Birth of a Hero

A young man in a green and black suit sat on top of a building, in their hand was a phone and from it read an irate voice "Villains, Heroes, Vigilantes, MENACES! All in their own right. But I'm here to tell you all today that there is a new blight upon these streets. I'm of course talking about the spider-dawning freak. This self-proclaimed hero, legally regarded vigilante, has been "saving" the day by recklessly entering situations that HE'S CLEARLY(!) not trained for. Constantly getting in the way of our already ineffectual pro heroes. Yet STILL some people are admiring this miscreant and applauding his efforts, likening him to the heroes of old. To that, I say BULL HONKEY! He's a devious imp wreaking havoc like he Owns the place. Regardless, no one should be sleeping easy so long as that web-slinger is left unaccountable, we have no name, no background, SO WHO IS THIS MASKED MENACE? AND IS HE A THREAT OR A MENACE?"

"Jeez, is being a good samaritan not good enough?" He sighed as he set down their phone while he sat on the top of a building. Despite his annoyance, he had to admit the call out did make him remanence about how he got here.

It had been nearly a month ago, roughly a quarter of the way through his third year, on a field trip tip to a very special place. "All right class we're here." His teacher droned from the front of the bus.

Staring out his window Midoroiya Izuku looked in awe at the building before them, a Sheild Industries Research Laboratory. "So cool." Now Izuku had always been more interested in being a hero as he idolized them his whole life. That said he be remiss to not admit to being a bit of a science nerd himself, getting into science was a good way to train his analytical skills and he figured he may need to compensate for his lack of power with ingenuity. Definitely didn't hurt that the owner of Sheild Industries was none other than AllMight's former sidekick, David Sheild.

"Ah, there you all are." A deep yet almost apathetic tone droned. Turning his attention to the doorway stood a rather interesting man. He was short and plump, clearly up there in age as evidenced by his balding hair and wrinkles-filled face. He wore a standard lab coat over a green button-up and brown slacks. He also wore what appeared to be goggles with green-tinted screens. Yet the most interesting detail was the four octopus-like tentacles that appeared to be coming out of his back and hoisting him off the ground. "I am Dr. Octavius."

Clearing his throat the teacher addressed the man. "Ah yes, I'm assuming you'll be the one to show us around today?

"Unfortunately no. There was an incident with one of our research projects that requires my oversight. You are in luck however as this incident has required Mr. Sheild to arrive."

"Which means I'll be acting as your amazing and gracious guide!" A young girl's voice cheered from above some nearby stairs.

"Yes." The tentacled man sighed, clearly unimpressed with the girl's antics. "This is Mellisa Sheild, daughter of David Sheild."

"Heya!" Mellisa cheered as the class lit up with excited murmurs.

"Well, I must be off. I'll let you take it from here." Octavius droned as he used his tentacles to bypass the stairs, patting Mellisa's shoulder as he left.

Taking the lead Mellisa showed the class around the facility allowing them to oh and awe at the various projects being worked on. From a sword capable of being collapsed into the size of a pen, a helmet designed to allow the instruction of various species of ants, to even an experimental new power source, Midoriya was fascinated by it all. As they walked through the halls one particular area caught his attention. "Uh Sheild-Senpai what's that? He called as he pointed to a pedestal covered in rock fragments, that kinda looked like a small bolder that exploded.

"Ah, that's what Otto was referring to, can't really comment on it but basically, it was a meteorite we were testing on and things got out of hand. Don't worry it's safe to be near, just some useless old rocks now."

This caused some snickering among the class and a few whispers along the lines of, "Then it makes sense useless ole' Deku would be interested in them." They kept just quiet enough that their guide couldn't quite hear them but she did throw back a confused glance at the sudden giggling.

Lastly, she brought them to an area of the lab with various rooms containing a variety of animals, from lizards to birds, and, "SPIDERS!" one of the students shrieked.

These projects in this area are overseen by Doctor Konāzu. The experiments we conduct here, we hope, will be used to find ways to advance the limits of quirk gene enhancement. The various animals here have been determined to have the genes necessary to possess quirks. Should we be successful we hope to create a means to either set quirks into hyperdrive or even possibly unlock dormant quirks."

Unsurprisingly this only caused the laughter to increase as a few of the less subtle of them decided to not hide their mockery, "Hey Midoriya you should sign up. May get a Quirk out of it."

"Huh?" Melissa inquiered, overhearing the comment.

"Oh-Oh, it is nothing, the kids just joking around with each other, heh heh" The teacher hurriedly interjected.

"Yeah, we're just joshing him for being quirkless." One of the students snickered.

"Quirkless?" Melissa asked, her breath almost quiet as her gaze fixated on Midoriya. Sigh, well he should have seen this coming, guess he can count working here off the table too. "That, That's, AWESOME!" Melissa cheered as ran up to Midoriya, a large smile plastered across her face as her eyes practically sparkled with glee, "Your Quirkless too?" She grabbed his shoulders as she began practically bouncing in excitement, "OhmygodyoushouldsaidthatearlierIhardlyevergettomeetafellowquirklessohmygodthissocoolsoexcitingI-"

Initially taken about by the reaction realization dawned on Midoriya. "W-Wait, you mean you're also…"

"Yep," she responded with a bold smile as she leaned uncomfortably close to his face.

"Wait she's seriously quirkless?" "Talks like Deku too." "No wonder they had her showing us around, probably the only thing she wouldn't screw up." "To think her father worked with AllMight." "Must be so disappointed."

"Ahem, Mrs. Shield." The teacher butted in, sending a glare to the class to not heckle the richest girl in the building.

"Oh right, come on." Taking Midoriya by the hand she pulled him to the front of the line. Calming back down she showed them around the various projects before eventually coming to a terrarium of spiders could be found. "According to the notes these specimens have had the most reception to our experiments."

As the class looked around at the various animal subjects Midoriya peered through the glass, using his hands as binoculars as he looked around. He'd never been a big bug fan but he had to admit that looking at them while aware of what they are was fascinating. Suddenly he felt a tickling sensation find itself on his hand, thinking someone was messing with him he swatted at his hand thinking he'd find a hand or a feather or something like that. Instead, he found what felt was a sudden sharp burst of pain. Turning to face his hand he realized what he just swatted at had been a spider, one of the ones that had been tested on.

"AAHH! Get It Off Get It Off!" He yelped as he swung his hand wildly.

"Woah there." Mellisa grabbed a nearby container. She then slid the spider off Midroiya's hand and into "Gotcha little fella." She turned to Midoeiya who was soothing his hand which had a big red bite mark. "Sorry about that, one of the little guys must've gotten loose"

"It's fine, just stings." He winced as he held out the hand that had gotten bit.

"Hm, should probably check that out real quick." She turned to face the teacher "Mind if I borrow him for a sec? Just want to make sure he didn't get bit by one of the more dangerous spiders."

"Sure"

"Kay, this was our last stop so just go through the door over there and you'll end up at the entrance. I'll give him a ride home after we're done."

Nodding the teacher took the class out of the room while Melissa dragged Midoriya off down a hallway as she stuck up small talk about the exhibits there. However, as they walked unbeknown to them a chain reaction had been set in motion that would change their lives, forever.

Midoriya was brought to a room on the far side of the building where he placed his hand under a weird machine. "Sorry about all this." Midoriya sighed, a nervous tone in his voice.

"Nonsense, if anything I should be apologizing to you on behalf of Sheild Industries," Mellisa replied with an awkward chuckle. "Hm, seems like the spider was slightly irradiated…"

"IRRADIATED!"

"Eh don't worry, it's not nearly enough to cause any issues," Melissa responded waving her hands dismissively. "That said if you do feel like something's wrong with your hand, aside from the bug bite, come here and we can run some more tests."

An awkward tension filled the room. "Um, so, you're quirkless?" Midoriya asked shyly.

"Yes! You have no idea how refreshing it is to meet someone, y'know, like me, without powers."

"Oh, I can definitely relate." Midoriya replied with a humorless sigh.

"Really? I figured you would know a few like us. Going to a normal school and all."

"Oh well despite making up 20% of the population most of that is old people. Combine that with being from a big city and I'm not really likely to meet someone else that's quirkless, well long enough to know they are anyway."

"Oh, well, then I guess we can be each other's first quirkless friends!" Melissa cheered with a sky smile.

"Friends?"

"Yeah, Eh- IfyouwanttoImeanIdon'tmeantopressureyouoranything!"

Midoriya gave a sweet smile, "N-no! I mean, I'd like that, I'd really like that."

After finishing the checkup Melissa had them driven to Midoriya's place in a car so expensive-looking that he had been nervous to even sit down. But as they rode they began talking and soon their talking turned to gleeful discussions of heroes and quirks. It was, nice. Roughly an hour later Midoriya was dropped off but before he could fully leave Melissa stopped him, "Oh hey Mido, hand me your phone for a second" He did so and after a minute of her fiddling with it she handed it back, now with a contact with her name in it. "My phone number! Feel free to call anytime!"

A warmth he hadn't felt in a long time filled his chest as he gave Melissa a bold smile, matching the ones she had given him since she found out he was quirkless. As she rode away Midoriya waved tiredly as the events of the day seemed to finally catch up with him. Groogily he made his way to his apartment where he saw his mother Inko watching TV in the living room. "Hey Mom I'm home!"

"Izuku home so soon? Was the bus empty?"

"No, my new… friend gave me a ride."

"Friend?" It took a moment to register, but when it did Inko gasped as she bounced to her feet with a smile, "A friend! You made a new friend! Oh, Izuku I'm so happy for you oh please tell me about them." She cheered as she failed to notice his conspicuously bandaged hand.

However, before he could explain he felt hit with a wave of exhaustion. "Maybe later, I'm gonna take a nap"

"Oh alright," Ink pouted, but she couldn't help but still smile, "Oh your father's going to be so excited!"

Tiredly Izuku tried to make his way to his room but as he got closer to his room the more and more slothish he became, eventually passing out, unsure if he had even made it into his room.

"Izuku, Izuku!" His mother's voice rang loud as he slowly arose from his slumber. Slowly peeling his eyes open he was shocked to notice how bright it was.

'Woah, did I sleep through the whole afternoon? Guess I was more worn out than I thought.'

"Izuku hunny! Are you up yet?"

"Yeah Mom, be out in a second."

Quickly getting out of his bed he changed out of his old clothes as he suited up for school, only to find that his clothes were a bit small on him. "Woah did I get a growth spurt?"

Sluggishly stambering out of his room Midoriya wandered to the kitchen, tiredly he waved to his mother, but as he did he realised she seemed…shorter?

"Oh dear. Izuku, did you have a growth spurt?"

"Yeah, guess a bigger one than I thought" he replied as he pulled awkwardly at his now too-small uniform

"Oh, almost forgot." She handed him a notebook and on it read, Hero Analysis for the Future notebook No. 13.

"My notebook?"

"A cute girl dropped it off earlier, and said you lost it during your trip to Sheild Labs."

'Cute Girl…Ahhh Mellisa Sheild!'

"She also gave offered some muffins as an apology for how things went yesterday, what did she mean by… uh Izuku?"

Practically glowing red from embarrassment Izuku muttered in a barely intelable murmur of dread, "IcanneverfacehernowsoembarasinghowcouldIbesocarelessImanidiot."

"Hey hey dear, uh, why don't you just eat, we can talk about it later."

Practically acting on autopilot Izuku grabbed one of the muffins and shoved it in his mouth, then another, and another.

"Woah woah, honey! I get you just had a growth spurt but slow down"

"Oh sorry," Izuku muttered as he broke from his trance. Before the conversation could continue he noticed a nearby clock and realized he only had around an hour left. "Oh shoot, gotta head out by!"

"Alright class, as third-year students, it's time to think about your future and what you want to do with your lives. I could pass out your career aptitude test but why bother we all know you all want to go to the hero track!" The class erupted into a flurry of cheers and whoops as the class showed off their quirks, all for Midoriya, of course. "Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks! But using your powers at school is against the rules!"

However, a voice cut through the cheers, and old… friend, "Hey teach, don't lump me in with these bunch of extras. I'm the real deal but these guys will be lucky to end up a sidekick to some busted D lister."

This of course brought on a flurry of furious howling from the rest of the class at the disrespect. Which Bakugo returned in spades as he wore a damn near demonic grin. 'Oh well, if Bakugo and the class are at each other's throats that'll mean less attention on me.' As the yelling continued Izuku found himself beginning to relax even as the class erupted again as the teacher revealed Bakugo's decision to apply for UA, 'Oh, Kachan, ever striving for the stars, pains me to say but can't deny I respect it.'

The fowl-tempered boy stood on his desk with unearned triumph as he boasted, "It's the only place worthy of me. I aced all the mock tests, and I'm the only one at this school who stands a chance of getting in. I'll surpass even All Might and become the top hero! I'll trample anyone in my path, ally or enemy. Villains will fear my name, and it all starts with UA High!"

With that boast complete the class seemed almost too stunned to even argue, a fair reaction to Kachan's gall. 'Heh, maybe I'll get through this unscathed after-"

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, you wanted to go to U.A., too, right?"

'shit'

After a brief moment of silence following the teacher's almost blase statement the class erupted into laughter. "You can't get into the hero course just by studying!" "There is no way you're getting into the hero course without a quirk!" "And you thought UA would take you, be real!"

Maybe it was pride or just built-up annoyance, but a part of him was tempted to shout back, tired of the mockery. But before he could try a sudden buzzing filled his head. It was loud and tickled his brain, 'what?' It was a whisper in his ear, telling, him, to, 'DODGE'. Acting on instinct he jumped out of his chair and onto the desk of the boy behind him. And just as he did that a flaming palm smashed through his desk in what he quickly realized had been a rage-filled attack from Bakugo.

Though slightly confused by Midoriya's dodge Bakugo paid it little mind as he tore into him.

"Listen up, Deku. You're even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe." he spat with a hateful glare, "You really think they'll let someone like you in when they can have me?!"

Feeling dazed by that weird headache and annoyed at his desk being destroyed the seemingly powerless boy felt his nerves steel as he let out a sigh, "N-No Kachan, I'm not competing with you. But, if I want to be a hero, I'm gonna try to shoot for the top, just like you."

Shocked by his own words he in vain hoped that Bakugo would too be taken aback enough to not be mad, he was wrong. "WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY DEKU!? YOU WANNA ACT LIKE YOU'RE ANYWHERE NEAR ME! YOU'RE QUIRKLESS, WORTHLESS, and we are not equals. I'm not trying to shoot for the top, I am at the top, if you can't see that, that's just another reason why you're nothing by a worthless Deku!"

To be honest, this wasn't anything new, he'd heard it all before, but now, something about it struck harder.

"Don't, even, try." And as if to seal the point Bakugo attempted to backhand him, only for his arm to be caught as Midoriya's hand shot up, much to its owner's shock. Bakugo grits his teeth at the audacity and attempts to send a punch Midoriya's way, only for the boy to jump off the desk, landing next to a nearby classmate.

"Children settle down!" the teacher tried to reprimand, only to be ignored by the rage-blind Bakugo and the panicking Midoriya. Bakugo sent another punch, now engulfed in smoke as his anger overtook him. Midoriya was about to dodge but realized the student he landed near would get hit too. Not sparing a moment to think he tackled the student out of their chair just before Bakugo's punch swung where they had just been.

"Sorry!" Midoriya yelled as he clambered up, trying to run from Bakugo. But before he could escape a couple of Bakufo's cronies stepped in the way of the door as Bakugo clambered over the desk to get to him. He continued to run but was eventually cornered.

"DEKU!" seeing no other choice he in vain swung his arms up to block the oncoming assault, knowing it'd be ineffective. Only, the assault never came. Instead, a flurry of awed gasp filled the room.

"Holly Shit"

"No Way"

"Impossible"

"He, He knocked him out!"

'What?' Looking up he found, to his shock and horror, found Bakugo lying face first nearly three feet away. "Ka, Ka-Chan?"

Finally acting, his teacher raced across the classroom and checked on the passed-out punk. "Someone go get the nurse."

Not sure how to react he looked to his classmates only to be met with what he could only describe as looks of terror. 'What's happening to me.'