"You should have this", Inko said as she put a small, metal ring in her son's hands. "It's been a good luck charm in our family for generations." The older woman swallowed her nerves. "Not that you'll need it."
Izuku looked at the small ring. It was green and thin. The only really stand out feature was its face, which bore the symbol of a lantern.
"Is this green jade stone?", Izuku looked back at his mother with worry. "The entrance exams are really intense. I don't know if I should bring something this valuable to the exam."
"It's okay." She forced a smile. "You'll just have to be sure to be safe and come back with it in one piece."
The boy had a wry smile. He knew what he was doing was crazy, but he had to try. No matter what mom said, no matter what Kaachan said, no matter what…All Might said. No, he could do it. He too could be a hero!
"Alright," he put the ring on his right hand. The fit of the ring almost changed to accommodate his finger. "I'll keep it on the entire time."
"Now, it's time for you to head out," the middle aged woman forced bravado. "You can't be late to becoming UA's first quirkless hero student!"
With a nod, he dashed out to his future. He'd do it. He'd finally prove everyone wrong.
"Only 2 minutes left!", Izuku screamed in his head. His heart was beating in his chest like a drum. All around him, other applicants used their Quirks to rack up points.
He could see Kaachan, his bully, blow-up robots with his explosive sweat quirk. The stuck-up kid from the lobby – was his name Tenya – use his superspeed quirk to race across the testing ground, defeating robot after robot. Even the sweet girl, Ochaco, was doing a better performance than him.
All that training at the beach. He had no one but himself. He still worked. Every day, pushing himself to exercise. In just three months, he had went from a skinny dweeb to a toned young man. But, for what? He was quirkless. He didn't have any powers. He couldn't destroy a robot with his bare hands.
He should just go ho–
The ground shook. Buildings collapsed as a giant machine – no, it was a robot! – burst through the artificial city scape. The machine was massive, the size of a skyscraper.
"That's, that's the gimmick", Izuku trembled. "It-it isn't worth anything. I-I should just leave."
He was hardly the only one with that thought. Many of the other kids, even the brave Katsuki, was running away from the massive machine. Izuku was shaking, slowly following.
Off in an undisclosed location, the head's of UA were deep in discussion. On multiple monitors, a camera kept watch on every applicant.
"This batch is worse than the last one," an annoyed crabby voice barked. "Only a few of them have any potential." He sighed. "What a drag."
"I'm not sure I agree," a cheery, small voice spoke. "The Katsuki student has an impressive quirk. And he's using it expertly. That's impressive considering the injuries he had suffered from Sludge."
There was an uncomfortable rustling.
"Oh, my apologies," the voice continued. "I didn't mean to remind you–"
"It's alright," a deep voice interrupted. "It's my own damn fault. I let a kid distract me from my goal. Then, I was forced to just be a bystander while 'real' heroes saved that kid."
"Aw jeez," an annoyed groan roared out, "save the pity party for later."
"Well, I, for one, am interested to see how the gimmick will weed people out this year," a female voice spoke up. "It's worth nothing, but it always puts a wrench into things."
"Yeeah!", a loud voice exploded, "and I had the folks rig us up a good one! This puppy is military grade!"
"Hm," the deep voice pondered, "that kid who hasn't scored a single point. The shaking one. He looks familiar."
"Ah, yes, he's a special one." The small voice chirped. "I almost rejected him outright for his own safety."
"Why's that?", the older man turned back.
"He's quirkless." The small voice dropped like an atom bomb.
"Quirkless!", everyone replied. Some even shouted.
"He's going to get himself killed!", the deep voice barked.
"Oh, we have a lot of safety procedures in place for that," the smaller one brushed off the worry.
"B-but he can't possibly…", the man paused in thought. "Wait, now I remember." He pointed at the screen. "That kid. He was the one. He wanted to know if he could be a hero without a quirk."
There was a smacking of flesh as the older man hit his head. "Aw kid, why didn't you just join the police? Your heart is in the right place, but you're just putting yourself at risk like this."
The woman laughed haughtily. "You sound like his father."
"Come on, guys," a distinctive American accent pierced the otherwise Japanese room. "Let's see what this cowpoke can do."
"Not much," the annoyed, tired voice moaned. "Look at him, he's barely moving."
"For the best, the kid should have stayed home." The older man nodded his head.
"Hm, is that so?" The small voice chirped. "Then, why is he running towards the gimmick?"
The old man lurched forward, eyes glued to the monitor. "What?"
Back on the training field, Izuku was bolting. He ran past a confused Tenya. He dashed passed an annoyed Kaachan. He didn't even notice Kaachan barking at him to turn around.
No, Izuku was focused on one thing: Ochaco. She was trapped under rubble. Right in the path of the gimmick.
"I-I can't let that thing crush her." His heart was blaring in his ears. "I-I just, just gotta keep going."
He saw the girl desperately trying to free her leg, calling others for help. Everyone else, everyone with all their Quirks, were running away. But not Izuku. He regretted leaving for home after All Might dismissed him. Hearing what happened to Kaachan on the news, had he been there…No, not again!
Strong willpower detected.
He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt! It didn't matter how terrified he was! It didn't matter how hopeless! It didn't make how stupid! He was going to help that girl free her leg! He was going to save her!
Ring Capacity 0%. Danger Detected.
Just like All Might would do.
Ring Capacity 0%. Danger De–Ring Capacity Charging.
Back in the observation room, the older man smashed the arm rest.
"Turn the gimmick off!", he barked. "They'll be killed."
"We both know it won't do that." The small voice chirped. "Just let it continue on."
"But that kid. He, he's running towards it. He doesn't have a quirk. He doesn't have any plan. He's going to…" And then, the old man paused as his words hit him. He turned back to the monitor and smirked. "I was wrong about you, kid."
He couldn't see it, but the owner of the small voice smiled contently.
"You?", the girl was confused. "You're the kid from the entrance." Her face turned to shock. "The Quirkless one!"
Ring Capacity Charging.
Quirkless, those words stung coming from her. She was afraid FOR him. She was looking down on him, like everyone did.
"Don't worry about me." The girl looked at him with fake confidence. "I-I'm sure it's rigged to stop. You should run off and get some more points before the timer ends."
Ring Capacity Rising. Charge Sufficient For Distress. Distress Beacon Sent.
"No!," Izuku tears trailed fell off his face like the fear in his heart. "I won't, I won't leave this too…," he tripped on a rock, barely avoiding a face plat, "...chance."
Ring Capacity 0.5% Insufficient Charge.
Izuku's mind went back to that day. The day Kaachan almost died. He was his bully. He insulted him, tortured him every day. But, he didn't deserve that. Not to Izuku. No one deserved that.
His eyes scanned upwards to the mecha, mere feet away from crushing the girl. Suddenly, despite all the turmoil, fear, dread…the storm in his heart…there was a calm.
"When I was a kid, I would watch the same video over and over again. Even after my diagnosis." He was serene. His words echoing in the observation room as all eyes were now on him. "It was a terrible tragedy. A fire broke out and hundreds were at risk." Izuku grit his teeth. "But, they had nothing to fear. Because a caped hero swooped in and rescued them all."
Ring Capacity 0.7% Insufficient Charge.
The older man stewed in his seat as the words awoke memories of an awful day.
"The whole time, he wore a smile." Izuku forced a smile on his face as he wiped away his tears.
Ring Capacity 0.9%. Insufficient Charge.
"And when he saw the terrified people, he said," Izuku deepened his voice. "'Never fear, for I am here.'" He looked at the girl with blazing eyes. "So, Ochao-san, I'll say it to you."
Ring Capacity 1%.
"Never fear…"
Defenses activating.
"...for I am here!", Izuku's voice didn't sound like his own. His body didn't feel like his own. He felt heavier and yet somehow lighter. He even felt taller. No, he…he was taller.
Looking down, he was in awe. He could barely see his real body. It was obscured by a green light. Was light the right word? It was hard as stone. No, steel. It encased his body like a suit of armor, but it moved as easily as his own flesh. His hands were giant, muscular and powerful. They were familiar hands. As his eyes scanned his body, it clicked. This light, this armor, this body: it was All-Might!
"Woah," the young girl was in awe. Where the scared boy stood, now stood the world's greatest hero.
In the observation room, there was chaos.
"I thought he didn't have a Quirk.", the woman asked.
"What a twist!", a loud voice quipped.
"Could he be a late bloomer," a cowboy drawl let out.
"A late bloomer?," the old man repeated. "Did he know or…?"
"He said he was completely quirkless." The small voice broke out. "He had begged us to take the application anyway, or so my assistants say." The small voice giggled. "Most schools would reject him outright for lacking a Quirk. I doubt he'd lie."
"Well, I'll be," the old man was in awe. "All those years and he never knew." The older man smirked. "Guess the ugly duckling has finally become a swan."
Izuku didn't think, he just acted.
Like a spring, he barrelled up, thrown miles into the air in an instant. The ground shook like an earthquake as he leapt. Applicants lost their footing across the entire test area as the ground acted like jello.
All eyes were on the Quirkless boy.
Rocketed upwards, he was at the robot's head. The green, flat face of the machine was contrasted by its set of red lights that looked like eyes. Light from Izuku's new form illuminated the machine and made it glow.
The boy snorted as he pivoted his chest back. It sounded like a mountain slide as the massive suit of light moved into position.
"SMASH!"
In one fluid motion, he blasted his chest forward. The arm of his energy suit grew to the size of a car. A fist as large as a small house plummeted towards the mecha. The massive punch obliterated the machine in a single hit. Its shockwave knocked all the debris backwards into the uninhabited areas behind it. Not a single speck of dust landed on another entree.
And suddenly…
Ring Capacity depleted.
…it was gone.
Barrelling through the air, Izuku's tears returned like waterfalls. He screamed as the ground was getting too close, too quickly. Was this it? Was this the–
"Hold", the girl forced out with all her might and Izuki stopped in midair. He held for a second as his mind caught up. "Release," she let out with relief and fell forward. Dazed, she vomited and passed out.
Izuki softly landed on the ground. As he got to his feet, he looked at the girl. The boy took a moment to examine the unconscious girl. Tilting her head and putting a finger to her neck, he made sure she was still breathing. He wanted to make sure his savior was safe, but his mind was distracted by an ecstatic, jubilant thought.
Satisfied with his examination, he scrunched up and finally let his feelings explode out.
"I have a Quirk!", he held his arms up high.
"I finally have one!"
"That kid didn't have one before?", the bespeckled Tenya gawked. "But he ran out to save that fair woman."
"That bastard!", Katsuki barked. "Deku had one this whole time!? And what? It just awoke now!?" The fiery lad spit on the shattered ground. "What a load." Gritting his teeth, he growled at Izuku's joy.
And then, the buzzer rang.
There was a moment of dread. The young Midoriya froze like an ice bath had been poured on him. Izuku hadn't gotten a single point.
But, honestly? He didn't care. Even if his dream school had always been UA, in this moment, he had achieved another dream. He finally had a Quirk. He wouldn't be seen as lesser or held back anymore. People would stop treating him like a second class citizen. For now, Izuku basked in victory.
And his victory was larger than he thought.
"Well kid," the old man looked around the room. Seeing the determined looks, he knew that Izuku had passed. For, what applicants didn't know is that there was a hidden score in the exam. After all, what hero school wouldn't reward students for being a hero? "I'll say it to you in person later, but you deserve it now."
The thin, elder man stood up at the monitor and stretched out to point at the screen.
"You, too, can be a hero."
But, Izuku's victory was not unnoticed. For his so-called Quirk was nothing close to such a thing. Izuku lacked the metagene. He couldn't develop a Quirk. What he had was much more powerful.
At the center of the universe, the Guardians stirred as a message was played before them.
They saw Izuku awaken the ring. They saw his ability to use it, albeit briefly. They saw his courage, his bravery, and, most importantly, his ability to overcome great fear.
Below them, there stood a pink man, his spinley mustache twirling in-between his fingers.. He stood tall in the amphitheater as he watched the footage playback.
"So, Abin Sur's ring has finally turned up after all this time." He mused. "And it belongs to a child of a backwater planet?"
"We agree it is not ideal," a Guardian spoke, "but he has proven himself capable."
"Of that, I have my doubts." The alien narrowed his pink brow. "Are we sure it isn't a fluke?"
"The boy may have fear in him, but his willpower is strong." Another guardian spoke. "No one unworthy of the corps could generate and use a construct that defined."
The man scrunched his pink forehead as he pondered it. "Yes, that's true. The flunkies usually can just make a single arrow or something of the sort."
Another Guardian chimed in a wizened voice. "The boy was even able to charge the ring with only his own willpower, even if only for a moment."
That did make the pink alien interested. The man eyed the monitor closely, squinting. The boy's features were soft and weak. Yet he managed that? He grinned a toothy grin before he wiped it away and straightened his back. "I assume I wasn't just called in to get a second opinion."
"You are the best among us." A guardian rasped. "Go forth, Sinestro, and bring back our wayward lantern!"
The agent bowed his head. "As you wish it."
With that, he flew off at the speed of light to forever change the life of the quirkless hero, Izuku Midoriya, the Green Lantern of Earth.
