Midoriya always valued a good night's sleep. He certainly needed the energy after he started training with Rapture. Even though they had only been training for 2 days at this point, Midoriya still got a heavy hit to his overall energy. The fact it was Monday didn't help things either, the weekend seemed to fly right by, as Midoriya had spent literal hours training Rapture's symbiote abilities at that junkyard of a beach.

Thankfully however, the fact it was a school day actually benefited him, as he wouldn't be wasting his energy training from the relentless workouts Rapture forced him through. On top of that, it was a half-day, so Midoriya could conserve even more energy for the coming school week, energy that Rapture would most likely force him to use up during yet another brutal training session when Saturday came.

Midoriya thought the symbiote was strange in a way regarding their relationship, it had made clear to him that their symbiosis wasn't by choice or desire, but by the simple need of survival. Rapture actually seemed to have absolutely no compassion or sympathy for Midoriya, which rubbed the boy the wrong way at times.

Despite all this. The questionable relationship, the disagreements, the misunderstandings of Earth and humanity by Rapture, Midoriya still felt grateful for the alien. Without the symbiote, Midoriya would have not had a chance to become a Hero, to fulfill his lifelong dream. Sure, they had their disagreements, but in the end they were still-

WHAM!

Midoriya rolled over in pain, as he noticed a green tendril withdraw back into his shoulder. Falling onto the floor, he was unable to make a sound, it hurt… on indescribable levels.

Rapture had used a blunt tendril to strike him… right in the groin.

Yep, here comes that back-and-forth negativity towards the symbiote. "Rapture… What the hell?" Midoriya choked out as he protectively held his groin. "What? You told me before that you didn't want me to slap you in the face to wake you up, so I had to come up with something else." Rapture explained as if smashing a boy's groin was a normal way to wake them up, its snake-form emanating from Midoriya's shoulder.

"For the love of God… why can't you just allow me to use an alarm clock?" Midoriya asked, still feeling aftershocks of pain. "Don't you remember what happens to me when loud noises are unleashed? Ungodly pain…" Rapture reminded him, as Midoriya got up after the pain subsided.

"Whatever… I gotta get dressed for school…" Midoriya said, stretching his arms out. Manifesting about a dozen tendrils, Rapture quickly dressed Midoriya into his uniform, as he ate his breakfast and went out of the house.

"Izuku… walking is far too human for us… I have a better idea!" Rapture announced, as it manifested 4 large tendrils on his back, which picked up Midoriya like a spider as he cleared entire blocks in seconds. As they got near Aldera Junior High, the tendrils as well as Rapture;s snake-form disappeared back into Midoriya before anyone could notice, as he went through the door. Midoriya didn't like Rapture to be seen or heard in public, so it usually agreed to talk with its host using the" mouth on a tendril" technique. Rapture's words, not his.

"Got a half day today, so that means only… Math, Foreign History, Hero Studies, and…" Midoriya mumbled, forgetting some words. "Biology II…" Rapture added, finishing the sentence for him.

The school day went on pretty normally, well, as normally of a day could go for the symbiote host Izuku Midoriya. Nothing much of note or of that much interest occurred until Midoriya's final class. Today's lesson in Biology II was all about identifying organisms that use other organisms to survive, entities that fall into the broad category of "symbiote".

"Now you see class, symbiotes are creatures that use other creatures for survival. For example, the tapeworm. It lives inside your body and feeds off the digested food in your stomach. There are other things that aren't "symbiotes" but still require other living things to function, think of a sheep. They graze on grass, grass is a plant, and plants are living things." The teacher said, enthusiastic in his lecture.

As the students took more and more notes on what the teacher was saying, he suddenly shifted the topic without warning. "Remember that strange sludge that was pouring out of the meteorite that crashed last October? That could be some kind of entity in the symbiote class, it was reported to be connecting itself and absorbing nutrients from the ground around it! Probably some kind of extraterrestrial planet-like substance, it even drew energy from the soil!" The teacher added, albeit a little too excitedly.

Everyone turned to the back of the classroom when they heard an annoyed scoff, one that could have come from no one but Katsuki Bakugo, still irritated that everyone was still talking about that damn sludge. "Can it nerds! Why should we give a crap about some damn space plant?" The blond angrily complained to the whole class.

"It's not just a plant Kacchan, it's so much more than that." Midoriya corrected, as the bully sat up from his seat. "The hell you know about some foreign sludge nerd?" Bakugo yelled. "Well, that "sludge" is actually-" Midoriya began before his body jerked painfully as he noticed Rapture's symbiotic tentacles start to form. Thinking quickly, he covered it with his hoodie.

"Hmm? Midoriya? Are you ok?" The teacher asked as several classmates giggled at Midoriya's sudden jerking and shaking as he sat at his desk. "I-I-I'm f-fine… can I please use the restroom?" Midoriya asked, as this was the only way to prevent Rapture from doing God-Knows-What.

The teacher granted permission, and Midoriya fought for control as he raced to the nearest bathroom, locking himself in the toilet stall. Unbeknownst to the class, during the scene of Midoriya rushing out, Bakugo had slipped away as everyone was distracted. The blond bully secretly followed Midoriya, intent on discovering what was going on.

Midoriya locked himself in the toilet stall, hoping to God that no one noticed the symbiote. As he calmed down, Rapture's neck and bulbous head manifested from his shoulder, the usual black spiral on its face instead contorted into jagged lines that spun into the middle, Rapture's first physical display of emotion: Anger.

"You idiot, a whole room of living bodies is suspicious of me… It will be hard to deal with the aftermath, but their deaths are necessary for my survival.'' Rapture said, showcasing its single desire of self-preservation. "WHAT!?" Midoriya screamed out loud. "Did you not hear me? You put my security at risk, and as a consequence, I have to plan out how to kill an entire room of 30 adolescents!" Rapture reiterated.

"I wasn't gonna tell them about you! I was just gonna say how the meteor was more than met the eye!" Midoriya hastily protested, as Rapture scoffed, arguing that this is the most efficient way to preserve its identity.

Unknown to boy nor symbiote, Bakugo had entered the bathroom too, he was now listening to what from his perspective, was Quirkless Deku talking to some unknown dark voice. Bakugo eyed the stall suspiciously, hoping to catch the green-haired teenager by surprise when he would exit the stall.

"With an entire classroom watching your back, they will surely discover me at some point. Because of this, I must kill them. Don't you dare get in my way!" Rapture yelled as he tried to bash the stall door off its hinges. "I won't let you do that, especially not to Kacchan!" Midoriya yelled. "You care about that asshole?" Rapture questioned, legitimately surprised. "Don't you dare call him that! He's my friend!" Midoriya announced to the symbiote.

When Midoriya uttered the word "friend", it sent Rapture into a frenzy. Busting the stall door right off its hinges, both Quirkless boy and symbiotic alien were surprised to see Bakugo in the restroom with them, who was startled by the green tendrils coming out of Midoriya's body. The tendrils quickly withdrew into Midoriya, as Rapture, using an eye-tendril on Midoriya's leg, spied Bakugo angrily.

"Deku, what the hell was that?" Bakugo asked the shy teen, who for all he knew, was Quirkless. "Uh… what was what?" Midoriya responded, trying his best to get out of the situation. Little did they know, Rapture was already planning its murder plot for Bakugo. With a whole classroom suspicious of the alien, it would be better to just kill them all, then try to find a way to pin it on its host, Midoriya, which would finally give it an excuse to separate from him and find a new host who wasn't a goody two-shoes wimp.

However, said host could get in the way…

Not knowing the alien's intentions, Midoriya nervously awaited Bakugo's response. "You know damn well what I'm talking about Deku! You broke the door with those freaking tentacles! How do you explain that, Quirkless freak!?" Bakugo yelled, demanding an answer. "B-B-But… there w-w-weren't any te-tentacles Kacchan! I swear!" Midoriya blurted out defensively, he really couldn't figure out a way to get out of this conversation.

Bakugo just crossed his arms, looking judgmentally at Midoriya. " Well if these tentacles were just some acid trip, then who were you talking to? I heard 2 voices in that stall." Bakugo revealed, putting Midoriya into panic mode.

He has to come up with an excuse, something he could use to throw Bakugo off. Maybe he could lie and say he was rehearsing for Drama Club. Yes! That wi- no, wait, he quit Drama Club a week ago. Midoriya went through excuse after excuse in his mind, not realizing that, back in the real world, he had just been standing silently for about 2 whole minutes.

"C'mon Deku! Don't make me beat the answers out of you!" Bakugo yelled, putting Midoriya back to his senses. In a panic, without thinking, Midoriya gave the first excuse that came out of his mind. "I WAS TALKING TO MY MOM ON THE PHONE!" Midoriya blurted out, not realizing he had just screamed in Bakugo's face.

Wiping the spit off, Bakugo just glared, dumbfounded and almost offended by the Quirkless student's answer. "Last time I checked your mom doesn't sound like The Big Bad Wolf, so who was it? I'm not a dumbass Deku, just give me the damn answer!" Bakugo yelled.

Reaching the breaking point of its patience, Rapture went forth with its plan. About a dozen green tendrils suddenly manifested around Midoriya, sharp and almost like spears. Bakugo stumbled back in surprise but didn't lose his footing. "W-What the Hell!?"

The dangerous tentacles lashed out at Bakugo, who managed to dodge and parry most of them, but was caught and thrown from the restroom into the hallway. Hitting the wall, a violent, cringe-inducing crack could be heard, as Bakugo painfully slumped to the ground.

His spine had been damaged badly, he could have been paralyzed. Rapture practically dragged Midoriya out into the hallway to continue the one-sided fight. Midoriya begged the symbiote to stop, but there could be nothing to hinder Rapture's assault. Looking around rapidly, Midoriya noticed the fire alarm, just out of reach.

He didn't think he was stupid enough to pull the fire alarm when there was no fire. Then again, he didn't think he was stupid enough to accept that his perfect record of "No Detention" would be completely shattered either. He definitely didn't think that he was stupid enough to sink his reputation among classmates and faculty alike.

But apparently, Midoriya was stupid enough to do all that and then some. Maybe Bakugo was right, maybe he was an idiot.

"Izuku, you wanted to talk?"

Midoriya sat in the living room, running his hands through his hair. How did it come to this? First detention, then the principal's office, and now this. Inko paced frantically around the kitchen, wondering what her son wanted to speak about. She had certainly become rather confused by his recent behavior: Frequent outings to "the park", eating meat and candy like an addict, and talking to himself. Now, Midoriya had asked her to talk with him about a confession.

"Mom I-... I have something to tell you…" Midoriya began, struggling to find a way to put his situation into words. He wanted to tell her, he needed to. Rapture had given him enough problems already with the relentless training over the past week, as well as almost harming Bakugo today during school hours. Telling Inko the truth would lift an enormous weight off his chest, a weight he wanted to evict immediately.

"I-It's about what happened last month, that day I was late, the day of that meteor strike." He began, as Inko stopped pacing. "After school, a quarantine zone had been set up that restricted my way home… and if I didn't bypass it, I would have been much later back home. So… I trespassed and tried to skip through." Midoriya began, as his mother looked at him, not understanding where this was going, "And then, I came to the epicenter and… uh…"

He stopped, frozen in fear. A long tendril had discreetly slithered behind Inko, picked up a knife, and was now holding it high above her head. Midoriya stared in horror as another tendril manifested on the back of his neck, forming a small mouth that spoke into his ear.

"Don't."

Midoriya started to speak again but Rapture's tendril started to lower the knife, damn it, he couldn't speak.

"What were you saying Izuku?"

No.

"Izuku, why did you stop talking? What's wrong?"

The knife was getting lower.

"Izuku, tell me what's wrong!"

He couldn't.

"Please!"

He can't.

"Izuku, I'm your mother! What's wrong with you!?"

The knife was getting even lower now, inching towards her neck.

"Izuku plea-"

"SHUT UP!"

There was a dead silence that followed the outburst, both mother and son didn't speak for another 20 seconds. Neither knew what to think, what to say. The knife had stopped moving, which was the only good thing to come from this conversation. Tears formed in the son's eyes as he spoke to his terrified mother.

"I… I can't…" Midoriya cried. He wouldn't tell her. He couldn't. Inko just looked at her son, bewildered at his irrationality. Rapture's tendril set the knife down and secretly withdrew back into his body, as Midoriya went up the stairs. "I'm going to bed, just… Mom, I don't want to talk about it right now."

Midoriya laid in his bed angrily, as Rapture's snake-form manifested from his shoulder. "Izuku, you seem upset." Rapture said, a hint of empathy in its voice. Midoriya groaned and got up from bed, looking angrily at the alien. "Izu-"

"Don't 'Izuku' me!" Midoriya yelled at Rapture, cutting it off, "You wanted to kill my classmates! Kacchan! MOM!"

"Midoriya, I'm only doing what's in our best interest-"

"Oh! Our best interest!? Hell no! You only care about yourself!" Midoriya berated, cutting Rapture off again.

"Without this symbiosis, especially in the time we are now, neither of us will survive." Rapture said.

"Survive? SURVIVE!? I'm not a wild animal Rapture!" Midoriya shouted back, just barely on the edge of punching Rapture in its stupid, sociopathic, slimy face.

"Then what the Hell are you? Nothing, nothing without me!" Rapture yelled, raising its voice. "Well, what if I don't want you anymore? What if I don't want to engage in this symbiosis? What if I want to, God forbid, LIVE WITHOUT YOU!?" Midoriya complained, realizing that maybe harboring an alien parasite wasn't worth it to become a Hero.

At that, Rapture slapped him in the face with a tendril and pinned him to the wall with even more, all while Midoriya was helpless to escape. "Listen here, I didn't want to be stuck with your defiant, whiny, Quirkless ass either! But here we are, so deal with it! Neither of us would be alive were it not for the other, because that's the GODDAMN POINT OF SYMBIOSIS!"

Midoriya tried to talk back in protest, but gave up, instead letting the parasite speak its nature-oriented mind. "Without me, you could never become a Hero! You could never live your greatest dream! We could never advocate for a greater, ultimate good! I could understand wanting close creatures remaining alive, but does that really take priority over your own life?"

"Well unlike you, I actually value others, I actually care about other people like I care about myself." Midoriya said. "Why? Why do this?" Rapture challenged.

"Because I'm a human being!"

"Human…"

The word was said with such malice and discontent that Midoriya was unable to formulate a proper response.

"So you think that because you're a mostly-hairless primeape who lives off the sloppily constructed objects of various shapes and utilities of your ancestors, that you are better? That you are greater than other animals? Why? Because your species invented an excuse to not use their legs, or as you call it, a car? Because your species is so braindead that it has to invent specially designed facilities to keep basic knowledge going, or, schools? Because your species is so divided you invent systems that do nothing but ruin it even further, or, politics? Look Midoriya, don't compare me with the likes of your species. Klyntar don't waste their lives listening to mind-numbing audio like "the television", symbiotes don't wage wars on each other, nor do we demean others based on differing opinions, because we don't even waste our brain power to think differently for the sake of being different. In fact, the creatures on this planet you call "animals", are more human than your species ever will be!"

Once Rapture had finished its diatribe, Midoriya attempted to argue back but it bore no fruit. Anything and everything he said in defense of humanity was shot down by Rapture. After reluctantly admitting Rapture was correct (or rather, saying Rapture was right so he could make the alien shut up), Rapture let go of Midoriya and the teen laid back down in bed.

As he closed his eyes to get some well-deserved rest, he could help but notice a few rustling noises and Rapture mumbling to itself. Midoriya looked over his shoulder to notice Rapture reading a few books, in fact, half of his bookshelf was just spilled all over the floor. "What are you doing?" Midoriya groaned, too tired and angry to even care about the mess in his room. "Reading, I do this every night, it's how I've learned so much in such a short time. It pains me to have to listen to this slop, but I couldn't communicate with you or understand your society if I didn't."

"Alright just… keep the noise down…" Midoriya grumbled as he laid his head down on the pillow, pulling the covers up and falling asleep. He and the symbiote certainly have disagreements, big ones. But in the end, they were still a team (nonconsensually), and this teamwork was about to be put to the test. Why?

The UA Entrance Exam was just a few months away…

But as Midoriya slept in his bed and Rapture read his collection of books, an all-too familiar blond was laying in a hospital bed, having intensive treatment on his spine. His name was Katsuki Bakugo.

Bakugo was hurt badly. Doctors said he almost could have almost been paralyzed, but worst to Bakugo, he would never become a Hero in the state he was in.

His future was robbed from him suddenly, unable to react, his dream stolen by a cynical adversary us humans have named "fate".

He cried, rare for the explosive teen. Cursing Midoriya in his head. "Damn Deku, you did this to me…" Bakugo whispered to himself. He could barely move, barely live. Doctors had to feed him, dress him, wipe his ass for him.

Bakugo had been humiliated, his life changed by the one person he assumed to hold no power at all: Izuku Midoriya.

Deku.

He laid there defeated, hoping that somehow, he would get a miracle. Unfortunately, no miracle would come that night, or at least, not yet.

The only good thing to come of this was that with proper medical intervention, like surgery or crutches, he could have a somewhat normal life. But again, he would never go to UA, he would never become a Pro-Hero.

Bakugo felt as though the hospital bed had become one with him, he was barely able to move at the moment. In time, he could walk. In time, he could run. In time, he could rejoin society.

But he could never become a Hero, and in his mind, that fact was beating him over the head.

Unsuspecting of the boy, his parents had arranged for a guest to visit him, a blond guest clad in red, white, and blue, who also happened to hold the title of #1 Hero. Bakugo willed his pained body to look at the man who he idolized since birth. His favorite Hero: All Might.

"All… Might..?" He croaked, barely able to get the words out. "Yes, I am here." All Might responded, his usual heroic tone replaced by a sorrow and sympathetic voice, as he wanted to instead comfort the unfortunate blond student. All Might got down on one knee next to Bakugo's hospital bed, conversing with the explosive teen about what had happened.

"Well… I got into a bad fight and… well, what you're looking at speaks for itself…" Bakugo muttered, "Who was this person if you don't mind me asking?" All Might inquired, as Bakugo let out a weak chuckle. "Just some Quirkless geek at my school who wants to be a Hero… Deku."

"Deku? That's a strange name…" The blond Hero responded. "Well, it's not really a name, just something I call him, which means useless." The crippled teen weakly replied, as he looked at his hero. All Might looked back with a serious face, he was now much more interested in Bakugo's dilemma, and hoped he could discuss this with the boy. The parents had asked him to comfort their son during the hospital stay, so he wouldn't be suffering the whole time. It was the least he could do, so All Might wasted no time.

"Am I correct in my assumption that you and 'Deku' don't get along together?" The #1 Hero asked, confident in his assumptions. "Yes, we don't get along- Well… it's not that we don't get along, more like, I myself don't get along with him but he's totally fine with me." Bakugo replied, confused as to where this conversation was going.

"How long have you two known each other?" All Might asked.

"We've known each other since kindergarten, we had actually been pretty good friends for the most part. But after he realized he was Quirkless, he still stuck around, dreaming of being a Hero anyway… We were still friends, but it was when we hit 2nd Grade that I really started to dislike him." Bakugo weakly explained.

"Well, would you mind telling me why that is?" All Might asked, looking reassuringly at the boy.

"Well, uh… it's because Deku's wasting his life chasing after me. He's Quirkless, yet he wants to be like me, to stand alongside me as a Hero. But he can't. It infuriates me to see him gush about Heroes because he could never be one, and then he denies reality over and over and OVER again!" Bakugo explained, attempting to sit up but failing.

All Might chuckled at Bakugo's response, giving off his trademark smile. "To me, it sounds less like you despise him, and more like you feel sympathetic towards him being Quirkless, and as such, unable to achieve his dream." He said, instantly rubbing Bakugo the wrong way.

"Sympathetic!? The hell are you smokin'?" Bakugo retorted, his usual personality back in full force. "It's clear that, in some way, shape, or form, you harbor sympathy towards your classmate. If you did hate him, why would you say he's 'wasting his life' trying to be a Hero? That just makes it sound like you feel bad for him being Quirkless." All Might replied, stumping Bakugo.

No, no way. Him? Having a shred of positivity towards Deku?

"What!? Hell no! That Quirkless idiot doesn't deserve any sympathy, especially not from me!" Bakugo said, accidentally shouting at All Might. Ignoring the fact Bakugo just raised his voice at him, All Might continued. "Well… did 'Deku' choose to be born Quirkless? Was that his choice? No. Similarly, was it your choice to be born WITH a Quirk? Again, no."

"Then what is this about?" Bakugo asked as All Might quickly replied. "I just want to know why it is you feel so hostile towards-"

"Because I'm better than him! I'm better than everyone! I always get the highest grades in school, greatest scores in the arcade, I do everything everyone else does but better!" Bakugo bloated, finally managing to sit up.

All Might gained a serious expression for a moment. He had thought that perhaps Bakugo's main problem against his classmate was because he was spiteful towards 'Deku' breaking his back, or maybe he just didn't want to admit that he harbored any positive opinion towards someone who dreamed of something impossible.

But no, it appeared that the primary issue that plagued Bakugo and his classmate's relationship was Bakugo's excessive pride. All Might narrowed his gaze but kept his smile, finally, he was getting somewhere.

"Now, now, Young Bakugo… Being proud of your own achievements is one thing, but believing you are better than everyone else? Rather unheroic in my eyes." All Might advised, knowing that Bakugo probably wouldn't listen immediately. Bakugo accrued a disgusted facial expression, although he was holding back his temper, not wanting to straight-up lash out against his idol. "Hell no! Sure, I'm proud of myself, but I have what it takes to back it up! What does Deku have? Nothing, that's what. I'm better than him because I can do things he can't!"

"Would you say that to someone who was born without legs?"

Bakugo had to do a double-take, his brain short-circuited for a moment when All Might asked that question. "What?" He blurted out, surprised by what the #1 Hero had asked. "Would you say to someone who was born without legs, that you are better than them, because you can walk while they can't?" All Might questioned.

"I-... Uh…" Bakugo droned, unable to actually come up with an answer, let alone an excuse.

"If no, then why do you insist you are better than this… 'Deku'? Because he's Quirkless? Everyone is born either with a Quirk or without, but never of their own will. So, what is it? What is the reasoning for this hostility?"

Bakugo didn't respond, so All Might instead answered the question for him. He had a pretty good idea of what actually caused Bakugo to end up like this. "It's not that you are better, it's that you were raised to think that way." All Might concluded to the hospitalized teen, who actually managed to cough out a response this time.

"So? It's how I was raised, what's wrong with that?" He croaked, unable to understand All Might's logic. "Think about it this way: Imagine 3 scenarios of the same child being raised by completely different families by birth. Depending on how they're raised, that same exact child will grow up into a wildly different person. One scenario may have them grow up as an insecure yet intelligent scientist, while another may have them develop into a self-centered and simple-minded hustler. My point is, because of the way you've been raised, you believe that you're better than everyone else." The Hero responded.

The explosive teen seemed to almost gag, looking at All Might with a confused expression. "The hell are you on about? These are my thoughts, this is how I think! How I am!"

Bakugo, these are not your thoughts, this is simply what you've been conditioned to think since birth, what others have impressed onto you, either by accident or on purpose." All Might said, his voice a little more authoritative now.

"Ok? So what are you trying to tell me?" Bakugo asked, believing All Might was trying to go somewhere with this. "You need better guidance, someone who could raise you to think better of others. A teacher, a mentor, anyone. Someone who could give you a gift, a gift that will lead you down a better path, but you have to prove that you deserve that gift!" All Might proposed, pointing at Bakugo's chest for extra emphasis on him.

Bakugo was conflicted, he didn't really know what to think. On one hand, he didn't like the idea that he would have to see Midoriya in a greater light, that disgusted him, rubbed him in the absolutely worst way he could go. On the other hand though, the idea that his thoughts and opinions weren't even his own, really messed him up on the inside.

Was everything he believed fake?

Was he and Midoriya on equal grounds?

Was black licorice actually good?

Bakugo just stared into space, dumbfounded by this revelation. He and All Might talked a bit more about his pride and the effects of how his upbringing affected him, and soon enough, it was time for All Might to leave. Both conflicted bully and world-renowned Hero said their goodbyes, and as All Might left, Bakugo was left with nothing but the hospital furniture, a television, and the chilly air of the room.

The Next Day…

The night didn't take that long to pass for Izuku Midoriya. One of the positives of being the host of an alien symbiote was getting a good night's sleep, but then came the tradeoff, when said-symbiote woke him up by punching him in the dick.

Rapture was not a fan of alarm clocks, given its innate weakness to loud noises, and it sure liked to make it known. How did Rapture communicate its displeasure of Midoriya waking up via alarm clocks? Why only the most sensible option of course:

Keeping a secret journal of ways to wake up Midoriya (usually very violent ones) that didn't rely on the 'small metal demon device from Hell', also known as the alarm clock.

Yep, that's right! Midoriya and Rapture were in the middle of an argument after Rapture showed its intellect regarding the best places to make a man feel pain. The worst part? In defense of its ludicrous violence, revealed to Midoriya that it had a list of many, many, many alternate options, some of which made the Quirkless boy question the alien's mental state.

"Why does this one say 'surprise circumcision'?"

"What? As long as the body part still works, it doesn't matter what I do to it."

The argument would have gone on for hours had it not been for Inko, who yelled to Midoriya from downstairs that he had to quickly get ready for school. Midoriya quickly got dressed and brushed his teeth, but as he was doing so, felt a sudden and vicious pain in his stomach, before violently vomiting out a familiar green sludge into the toilet. "Ugh… this again?" He complained as he wiped the rest from his mouth.

"You're still vomiting?" Rapture said, confused and gazing at Midoriya from its snake-form. "Yeah, care to explain this?" Midoriya choked, as he then vomited out even more sludge. "I personally have never seen any of my previous hosts from other planets do this before, although those hosts were significantly easier to bond with thanks to their lack of emotions…"

"Are you saying that this vomit is from me having actual feelings?" Midoriya inquired, hoping that he wouldn't vomit again. Rapture generated a smaller tendril under its snake-form, stroking its chin as though to emulate thinking. "I feel that… in a way… this could tie to my inability to access all of my powers. It seems that I am unable to bond with you, not only because I am not yet used to the human form, but also that you are emotionally rejecting me."

"So you think that my body is trying to get rid of you by vomiting you out, because I don't have the mental capacity to accept bonding with you?" Midoriya croaked as yet another mass of green sludge came up in a hurl. Rapture confirmed his theory, before Midoriya slowly turned his face to him, a smart-ass tone in his voice.

"Well maybe my body would be more accepting of you if you didn't try to kill my entire class, best friend, and my own mother all in the span of a few hours, huh?"

"Oh please, you're still on about that? I thought you got over it!" Rapture groaned, as Midoriya washed out his mouth. "Be realistic Rapture, it's gonna take me a while to forgive you for that stunt, be happy I'm still harboring you inside my body." The Quirkless student responded. "A symbiote isn't the kind of creature to just accept an insult like that, watch your mouth Midoriya, or you might end up going to bed without one." Rapture threatened, as Midoriya exited the bathroom.

As Rapture exited back into Midoriya's body, he fed himself with his mother's cooking, took up his backpack, and headed out. Over the course of his walk to school, he managed to convince Rapture to not hurt his classmates anymore, hoping the symbiote would forgo its intended hit list of his friends. Thankfully, the alien obliged, but only if Midoriya could lie his way out of the suspicions of his classmates.

Nothing rather eventful happened at school that day, just the usual. Regular classes, a few tests, avoiding bullies. However, Midoriya did take care to keep a good eye out for Bakugo, as the explosive bully probably dreamed up a "How To Kill Deku '' plan over the course of the night. Thankfully or not, Bakugo was not in school today. Midoriya felt a cold chill creep up his spine. How bad had Rapture hurt Bakugo yesterday? Was he hospitalized? Paralyzed? Was he- no, no. He didn't want to think about that at the moment.

As the final bell rang, Midoriya stretched his arms as he watched the almost endless sea of students pour out the doors alongside him. As he was walking home, he felt his cell phone ring and buzz. He took it out of his pocket, finding out that it was a text message from his mother.

"Izuku, please get milk, eggs, and salmon at the Kiyashi-Ward Shopping Mall. When you get home, I placed some money on the kitchen counter for your troubles. I love you."

He quickly sent a reply and put his phone back into his pocket. Knowing his mother, she was probably too stressed with work to take the time to get some groceries at the moment. He sighed, even if it cut a solid half-hour into his day, he would still happily oblige with what his mother was asking. Midoriya then took a shortcut to the mall (yes, he even planned out shortcuts to stores in his head, because unlike a lot of people these days, Midoriya actually cares about saving time.)

Midoriya enjoyed walking to and from school rather than relying on something like a school bus, it gave him a good excuse to look at all the nature his neighborhood gladly possessed, as he never really got chances to go outside these days anyway. It was always 1 of 3 different things: He was stuck inside finishing homework, obsessively reading about Heroes until the sky turned dark, or on the rare chance he got to head outside, Rapture would force him to go endlessly train at that God-forsaken beach.

The leaves were violently shook by the powerful wind, a force of nature that seemed meager to anything greater in size. The slightest of breezes would ruthlessly assault anyone's warmth were they not prepared with a coat or jacket, as was the frosty legacy of post-fall. On this planet, the smallest of things were usually the most influential, living or not. With how incredible even the most microscopic entities or substances could be, there's no wonder why the towering, almost imposing visage of the Kiyashi-Ward shopping mall commanded the attention of all who had the privilege to possess eyes on their body.

The mall was absolutely massive. Built over 40 years ago, and having been constructed in only 5, many made the sensible suggestion that it should be labeled a world wonder, truly a symbol of humanity's engineering expertise.

However, the almost impossible size of the monument to commerce came with a bad downside: The fact it was a giant maze. Reliably finding whatever you were looking for in this building was not going to help, nor would the lazily constructed maps dotted all around the many corners, hallways, and restrooms, which were more of a hindrance than a help.

Midoriya knew this all too well. Only 7 previous times had his mother either asked or brought him along to the mall to get at least 3 items, and they would exit the megastore in a little under 2 hours (and that's if they're lucky). Midoriya hastily trotted around the store for a good 20 minutes at first, trying to find the seemingly only store that sold all 3 of the edibles he was after. Whenever you had to buy from Kiyashi-Ward, you had 2 options:

1, scour the place for the lone store that has all your intended items or… 2, visit multiple stores for a single item each.

Thankfully, Midoriya only needed to concern himself with option 1, although finding the store was the tricky part. And before you ask, he couldn't rely on Rapture if he wanted to, as the alien hadn't unlocked its entire arsenal of capabilities inside his body yet. Lucky for Midoriya, he found his intended destination after only an hour this time, a new record! Now all he needed to do was check out and-

"THERE'S SOME PSYCHO VILLAIN IN THE MALL!" Came the paralyzing yelp of a woman.

"Are you sure you're doing fine with the crutches Katsuki? The doctor said that with the damage on your spine, you shouldn't be walking until at least a month of physical therapy."

On the other side of the mall, was a blond teen who had just been released from the hospital. This teen was feisty, refusing to stay in that damn bed for any longer, so he stubbornly got a pair of crutches and started walking about a month too early. Who else would do this but the explosively prideful top tier of Aldera Junior High: Katsuki Bakugo?

"Of course I'm fine, I didn't need any of that physical therapy crap…" Bakugo grumbled as his parents looked at him disapprovingly. Their son could be a real piece of work, but this? His mother, Mitsuki, had made a mental note of immediately shoving the boy into PT the moment she got the chance. His father, Masaru, was more optimistic, hoping that their son was strong-headed enough to actually pull this off, but that would mean disagreeing with his wife, and it would be better left unsaid as to why that was a bad thing.

"Please don't talk to your mother like that," His father politely asked, not possessing the hot-headedness of his son nor his own wife. "I just want this to be a fun thing for us to do as a family, a family which is normal and not peculiar in any way."

Bakugo grumbled, turning around with his crutches as he scoffed at his father annoyingly. "Thanks, Dad… you really gotta shove it down my throat that I'm not gonna be a Hero? That I have to live a boring normal life? Some father you are…"

Right as that last word escaped Bakugo's lips, Mitsuki slapped him over the head as hard as she could, creating a concussive "crack" sound through the air. "Hush! No wannabe gremlin is gonna treat my husband like that! Now what your father said was right, we need some quality time as a family together. So I want you to shut up about this 'No Hero' crap!" Mitsuki commanded, eliciting a threatening aura to even the most hardened of bystanders.

"How about we visit the arcade? All your friends could be there, it would be really good for you, plus you get social activity." His father recommended, as Katsuki gave him a smart-ass tone. "Oh yeah sure, go to the arcade where none of my friends will be since it's a school night, and where I can't use my arms because I need to hold on to my crutches, great idea Dad!"

"Well, what if we do one of those raci- oh wait-"

"'Oh wait' is right you dumbass!" Bakugo fired back as he interrupted his father. This blatant insult of her husband and humiliation in public enabled Mitsuki a free pass to give her son another echoing slap across the head, eliciting even more stares from the strangers around them.

As the family bickered about their plans, the harrowing scream of what seemed to be a woman shook through the entire mall. "What the Hell was that?" Masaru questioned as he flinched from the shock. Bakugo immediately made a beeline for the noise, moving as fast as his crutches and almost-paralyzed body would allow him. Sure, he was now disabled and unable to be a Hero, let alone break the law and fight the villain illegally, but he wasn't gonna miss out on a good Hero-Villain fight.

However, there were no Heroes to be found, and it would take a while for any to show up. Bakugo made it to the source of the noise, the mall's center, and as his parents caught up with him, they finally laid eyes on the villain. Bakugo wondered what it could be. A badass Quirk no one has ever seen? A recurring villain he could recognize from TV? A newbie about to get slaughtered?

No, it was… just some guy.

He was a very skinny guy as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Very pale too, almost white-colored skin. He also looked somewhat old, profound wrinkles dotted around his face. His hair was… messy to say the least. It stuck up in this pompadour style but had a curly texture, as well as the ugliest shade of orange any eyeball could perceive. He was wearing a dirty green turtleneck made of cheap cotton, along with dark blue jeans of a similar quality, he also had no socks or shoes. He also didn't seem to be native to Japan either. A foreigner? Immigrant? No one knew, all they knew was the irrevocable searing sight of that expression in his eyes. The ginger had a… look to him. Like he had seen the 8th dimension, and then the 9th for good measure. Bakugo guessed that whatever was inside the man's head was better to have remained there, never to grace another soul.

"Do not fear me, I have come to free you from this challenge dubbed life!" The man proclaimed wildly, talking like a cultist as he pointed his knife at everyone in the crowd surrounding him, Bakugo cringed slightly as he noticed the knife was stained with blood a few years old at least. "All right, guess I'll choose myself…" The ginger growled as he glared at some members of the crowd, before picking out an elderly woman. She didn't move, so the crazed man forced her to the center, before taking his knife to her throat and holding her hostage.

From behind, two large muscular men from the crowd attempted to restrain him, but the unhinged man dodged their arms, spun around them, and quickly stabbed them in critical areas that would leave them unable to fight. The two men were easily dispatched, still alive, but not able to properly move thanks to the vicious injuries the insane guy had inflicted upon their legs. They crumpled to the ground, and a few people from the crowd dragged them away to safety.

"Don't anyone dare try that again, hear me? The ol' C.K. knows all of your tricks!" The knife-wielding man threatened the crowd around him, as he just went back to holding the poor elderly woman in danger. He picked her up and held her even tighter, pressing the knife into her neck deep enough to only make a minuscule cut.

"Now listen here… You're going to die, that's inevitable. I want you to see what's on the other side, you'll get to skip this miserable existence…" The redhead menacingly whispered into the senior citizen's ear. The old woman tried to protest, but the man who called himself 'C.K.' just strangled her even more, and wrestled her to the ground. "Don't worry, I'm giving you something desirable. You have lived for a long time and braved this challenge known as life. Now, you'll get the reward for competing in this unfair trial that is forced upon us: Death. Sweet, comforting, a release!

He held his knife high in the air, and brought down his arm to stab her-

"STOP THAT!"

Everyone turned around in shock to see a curly-haired teen in a school uniform, who had just brazenly yelled at a serial killer. Bakugo was even more surprised, what the Hell was the damn nerd doing here? Midoriya looked defiantly at C.K. even though his face was full of fear. C.K. gave the newcomer a serious look, then a shocked expression, there seemed to be something about the green-haired teen that triggered something inside him. C.K. accrued a sly smirk on his face, then incessant giggling, and finally maniacal laughter.

"Well, looks like we're not alone after all…" C.K. muttered to himself, as he picked up the woman from the floor and held her at knifepoint, "You gonna try and play Hero? Go on then…" He got into a defensive stance, prepared for this boy to show him whatever Quirk he possibly had, but the ginger damn well knew the boy had something else up his sleeve, something just like him.

"I won't, that would be vigilantism, which is illegal." Midoriya flatly said back, still nervous within the vicinity of the crazy ginger. "Oh? You won't bend the rules for the greater good? Perhaps you need motivation…" C.K. grimly chuckled as he violently–without warning nor hesitation–slit the elderly woman's throat. She fell to the ground, coughing up blood, and soon stopped moving not too long after. Her blood pooled on the floor, most of it coming out of her mouth and the large gash in her neck. In a sense, she was still clinging to life, as the immobile woman vomited out the rest of her blood, unsuccessfully begging her body just to let her die. Her suffering continued for another few minutes before she finally stopped coughing up blood, and her heart ceased beating.

At this, a few of the people in the crowd finally ran off, except for Bakugo and his parents, as well as the majority of the original crowd. They needed to keep this guy in check, couldn't just let him run loose after all. On the flip side, they couldn't stop him either, he easily dispatched any and all opponents. C.K. didn't bother to stop the ones who ran off. He didn't need nor want to stop them, barely even acknowledging the thought, it would be a waste in his eyes. Because now, he was much more interested in the boy, a boy that he sensed was similar to him.

"Huh? Is that not enough? Do I need to kill another? C.K. asked nonchalantly to a now paralyzed Midoriya, who was unable to think, move, or even scream.

Oh God, oh God…

No, No, he couldn't…

What had he gotten himself into?

Midoriya backed away a few steps, as he gazed at C.K. with a mix of hatred and terror. "You-... You're a sicko..!" He forced out of his mouth, finding it hard to speak in a situation like this. C.K. just started laughing, bending over in a fit, before transitioning to violent coughing and finally settling down. "Wow! Tell me something new!"

The knife-wielding serial killer then eyed a few remaining people and stopped upon Bakugo and his parents. He also took notice that the green-haired kid looked with volatility at this action. C.K. smirked, he had an excellently terrible idea. Morally terrible, logically excellent.

With the swiftness of someone who had a Speed Quirk, he grabbed Bakugo by the neck and held him to his blood-soaked knife. "Seems you have a connection with this on-"

"LET GO OF HIM!"

C.K. jumped back in shock, both surprised and amused by Midoriya's reaction. "Oh wow! That got you going huh?" He brought his knife up to Bakugo's neck, drawing some blood. "Let's see if this will motiva-"

WHAM!

Before he could even finish his entrance, Midoriya punched him in the face as hard as he could. C.K. dropped both the knife and Bakugo as he stumbled back, clutching his face in excruciating pain. "Damn! I really got to you there huh?" The skinny man laughed as he got up, revealing his broken nose and bloodied face. "You gonna show me what you two can actually do?" He asked as he twirled his knife in his hands playfully.

"What are you talking about?" Midoriya questioned as he kept an eye on Bakugo, relieved that the boy was taken back by his parents and they slowly backed away, yet stayed at the scene. Masaru, Bakugo's father, called a local Hero agency, while Bakugo felt the uneasy tension between the serial killer and his classmate. C.K. chuckled at Midoriya's response, before dropping a bombshell that was heard by the remaining people in the crowd.

"You know? Your symbiote!"

Shit!

Midoriya stepped back, stressing about the fact that for whatever reason, this guy knew his secret."I-I don't k-know what you're talking about!" He lied, as the man started advancing on him, gaining an intimidating aura.

"Oh? You forgot what your symbiote could do? Well then, allow us to refresh your memory!" C.K. cackled as 4 red tentacles suddenly burst out of his back, and he charged!

C.K. was a Hell of a lot faster than Midoriya expected, and before he could even perceive it, he was grabbed and smashed into a nearby wall, which cracked and partially fell apart under the force. Midoriya choked as C.K. strangled his neck with one hand, which was now morphing with red tendrils covering it, making it larger and stronger. Midoriya couldn't even cough if he wanted to, he had no open airway.

"Do you remember now?" The psycho asked with a laugh, as he put even more force into the one-handed strangeling. Midoriya couldn't respond if he wanted to, this made C.K. angry, as he grabbed Midoriya by the leg and slammed him into the floor, cracking it. Midoirya let out a blood-curdling scream, the pain was awful, oh so awful. It was as if his assailant was trying everything in his power to maximize the pain but minimize the lethality.

"If you're not gonna rely on your symbiote, then use your Quirk!" C.K. demanded as he stomped on Midoriya, preventing him from getting away. Midoriya groaned under the pain, before weakly replying back. "I don't have one…"

The ginger smirked, as his right leg seemed to swell up and become a little more red, as if it were puffing up beyond its limit.

"Quirkless eh? Our similarities keep PILING UP!" C.K. shouted as he kicked Midoriya into the opposite side of the mall, his swollen leg amplifying the strike. Midoriya smashed through one of the pillars holding up the 2nd floor, causing its rubble to be strewn around the impromptu battlefield. C.K. had definitely broken something now, a few bones at the absolute least.

Midoriya laid in the rubble, he found it hard to move, pinned under all this debris. Rapture's tendril formed on his neck, manifesting a mouth. It also manifested another tendril with an ear-like orifice.

"We need to fight back…" Midoriya croaked, he tried to get up but failed. Fear built up in him as he saw, with blurry and impeded vision, his attacker advanced closer.

"We can't, not in a situation like this. If we fight back, we'll be exposed. However, if we don't… you'll die. If you die, then I die. I'm sorry Midoriya, but you'll have to wait, try to survive until Heroes hopefully get here." Rapture whispered into his ear, before both tendrils receded back into his body.

Midoriya's breath was restless with fear as C.K. finally reached him, the pale man seemed to have an angry look on his face, angry that he hadn't unveiled his symbiote yet. The 4 red tentacles on his back restrained the student to the ground while C.K. picked up some large chunks of rubble off of Midoriya with his hands. He then used to give the Quirkless teen a ruthless beating, smashing him all over with the broken pieces of marble.

Midoriya screamed at the top of his lungs but was unable to fight back. A lot of the already-dwindling crowd who stayed to supervise the serial killer fled the scene, leaving only a few people to witness the helpless boy live at the mercy of the vicious psychopath.

C.K. had no mercy.

Blood was everywhere, the floor, staining his clothes, covering his attacker. His teeth were knocked out, and he felt ungodly pain. "USE IT!" C.K. erupted, as he smashed Midoriya with the chunks of marble so hard they shattered.

C.K. wasn't trying to kill, oh no no no. He knew how much the human body could take without dying, or at least, live for enough time for medics to arrive. He only granted death to those who he believed deserved it, preserved through its trials to earn the reward. This teenage boy fit no category of his, so this was instead about causing as much pain as possible, hopeful enough to convince the green-haired kid to unveil his symbiote. C.K. wouldn't cease the vicious attack until Midoriya fought him on equal grounds, symbiote to symbiote.

"The Heroes won't be here for another 10 minutes…"

"10 WHOLE MINUTES!? That's far too long!" Mistuki complained to her husband, as she saw him hang up the phone with whatever Hero Agency he was calling.

"There's nothing we can do, just wait and hope that poor boy can survive…" Masaru grumbled, holding his wife close to comfort her. Bakugo however cringed as he saw Midoriya being bloodied by the psychopath, who by his logic, seemed to have some kind of Quirk that gave him mutable red mass to use as a weapon, almost like…

"We need to leave. Katsuki, let's go." Mistuki suddenly announced, grabbing her son's shoulder as the family walked away. Bakugo was hesitant, even though he didn't like Midoriya one bit, it felt wrong to just… leave him here.

"Mom, wait, what about Deku?" He asked, holding on to his crutches as his mother tightened the grip on his shoulder.

"Katsuki, there's nothing we can do! We have to wait for the Heroes to arrive!" Mistuki yelled as she dragged Bakugo away with more force. Bakugo looked behind himself, that psycho C.K. was still assaulting Midoriya, covering the area around them with his blood.

No, even if the Heroes got her in time, it would be too late…

Midoriya's injuries were far too great to risk spending even more time for an ambulance, then bringing him to the hospital, and finally getting him to a doctor. No, he would die!

A memory came back to him, a vivid, violent memory from his childhood. One he had unsuccessfully hoped to forget.

"Kacchan! Wait for me!"

Two 4-year-old boys were venturing through the forest. One had hoped to catch butterflies and frogs, while the other wanted to find out if the rumors of a wolf pack dwelling within were true.

"C'mon Deku, speed it up a little!" Bakugo replied as he and his green-haired classmate had a little race through the woods. The trees and branches flew past their vision as the two kids rocketed past everything, only to find themselves in a small clearing alongside a flowing river.

"Kacchan look! Frogs!" Midoriya playfully announced as he quickly trapped one within his leg, and scooped it up in his hands, holding it by the stomach with its legs dangling, "Imagine if someone had a Quirk that turned them into a frog, wouldn't that be cool?"

"A Frog Quirk? Ha! Not in a million years!" Bakugo replied.

"You wanna catch some more?" Midoriya asked as he readied his net.

"Nah! It's just a bunch of silly frogs, I wanna see those wolves the cool kids at school talked about!" Bakugo proudly proclaimed as he started walking into the deeper, darker part of the forest. Turning back towards Midoriya, he accrued a confused expression. "Hey, you comin' or what? Come on, let's go see the wolves!" Bakugo yelled as he shot both his arms in the air and charged head-first into the unknown.

Midoriya felt anxious, but not wanting to seem uncool in front of his best friend, he reluctantly obliged, gently placing the frog back into the river and following Bakugo.

The sky was getting darker, soon, the nocturnal animals would come out to play. Midoriya started to become more fearful, he had learned about all the different nocturnal predators in science class, although Bakugo thought they were awesome. The owl, silently swoops down like a stalker of the night to catch its prey, he could have sworn he heard it's paralyzing cry not a moment ago.

The wolf, a badass carnivore that used teamwork to dispatch enemy combatants and dinner with legs, was truly one of Bakugo's favorite animals. He had come prepared, of course, with a flashlight and some candy bars in his backpack, but even he felt a little uneasy, to be honest.

"Kacchan, it's getting dark and scary, can we turn back?" Midoriya asked, eating a chocolate bar that Bakugo had brought.

"Toughen up Deku, we're almost at where the kids at school said to go anyway…" Bakugo replied, taking out a piece of chocolate from his backpack and munching on it.

"Well, can I have another bar then? I'm hungry." Midoriya replied, using puppy eyes to try and convince his best friend to try and give him at least one more. Bakugo sighed and looked back, taking out the wrapped bar from his backpack.

"Deku, this is our last bar, I'm saving it for the wolf." Bakugo replied.

"I don't think wolves eat chocolate Kacchan…" Midoriya fearfully replied as the sky started getting even darker.

"C'mon Deku, everyone loves chocolate!" Bakugo replied with a childish grin. "If we're lucky we should find-"

A menacing growl was heard from beyond a thicket of bushes, only seeable by Bakugo's weak flashlight. From what the two kids could make out, a large wolf with dark fur stepped out alongside a smaller cub. Its gender unknown, but motive unmistakable.

Bakugo hadn't thought of the danger of being around a wolf cub, because that meant a parent or two was coming for your ass. Bakugo ignored this fact however, proudly proclaiming, "Yes! See Deku? Those kids at school were right."

The adult wolf growled, protectively stepping in front of its cub. Bakugo had no fear however, and in his kid brain, believed that the candy he brought would pacify the beast. He took it out, holding the chocolate bar in his hand. "C'mon wolfy, have some chocolate!"

The carnivore didn't budge, so Bakugo decided to throw the candy bar to the wolf instead. Unfortunately, he put a little too much power into the throw, and ended up hitting its cub instead. The dark-furred wolf snarled in fury, before suddenly charging!

"Kacchan!"

Midoriya pushed away Bakugo to protect him from harm, and Bakugo stumbled back onto the ground, dropping both his backpack and flashlight. The wolf, originally targeting Bakugo, now went for Midoriya.

Bakugo couldn't visually make anything out, just the terrible screams of Midoriya as well as what sounded like tearing and snarling. He noticed the flashlight out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed it and shined it onto where he guessed the carnage was coming from.

The wolf was violently wrestinging little Midoriya in a shallow stream of water, Bakugo cringed as he saw the water turn red.

He could have stopped it, scared the wolf away with his Explosion Quirk or actually fight it off himself.

But no, he ran…

Ran back home, where by the time police found him, Midoriya was covered in gruesome gashes, his clothes strewn about. He was thankfully still alive, but it would take months–with medical intervention–for the injuries to heal.

All of that could have been prevented, everything.

If only Bakugo had not ran away. Well... he wasn't going to run away anymore.

"IZUKU!"

His body just moved on its own.

His legs were throbbing with pain, each step felt worse than the last. Bakugo didn't give a damn, not one!

"KATSUKI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" His mother cried out, grabbing his discarded crutches from the ground.

He ignored her.

He wasn't going to let the guilt of inaction plague him again, especially with someone who couldn't even help themselves.

Someone like De-... no. Someone like Izuku Midoriya.

As he rushed towards C.K. with no fear or thought, the words of All Might reverberated in his head.

"You need better guidance, someone who could raise you to think better of others. A teacher, a mentor, anyone. Someone who could give you a gift, a gift that will lead you down a better path, but you have to prove that you deserve that gift!"

He crossed his arms in an "X" fashion, charging up his Explosion Quirk. He launched himself forth and back in a spinning motion, creating a spiraling veil of explosions all around himself, as he rocketed towards Midoriya's attacker.

He always wanted to say these words…

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

He hit C.K. with all he got, launching the psychopath all the way across the long end of the mall. The red gooey mass he had generated seemed to burn up and withdraw into his body, and Bakugo could have sworn he heard it elicit an audible whimper. C.K. finally hit the other side of the mall, and smashed through it entirely!

Having defeated the villain in one large blast, he looked towards Midoriya. The kid was bruised badly, blood was practically everywhere. Had he not intervened when he did, Midoriya would have died before any Heroes even got to the mall.

The adrenaline died down soon after, and Bakugo crumpled to the ground, finally managing to stand when his parents gave him his crutches. Heroes soon arrived to tend to the injured and fix any damage, a body bag had to be brought in for the elderly woman that C.K. killed. While the two men who were stabbed were put in an ambulance.

However, when they looked through the blown up wall that C.K. had been smashed through, they didn't find a trace of the villain anywhere. Some Heroes took witness testimonies, so they could have a better chance at finding the guy, while medical Heroes assisted the injured.

Thankfully, they had saved someone with a Healing Quirk for Midoriya. It was the UA School Nurse of all people, Recovery Girl. However, Midoriya's injuries meant that he needed to stay in the hospital overnight, with Recovery Girl using her healing Quirk on him nonstop. Damage to the body like this would take at least a month to heal, and that's including her Quirk.

As for Bakugo, he and his parents drove home, with his mother bashing him over the head about what he did the whole time. A couple days later, a knock at the door was received.

"Honey, I think someone's at the door." Masaru called out while watching TV in the living room, another set of knocks were heard as he awaited his wife's reply.

"You answer it, I'm doing my makeup." Mitsuki yelled back. Masary sighed, and lazily got up from the couch before reaching the door and dragging it open.

"Whatever, this better not be one of your friends hoping for a girls night or- ALL MIGHT!?"

"Yes! I am here!" All Might proudly exclaimed to the shocked father. Masary just stood there, eyes wide and bulging, gazing in surprise at the #1 Hero of all people at his house.

"Wha- Mr. All Might, what are you d-doing here?" He asked, as the muscular blond gave his signature grin.

"I was hoping to speak with your son, Bakugo, was it?" All Might replied.

After some more conversation, Masaru brought down Bakugo to speak with Bakugo. The two were now speaking together on the backyard porch, Bakugo sat with All Might under a table with an umbrella, he was just as bewildered as his father, refusing to believe that he had freakin' All Might as a house guest.

"I saw what you did on the news, very impressive Young Bakugo!" All Might complimented, patting the significantly shorter teenager on the shoulder. Bakugo looked up at All Might, wondering what this was all about.

"Why are you congratulating me?" He asked to the all powerful icon of Japan.

All Might laughed as he replied, "I'm congratulating you because of what we talked about back at the hospital. You said that you despised the person you called 'Deku', yet you bravely charged against a villain with an unusual yet powerful Quirk, all to save the life of that boy. You've demonstrated growth and character Bakugo, something that a lot of aspiring Heroes today do not."

"All Might, I can't be a Hero, not like this? I'm almost paralyzed, I might even need physical therapy…" Bakugo complained, almost offended by what All Might had said.

"Bakugo, what is it that stopped you from running away like everyone else did?" All Might asked.

Bakugo looked down at the ground, in truth, he didn't know WHAT made him do that at all.

"I-... I don't know, my body just…" Bakugo started, unable to find the proper words. All Might looked with confidence at the teen, finishing his thought for him.

"There are stories of every Hero, how they became great. They all have one thing in common, their bodies moved without a chance to think."

Bakugo accrued a shocked expression, was All Might saying..?

No, there was no way…

"Young Bakugo, you can become a Hero!" All Might proudly announced.

Bakugo just scoffed, almost amused by what All Might had said. "How? My body is broken! What could fix me and make me a Hero?" He asked, refusing to give away his disbelief.

All Might's smile faded a little, and he gained a serious expression. "Young Bakugo, if I tell you this, will you keep it se-"

"Wait, so you have something that can help me?" Bakugo suddenly yelled.

"Yes, that's what I was going to say..." All Might replied, giving out an awkward laugh.

"Well get to it! I wanna ditch these crutches already!" Bakugo erupted, though in a way as to not offend his hero.

All Might smirked a little at his sudden enthusiasm, so he decided to show the boy the truth.

Smoke started to manifest on his body, it then got thicker, and darker, obscuring him entirely. Bakugo stood there, waiting for the smoke to clear. He could make out a silhouette, but it was only when the smoke evaporated that he got the whole picture.

A thin, almost emaciated skeleton of a man sat there, his blue eyes duller and hair all messy. He looked something like All Might, but if you showed anyone off the street a photo of this man and All Might side-by-side, they couldn't tell it was the same person at all.

"Let's just cut to the chase," All Might said, his voice now more monotone, "I have the unique ability to pass down my Quirk, dubbed One For All, to someone else. I've been looking for a worthy successor for a long time, and you, Young Bakugo, may be that successor."

"Ok so… what? Do I have to like, prove myself?" Bakugo asked as All Might shook his head.

"You already proved yourself fighting that villain at the mall, but your body needs to be in better shape. Working out will let you handle a small percentage of my Quirk's power, while it will heal the rest of your body." All Might explained.

'I thought your Quirk was something about Super Strength, how does it heal me?" Bakugo asked.

"The main property of my Quirk is that it enhances the human body to its peak potential, including strength, agility, and health." All Might said.

Bakugo thought about it, all he had to do was work out to touch up his body and One For All would do the rest? He was already a pretty well-built guy, so this wouldn't be too hard. He gazed at All Might, never relinquishing his eye contact, and emulated his signature smile.

"When do I start?"

"What was with that curly-haired kid? He just laid there, taking a beating!"

Cletus Kasady downed another bottle of liquor in his run-down apartment. Explicit posters were strewn around the entire place, others were newspaper clippings of the murders he committed. The whole place was a run-down slop fest, easily going for $20 a month in rent. He crashed on the stitched together couch and looked at his symbiote, Carnage, its snake-form coming out of his left shoulder. "I don't know, you got any ideas?"

"I'm not sure either, but I know I sensed something!" Carnage angrily complained, forming a tendril and striking at a broken-down punching bag in the corner.

Kasady tossed Carnage a bottle to calm it down, and the symbiote caught it with a tendril, eagerly gulping it up.

"Me too, he just had this look in his eye! It's been driving me insane!" Kasady complained, as he himself also chugged a beer bottle.

Carnage laughed, remarking, "Insane? I think you're missing a few 'more's there." Attempting to lighten the mood, it shot out a tendril at the TV remote and turned it on to the news station. Ignoring the crappy quality, the two watched the story covering them, "Mysterious Villain Gets Away! Kills 1 and Injures Several!"

Kasady grumbled in annoyance, "Mysterious Villain? That's our name? C'mon!" He slumped against the shoddy couch, his curly hair getting in the way of his eyes. The news story continued onward to show Pro-Hero interviews as well as witness interviews to the 'Mysterious Villain'. Kasady was momentarily distracted when he noticed Carnage to his right, poking his tendrils into a popcorn bucket, and loudly munching.

"Hey, if you want a throwback, remember 'Carnage Killer'?" Carnage mumbled with its jaws full.

Kasady's eyes lit up as he remembered the golden age of his career, his prime, the good ol' days. "Damn, yeah, I remember! Oh, that first headline! 'Gang Leader Murdered By Mysterious Carnage Killer'!" He leaned back, a satisfied grin on his face as he continued watching the TV.

Some minutes clocked by slowly, the station refusing to move to their next topic. The room felt as if it were getting hotter as Kasady started to tap his foot against the floor, his one wicked smile slowly being replaced with an unsatisfied frown. Minutes turned to hours as he more forcefully stomped his foot against the floor, banging up the cheap, imported wood used to whip the room together. By the time the news finally changed to the next topic, Kasady stood up and screamed into his hands.

"AGH! God damn it! I can't get that bastard out of my head!"

Kasady charged towards the wall, Carnage forming around him as he burst through it like paper. Swinging on bloody tentacles, the red, fleshy mass of Carnage started to cover his entire body. His hands and feet turned to devilish claws, streaks of black around his chest and black. His face was slowly enveloped by the blood-like slime, a splash of black in the front of the head. 2, sharp, wide, white eyes grew first from the shadowy spot. The bottom of it parted soon after that, growing sharp black fangs, as the inside was a messy pink.

As Kasady, or what was Kasady, swung through the city, they shrieked in a clown-like yet satanic voice.

"We're coming for you, greenie!"

TO BE CONTINUED...