The world has become a superhuman society as a good eighty percent of the total population have developed their own abnormal power unique to them, once known as "Meta Factors" now evolved to be simply known as Quirks. And from the boom of Quirks came the blossoming of a new profession to combat those who would abuse their Quirks for themselves or for evil reasonings, the birth of legitimate super heroes. But there is still a rare chance that a child born into this world can arrive Quirkless. Despite these factors, one pro hero stands above the others that came before him in the eyes of the public. Once born Quirkless himself with only the longing to become a great hero keeping him going forward, this single child was able to impress Japan's previous number one hero enough to pass on his Quirk onto him. Izuku Midoriya beat out all the odds and is now the Symbol of Peace to the people of Japan, inheriting the title from All Might, along with the rest of his classmates from U.A. High School.
Years have passed since the infamous "Class 1-A", taught by Shota "Eraserhead" Aizawa, graduated and each went on to become pros themselves. But the class of hero prodigies aimed to stand together as one working faction even after graduation as they founded the wildly popular "Class 1-A Agency" within the city, ready to deploy for any situation at a moment's notice. At the same time, the grand battle with All For One and the forces of both the League of Villains and Meta Liberation Front has caused heroes to be seen in a different light from before. It was thanks to this sudden change in apprecation that appealed the Japan Hero Ranking system and has led to former "Villains" to get another life and dedicate themselves to helping others, most due to being moved and inspired by Izuku himself. And while the final battle with All For One nearly left Izuku with only embers of his gifted Quirk, One For All, it seems the young man has once again found a way to defy fate…
MY HERO ACADEMIA: Embers of the Past
Chapter 01: An All New Me! Deku, the Symbol of Peace
Downtown Musutafu has once again erupted into the site of another band of wanna-be supervillains attempting to capitalize off All For One's absence to become the new Symbol of Fear and continue his pillage. At this moment, a large group of animal Quirked criminals were going on a ballistic rampage of the city streets. Acting solely on animal instinct, they sought only to terrorize and destroy the nearby buildings and scenery, all led by a large bodied man with the fur and face of a wild saber tooth tiger. He let out a vicious roar into the air after ripping a fire hydrant out of the ground with his cat claws.
"DESTROY! ANNIHILATE! SMASH IT ALL DOWN!" he roared, his echoing voice harming the ears of bystanders. His posse included the likes of a rhinocerous, gorilla and bulldog each the same build as him. From the windows of a broken into jewelry store, the rhino had his eyes squarely locked on a cowering pair of employees. He was on the brim of blind rage, snorting loudly and his fists firmly clutched. He took a stomp forward, breaking a scattered necklace by his foot and scaring the ladies, and roared loudly.
SOMEBODY! HELP!
He suddenly came charging straight for them, stopped by strips of tape suddenly launched his way from behind. They quickly wrapped around his arms and halted his charge. Struggling to look over his shoulder, he saw Hanta Sero, the hero "Cellophane".
"Hey, big guy! Pretty sure you and your buds are gonna have to pay for the damages you're racking up! So…what's the point?" he confidently asked while wrestling him back. The rhino growled, eyes suddenly flashing red, alerting Sero. He then ripped the tape to shreds before quickly turning around, the massive horn on his face crackling with electricity.
"W-What the…?!" Sero thought. A large bolt of lightning was fired towards the caught offguard hero, only to be stopped when it was redirected towards a miniature lightning rod thrown in the way. It was from Chargebolt, Denki Kaminari, protecting Sero.
"Whoa! Thanks, Chargebolt! That was close!" Sero shouted before jumping to his side. The rhino snarled louder, his anger bubbling because of their interference, as he faced down the pair.
"Looks like we got another nutcase going wild with TWO Quirks…ugh. Great." Kaminari groaned.
"Yeah. They've been coming out of the wood recently. Just how many of them are there now?" Sero asked. Kaminari shook his head.
"You got me. But we've gotta shut these lunatics down before they ruin the neighborhood!" Kaminari replied. Suddenly giving into his rage, the rhino came charging at them with head lowered and horn crackling with electricity. The brute broke between the two heroes, leaping out of his path, before Sero shot tape from his elbows over the brute's eyes. He skidded to a stop before quickly turning around for another charge, but Kaminari had taken the opportunity to leap atop his shoulders and began draining the electrical charge from his horn by firmly grasping it.
"Ngh!" Kaminari groaned "He's packing some serious currents! Gotta try and overpower him!" He grit his teeth before he began to charge up, countering the rhino's lightning with his own overwhelming surge. The levels of electricity emitted from Kaminari overtook the rampaging monster, coursing across his entire body. The beast roared in agonizing pain before suddenly collapsing to the ground, unable to withstand Kaminari's attack. Chargebolt hopped off as soon as he hit the pavement. Residue of his lightning crackled down his fingertips and across the villain's body.
"Phew…okay. That's one of 'em down." Kaminari sighed. He then turned to Sero, asking how the others were doing. Suddenly, the boys watched as the oversized bulldog went flying past them and slammed against a telephone pole. He was instantly knocked out by a combined team move from Earphone Jack and Creati, the latter amplifying her sound based blast with her gear. Noticing Kaminari's gaze, Jiro glanced his way before sending him a thumbs up and a smile.
"Not bad. Looks like you didn't overload yourself this time." she teased. Chargebolt chuckled, his face shedding a fast blush, as Sero looked on. He soon noticed his eyes on him, becoming even more embarrased.
"Aww! What's the matter, Kaminari? Not used to getting complimented by your wife?" he asked. Kaminari groaned.
"SHUT IT OR GET ELECTROCUTED!" he yelled, hands crackling with electricity. At the same time, the rampaging gorilla was locking hands with Sugar Man. The two gladiators pushed back against the other, their feet grinding through the concrete. But Sato showed signs of not matching the brute's strength, gritting his teeth. Suddenly, another pair of arms erupted out from the gorilla's sides followed by a roar.
"Really?! This dude's a gorilla with FOUR ARMS?!" Sato thought "Now I've seen it all!" With the extra limbs, he broke the struggle with Sugar Man before coming at him with a lob of punches. But his attack was stopped when, out of nowhere, a massive explosion went off in his face and forced him backwards. The attacker was Katsuki Bakugo having flown in from above. His right hand glowed bright red as he threw it in the gorilla's face.
"DIE, YA DAMN APE!" he exclaimed, firing another explosion at point blank range. The impact was strong enough to send him flying backwards as Bakugo landed on the ground.
"Thanks for the backup, Bakugo." Sato sighed "What about the other guy, though?"
"Deku said he'd be able to put the big cat down. Jiro and Kaminari's team already stopped the mutt and rhino…so that leaves this stupid monkey to ME." he replied, smacking his fists against each other. The gorilla's eyes began turning red before he let out a ear ringing screech and banged his chest with his four arms. But instead of making him worry, it only riled Bakugo up more. His usual "satanic grin" formed on his face as his palms crackled.
"Oh! So you think you're THAT GREAT? Huh, ya stinkin' PRIMATE?!" he exclaimed "BRING IT THEN!"
~ Meanwhile… ~
The mad ringleader, the saber tooth tiger, continued on with his fits of violence. Like the others, it appeared as if he was losing control of his own body as his eyes shined red. Suddenly, his clawed arms erupted in flame. The fires rose up his arms like flaming blades.
"MUST….KILL…MUST KILL ALL!" he screamed. Unbeknown to him, a bolt of green light came barreling his way. It ricocheted off the nearby buildings, eventually gaining his attention. But as he turned to look, he received a powerful right hook punch across his face.
DETROIT…SMASH!
The impact left a crack on his overgrown fang, sent soaring straight as an arrow because of a powerful punch thrown by Izuku. He was adorned in his hero suit, sporting a large yellow cape in honor of Gran Torino, and a look of determination in his eyes. The tiger quickly used his claws to slow himself down. But as he came to a stop, a sudden outlash of glowing white whips left him ensnared. The glowing whips were seen emitting from Izuku's gloves similar to his former Quirk, Blackwhip. The hero's eyes narrowed as he examined his opponent's snarling facial expression.
"It's just what Doctor Takeshi feared. Not only does he have another Quirk, but it looks like his blind rampage is a result of his mind and body not being able to handle the strain." he thought. The cat roared loudly as he struggled to break free of Izuku's ropes, causing him to momentarily flinch.
"It may not be as strong as the old Blackwhip…but at least it's given me a chance to think. Gonna have to end this with a single blow. Otherwise, there's no telling how much more destruction he can cause." he thought. His left hand clenched tightly into a fist before he started to swing his arm around in a circular fashion from his shoulder, building up a kinetic charge the longer he repeated his action. His left arm was soon encased in a bright green electrical current as he pulled it into his side. At the same time, the tiger used his brute strength to break free of his bindings and roared loudly. He came at Izuku in a blind fit of absolute anger, drawing back one of his flaming claws.
"DIE!" he roared, bearing his fangs. However, he had not covered even half the distance between them when Izuku suddenly bolted his way at inhuman speeds. He had effortlessly closed the distance in half a second before throwing a punch with his left arm, driving it straight into the tiger's face. Upon contact, the sheer impact of his attack cracked the tips of a good chunk of his teeth and even shattered one of his fangs. Time slowed down around Izuku before his attack sent the rampaging beast rocketing backwards at light speed and crashed into a wall with a powerful impact. Both were such powerful shocks to his system that the lone punch had knocked him clean unconscious and he flopped to the ground like a ragdoll. Izuku shook his hand of the leftover kinetic energy, sighing with relief.
"Good. Looks like that did the trick." he muttered. Just then, he heard the sounds of cheering from the nearby bystanders. Everyone erupted in applause and praise, catching Izuku by surprise.
ALL RIGHT, DEKU!
T-Thank you so much!
That..was SO COOL! You're amazing, man!
WAY TO GO, SYMBOL OF PEACE!
Izuku chuckled as he waved back to them.
"T-Thank you." he replied, showing his usual "Deku" charms "Just…doing what I knew I had to." As the applause and cheers continued, Izuku's attention turned back to the unconscious criminal in front of him. His Quirks had deactivated, transformed back into human form but still sporting his muscular build.
"Hard to believe it. People like me and All For One…used to be feared and hated for having more than one Quirk. But now…times have drastically changed…and criminals with more Quirks are rising up." he thought, remembering his final moments with the ex-Symbol of Fear during the war. He glanced down at his hand.
"Hopefully…Doctor Takeshi's research will be able to make a difference. We have to help them so no more violent outbursts like these happen." he continued to think as his friends soon came to his side.
TO BE CONTINUED…