Chapter 9: Sludge incident.

Thirteen year old Izuku was walking through the city. He wanted to meet Katsuki near arcade center. On his way, there were loaders carrying a giant mirror. Boy took a look at himself. His hair was long enough to reach his chest, with a bang covering his entire forehead. He was wearing a green turtleneck with a cut near the neck, as well as dark green jeans and sport shoes.

A crime scene occurred before his eyes. A big villain was wrecking havoc in the area. Thankfully, he was swiftly stopped by combined forces of Death Arms, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady. Midoriya couldn't help but feel bad that the latter got all the recognition despite it being a team effort. No matter, he did not want to be late for the meeting. Since the street was blocked by police, Izuku chose to walk through the alleys.

It was a terrible mistake. A weird sludge dropped on him from above, covering his upper body. Opening his mouth to call for help made the situation even worse, as sludge began filling his mouth, along with other orifices.

"Don't worry, little one." An ominous voice came from the sludge. "I'll just hijack your body to get away from authorities. The pain will go away soon, I promise."

"Oh my God, we are going to die! I don't want to die! I like this life! If only you had Epitaph today…"

"We aren't going to die, you Drama Queen." Kira sounded disturbingly calm given their predicament. "Summon my stand and blow this cretin away."

Just as Izuku tried following that order, a loud scream resonated in his ears.

"Detroit Smash!"

Izuku woke up in the mind space. His guests surrounded his bead. They all had concerned expressions on their faces.

"I told you to be careful, you fool!" Diavolo scolded him. "You could have died!"

"I am sorry, Diavolo-san. I didn't think there'd be two villain attacks so close to each other."

"Anyway, you should visit a doctor and get yourself checked. Who knows what that sludge man could have done to your body?"

Green head rolled his eyes. The ex-boss could rival his mother in how overly cautious he was. It was kind of sweet of him.

"Kid, wake up."

Someone was gently slapping Izuku's cheeks. He opened his eyes, but couldn't believe them. It was number one hero, All Might, in the flesh. Boy even rubbed his eyelids to double check, but the man was still there.

"Oh my God! You are All Might! May I…"

"Get an autograph? Sure!" All might handed over Izuku's open notebook, with an enormous signature over his own page.

The boy was ecstatic. He couldn't wait to show this to Kacchan.

"I have so many questions!"

"And I have so little time. Sorry kid, but I'm needed elsewhere."

Number one hero jumped away. To his surprise, the boy managed to grab him with his pink quirk.

"Hey! I love my fans, but this is too much!"

All Might landed on nearby building before emitting a strange gas from his body. When the gas dissipated, Izuku saw a small human with skeleton like appearance.

"Oh my God! All Might, is that you?! Are you alright?"

"Yes, it's me. I have certainly seen better days." Skeleton coughed out blood.

"What happened to you?!"

"I won't go details, but here is the gist of it: several years ago I fought a powerful villain. I killed him, but he managed to brutally injure me." He showed a nasty scar on his side.

"My quirk has been running on fumes ever since. Midoriya!" All Might had a serious look on his face. "You must not tell anyone about this, not even your closest friends or family. Can I trust you with that?"

"Of course, sir!" Izuku nodded aggressively. "I know how important it is to keep secrets. By the way, how you know my last name, sir?"

"It was on the notebook."

Teen wanted to face palm at his own stupidity.

He was getting late. From being unconscious for 10 minutes, to climbing down from that building and getting back on track, the boy was an hour behind the schedule. No doubt, Kacchan would be furious. He ran as fast as he could.

The scene he saw near the arcade was horrifying. A sludge villain (was it the same guy?) captured someone. That someone was violently trying to fight back. Izuku saw explosions coming from victim's hands. No, it can't be! The villain took his best friends hostage! The nearby heroes stood in place doing nothing. Boy figured they didn't know how to approach this situation. But unlike them, he already came up with a plan.

He pushed the policemen aside and ran directly at the sludge, ignoring all the screams from behind. When Kamui Woods tried to trap him with his quirk, he simply destroyed the wood with Killer Queen. Finally, as the Sludge monster tried to hit him with a tentacle, teen dodged to the side and let his quirk touch that tentacle.

"It's over for you!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs. "Killer Queen has turned you into a bomb! If you don't let release your victim and surrender, I will destroy you."

The villain laughed as he tried to hit Izuku again. "Yeah, like I'd ever believe that. Besides, if you explode me, you will kill this guy as well." He waved Katsuki like a doll.

Midoriya let KQ pick up a nearby brick, put it near his face and press the switch. Half of the brick was gone, but the boy's face remained unharmed.

"See?" He laughed back. "I can be very precise with these detonations. I'll blow up every part of your body except those near the boy. I doubt even you can survive that."

After some thinking, the Sludge villain begrudgingly agreed. He let Bakugo go and didn't stop police from arresting him. His eyes were locked on the Cat quirk's hand. It was one thumb motion away from activating the switch.

Crowd cheered at the boy and his bravery, but policemen and heroes held a different opinion. They thought the green head was getting in the way of professional's work. One of the officers approached him for arrest. Izuku did not resist. He didn't regret his actions at all, plus he was hoping that Nezu would back him up.

Izuku was waiting in his prison cell. Principal promised to look into the problem, but warned that it would take some time. Boy wondered if he'll be late for dinner as well.

"That was incredibly stupid." Kira was annoyed beyond belief. "We are going to miss my appointment at this rate."

"Saving people is never stupid, sir." Teen argued.

Two men approached his cell. One of them opened it and went away, the other entered it. It was All Might in his weakened form.

"Hello again. Were you sent here by Mr Nezu?" Izuku was shocked.

"No, my boy. I came here to vouch for you."

"I am honored, but how did you know I was here?"

"I was nearby when the incident occurred. I couldn't help the poor boy because I was completely out of energy by that time."

"It's alright, sir. You've already helped so many people."

"It's not just that. When you grabbed me, the sludge container must have fallen from my suit. So it was my fault that you had to stop that villain."

"What are you saying, sir? If I didn't grab onto you, none of this would have happened. It is MY fault."

All Might chuckled. He did not expect to enter a blame shifting contest today.

"In any case, I would not want you to get into troubles for this, not after you saved that boy."

"Thank you!" The boy hugged the hero.

Once again, Izuku got away with only a slap on the wrist. All Might's influence must have been comparable to Nezu's. Speaking of whom, Teen tried to call the rat and tell him that help was no longer necessary, but instead saw a message.

Big Brain: Midoriya, come home as fast as possible. We have something important to discuss.

Kid never ran so fast in his life.