Izuku rushed out the hospital doors with his newfound confidence, he then reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and rang up All Might to inform him about the good news, "Hello this is All Might speaking." The hero said on the other line with a warm and casual tone. "I-It's me Izuku. Izuku Midoriya. I thought about your offer and I've made my decision." Izuku said with an unmistakable tone of excitement painting his voice, as tears of joy snaked down his face and flew through the wind as he stammered over his words. He paused briefly before responding, "My answer is 'yes', I will take you up on your offer." Izuku said, struggling to keep his voice down.
"That's great to hear, young Midoriya. Meet me at the Takoba Municipal Beach Park early tomorrow and I'll discuss this with you further." All Might said, gleaming with pride and reverence, "A-Alright, but first I just need to talk with my mum about something first and I'll be right there." Izuku quickly hung up on All Might and continued to run as fast as he could back to his apartment complex, his confidence and determination skyrocketed to new heights. All Might placed his phone on the desk, he turned his head to a tall woman with a well-muscled build. She had elegant facial features, narrow eyes, and long flowing blonde hair tied up into a ponytail sitting across from him.
"He seems pretty interesting." She said her voice was firm, powerful, and authoritative while radiating a warm and sincere tone. "Oh sorry about that Cathy." All Might calmly apologised as a slight look of worry spread across his emaciated features. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." All Might said his tone grateful and appreciative. He had called upon an old friend from America to hopefully assist him and his eventual protégé, one of the only two people in the world who knows about One for All and his encroaching end. "I had hoped we could've seen each other again under not-so-dire circumstances." All Might lamented his voice carrying years of regret on his shoulders.
"But unfortunately things have gotten a little out of hand here," The skeletal hero said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "and I don't think I can handle this on my own." All Might spoke with a certain level of nervousness and anxiety, something he hadn't felt for decades, but they were slowly creeping their way back into his mind after all this time. "And this is where I come in isn't it?" Cathy asked with a smug look on her face. "Yes." All Might answered blunt as a hammer, to Cathy's face with a worrisome look. "Listen if you're not up for it you don't have to do this for me…" All Might said with a nervous tone but was quickly interrupted.
"'Not up to it!' You must be either insane, stupid, or both to think I wouldn't be up to help train your successor!" She bolstered loudly, her voice boomed throughout the room like a volcanic eruption, as she stood up from her seat, pumping her fist. All Might couldn't help but crack a slight chuckle at those words, a warm smile slowly forming on his face listening to his friend's bold voice, he quickly realised he made the right choice calling her up, "I'm glad that I can count on you Cathleen." All Might proudly proclaimed as he looked at her, "Hey for saving my family it's the least I can do for you." She retorted back with a thankful tone.
Izuku rushed home as fast as he could, he ran through the compacted streets of the Shizuoka Prefecture like a lion rushing through the grass in a savannah chasing a gazelle, his unyielding spirit flowed through him like a waterfall, controlled and calm yet it was both powerful and inspiring. His mind racing at the thought of how his mother might react, he imagined her face beaming with pride and happiness; he couldn't wait to hear those words of reassurance escape her lips. All his life Izuku's mother had apologised to him after finding out that he was quirkless, he couldn't blame her for saying that, however, that wasn't what Izuku wanted to hear.
What he wanted to hear his mother say was that he could be a hero too. The muscles in Izuku's legs started to ache and tighten, as the beating of his heart increased so much that he could almost hear it ringing in his ears and dance to the rhythm of it. Izuku wanted to stop and catch his breath but his legs continued to run for him. An endless surge of adrenaline filled his bloodstream, sweat formed on his forehead and seeped into his eyes blurring the world around him into an indistinguishable mess. His body was racing, his mind was aching and his pulse shook violently, he couldn't stop and wouldn't stop running as he made a mad dash for his apartment.
Sprinting through the streets Izuku couldn't look twice as he pushed past pedestrians uncontrollably, he tried to apologise but all that escaped his lips were tiny gasps of air. While sprinting through the streets Izuku shoved away a young man of above-average height, with a slim, muscular build, and a fair skin tone sending him head first into a bin. He had short, spiky, sandy blond hair with choppy bangs that hung over his eyebrows. His eyes were sharp as knives and bright red. As Izuku continued his sprint he couldn't help but realise that the boy bore a striking resemblance to Kacchan, but as he double-checked he realised his mistake.
Looking back on the event Izuku witnessed Kacchans friends laughing at their blonde friend's misfortunes as their blonde friend loudly cussed out into the streets, "WHO THE HELL PUSHED ME!?" He screamed out vigorously into the bin, his raging screams were drowned by the hustle and bustle of the city. Izuku wanted to turn around and apologise but his body was being pulled towards his apartment, his body magnetised to a linear track, and as Bakugo flailed his legs in the air, his body slowly disappearing into the swarming crowds of everyday civilians Izuku couldn't help but feel a sense of empowerment seeing Bakugo flail around the trash can like a fish out of water.
Reaching his apartment complex Izuku's entire body began to freeze up, the building loomed over him like a giant monster from a Kaiju movie, meaningful and intimidating, his heart began thumping against his chest, and as the adrenaline began to fade Izuku's heart slowed but it felt stronger than before. The wind blew against his hair and the trees, sending the autumn leaves gliding through the air, dancing against the harsh sunlight almost akin to ballet dancers jumping across and all over a dark stage with the only illumination coming from the spotlights. Izuku's movements became rigid and stiff as he was locked in a pensive mood — pondering how to inform his mother about what he wanted to do with his life without sending her into a coma.
Entering the building Izuku slowly scaled the stairs as slowly as possible to buy himself some more time until he thought of a way to break the news to his mother, as he continued to climb the stairs when reached his apartment door he was surprised to find his mother was not home. As Izuku walked into the apartment he felt a knot form deep in his stomach, and a searing migraine encompassed his temple and forehead. His body grew weak and he shook violently as though there was a tremor stuck deep inside his rib cage, his entire body got drenched in sweat as the world blurred around him, and Izuku became dizzy and fatigued.
His gums wriggled and writhed as the familiar sensation of new growing teeth filled his mouth, a burning sensation filled his skin and he could feel an electrical sensation that echoed throughout his blood. Izuku covered his eyes as the light around him became too much to handle, he felt a burning sensation throughout his skin, as the tremors spread from his chest and to his arms and legs leading him to tumble and trip. Izuku's hearing increased tenfold, he could hear the birds chirping outside, the cars honking and the people screaming from the floors his apartment was sandwiched between, the very act of dropping a pin was absolute torture to him.
He shambled and shuffled through his apartment he let out a few groans of pain almost akin to a zombie, he rushed to the bathroom, and locked the door behind him, he fell to his knees as he removed a tile piece from the wall behind next to the sink, in it were a dozen vials of the Langstrom's gene blocker and a needle gun to inject himself with them. Francine was able to save some before the fire and handed them to Izuku in case he needed to use them but was unable to contact them. Izuku shakily grabbed a vial and the gun and placed the vial and cocked the gun, a sharp pain filled his chest yet again, he could feel his lungs be reshaped to accommodate his form as the Man-Bat.
Izuku clenched his open hand into a fist as he felt his muscles and bones being torn apart from the inside out and remoulded like hot glass, and his movements became slow and rigid, "Izuku I'm home." He heard his mother call out, "I'm sorry if I worried you, I was just up the shops." She said in a tired tone of voice, sleep weighing heavily on her mind. Izuku froze up, fear and anxiety spreading through his body like a fungus, he dreaded thinking what would happen if his mother saw him transforming into a monster right before her eyes, and just when those thoughts started to flood his mind, a rush of pain soared through his body and he let out an agonising scream.
Tightening his grip on the gun and trying to inject it into his arm, Inko rushed to the bathroom rapidly pounding her fists on the door. "IZUKU ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Inko asked fearfully, just then Izuku's mind screamed at him as millions of thoughts raced through his head at blinding speeds, he needed to think of something to say to his mother and fast, "I-I'm fine mum, I just stubbed my toe." He nervously blurted out as he felt his clothes constricting around his skin like a boa, "Are you sure sweetie? It doesn't sound like it." Inko replied unease and dread creeping into her voice. "Let me come in, I'll take a look at it." She said with worry.
"NO YOU CAN'T — I'm just… changing," Izuku told his mother a deceitful truth to protect her from himself, his heart slowed to a snail's pace, he could feel it enlarging, its size making it rub up against his ribcage waiting to pounce from his chest like some sort of alien parasite and strike. Hair started to sprout up from Izuku's skin like weeds in a garden as the green colouring quickly changed to a black and brown pigment. Every part of the transformation process seemed to be accelerating at an unnatural pace, his breathing became shallow and heavy as he panicked just thinking about what he might do to his mother if she saw him this way.
Hunched over the floor, Izuku struggled to pull the trigger of the needle gun, his fingers growing weak and slowly starting to elongate one by one, his ears began thinning and elongating, and they started to twitch uncontrollably, Inko could tell there was something wrong with Izuku but had no idea what, she had paused for a moment trying to think of something reassuring to say to him, "Listen Izuku, if there's something wrong, you can always talk to me about it." Her voice became calm and reassuring with an underlying tinge of grief that seemed to reverberate in Izuku's ears, he was hesitant to tell his mother the truth especially now.
Listening to the soft calming voice of his mother the trigger of the needle gun became tougher to pull, every time he tried to pull the trigger his body became sickly and weak, and he felt his feet swell up inside his shoes, ready to explode and take their new form. His mother continued to speak reassuring words but they were all drowned out by the surrounding audio, and his eyes started burning up, "Izuku, I love you, no matter what." Inko said in a fearful tone, sending a sudden shock to Izuku's system, a rush of memories flooded back to him. He remembered how much she was hurting for as long as he knew, Izuku tightened his fingers around the trigger anxiously.
His mind took him back to when he was first told that he didn't have a quirk and that he should just give up when he was only four years old, and how he was devastated, he remembered watching the video of All Might's debut on a loop over and over devoid of his usual joy. He remembered his mother sobbing as she held him close in her arms apologising profusely, she was hurting just as much as he was. With those memories flooding back in, he found the strength within himself and managed to pull the trigger deploying the gene blocker into his veins. His body slowly reverted to its original form, and he let out a collection of pained grunts.
His breath became ragged as the air around him felt thinner than ever before, but he was relieved to find himself coming back, "I-Izuku are you alright sweetie?" His mother asked, choking on her words, and tears began streaming down her face. "Yeah, I'm fine Mum. I… I just needed… to get that out of my system." Izuku said, struggling to hold back tears of his own. While the atmosphere calmed down around them and Izuku finally returned to normal, he leaned his back against the bathroom door and hesitantly wondered if he should tell his mother, "Listen, Mum." Izuku grunted in a pained and stern tone, "What is it, sweetheart?" Inko questioned anxiously, her worrisome expression quickly transitioning to slight fear.
"I have something… important to tell you. It's about a job I was offered recently." He said in ragged breaths, "Izuku, please — Sweetheart, you're capable of making your own decisions. You don't need me to approve or even acknowledge them." Inko said her voice carrying years of regret and resentment towards herself, Izuku was taken off-guard. He assumed he'd have to explain to his mother what he'd be doing but she seemed to already have an understanding and accepting response to whatever he would say before the words could leave his lips. "All you need to know is I love you — All of you." She said in a placid tone, tranquillity washed over Izuku.
"And that's all I have to say on the subject." She spoke with tears overflowing from her eyes, choking slightly. Despite those calming and reassuring words, Izuku could sense the underlying pain and self-loathing in his mother's voice, she wore a mask of resilience and calmness to hide her guilt, her grief, and her loss. Izuku wanted to be told he could become a hero too, but she was too preoccupied with protecting him, "I-I… I love you, mum." Izuku spoke with a stinging sense of sadness "I love you too sweetheart." She responded with a tone that was cuddly and loving she used to mask her true feelings. She placed her back right up against the door just lying there with Izuku.
A cold breeze flowed through the apartment but was not unwelcome, the soft beams of light peering through the windows kept Izuku and Inko warm. "Sweetie, when you're ready to come out I'd like your help to pack away the groceries." She asked, "Y-Yeah… of course mum." Izuku responded in a solemn tone, he lay on the cold tile floor of his bathroom pondering if he had made the right choice to train under All Might. Izuku hated the thought of hurting his mother, withholding the truth from the one person who raised him all by herself, the one person who managed to give him the strength to inject the Gene Blocker into himself when he felt he was about to become lost to his mind and body.
The Takoba Municipal Beach Park, once a beautiful and sprawling beach was now a landfill covered head to toe in mountains of garbage, Izuku had followed All Might's instructions to a tee, he woke up at the crack of dawn and immediately made his way down to the designated location running from his apartment. Slivers of light pierced the darkened skies, as Izuku waited for All Might to show up, at this point, he was starting to get worried that All Might had changed his mind and had considered calling the police to arrest him for his crimes as the Man-Bat. He couldn't ignore the paranoia or the mental torture that gnawed at him viciously.
He clenched his new bag tightly which contained the vials of the gene blockers and the needle gun in case he started to transform again. As Izuku started to have second doubts, a giant muscular figure came careening down from the clouds above like an angel descending from the heavens above, and landed with a loud boom that sent the pavement cracking and dust everywhere. Izuku waved away the debris as he shielded his eyes, when he reopened his eyes standing right in front of him was none other than All Might, "Ah good to see you here on time young Midoriya." All Might said boisterously as the light of the rising sun reflected off his teeth and into his eyes.
"A-All Might!" Izuku said, he was hardly able to contain his excitement, "I-I thought you weren't going to show up." He continued, stumbling over his words, shocking All Might just a bit. "WEREN'T GOING TO SHOW UP! All Might repeated in a lighthearted and humorous manner pretending to be shocked and appalled, "Don't you trust me young Midoriya?" He asked in an overacting and teasing tone. With a quick clear of his throat, "We'll Midoriya, are you ready for your training?" The tone in his voice became more serious as he dropped his muscle form, returning to his emaciated form, his eyes sunken in and hollow, and his sclera turned black.
"Yes, — and with this, I can become a hero, too, right?" Izuku quizzed, staring up at All Might with huge green starry eyes filled with hope and wonder, his entire body dripping with anticipation and excitement waiting for his idol's response, "Of course not. Your body can't take it." The skeletal figure said boldly and boisterously, shattering Izuku's hopes and dreams once again, Izuku stood there in front of his hero, his jaw left gapping, and he was rattled. "W-What? B-but you said…" Izuku stammered for a moment, when tears slowly started forming from the corner of his eyes, "I know what I said." All Might cut off Midoriya with an irritated tone.
"What I mean is, your body can't take it — yet." All Might said correcting himself. Izuku wiped the tears away from his eyes, and a feeling of suspense permeated the air waiting on All Might's next words trying to anticipate what he might say next, "You must first become a physical and mental paragon. The very embodiment of heroism." The older of the two continued to speak with spectacular levels of conviction as he glared at Izuku with absolute power shining in his eyes, "And to help with that I called in a favour from a colleague of mine from America." Izuku's interest peaked, and when he looked behind All Might he could see the silhouette of a massive figure not too dissimilar to All Mights.
As the figure got closer with each passing step Izuku felt a sudden spike in anxiety as his heart started to race and a downpour of sweat began to accumulate from his forehead, Izuku started shaking violently like a jackhammer as he got a better look at the figure who was now rapidly approaching. The figure had a distinguishable build appearing muscular and tall almost like All Might but relatively smaller, Izuku seemed to notice a smile as warm as his but different enough. They shifted from a walking pace to a running speed that oozed with authority, power and conviction with every step. Izuku felt a sudden spike forming in his heart as he watched the figure barreling towards them.
The figure burst from the shadows landing on the pavement with a thunderous boom cracking the concrete and knocking Izuku to his feet, when he looked up there stood in front of him was a tall woman with a well-muscled build wearing a white tank top, dark green cargo pants, with a pair of red hiking shoes to finish it up. She had elegant facial features, narrow eyes, and long flowing blonde hair tied up into a ponytail that shined like molten gold in the rising sunlight. Izuku was awe-struck and his jaw was slightly ajar, he couldn't believe his eyes, he gazed at her, his heart pounding in his chest like a hammer against nails on a metal sheet.
Izuku bathed in the morning sunlight, his eyes glued to the giantess that stood before him, despite his initial shock he could see her powerful glance peer through his soul, with a smile as warm as All Might's but different enough. As Izuku sat there r on the pavement staring on in total shock at the amazonian woman All Might cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention, "Izuku I would like you to meet…" But before All Might was allowed to finish his sentence Izuku yelled out, "STAR & STRIPE!" The muscular woman let out a hearty and genuine laughter, "Guess the kid's smarter than you give him credit for." Cathleen admitted in a fit of vigorous cheer as she nudged her giant elbow into All Might's side.
All Might stood quiet with an irritated scowl plastered across his face, Cathleen's elbow digging deep into his bony arm, an annoyed scowl filled the edges of All Mights face, "As I was saying — I would like you to meet a colleague of mine from America, Star & Stripe — she will be helping me train you." He continued to speak with conviction as he glared at Izuku with absolute power, "What?" Izuku asked, stunned to hear that not only would All Might train him but so was America's No. 1 Hero as well. Izuku couldn't believe it, his heart swelled with excitement, and he started to vibrate at unseen speeds, and he let out a tiny high-pitched squeal of joy.
"Slow down kid, keep going that fast and you'll probably drop into another dimension," Cathleen said, her voice thundering with enthusiasm. "We've got a lot of planning to do first." The emaciated hero spoke, "We have about 22 months to get your body ready to handle One for All before you enter the hero course." He said, his voice teaming with authority and power, "That reminds me — Young Midoriya, what Hero school do you have your sights on?" He asked curiously. Izuku didn't need to think long and hard for his answer as deep down in his heart he already knew the answer, "UA." He answered quickly with a smile growing to the corners of his cheeks.
"So you want to go to All Might's school?" Cathleen playfully asked, Izuku silently nodded his head up and down, "Alright Izuku if you want to get into UA then you best follow these instructions." All Might handed Izuku a booklet that read "THE AMERICAN DREAM PLAN" in bold text. Opening it up the booklet was packed to the brim with dietary requirements and workout regimens, Izuku absorbed the information in the booklet and looked up towards All Might then to Cathleen then back to All Might, and with a look of pure determination he said, "Alright let's do this then!" He said with wild enthusiasm and a look of overwhelming joy.
Izuku was rather hesitant about his task but the more he thought about it he realised he didn't have much to lose, so he accepted it and from then on his 22-month training began. Cathleen and All Might sat together watching Izuku begin cleaning up the beach, "Why did you bring me here if you were just going to get him to clean up the beach?" Cathy questioned, "I don't know about you but I don't think he'll finish that up in time for me to properly train him." All Might looked at her with a serious appearance, his eyes scanned the area for any pedestrians who could eavesdrop on their conversation and when he confirmed that there was no one he leaned into Cathleen and whispered into her ear.
"Cathy, I wasn't entirely honest with you, I didn't want you to just come and train my successor but I need your help to try and fix a certain problem." He cautiously whispered into the heroine's ear, "I know that using your Quirk outside of hero work is forbidden and you can face heavy scrutiny and punishment from the American government, but I'm begging you to use your Quirk to help Izuku just this once." He pleaded with his colleague. Cathleen was conflicted about what to do, on one hand, All Might was the one who inspired her to become a hero and she felt like she owed him some kind of life debut because of it on the other hand it was a matter of national security if she used her Quirk outside of America.
She looked at All Might his gaunt and skeletal form a hollow shell of the hero she looked up to, she then looked towards Izuku who was just as skinny as All Might now, however, she could see the determination on his face, she could feel the fire burning deep within him to do the right thing and save people. Turning her head back to All Might she could see all the traits of All Might that she looked up to dwell deep inside Izuku, she leaned down towards All Might, "What do you need?" She questioned, her tone conveyed a level of compliance but also demanded better answers from All Might if she was going to use her Quirk she better know what it was for.