Author's Note: Sorry guys, school started getting in the way. I ended up falling behind quite a bit on writing the story so I ended up taking a break. I did originally have a previous draft of this chapter, but I had to scrap it. Turns out you can't make an entire chapter of ripping off movie scenes. At least have it actually be entertaining and not sound rather forced, I really wish I learned that much earlier, probably wouldn't have written some of those scenes from my failed RWBY story. Yeah…that set me back at least three weeks.
I'll remind anyone who missed it again at the end of the chapter, I de-aged the Big Three by one year, as in class 2A hopefully not too big of a change. They're suppose to be apart of the class Aizawa expelled only they were the only four to make it. I thought it would help add more meaning to why they are who they are by the time they meet 1A. If this sounds familiar, another writer I know came up with that idea for his story and said I could use it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or My Hero Academia.
The Crossroads
0600 Hours, 2526(2126)-02-04 (US Military Calendar),
Dagobah Beach, Mustafu, Japan,
PO2 034, Samuel,
Current cover: SGT Mendez, Samuel, C.,
2 months since the initial incident,
…[]
Sam pulls up to the bike racks and locks up his bike. He casually proceeds to take off his sandals and places them into the basket on his bike. Now barefoot, he walks down the littered beach until he is at the backshore of the beach, carefully stepping around the piles of garbage that have accumulated over the years. A zipping noise is heard as a pair of bluetooth airpods and an iPhone are pulled out from the pouch on his bottle holder. He opens his Spotify and selects the song "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra and clicks play.
As the guitar chords started to pick up, Sam took off barefoot down the littered beach. Today in particular was leg day which meant starting it off with a fifteen mile run. While basically a small marathon to a normal person, to a person like Sam, it was simply just a normal training day.
A normal day for Sam would usually involve him training with the other Jr. Cadets at the police station. He personally liked the obstacle courses. I could expect the usual list.
Room Clearing…
The door into the room bursts open and Sam was the first to immediately sweep to the right corner of the room. The other trainees followed closely each of them fanning out until their area was secure.
When they had reached their objectives, each of them sounded off with a loud and resounding "CLEAR!"
When everyone had sounded off, they would mark the room with a chemlite marker and then move on to the next room and repeat the professor. Every now and then one of them would forget to check a corner and an instructor hiding there would pop out and fire his training pistol thus announcing that the test was over and the trainee was then told that they were "dead" and that they had failed their test.
Pistol Qualification…
The alarm sounded and all the trainees along the firing line fired their weapons at their respective paper targets at the other end of the gun range. Sam, without hesitation, proceeded to dump his magazine into his target down range. It was clear to the instructor that the young trainee had clearly handled a weapon before as he would regularly get a perfect score on his marksmanship exams.
It got to the point where he was even hosting classes for the other trainees on how to properly hold and aim their weapon. He even taught them how to zero their own weapon.
They also spent quite a bit of time in weapons training. This included their weapons qualification with their handgun, followed by a timed exam on how fast the trainee can disassemble their weapon and then reassemble it. Whenever they weren't training with their weapon, they were performing weapon's maintenance and cleaning them.
Whenever Sam was not in training, he was studying to freshen up his Japanese, specifically his reading and writing. Speaking the language was going along fine for him, but learning to write Kanji was a little bit more difficult as it was quite a bit more different than western languages. He also was required to study the laws in regards to what he as an LEO is legally allowed to do and not do.
The thought did cross his mind on whether or not having him spar with the trainers was brought up and he was placed in a modified class. Basically he was barred from going all out in a fight at full power unless his opponent had a quirk that allowed them to take a hit from his enhanced strength. Any other time he trained was spent getting him into the practice of incapacitating an opponent without killing or seriously maiming them, basically he had to learn how to properly pull his punches but still by able to take a perp into custody.
The little bits of free time Sam actually had was spent in the gym getting an extra workout in as the morning PT wasn't nearly enough for him.
"Hey Mendez-san," a muscular built blonde called over. "Your turn."
The teen steps away from the barbell and Sam takes his place and begins his sets of front squats. Oh, and that was another thing, Sam made a new friend recently.
"Are you sure you don't want me to add more weights?" the blonde asks, "Cause you and I both know that you can squat much more than just 200 kilos."
Sam waves him off and replies "It's fine Togata-san, I can just increase my rep count to compensate for my quirk."
Mirio Togata, or Togata Mirio if you want to be more grammatically accurate. Sam had met him two months ago when he first started coming to this gym. They had met at first out of necessity as there was only one squat rack open and rather than just wait, the blonde had offered that the two just share it. From there, Togata's positive and rather infective personality slowly wan the private teen over.
With a snort and a joking smile, he comments "You know it wouldn't hurt my feelings right?"
"No," shrugs Sam, "I just don't want to go through the hassle of swapping weights every time we switch off."
While he was going along with his reps, Togata curiously looked around the rest of the gym. His eyes slowly trail towards the gym banner on the wall, specifically the part that had a graphic of Death Arms striking a pose.
"You know," he muses, "I still get surprised that Death Arms goes to the same gym we go to."
With a quirk of his eyebrow, Sam asks before squatting down "Isn't he a partial owner of this gym?"
The blonde shrugs and replies "Yeah he does, but it's just that he's a pro-hero you know? It's just something very cool and relatable when you get to see someone of such high status do things us normal guys would normally do. You know?"
There was a brief pause as Sam thought about it before coming up with a rather plane answer and a shrug.
"No."
"Hm, not really into the whole hero worship are you?" he snorts.
The other teen shook his head.
"Not exactly…your turn," he quickly adds as he steps away from the squat rack.
The blond takes Sam's former place and proceeds to do his squats next as Sam continues to express his thoughts.
"There's nothing having a role model if it will inspire people to better themselves, I've even had a role model growing up. You're just never going to see me buying all their merch and parading around hoping to spot them," he replies.
From there, Togata starts to understand where the other teen was coming from.
"Oh I get it," he nods, "You're just not the fanboying type."
He steps away from the rack after completing his last rep.
"What do you want to do next?" the blonde asks.
"Deadlifting?"
"Hm, sure."
With that, the teens remove the weights from the bar and lower it to the floor.
"Same weight?" asks Togata.
When Sam nodded back, the two proceeded to add back on the 200 kgs.
As Sam gets behind the barbell, he quickly asks "Are you alright if we switch between Romanian and Conventional with each set?"
Togata gives an enthusiastic smile and replies "Sounds good."
While the teens continue on with their exercise, Togata decides to change the topic.
"Speaking of heroes, the highschool entrance exams are gonna start opening up towards the end of the month," he then softly chuckles to himself, "Almost can't believe we're almost there."
"Do you have any idea where you plan on going?"
His answer was filled with confidence and optimism.
"UA of course," he replies instinctively and beams, "I'm going to be a hero."
The other teen lets out a soft hum as he slowly lowers the bar to the ground upon his final rep.
"Mendez-san, what about you?" he asks while getting behind the barbell. "You graduate from the Jr. Cadet program with the Mustafu Police Bureau soon, don't you?"
"That's right, I was awarded a scholarship for UA," noted Sam.
.A wide smile breaks across Togata's face.
"Wait, UA actually wants you to go to their school? That's great!" he enthusiastically cries, "Are you going to take it?"
"...Sure."
Unlike Togata, Sam's response lacked enthusiasm and instead seemed more uncertain and Togata was quick to pick up on this. Sensing his friend's unease, Togata stops his exercise to fully turn and face him.
"Sam, do you actually not want to go?"
Words failed him and all he could do was give a shrug.
Sensing the teen's unease, Togata softly asks "Are you having second thoughts?"
Once again silence, it took a moment for Sam to think up an answer. His voice also failed him once again and all he could do was nod.
With a reassuring smile and a friendly and understanding tone, Togata tells him "You don't have to be a hero."
Sam looks over to his friend, eyes slightly widened with surprise.
"You don't have to feel obligated to go down the hero path just because you have a scholarship to UA."
In a hushed tone, Sam comments "I've never given it much thought to be honest."
"That's okay."
Sam turns to face his friend who begins putting the weights back.
"We are talking about your future here, definitely give it some thought before you make your choice. Just make sure you choose something because that's what you want to do and not something you chose because that was what other people wanted you to do."
With that, Togata started making way for the stretching area.
1800 Hours, 2526(2126)-02-04 (US Military Calendar),
Chrysanthemum Apartment Complex, Mustafu, Japan,
PO2 034, Samuel,
Current cover: SGT Mendez, Samuel, C.,
2 months since the initial incident,
…[]
The sun had pretty much already set by the time Sam had made it back to his apartment building. Seeing the phone's clock reading 1712 only confirmed to Sam how late it was getting. Mirio's words failed to vacate his mind as he made his way back home. It was long decided between him and Bobs a Little that joining the UA's Hero Course was by far the best option given his situation. Still, this was not a decision he took lightly as the amount of sensitive data he had essentially lost to an unknown party would have gotten him charged for treason and given that the UNSC was now officially in war time, the punishment for something of this magnitude would actually be liable to get him shot.
The first thought that had originally crossed his mind was to break out of the hospital and start a guerilla campaign. That idea was quickly put to rest as most likely he would barely make it out the door and even if he did succeed in the first part, they still had all his equipment. Then there was the fact that he was injured meaning he would have to get it treated immediately or risk getting an infection and then dying a slow and painful death.
The other issue is that the two of them were officially stranded in this universe. There just simply was no possible way for the two of them to ever go home. While in his home dimension's timeline, humanity would have discovered faster than light travel within this century. It was made apparent immediately that this version of humanity was nowhere near the technological capabilities that the early UNSC had. Currently, it seemed space travel was on the lower end of what the general population was worried about. The bits of technology he did find relatively advanced were all equipment made to assist pro-heroes in their work.
The first few weeks were rough on him. While he was trapped here, his family back home and probably soon the whole of humanity would be engaged in a war with an intergalactic threat. The thought of those people fighting dying without him left him enraged but in the end, there was nothing he could do. He felt empty and lost for a while as his whole purpose was now officially void in the presence of people who were exponentially stronger than him in some cases. The truth is, this humanity didn't seem to need something like him to fight their battles when they seemed more content with what they already had.
In a way, Sam both admired and felt envious of this new dimension as many of these people would never have to deal with the existential threat like the Covenant looming over their lives. Slowly, the Spartan started to explore his new surroundings. He quickly learned that, even though he was under a certain agreement with his new handlers, he was also allotted a certain level of autonomy and freedom that he had never gotten before. The civilian life, and even the SAT cadet program was a far cry from the incredibly strict and regimented life he had previously lived as a Navy Special Forces operator.
As he made his way up down the walkway, he could see that there was someone that was waiting by his door. It was a boy with untamed viridian hair, at least a year younger than him. Now, Sam as a Spartan, was trained to be as silent as possible when moving, even in his armor as to not potentially give away his position. Not that it would have mattered as the younger teen had all of his attention focused on whatever he was scribbling into his notebook. The teen practically jumped when Sam announced his presence by clearing his throat.
"O-oh, Mendez-san, it's you!" he sheepishly laughs. "Y-you scared me."
It was the kid from the apartment next door, Izuku Midoriya. During the first few weeks after he had moved in, the boy's mother, a short and plump but kind woman by the name of Inko Midoriya immediately welcomed him to the "neighborhood" so to speak. Next thing he knew, he had somehow been Shanghaied into having dinner that night with them. He also got to meet her son which was practically a mirror image of his mother. It was apparent that Mydoria had inherited his mother's kind and gentle nature from her.
"You need something?" he asks.
"Yeah actually, I wanted to show you some of the new notes I've made about your quirk," he murmurs while opening up his notebook back up to the page he was previously working on.
Last time they spoke, when asked why he was in Japan at some point, he mentioned being here for schooling and his current training with the Police Junior Cadet Program with the police. When he mentioned that one of his career routes involved him attending UA, the young boy immediately started firing questions about things like his plans and what his quirk was, snapping himself out of his shy and reserved shell.
With only the name of it and a brief description, Midoriya was able to ascertain how his abilities may work. Though he lacked the hard data of Sam's abilities due to its omission, he was able to get a rough estimate with a decent amount of accuracy from what limited information he was given.
"Alright."
"Your quirk is a mutation," he states to himself, carefully checking over his notes "And with your abilities being passive, mean his powers are basically on at all times," he mutters. He then hands the notebook over before continuing, "All trainees are obviously trained to use guns, but you may not always have them available…."
As per the regulations afforded to him by both his cadet badge, firearms license, and junior law enforcement license, he would be allowed to carry an issued firearm on him with both lethal and less-than-lethal ammunition. This is given once Sam has graduated from the program and has successfully made it into either a hero course or equivalent military training or law enforcement academy.
"Here, I came up with a list of equipment ideas to help you take down villains," he excitedly chirps while handing him the notebook, "You know, that way you don't have to just rely on your gun and knight-stick."
"Huh, look at that, a stun baton," Sam comments while looking at a drawn picture of a cross between a standard expandable baton and a cattle prod.
The topic of him using guns did upset him at first, but Sam was quick to inform him that it was against regulations for him to discharge lethal ammunition without attempting a non lethal approach first. In fact, in the event that he ever does shoot a target, he would have to prove that he had expended all other approaches and that shooting the perp was his final option. It turns out that criminals tend to be more useful when arrested rather than dead.
"Yeah, yeah!" he chants enthusiastically. "A-and here…" he flips the page over, "Are some non-lethal takedowns I researched for you, the ones highlighted are the safest for the opponent while the ones circled in red are the most effective."
"This is actually well put together," Sam softly murmurs.
Sensing that something may have been bothering him, Midoryia asks "Is everything okay?"
Had it been a few months prior, Sam would have never opted to share any bit of personal information with those around him. After spending some time with others, it was safe to say that his views have shifted ever so slightly.
"I'm fine," he replies honestly. "It's just that I'm at a crossroads right now."
Going off of that, Midoryia managed to guess what he was thinking when he asked "Oh, are you having second thoughts about whether or not you want to become a hero…or to even go to UA all together?"
To which Sam simply just nodded.
While the boy claims his "hero analyses" are only a hobby of his, one look and any can see that Midoriya had a serious passion for the thing.
"I think you would be a good hero," Midoryia suddenly comments, making Sam look back at him in surprise, "You don't care about what people think of you either, you'd go in to save a person regardless of whether or not you had the right quirk or not, wouldn't you?"
Sam took a moment to think before he recalled something that John had said to him once.
Modifying it a little, he replies "No hero should be honored for doing what is expected. If I may ask…"
Mydoria grows nervous and appears to attempt to shrink under Sam's gaze.
"These are incredibly detailed and well written, what exactly are you planning on doing with these?"
There was a brief moment of silence as Midoriya slowly worked up a proper response.
With a deep breath, he says "Y-you…I wanna be a hero."
There was another pause as Midoriya lowered his gaze away from Sam's. It seems as if he was expecting some kind of negative backlash from his response.
"I don't have a quirk, but I still want to be a hero. I took these notes for potential ideas and super moves to help me."
Rather than tell him what he's probably heard his entire life, Sam instead remained silent and let the boy speak his mind.
"I can't stand to see all those helpless people and people in despair without trying to do something to help. Look at All Might," he murmurs.
At this point, tears started to form at the corner of his eyes.
"Everyday he goes in to save people, no matter how dangerous it is…and he does it with a smile every time."
"And you're willing to do this in spite of lacking a quirk?" asks Sam, "No matter how dangerous or hard it would get for you?"
He wipes his tears and then finally looks back up at Sam.
"I know it's probably an unrealistic dream, that's what everyone tells me," he tells him. "Even my own mother tried to discourage me from pursuing this dream, but that's what I want to be, Mendez-san, and that's what I wanna do."
Sam chose to remain silent as he didn't have a proper response for him. Instead his gaze shifts away from the teen and looks out at the night-time city skyline. He wished there were more people who had even a fraction of the drive and heart that this kid before him had. There should be more heroes with his passion instead of the celebrities in costumes that seem to make up the majority of the departments. People who are more worried about how their online ratings look rather than doing their job in upholding the law and protecting the people. Reading the room, Midoryia decides that his was overstaying his welcome
"I'm sorry, it's getting late, I should go," he bashfully apologizes, while lightly chuckling, he says "Wouldn't want to make my mom worry. Thanks for listening to me ramble."
With a small smile, Sam replies "Anytime."
"Good night Mendez-san."
"Good night."
With that, the teen enters his apartment leaving Sam alone on the balcony once again. He didn't know it yet, but what young Midoryia said ended up having a profound impact on Sam's thoughts as he found himself once again looking over his options for his future. The difference this time was a new sense of confidence and vigor that wasn't there the first time as now he felt he was ready to make a decision.
The final thought Sam had was 'I guess that settles it.'
Author's Note: Thank you for reading, these next couple of chapters are going to be introducing maybe a few key characters that will end up influencing him in order of importance. Well sort of. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I moved up Mirio and the other Big Three down one year so my timeline matches up, hopefully you aren't too alarmed.
If anyone wanted some kind of theme song for Sam, just go with the Halo: The Fall of Reach main score conveniently titled "The Fall of Reach," composed by Tom Salta.
I'm gonna have to skip a couple of time skips, don't want this to end up like one of my older stories where I didn't reach the Season 1 canon timeline until like 50k words in when I should have been there much sooner. Anyway, I will try to keep you guys as entertained as I can. I promise I won't end the story anytime soon, but my updates are going to be slow and I am trying to rectify that. Updates will especially slow down as I also need to update my Red vs Blue story as it's been literally half a year since I updated that one. I need all the help I can get with how to make my stuff better for the people who want to read. If you guys don't like it by now, I don't know if I'm going to win you back, I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll come back with an update sooner than this one. As always, Big Brother is watching.