Chapter 3 - Izuku Midoriya: Origin
Spoilers For:
- My Hero Academia: Major spoilers for the Entrance Exam Arc
- One Piece: Minor General Spoilers
Additional Notices:
This chapter is a retelling of My Hero Academia's first chapter of the same name, but with the changes which Luffy inspired in Midoriya at the beginning of this story! Many chapters after this will follow this same template until later on!
This means that besides the references to One Piece, this chapter of the story has limited crossover elements.
This chapter acts this way because each chapter so far has been an introduction to an event which changed each of the main characters of their respective series! Luffy, of course, is an exception, since there'd be no way to mildly change him without shifting the entire plot of One Piece… and, pre-timeskip still happens in the background, for the record!
With this long prelude out of the way… let us begin this chapter!
People… are not born equal. That's the hard truth that Izuku Midoriya learnt at the age of four, when he was beaten by his childhood best friend and bully, Katsuki Bakugo. He was too weak to fight back, but at least he was able to help someone.
Only a couple years later, he met a boy by the name of Monkey D. Luffy… who taught him to believe in himself, and that it didn't matter whether or not he had a quirk; he could become a hero.
Izuku Midoriya's own limitations were his first and last setback to becoming a hero, as since that day, Izuku has been training by his lonesome… all to fulfill his dream!
"Wow…" Izuku Midoriya muttered, awestruck, "A giant villain!"
Looking over to his right on his way to school, Izuku Midoriya saw numerous heroes battling against a giant villain in his home city of Mustafu, Japan. While this would pose as an odd occurrence in our own world, this was an everyday one in the world of heroes… where fantasy meets reality!
Even in such a fantastical world, kids still had to go to school, and Izuku Midoriya was not immune to such a fate.
"You guys are all third years now!" Izuku's middle school teacher began, "It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures!"
In order to attempt to convey a sort of dramatic effect, the teacher slammed the job application forms his students were to fill out onto his desk. Despite the teacher's efforts to draw the attention of his students, our protagonist, Izuku Midoriya was paying zero attention. Instead, he was writing inside his sixteenth hero notebook, theorizing ways that he could potentially become a hero, even while quirkless. With boundless determination, Izuku knew that he had to optimize every second of his time… otherwise, he wouldn't be able to become the hero he dreamt of being.
"I WOULD hand out these career forms, but…" the teacher smirked, "I assume you all want to be heroes!"
The teacher then threw the career forms in his hand into the air carelessly after that last statement. Then, as if on queue, everyone in the class began showing off their quirks in excitement, whether they were actually standout, or… the ability to swell up your face a bit (that's actually a quirk that's in the original MHA manga).
Izuku, having been absorbed in his notebook, finally snapped back to reality when everyone began utilizing their quirks.
"Oh, today's the day we were supposed to get our future career forms…" Izuku recalled, "Everyone must be excited because the teacher said something about heroes..."
"Yes, you all have wonderful quirks." the teacher began, "But c'mon guys, you know it's against the rules to use them in school!"
"Hah! Don't lump me in with these crappy losers, sir…" a voice yelled out from the back of the room.
His confidence could have easily been confused with arrogance, as the blonde haired boy kept his feet firmly on his desk, as if he owned it. This… was the now fourteen Katsuki Bakugo, nicknamed by Izuku Midoriya, 'Kacchan'. The boy finished his previous statement,
"...as if I had anything like their crappy quirks!"
Instantly, the demeanor of Bakugo incited a riot in the classroom.
"Get over yourself, Katsuki!" a classmate shouted at the arrogant Bakugo.
"Shut up! Extras should act like extras!" Bakugo instantly retorted.
"Ah, Bakugo… you of course, must be aiming for U.A. High?" the teacher said, adding fuel for another conversation which broke out between the entire class.
"Hm… seems this is just another instance of Kacchan being Kacchan." Izuku thought, "I should get back to my hero notes."
Bakugo then jumped on top of his desk in his excitement to proclaim his own dream.
"I'll surpass All Might, and become the best hero out there!" Bakugo yelled, "Not to mention… I'll become one of the richest people in the world! Everyone's gonna look up to me and only me!"
"Oh… you're also going for UA, aren't you Midoriya?" the teacher said, causing Bakugo's excited face to instantly break.
The rest of Izuku's class looked back at him, seeing him writing away in his hero notes. The entire class acknowledging his nerdiness, they began to violently cackle at him, sparking Izuku's attention once more.
"Huh?! Midoriya?! No way!" A classmate said, surprised.
"Good grades alone can't get you into the hero program!" another said in disbelief.
Izuku looked up at his class momentarily, and then he attempted to go back to writing his notes.
"COME ON… DEKU?!" Bakugo shouted, aiming an explosion at Izuku's desk in anger.
Having paid enough attention to see this coming, Izuku grabbed his notebook, making sure that it avoided the explosion so that it wouldn't be ruined. Even though he succeeded, Izuku still flew backwards from the explosion himself.
"Forget the crappy quirks. You're totally QUIRKLESS, and you think you can rub shoulders with me?!"
Izuku slowly got up, retaining a neutral face and brushing his uniform off. In response to Bakugo's question, Izuku only had one thing to say.
"Sure."
Everyone in the class erupted into laughter once more, partially at Izuku's alleged naivety, and partially at the simple response he gave to Bakugo. The only one who wasn't laughing was Bakugo himself, who stood still and firm, with an angry look on his face.
"This little punk…" Bakugo thought, as he began to speak up, "Now-"
"Now if you excuse me…" Izuku began to say, walking past Bakugo, and then holding up his notebook, "I've got some notes to take."
Time passed, and as suddenly as the earlier riot in class began, the class itself had ended. While everyone was packing up, ready to leave school, Izuku was on his phone, looking at an incident which had occurred earlier.
"Oh wow, this incident with the Sludge Villain is all over the news…" Izuku thought, "But I mean… there's not much to it, besides All Might's quick response time… oh! I should expand my notes on how to arrive at a crime scene quickly!"
Izuku reached out to grab his notes, but right after he had begun to grip them, Bakugo arrived.
"We ain't done here, Deku." he said, snatching Deku's notebook out right from the boy's hands.
Izuku, seeing this, noted that nothing good would come from staying around here, and quickly formulated a short plan in his head.
First, in one swift motion, Izuku stood up, and swatted Bakugo's arm away with his left hand, and with his right, he snatched his notebook right out of Bakugo's hands as it was propelled in the direction Izuku hit it.
Second…
…
He ran the heck away!
"H-hey! Get back here, shitty Deku!" Bakugo said, yelling out at Izuku, but he had already left the classroom.
"Damn, Bakugo, he really got you good." one of Bakugo's friends said to him, as Bakugo looked off at the boy, pissed yet awestruck at Deku.
"He just won't stay in his place…" Bakugo thought, "Ever since that Monkey kid arrived years ago… he's been getting tougher and tougher! I can't let him surpass me!"
In the hallways, Izuku ran at blistering speeds until he reached the exit of the school, looking behind himself once he did.
"Good… Bakugo's not chasing me." Izuku thought aloud through heavy breaths, "Phew!"
Izuku stood idly in the hallway to catch his breath for a moment. Though after said moment, he decided to keep moving quickly, as he never knew when Bakugo might change his mind about chasing him.
Up at the top floor were Bakugo and his friends, who hadn't moved from the classroom. One of Bakugo's friends took note of Izuku's position on the ground.
"How the hell did he get down there so fast?" he questioned, getting the attention of both Bakugo and his other friend, "You gonna go after him, Bakugo?"
Izuku, who was walking away from the school, had slowed his pace to make sure he heard Bakugo's words.
"Tch, who gives a crap?" Bakugo loudly said, "Let him have his win… it'll just make the next time we stomp him sweeter!"
Izuku then sighed, and decided to begin walking faster.
"I really do hate always having to run like this…" Izuku admitted to himself, "I wish I had a quirk… a Devil Fruit… something I could fight back with!"
In the past, as a part of his studies for becoming a hero, Izuku attempted to research the so-called 'Devil Fruits' that Luffy had told him about. When he did however, nothing popped up about them on the internet, nor in any books when he went to the library to research quirk development.
"It's not that I don't believe Luffy… but, could he have been wrong about Devil Fruits? Then how did he get his powers?" Izuku, after thinking this, smacked himself on both sides of his head with his hands, "No! Don't think those thoughts! He's Luffy… the only one who ever saw value in you!"
After his initial research, it's worth noting that Izuku was unable to check the internet ever again about the Devil Fruits. This is because on the same day that he had researched them, a group of 'police officers', had come to his house while he was at school to check his house… which gave his mother quite the shock. He later checked his browsing history, and found any and all traces of Devil Fruits purged from it.
"Well, he did say he wanted to be a pirate…" Izuku thought, "And it's not like being one is exactly a legal career path."
…
"But… without any way to get a quirk… is it actually…" Izuku's defensive thoughts interrupted his offensive ones, "Don't say it."
…
"Even… possible to be a hero?" Izuku stated aloud.
…
Izuku then thought back to the days that he first discovered he was quirkless, how he watched the same All Might video again and again, and due to it, how he was inspired to save people.
"All the way back then… I had already decided!" Izuku thought, or at least, he forced himself to think this way, "I decided not to care what anyone says! I just have to keep my chin up, and keep moving forwards!"
As Izuku thought this, from behind him, a weird collection of 'gloop' noises could be heard. Upon hearing this, Izuku quickly turned around, and found a villain made of sludge.
"A medium-sized body… to hide in…" the panting villain thought aloud.
The villain quickly tried to force himself onto Izuku Midoriya, but Izuku Midoriya had done his research. Predicting the villain's swift lunge towards him, Izuku slid underneath the villain in order to dodge them.
"A Logia-type quirk?! Those are nearly unheard of…" Izuku thought, before realizing, "And if he's a logia, then that means… a quirkless nobody like me can't do anything… but… but… I can still try my best!"
Though he had never actually fought a villain before, Izuku knew that laws had specifically adapted to regulate those with quirks. Therefore, as someone quirkless, he was free to do whatever he could to fight back.
"C'mon kid… I'll be quick. Just 45 seconds, and then it'll all be over." the villain slimily stated.
"No way!" Izuku said with a nervous smile, "I can't die, not just yet!"
"I have to prove to myself…" Izuku thought, "That I can become a hero!"
Suddenly, out of the same sewer drain the villain came out of, a very large man popped out, yelling, "Worry not, citizen! You won't die…"
"A-All Might?!" Izuku thought.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!" All Might yelled, rushing towards the villain in a motion Izuku could barely register, "TEXAS… SMASH!"
Suddenly the villain's form dissipated, as sludge rushed off his body, leaving only a few pieces behind.
"Wait, if All Might can hit him like that… maybe he's not even a logia!" Izuku quickly noted, "Then… he's a mutant type with the features of a logia? So his body has to have solid parts somewhere that his sludge melds to!"
Izuku then got his empty bottle of water out from his backpack, as All Might watched on.
"Hm?"
"And if I were to guess where that solid part was… I'd guess it's right…" Izuku then spun the cap off his water bottle with his left hand, as a look of shock appeared in All Might's eyes, "Here!"
Izuku shouted, as he scooped up the sludge villain's two eyes with his water battle in a single, smooth motion.
After this, Izuku quickly put the cap which was in his left hand onto the bottle in his right. Once he put the cap on, not yet tightening it, the rest of the sludge surrounding the area evaporated and reformed inside the bottle, as Izuku had expected.
"Oh my! Brilliant work, citizen!" All Might shouted at Izuku, who was shocked that he was even talking to All Might, unable to even get out a word, "My apologies for getting you caught up in my villain hunt… mistakes such as that aren't really my style. It only happened because this place is foreign to me, so I didn't know all the routes!"
All Might then motioned for Izuku to hand him the untightened bottle with the Sludge Villain inside it, which Izuku did, still bewildered that he was talking to THE All Might.
"Woah… that's really All Might! The number one hero in the entire world! His text is even written in a completely different style than everything else!"
"But, enough excuses, my success here is all thanks to you boy! Your ability to swiftly contain this villain here was enough to make even me jealous!" All Might announced, "Just be careful, and remember you're not able to use your quirk in public without a hero license!"
Izuku was unable to get out even a word, as his body seemingly shut down.
Unthinkingly and robotically, Izuku got his notebook out of his backpack, and held it in front of him. All Might initially looked confused, but quickly understood what Izuku wanted. The hero opened the book in front of him and wrote down "ALL MIGHT" on one of its pages which didn't have anything on it.
"Hero Analysis: For The Future No. 16… huh?" All Might thought, walking right past Izuku after he signed his book.
"Now, I must bring this fellow to the authorities!" All Might shouted back at Izuku, "Catch you again sometime, though now that I think about it, hopefully I won't, seeing as that means you'll be in danger!"
Quickly taking note of the situation, Izuku turned around quickly, managing to sputter out, "Wait… is that it? I-"
"A pro hero battles not only enemies, but time as well!" All Might shouted, "Until next time!"
"Hold on… I still want to ask you…" Izuku paused, as he suddenly rushed towards All Might.
"Thank you for your support!" All Might shouted, as he propelled himself up into the air… with Izuku attached to him?!
"Hey now! Release me! This enthusiasm is a bit much…" All Might stated.
This high up, with the wind beating upon his face, Izuku noticed the difference in worlds between him and All Might for the first time, but in spite of all that, he still wanted to keep going!
"B-but if I let go now, I'll die!" Izuku responded, logically addressing All Might's complaint.
"Fair enough!"
"Plus, I've… gotta ask you so many things!" Izuku struggled to get those words out, as Izuku could barely handle the speed at which All Might was flying at.
"Okay, okay… just do me a favor and close your eyes and mouth!"
"It's a pleasure!" Izuku quickly blurted out, doing so.
After this, All Might then coughed, as blood was dripping out from his mouth…
"Damn!" he thought, "I'm running out of time!"
Landing on a rooftop, Izuku quickly caught his breath, as he questioned to himself, "I guess I'm gonna have to go through things even worse than that… if I wanna be a hero."
"Of all the…" All Might began, as Izuku noted his aggression, "Hopefully, the people downstairs will help you get down. Frankly, I have no time right now!"
"J-just wait a second!" Izuku spluttered,
"No! I will not wait-" All Might responded with efficiency, but Izuku responded back even faster.
"E-even without a quirk… could I still become a hero?"
This question caused All Might to hesitate.
"Ah…" All Might noted, "All this time… I've been going through just the typical 'hero routine'. It seems I've neglected this kid's dream."
Realizing this, All Might decided to wait, but just for a moment.
"Quirks are-" In the middle of his sentence and on a dime, All Might stopped speaking and began coughing, with a cloud of smoke forming from All Might's body alongside this. Izuku took notice of All Might's condition.
"A-All Might! Are you alright?!"
After the cloud of smoke dissipated, the true All Might revealed himself.
"Wait… that form…" Izuku began, "A-are you the real All Might?! Or maybe, some kind of impostor?!"
All Might paused, before saying, "I am All Might", but when he tried to open his mouth, blood spilled out of it.
"Woah… if you're telling the truth… then just what happened to you? Are you hurt?!" Izuku questioned. All Might sensed Izuku's genuine concern for him.
"You know how people hold their gut in at the pool?" All Might asked, "The form I show off is kinda like that."
"No way!" Izuku quickly responded.
"But… to answer your previous question…" All Might then lifted up his shirt, showing Midoriya the injury that was underneath his shirt, "Five years ago… a villain did this to me."
Izuku stared at All Might, shocked. He continued.
"My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and my stomach was removed. I wasted away because of the after effects of those surgeries… so I can only do hero work for three hours a day now." All Might slid his shirt down, "Don't write about this on the internet, 'kay?"
"F-five years ago… was that… around the same time as your fight against Toxic Chainsaw?" Izuku questioned, before doubting his own answer, "No, that can't be right!"
"You're right… Someone like him could never do this to me." All Might responded, "This incident was never made public… I asked it to never be made public."
All Might contemplated his next words, as his fight against All for One years prior came rushing back to him, "A symbol of peace who saves people with a smile… must never be daunted by evil."
All Might turned his attention to Izuku Midoriya, who was both motivated and horrified by All Might's words. All Might decided to answer Midoriya's question.
"The reason I smile… is to starve off the overwhelming pressure felt by myself and others." All Might explained. "If you're quirkless… people will only feel fear in that fact when a time comes where as a hero, you must make them feel safe... especially since you cannot so easily risk your own life without simply throwing it away… and a hero must always be ready to risk his own life for the safety of others."
Giving a conclusion to his own argument which Izuku saw coming, yet dreaded hearing, All Might stated,
"So, without a quirk, can one become a hero? I should think not."
Izuku was devastated, but even so… he understood All Might's reasoning. After all, everyone in his class had proved All Might right… all their doubts, every time he was told his dreams were hopeless… that was them feeling uncomfortable with Izuku's alleged desire to throw his own life away. And, Izuku also knew that the way everyone in his classroom felt wasn't just limited to the classroom... everyone outside of it felt that way too.
Izuku was powerless.
"Oh. I see." the boy responded slowly.
All Might saw that he had hurt the kid, but he saw this as the preferable option. After all, while he hid behind the logical reason he had said before, the simple fact was that he didn't wish for the kid in front of him to hurt himself… he wished to protect the quirkless kid who was dreaming of becoming a hero.
Though, All Might's gut felt that something was off. After all, this kid had effortlessly followed up on his attack on the Sludge Villain, analyzing its weakness in a split second and capturing it. All Might also noted how fast Izuku had to have acted in order to quickly grab onto his own buff form when he took off, a feat that would have forced him to make a difficult decision in a singular moment. On top of all this, Izuku radiated a certain… energy… or maybe it was charisma, that All Might couldn't put his finger on. This kid surely had to have held on to a hopeless dream after years of neglect from society… that alone made him strong.
"Could he be?" All Might questioned himself, before coming to a conclusion, "No… he's just a kid."
"Though, if you still desire to help people… becoming a police officer is always an option." All Might optimistically stated, turning around and approaching the door which led downstairs, "Villain custody officers are often mocked, but that too is admirable work!"
Opening the door downstairs, All Might looked back at the kid, frozen in place and shaking. He felt bad, but he was confident that this was the best option he could have taken. Before All Might left, he said one final thing,
"...It's not wrong to dream." All Might began, "However, you need to be realistic, kid."
All Might shut the door behind him, and began walking down the stairs. He yet again remembered the skill of Izuku…
"...Oh yeah… speaking of villain custody officers, I have to get this guy…" All Might then pulled the water bottle out of his pocket, only to realize that the water bottle cap wasn't on as tightly as he would've liked, and the sludge villain was nowhere to be seen, "The cap, I should've checked it! How could I be so stupid... this is all my fault! I'm pathetic!"
Suddenly, out the window of the staircase, an explosion could both be faintly heard and seen in the distance.
"Oh no…" All Might said aloud.
Having just had his dreams crushed, Izuku walked down an empty street, sighing and feeling sorry for himself.
"I… I ignored everyone else who said I couldn't do it, but now, even the best of the best said that I could never become a hero." Izuku thought, as tears welled up in his eyes, "Don't cry! You already knew… that's why you tried so hard, right… right?!"
Suddenly, Izuku stopped, and remembered a conversation he had with Luffy in the past… the only person who had ever believed in him.
Around the fourth day that Luffy was at Izuku's elementary school, Izuku was continuing to help Luffy out with perfecting the aim of his Gum Gum Pistol.
"But…" Izuku began, "The King of the Pirates… you're already getting shown up by your brother without any powers, and there are thousands of people who'll probably be stronger than him when you grow up! How would you even begin trying to become the Pirate King?!"
At this assertion, after an initial display of frustration, Luffy's mouth suddenly formed a smile.
"Heh. Come on now!" Luffy said, as Izuku's eyes lit up once Luffy stared back at him, "It's not about whether I can or can't, it's about whether I will or won't! And let me tell you, I will! Or I'll die trying!"
Izuku, right then and there, was in awe of Luffy's words... and the wisdom he possessed. His awe would be interrupted a moment later however, as Luffy firmly hit Izuku on the head.
"And come on! How many times do I have to tell you, quirks don't matter! My grand-dad didn't have any quirks or Devil Fruit powers, and he's a really strong guy in the Marines!"
"Luffy! That hurt!" Izuku whined.
"Not as much as it'd hurt to give up on your dreams, you dummy!"
Recalling the memory, Izuku sniffled, and wiped away his tears, but a solemn expression remained on his face.
"Luffy…"
Catching something out of the corner of his eye, Izuku looked to his left, and saw that a crowd of people were forming around a street… a crowd that Izuku recognized as one which would likely be watching a villain attack. On instinct, Izuku began to approach the scene to analyze it.
"Hey…" Izuku thought, "I'm so used to gawking around these scenes… but really, what is there to gain? I'll only make myself feel more like a loser-"
Shocked, Izuku looked ahead at the scene, as he quickly noticed the Sludge Villain right in front of him. His sadness was washed away in an instant, replaced by a feeling of shock and guilt.
"T-the Sludge Villain?! How?! Didn't I-"
Izuku then recalled how he half-hazardly put the cap on to test his hypothesis, but then, he never bothered to make sure it was tight… and when he gave it to All Might, his body had already fully shut off.
"How could I be so stupid, t-this is all my fault!" Izuku muttered under his breath. A second later, he began to push his way to the front of the crowd.
"Why are the heroes just standing there?" A passerby asked, and another responded, saying, "They probably just don't have the right quirks for the job. Happens all the time."
Shoving his way to the front, Izuku then thought to the unknown victim of the assault ahead of him, "H-hang in there! A hero is bound to come soon, they'll save yo-"
But, once Izuku reached the front of the crowd… all of his thoughts stopped. In front of him, was Kacchan… but not just Kacchan, as replacing the typical, cocky expression he usually wore, he instead had one of pure fear on his face. Tears were welling up in the boy's eyes… because when he was so full of hopes, dreams, and ambitions… it just wasn't right for all them to come crashing down in front of him.
And after that one simple look of despair… Izuku saw all that he needed to.
His body twitched, and hesitated, as before his thoughts could even catch up to him, his body started to move all on its own… to save the person who was right in front of him. A moment later, he stopped walking, and broke out into a full sprint.
"Wha- Kid! Get back here you fool!" A police officer shouted, but it didn't matter.
Adrenaline was coursing through Izuku Midoriya's veins, because he knew that Bakugo needed saving, and he wasn't just going to sit around for someone with the 'right quirk' to do the job for him.
"It's… that kid again." the Sludge Villain said, as the body it was trying to possess also took note, "Deku?"
"It's that kid from the rooftop!" All Might, in his true form, thought, currently pushing his way forwards in the crowd, "What's he doing?! Is he coming here to try and rectify his mistake or something? He'll hurt himself!"
"Why am I running, what am I- no! This isn't a time for those thoughts!" Izuku thought, his look of worry turning into one of determination, as with a firm expression, he began to formulate a plan, "What I've learnt is that the sludge monster has pressure points… if you can trap him in there, the rest of his body will respond. So, who's to say that I can't hurt or damage him there then?!"
Izuku continued his sprint, but he then began to move even faster than before. He now moved with confidence and purpose.
"You're dead." the Sludge Villain muttered.
Izuku didn't care. His legs continued to sprint, faster and faster, and he knew they wouldn't stop until he reached his destination.
"GET YOUR HANDS..." Izuku began to shout, as he launched himself into the air, "OFF OF HIM!"
Once he shouted that last line, a sudden burst of energy erupted from Izuku, causing the heroes who were beginning to rush towards Izuku to briefly stop dead in their tracks, and some civilians and police officers who were close to the scene to be knocked out.
The Sludge Villain was also momentarily frozen, giving Izuku the perfect opportunity. As he readied his right hand behind him, he shouted out, "GUM GUM… SMASH!"
Shooting his arm forwards, he attacked the Sludge Villain directly in the eye. The sludge from the Sludge Villain temporarily lost form, allowing Bakugo to be temporarily freed, to the surprise of the heroes surrounding the area.
Izuku then quickly grabbed Bakugo, and pulled him out of the Sludge Villain. The instant Bakugo was pulled out of the sludge, he smacked away Izuku's hand, and landed right beside him.
"You!" Bakugo yelled while coughing in the process, as he hadn't breathed for a long while, and sludge was stuck in his lungs, "Why?!"
There were any number of reasons Izuku's legs forced him to run… but of them all, only one came to the top of his head, with Kacchan now right beside him.
"You looked like you needed saving!" Izuku shouted, as the Sludge Villain, knocked off of its target, now saw potential in another.
The villain rushed towards Izuku like their first interaction, but this time, he was too fast for the hero to react to. He began to attack and try to steal Izuku's body, as Bakugo, who was right beside Izuku, stood back, frozen in fear.
"No… he's just there to try and save that kid?!" All Might thought to himself, hearing Izuku's last lines. He was still hanging back on the sidelines, and because of that he began to clench his fists, "How pathetic of me… pathetic… PATHETIC!"
"RAHHHH!" Izuku screamed, as energy pulsated off of him… an energy which was only present due to his extreme emotional state, adrenaline, and the will to achieve his dream and become a hero. The Sludge Villain was barely able to contain Izuku due to his extraordinary willpower.
"Does he have a death wish or something?!" a hero yelled, as a group of them began rushing towards Izuku.
Of everyone there, only one man just barely understood the flurry of emotions that Izuku was experiencing.
"The lesson I left you with… I should practice what I preach!" All Might yelled at Izuku from afar, "A PRO HERO SHOULD ALWAYS BE READY TO RISK HIS LIFE!"
Shocked by All Might's arrival, Bakugo looked on at the titan approaching from behind him.
"His mouth…" Bakugo thought, "He's bleeding, but he's still coming here?!"
"DETROIT…" All Might clocked his arm back, and as he pushed his arm forwards, he shouted, "SMASH!"
In an instant, sludge filled the air, and a tornado so large formed that it shook the entire surrounding area. Izuku and Bakugo would've been completely blown away from the impact if not for All Might grabbing onto them. The air pressure attack from All Might was long and violent… and once it dissipated, all that was left… was rain.
"HE- HE CHANGED THE WEATHER… ALL WITH A SINGLE PUNCH!" one of the passersby yelled, in awe of All Might's insane strength.
After the fight, the heroes collected the eyes of the Sludge Villain and contained them, as per All Might's instruction.
Due to his actions, the heroes were all exceptionally mad at Izuku Midoriya. After all, he had risked his life for nothing… All Might was there, and Izuku was quirkless, what could he have done?! Meanwhile, thanks to his ability to fend off the Sludge Villain, on top of his powerful quirk, Bakugo got all the praise… but the boy didn't see this incident the same way the heroes did.
"HEY DEKU!" Bakugo shouted, finding Izuku as the boy was walking back to his house. The overwhelmed Izuku instantly got into a fighting stance upon seeing Bakugo, which Bakugo momentarily flinched because of… nonetheless, he continued.
"I… I NEVER ASKED YOU TO SAVE ME! I COULD'VE TAKEN THAT GUY MYSELF! HOW DARE A QUIRKLESS FAILURE LIKE YOU TRY AND PITY ME! DON'T MOCK ME! STUPID NERD!" Bakugo yelled, quickly spinning around and walking away after he got out of his system all that he needed to.
"What a tough guy…" Izuku thought, sarcastically. He saw through Bakugo's mask, and how he was too proud to accept help from him. It wasn't like he didn't have good reasons for it though, after all… he was quirkless.
"But still… but still…"
"It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks!" Izuku said to himself in a slightly raised voice, "I'm gonna become a hero, no matter what!"
"Darn right you will!" a voice shouted out from behind a shrub, which shocked Izuku as he quickly turned around, only for All Might to reveal himself, shouting, "I AM HERE!"
"All Might?! How… Why are you here?! Weren't you surrounded by reporters?!" Izuku asked.
"Shaking them off is nothing to me, after all, I'm ALL MIGH- gah!" as All Might was gloating, he quickly shrunk back down to his true form, spitting out blood and smoke as he did so. Izuku raised an eyebrow at this for a moment, instinctively wanting to help All Might, but then he realized this wasn't the time for that.
"W-well… since you're here…" Izuku began, closing his eyes, not believing what he was about to say, "I'd like to apologize for a few things. One, I'd like to apologize for grabbing onto you earlier. You're the number one hero, and I should've known better than to act like you didn't have better things to do than talk to me."
"Kid…" All Might tried to interject, but Izuku cut him off before he could continue.
"Two! I'd like to apologize for not making sure the lid was shut clean on the Sludge Villain… if not for that, the villain would have safely been in custody without the second incident occurring." Izuku said apologetically.
"Kid, you really don't have to-" All Might attempted to say yet again, but Izuku cut him off once more.
"And finally… I'd like to apologize, but I can't listen to the advice you gave earlier on the rooftop." Izuku began to say, tilting his head down in shame, "I'm sorry, but I don't care if I don't have a quirk, I don't care if you think I'm worthy of becoming a hero."
Suddenly, Izuku's head popped up, as he said, "No matter what, I will become a hero, because that is my dream!"
Izuku stood tall, breathing heavily, putting a lot of passion into that speech. All Might was surprised, but a smile on his face still grew nonetheless.
"Who could have thought that this boy, who I thought was just a naive fanboy, could have been so much more than that?!"
"About that kid… I might have to revise what I said earlier. After all, I came here to thank you, and apologize." said All Might, beginning his own speech, mirroring Izuku's own, "If it wasn't for you, I'd never have been able to have been able to be motivated to fight on against the Sludge Villain… I'd have been nothing but fake muscles and insincerity!"
"Nah, you're All Might, I'm sure-" Izuku would now feel what it was like to be interrupted, as All Might continued his own apology.
"On the roof, I said that you'd never be able to make someone feel secure as someone quirkless! But… that was simply the prejudice of myself; the prejudice of society!" All Might stated, "Even without me… on both occasions I arrived, I believe you didn't need my assistance, and could have taken on that Sludge Villain on your own! I told you that you couldn't become a hero… but besides your insane skill, I didn't even take into consideration how many pro heroes have quirks which practically do little to nothing in combat!"
"Thanks All Might, but I really don't think I could have-"
"Kid… you're special. Of all the heroes at the scene, it was only you, quirkless as you may be, who acted! Who spurred me into action!" All Might confidently stated, "Most of the top pro heroes, they show greatness, even as children! Many of them claim that, in moments of great danger, their bodies moved before they even began thinking; to protect!"
Izuku, hearing these words from All Might, was suddenly reminded of the words that his Mom said to him way back when he had been diagnosed as quirkless.
"I'm sorry Izuku. I'm sorry!"
Trembling, even though he was far more confident than he usually should have been, he nonetheless fell to his knees, as tears began falling from his eyes.
"That IS what happened to you back there, yes?!"
"Y-yes!" Izuku said, choking on his words through his tears.
"Then… Izuku Midoriya! Whether you're quirkless, powerless, half-dead, or otherwise… I don't care!" All Might stated with confidence, "You CAN be a hero!"
Fantasy… yet again, became reality for Izuku Midoriya, who was crying in front of his childhood hero… who had told him that he could become what he had dreamed of being ever since he learnt just what a hero was.
This hasn't been mentioned before, but now is a better time than any to say that this is the story about how Izuku Midoriya fulfilled his dreams, and became the world's greatest hero!
But, there's more!
This is also the story about a boy who dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates… and becoming free in the process, as well as a girl, who simply wanted to experience just what having a family was really like.
This is a tale of three people… who will go down in history as legends.
END OF CHAPTER NOTES
We've finally made it to the end of the first arc of Kill One Hero, the "Origins Arc". Chapters will start coming out more slowly past this point, closer to weekly as opposed to daily / bi-daily, which I've been doing for these first few chapters.
Overall, I'm very happy with how the Origins Arc has played out, especially after re-reading it. You might not have noticed it, but there's a lot of small details in this chapter especially which hint at bigger reveals which show up later in the plot.
Special thanks to Maximum Rhapsody for your review on this series as well, being the first on it! Mr. or Mrs. Rhapsody, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to see what I do with this series though, as while some of the predictions you have made about the series are correct, but some actually aren't!
If any of you want to express your support for this series, please leave a review, cause I'd love to hear your thoughts on this series, and how I can potentially make it even better!
Now, with the End of Chapter Notes finished, let me give you a short sneak peak of Kill One Hero's next arc!
NEXT ARC SYNOPSIS / SNEAK PEAK
Next time on Kill One Hero, Izuku Midoriya begins his training under the tutelage of the world's greatest hero, All Might! However, not all goes to plan, as out of the sea comes a pirate group who has just finished traversing the Grand Line, and is looking to sail onto an island underneath Japan itself! But, with the captain proclaiming that they will be the King of the Pirates, it seems that this group might turn out to be more peaceful than they appear!
Join us next time on Kill One Hero, where the Sabaody Archipelago Arc begins!