Cover Art commissioned by me, created by phil-cho.
Chapter One
The Ring
A thin trail of smoke rose up from the Dagobah Municipal Beach, or perhaps more accurately, the Dagobah Municipal Junkyard, a place practically unnoticed by the populace of Mustafu. Among all the other garbage and refuse that buried the beach, the smoking object was practically indistinguishable, perhaps it could have been a small truck or a bus that was sent flying from a villain attack.
In truth however, this smoking wreckage was something much more. It was a spaceship, damaged beyond all repair, and within it was a dying purple alien, clad in a green and black uniform with what looked like a lantern insignia emblazoned on his chest. The alien's name was Abin Sur, one who was heralded as one of the greatest members of the Green Lantern Corps to have ever donned a Power Ring, although that meant nothing in this part of the universe.
As such, Abin, groaning in pain as he laid there, removed his tiny, green, seemingly metallic, power ring from his middle finger and held it to his mouth. "My time has ended," he whispered, a bit of purple-colored blood dripping from his mouth, "Go. Find a worthy candidate to succeed me."
And with a rasping gasp, Abin Sur slumped over, the last bit of life within him passing away as the hand holding the ring fell to the ground. But as this happened, the ring didn't follow the hand, instead floating in midair, as if it was reluctant to leave the side of its former master. A heartbeat later, the ring flew off, leaving a shining green trail behind, as if it was a comet in the night sky.
It had already found a worthy candidate. One who had the potential to become the most powerful Green Lantern in the recorded history of the universe, let alone in recent memory. But it had to hurry, for it sensed the candidate was in great danger.
Meanwhile, Across Town…
A loud scream pierced the heavens. Its source was one Izuku Midoriya, a boy with a mop of dark green hair, bright green eyes, and freckles, the teen wearing a black school uniform from Aldera Junior High School. A bit ago, he was being attacked by some kind of sludge villain intent on using him as a skinsuit, and had passed out. By the time he came to, he saw his idol, the Number One Hero All Might, standing over him, patting him awake.
And as the hero walked away after dropping him off on a rooftop, Izuku couldn't help but blurt out the question he'd been dying to ask. "Is it possible for me to become a hero without a Quirk?"
All Might had stopped to give him his answer, only to double over in pain as a cloud of steam enshrouded him before dissipating to reveal an skinny, emaciated man who looked as though he'd blow away from a strong gust of wind. He was a far cry from the burly Symbol of Peace who had been standing before him a moment ago, hence the screaming. All Might, blood dribbling from his mouth, then explained that his Quirk was kinda similar to one of those guys who went swimming in the pool and got out looking all buff. Once Izuku calmed down, All Might revealed that there was plenty of fear behind the trademark smile that he wore all the time before he sat down.
"Look, I don't want you talking about any of this online or telling your friends about this. I'm counting on you to keep your mouth shut," All Might added before he pulled up his shirt to reveal a wound that made Izuku feel the taste of bile rising in his mouth.
"Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight about five years back," All Might replied, "My respiratory system's basically destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgery's I've had to go through have pretty much worn me out, for all the good they've done. This wound can't be fixed. Right now, I can only do hero work for about five hours a day, and that time is slowly getting less and less. Rest of the time, this is what I look like."
"No way… five years ago? So, does that mean it was the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?" asked Izuku in a trembling voice.
"Well, you certainly know your stuff," All Might chuckled, "He might have gotten a few lucky shots in, but even he couldn't bring me down. Truth be told, most of the world doesn't know this even happened, as I did everything I could to keep it under wraps. You know how video games have a Demon King of some kind as the villain? Well, this guy's no work of fiction, but if word of his existence got out, it'd be chaos."
All Might sighed and shook his head, "I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling, right? The Symbol of Peace…I can't let the world ever think that I'm afraid. But the truth is, I smile to hide the fear inside. It's just a brave face I put on when the tension is high. This job isn't easy," he said as Izuku trembled. The green-haired boy had a feeling he knew where this was going… but he prayed he was wrong.
Izuku's fears were proven true when he heard All Might speak his next words. "Pro Heroes are always having to risk their lives. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So no, I don't think you can become a hero without a Quirk."
Izuku felt the world around him shatter like glass. Kaachan and his flunkies had always told him the same thing, but to hear the man he looked up to most when his father had all but abandoned him and his mother because of his Quirklessness…it hit much harder than when anyone else said it. "I… I see…" Izuku muttered out as his world continued to crumble around him
All Might couldn't help but grimace internally when he saw the devastated look on the kid's face. Externally, however, his expression remained unchanged as he stood up and began to walk away. "You wanna help people, right? There are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a Police Officer. They get crap because the heroes catch all the villains, but it's still a noble profession."
All Might opened the door leading to the rooftop access stairwell before stopping. "It's not bad to have a dream, young man. Just make sure they're attainable, realistic. You understand?" he asked without getting a response before walking away, closing the door behind him.
Little did All Might realize however, just how accurately predicted the advice he'd given the broken-hearted boy would be. For this little one would indeed become a police officer. Just not one who answered to any authority on Earth, though he would become its greatest hero nonetheless. And as it happened, his badge was about to smack the green-haired teen upside the head.
Bonk!
"Ow! What the-?" Izuku yelped as he felt something small hit the side of his head, bringing him back to reality from his crumbling world. Glancing around, he looked down and saw a shimmering green ring lying at his feet that he was pretty sure wasn't there before.
"What…?" Izuku muttered as he bent down and stared at the object. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before…and it was glowing an ethereal green glow. The symbol on the ring's top almost looked like a lantern, like the kind they had used back before flashlights and electricity had been invented centuries ago.
Crouching down and taking the ring in hand, he squinted his eyes at the little device before twisting it around in his fingers. The very sight of it felt strange for the teen, turning it in his hand again. It gave him an odd feeling, as if…as if he was meant to wear this ring.
Yielding to impulse, Izuku slipped the ring onto his middle finger, and found that it fit perfectly. Flexing his fingers, he let out a small "huh" before feeling a jolt through his body. He felt…better. Stronger and more composed.
And as he stared at the ring, Izuku saw something in the corner of his eye: a heavy trail of smoke. Turning to it, he saw it was coming from what seemed to be the Tatooin Shopping District.
'Huh. Looks like another villain attack,' thought Izuku. 'Well, it is on the way home… suppose I can go check it out.'
And with that, Izuku left the rooftop through the same door that All Might had taken, soon making his way to the smoke trail in the distance.
A Short While Later…
As he began to draw near the source of the smoke trail, Izuku began to grow increasingly worried. Why hadn't the heroes sorted this out yet?
And as he came across the site of the villain attack, he felt his jaw drop like a sack of bricks. Death Arms, Kamui Woods, the new heroine Mount Lady, Backdraft, and Slugger were all standing around, seemingly powerless to stop a villain. And as this happened, Izuku let out a panicked gasp as he quickly recognized the currently attacking villain. It was the Sludge Villain that All Might had saved him from earlier that day! He must have gotten away from All Might before their talk on the roof, and judging from what some of the onlookers had said, it looked like it was trying to make someone else into a skinsuit.
Was all this destruction his fault?!
Izuku's mounting terror skyrocketed when the all-too-familiar sickeningly sweet scent of nitroglycerin reached his nostrils. A closer inspection of the villain confirmed Izuku's worst fears: The villain had Kaachan captive.
Izuku and Katsuki Bakugou had been friends when the two of them were little kids…only for that friendship to quickly fall apart when Bakugou had developed his Quirk, the ability to produce nitroglycerin sweat. And when it manifested, Izuku was diagnosed as Quirkless. Ever since then, Katsuki had spent every day trying to humiliate, bully, assault, and otherwise hurt Izuku, whom he had given the nickname "Deku." Worse, their teachers didn't seem to give a rat's ass if Bakugou wound up killing him or not.
Meanwhile, Izuku had never stopped trying to be Katsuki's friend, no matter how badly he had tried to hurt him. Unfortunately for the green-haired teen, this had led to the blonde boy to keep hurting him in a vicious, and admittedly painful, cycle that never seemed to end while Izuku simply couldn't bring himself to hate his old friend. He had hoped that one day by continuing to try being Katsuki's friend, they would become friends again.
And one thing that friends never did was abandon each other when they were in need.
Izuku didn't even remember making a conscious decision. His body just moved all on its own as he darted into the destruction the Sludge Villain was causing. He quickly ran up to the fiend, and threw his bag at the sludge monster, causing one of the items inside to poke the villain in the eye, allowing Katsuki to get a mouthful of much needed air. Izuku then began to dig at the Sludge Villain's goopy exterior in a desperate attempt to pry Katsuki out of the villain's grasp.
"What the hell?! Why are you here?!" Katsuki screamed at the green-haired teen.
"I don't know!" Izuku screamed in a panic, "My legs! They just started moving!"
Before Bakugou could get a word in, the Sludge Villain covered his mouth again. "GET THE HELL OFF ME!" the creature roared as he pushed Izuku away, his voice sounding alarmingly like a mix between his own and Katsuki's. "Geh, just a little longer kid! WHEN I'M DONE PLAYING WITH YOU!"
The Sludge Villain raised a tendril, ready to end Izuku's life with Katsuki's Quirk. And as he thrust the tendril, Izuku closed his eyes, ready for his life to end.
That is, till a familiar voice spoke up next to Izuku. "I really am pathetic…"
Izuku's eyes shot open at this, now seeing All Might in his bulked up form with blood leaking out of his mouth, his fist lodged deeply in the Sludge Villain's side. "A-All Might? But…"
"I told you what it takes to make a great champion…but I see now I wasn't living up to my own ideals!" All Might exclaimed as he pulled his arm free of the Sludge Monster and grabbed onto Bakugou's arm. "Pros are always risking their lives…that's the true test of a hero!"
"DAMN YOU, ALL MIGHT!" roared the Sludge Villain as All Might wound up his fist.
"DETROIT…SMASH!" bellowed All Might as he landed his attack, blasting the Sludge Villain off of Bakugou and creating a mighty wind, causing the sky to abruptly turn gray. And as the smoke from the Detroit Smash began to clear and rain began to fall, extinguishing the fires the Sludge Villain had caused, Izuku suddenly heard a voice speak directly within his mind.
"Izuku Midoriya of Sector 2814… you have the power to overcome tremendous terror. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."
