealed tight. "What's this-?"

"Jiro, come ooooon!"

"Sorry, hold up," Kyoka said, putting the book into her bag. She'll figure it out later, right now, time to be a regular teen.

---

"- and that'll teach you to hit on another guy's girl, you dumb blond dumbass!" a teen with blue spikey hair said, having thrown Denki into a trashcan while his girlfriend watched on.

"S-Sorry, my bad, I didn't know," Denki moaned, rubbing his head. "I hope you two have a good day."

The couple turned on their heels and ignored him, and Denki sighed. Another bust at getting a girlfriend before studying and training for UA. Granted, he took a 2 hour break from his 10 minute study session, so that was on him. His aunt was definitely going to rag on him for wanting to be a hero but was skipping out on studying.

"Gotta go back to that anyway- Huh?" Denki said, climbing out of the trashcan when he spotted something less than a foot away from it. He picked it up, and realized that it was a strange small yellow metal book, with a picture of a genie lamp and the title 'Lamp do Alangina' on the cover. He tried to pry it open, only to find that it was sealed shut.

"What's the deal with this thing!?" he muttered, putting all of his strength into opening it. But it was no use, and after a few minutes, he decided to just pocket it for whatever reason. "Not like anyone wanted it anyways, it was next to a trashcan to begin with... Who knows, maybe if I rub it, I'll get some good luck my way."

---

Hiroshi sighed as he trailed behind his friends and little sister as they walked home from school to study at their house. They were excited, wanting to put a lot of effort into getting into UA, but he didn't know anymore. He always wanted to be a hero like them, but since he was Quirkless, he's pretty much accepted that dream's going to go nowhere. But he wasn't even sure if he wanted to apply for UA's General Studies Course either. If he did, he was going to be spending a lot of time watching people he didn't know getting to work towards their dream.

"Hey Hiroshi! Earth to Hiroshi!"

Hiroshi snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Setsuna. "Yea, Setsuna?"

"You alright? You've been spacing out for a while," she said, as they began to cross the bridge to his family's house.

"Yea, I'm fine, just-" Hiroshi began to say, when he spotted something near the bridge's railing. He raised an eyebrow, and walked towards it. He picked it up, and examined it. It was a small light blue book, with a picture of a sword and the title 'King of Arthur' on the cover.

"What's that Hiro?" Tsubasa asked, as he examined it.

"I don't know," Hiroshi replied, shrugging. He put it in his pocket. "Maybe we can look stuff up about it when we get to our house."

"You're really just going to pick up a random metal book from the ground, Hiroshi?" Fuka deadpanned.

"If it was on the ground near a bridge like that, it probably means that no one wanted it, right?" Hiroshi said. "But honestly, something about this feels... important."

---

"So... you failed to protect Golem," Syth seethed, trying to keep a cool demeanor, though his tightened fist betrayed him.

"Hm, I did. But then again, I had no idea that a new Saber would appear. I could've killed him, but Jian and Gram are experienced swordfighters who kept my attention, which let the newbie destroy Golem," Katara said, not caring enough to put up a defense. "Besides, Golem was one of the less impressive ones to begin with, and we can always summon him again when needed."

"Looks like your Phantom Beast Mamonos are lame, just like you," Animalia snorted. Syth slammed his hands onto the table, before forcing himself to calm down.

"All this means is that Golem shouldn't be in charge of another Alter Ride Book creation if he couldn't defeat a mere child," Syth said, fixing his glasses. "There are plenty of other Mamonos of mine that can be used."

"Saber..." Calibur muttered, as he watched the recording of the new Saber's fight against Golem.

"For a child, he's quick to learn how to use his powers," Fabel said, joining the purple swordsman.

"His partner is Brave. Of course the little brat would learn quick, the fool did most of the fighting," a voice from Calibur's book said, as a python-sized mechanical purple dragon with a similar visor to his flew out of it. "He better actually train, Brave can't fight for him forever."

"Indeed... but the fact that Rekka has finally made a reappearance is what is important," Calibur noted, tapping his helmet's chin. "This story is officially starting."

"I couldn't agree anymore, Calibur," Fabel said, as a small but sinister smile formed on his face. "Soon, we'll open the way to the Wonder World, and take that power to change the world."

---

In a strange world full of wondrous creatures and beings, a sharply dressed man with a fedora sat at the desk of a bookstore, pen in hand as he wrote down on paper. In the middle of the room was a large and detailed diorama. He looked up, and smiled.

"Oh hi there," he said, to no one in particular. "That's not true, I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

The man got up, and picked up a large red and gold book that was on the desk titled 'Wonder Almighty'. "My name's Touma Kamiyama, and I'm the Guardian of this place, the Wonder World. I'm also an author and bookstore owner, if you can't tell. And I have quite the story."

"As a child, a boy named Kento Fukamiya and I befriended a girl named Luna. The three of us, we were inseparable. She wasn't any ordinary girl, however. Luna was the personification of the Wonder World itself. Because of that, there were people who wanted to use her to gain the Wonder World's magic. She was taken away from us, and for years, I thought that every moment I had with her was just a dream. But thanks to a certain book and a sword, I started to regain my memories of her, and of the things we promised... But that's a story for another time."

"Right now, I found out one of the most interesting things about the Wonder World in my time as the Guardian, and that there're multiple iterations. And that each one, is connected to its own Earth. As the Guardian, I can move between these iterations, and see the Earths these iterations are connected to. The iteration that I'm from is all fine and good right now, but the one I recently came across is really, really interesting! A world, full of wondrous superpowers! A society full of heroes, each one with their own goals, motives, and personalities! A world, where nearly everyone has their own special power!"

Touma smiled, as he held Wonder Almighty and stared at it. "And imagine my surprise that, in this Earth, they have their own versions of these magical books and Holy Swords my friends and I used. I guess that each iteration will create their own Holy Swords and Wonder Ride Books. Even their own Megids. I suppose that's something that will never change."

He looked up, and approached the diorama. "But I hope you all will join me as we watch this world. Of course, if things seem to get dangerous, I'll jump in and help, but for now, I'm sure that these kids will be fine. So come, and let's watch as Izuku Midoriya and his friends protect their world with a magic power that no one on their Earth has ever seen before."

---

AO3 ORIGINAL NOTES:

- The next pilot chapter I've worked on!
- I was debating whether or not I wanted to do a Saber/MHA story or a Saber/Kingdom Hearts story. In the end, I decided to just have KH referential characters in the Saber/MHA, since I wanted to limit my current list of pilot chapters I'm writing. Admittedly it is quite limiting/confusing that all of my fanfics I've written are MHA crossovers, but I do think that there's a lot of potential in how some toku worlds and the MHA worlds can interact. And hey, it's not just limited to characters, some elements from KH make it into here.
- Related to that, I'm going to be doing a second KRSaber/MHA pilot chapter now, since this one's so unorthodox compared to the usual style I do. A lot of this is pretty much the result of my decision of making KH referential characters, so that affected a lot of the planning and decisions, like not using the rest of the Saber cast. The second one will be more in line with what I do. Though I'll still use the OC Megids in that one too alongside the original three.
- The kanji I'm using for their names: Aozora is 'blue sky', Tenjo is 'divine aid'. Rikuo is 'land king', Yamada is 'mountain rice paddy'. Kaina is 'ocean, beautiful', and Ogawa is 'small river'. If you can't tell, these are the KH referential characters. Aozora is Sora/Ventus, Rikuo is Riku/Terra, and Kaina is Kairi/Aqua. Why didn't I make them more like the Wayfinder Trio, since they're the ones that are more in tune with the element theme? Well, the Destiny Island Trio is a little more recognizable, and easier to make obvious name references. But I kind of consider these characters to be references to both.
- Onto the Megids, Syth, Animalia, and Fabel. Syth's name comes from 'Seth' and 'Myth' (which it rhymes with, so it's pronounced like Sith), Animalia is, well from the Animalia kingdom (but also 'cuz it has 'Lia' in it, like the name), and Fabel from 'Fable' and 'Abel'. Is there a particular reason why I chose to make them? Because of the ending.
- Also, we got our first OC Seiken and Riders! Katara, Swordswoman of Poison and owner of Hiding Sword of Concealed Poison Dokuyaku. Her name comes from the katar weapon from India, which is also called a katara, hence the 'a' in the name. Jian, Swordswoman of Metal and owner of Whipping Sword of Chained Metal Kurogane! Her name comes from the jian, a type of Chinese sword. And finally, Gram, Swordsman of Wood and owner of Chopping Sword of Hardened Wood Keirin! His name comes from Gram, Sigurd's sword.
- And there're the Pages, the mass-produced Kamen Riders of this fanfic (and the other Saber/MHA fanfic). They use copied pages from the WRB 'Night of Knights' and the Pagebuckle to transform. They have basic swords with dials that let them use weak elemental attacks and nothing else. Their name comes from knight pages and also, well, book pages.
- If you want to know what other OC Seiken I've created, I'll be using the same set for both Saber/MHA fanfics. Meaning that the ones that appeared here exist in the other one, and vice versa. Saves me the trouble of making more.
- If you want to know, they don't actually get teleported into the Wonder World, it's just a barrier. But when the WRBs are opened, they are temporarily taken to a part of Wonder World.
- I'm going to leave the WRB/ARB names untranslated, since they're proper names and all. But I'm going to translate the epithets of the swords, like 'Kaenken Rekka' is going to be 'Sword of Flames Rekka'. The reason is so that I don't have to figure out what the OC Seiken would be called, and just use a word related to their element as their proper name.
- The reason why I consider it unorthodox is because of the ending. That's right, this story is technically set after the end of the Saber TV show (excluding the V-Cinema). It's why the Saber cast doesn't properly appear, why the Megids are different but similar, and why the WRBs and Wonder World work differently. It's because it's a different 'iteration' of the Saber world. Will Touma have a bigger role in this than just being the Tassel? Perhaps.
- Adding onto this, the Calibur in this fanfic isn't Daichi. Thing is, I don't know if I want to make this Calibur an existing MHA character, or an OC. It'll be a while, so there'll be time to decide later.