What the hell is going on? Wasn't he just talking to All Might about a second ago? And more importantly, who the fuck is this guy?!
Standing where the symbol of peace previously was, they appeared as a very skinny man with sharp, angular features. Possessing long limbs and a neck that extended similarly to a giraffe, he gives off a very ghastly expression. That's not to even mention the sclera of his eyes which were entirely black, thus completing the collection that is their creepiness.
Tsubasa could only stare at the individual in disbelief, curling one of his hands into a fist before he points at them with the other "Alright wise guy, just who the fuck are you?! I bet you're some imposter or some shit! Tell me, where's the real All Might?!"
"I can assure you, I am All M-" Unexpectedly, blood began pouring out of the lanky man's mouth, shocking the boy who took a few steps back terror "W-wha…no, there's no way in hell you're All Might! Just look at him, and then look at you! How can you expect me to believe such an obvious lie!!"
"It really isn't. You know how those guys at the pool are always holding in their gut to look more buff. That's pretty much how I'm like." The pro hero presumed to be All Might explains, though it wasn't enough to convince Tsubasa that they were truly in fact the symbol of peace "Nope, nuh uh, no way! This can't possibly be real. You're nothing like him! He saves the day with a smile on his face! You're not even smiling!!"
"There's a lot of things you need to learn when it comes to being a hero" All Might states before proceeding to plant his butt down and grabs the hem of his shirt "I'm counting on you to keep your mouth shut. Don't go blabbering about this to your friends or mentioning it online." He then lifts up said shirt, revealing a nasty scar that covers up the left side of his abdomen.
'Woah, that's a gnarly wound!' The teen thought to himself, his eyes glued to the scar as the hero opened his mouth once again "Pretty gross, right? About five years ago, I got this bad boy from a huge fight. My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and my stomach had been removed. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out, and unfortunately, it's broken beyond repair. And now, I can only do about three hours of hero work each day. For the rest of my time, this is what I look like."
Just then, a memory quickly came crawling back to Tsubasa. It was All Might's battle against Toxic Chainsaw; a fight that he along with his former friends got to watch in person.
He remembered just after the villain had been apprehended, he saw a hint of blood forming around the hero's mouth. Ever since that incident occurred, Tsubasa chalked it up to being a part of his imagination. But now with the information handed to him, everything starts to become clearer than before "Holy shit…that time you fought Toxic Chainsaw, you had blood coming out of your mouth. I thought I was going crazy but…it all starts to make sense now. You're actually All Might! So wait…was he the one that did this to you?"
"Heh…you've caught on pretty quick. But no, it wasn't him. Sure, he managed to lay in a couple of shots at me, but that lowlife was nothing but a piece of cake. The result of my wound was from a fight that never got broadcasted to the public, for I made sure to keep it under wraps. I'm supposed to be the one who always smiles. Me, the symbol of peace. People everywhere have to think I'm never afraid. But to be perfectly honest with you…I smile because I get scared deep down. It's just a brave face I put on whenever the pressure gets too high. This job isn't easy."
"Well yeah, of course it isn't easy. I knew that ever since I've wanted to become a hero. And that feeling has only gotten stronger! I mean isn't it why you told me all of this? Because we share a similar story, right? You and I both suffered tremendously, so that means there's still a chance for me too!"
"What? No! You're misconstruing everything I just said! I don't have a single clue where you got to that conclusion, but our stories are in no way similar. While I may have gained a severe injury that reduced my powers, you've lost yours entirely. So please…remind me again how we connect? Sorry to sound so harsh, but the reality is…you can't be a hero without a quirk."
Lost for words, Tsubasa was taken aback by how incredibly different All Might is in comparison to his public persona. When he decided to ask him that question, never would he have guessed for such a pessimistic response "W-what? Hold on just a fucking minute. How can you even say that shit?!"
"Hey! I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but that's just the way life works. Heroes are tasked to risk their life everyday, and unfortunately for you…you just can't live up to that risk. If you really want to save others, you could become a police officer. They're usually teased due to the abundance of villains at their doorstep, but it's a fine occupation nonetheless. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big, but you really need to think realistically."
"But…I can't. I can't just think realistically, that has only made things worse for myself!" The boy uttered profusely, tears beginning to spill as his legs trembled uncontrollably "You know, for somebody whose the number one hero…you're not making me smile."
"Like I said, this job isn't easy. Have a nice life kid." All Might simply stated before he finally opened the door and entered inside the building, leaving Tsubasa standing in tremendous defeat.
As the confidence came crashing down, he began to picture all the way back to the day his quirk was deemed no more. Weirdly enough, it played out almost identically to his conversation with the pro hero. Two people who he looked up to greatly both gave up on him; His beloved grandfather, and the symbol of peace.
He couldn't help but wonder to himself 'Is my life really that hopeless?'
As for All Might, he was in the middle of walking down a very large quantity of stairs, shuffling through his pockets in search of the bottle containing the very sludge villain "It's time we get you back to the station…huh?" To his surprise, the bottle was nowhere to be found.
Eyes widening in terror at the revelation, the hero could feel his heart being repeatedly hammered in his chest. How could he have lost the bottle so easily? Especially within the span of merely a few minutes.
It was when he started thinking back to Tsubasa that All Might finally pieced out the puzzle. It must've dropped when he was trying to get the boy off of him in the sky, meaning it's out there somewhere. But what could he possibly even do with how vast the city is?
Just as he tried to concoct a plan, the pro hero could hear a massive explosion coming from outside the building. He then looked out the window to see smoke from a heavy distance, gasping in shock as his body quivered from the force of the blast "What the…!"
In the area where the explosion had occurred, heroes left and right are attempting to fight off against the sludge villain who has completely taken over Bakugo's body like a puppet.
"Holy cow! This has to be one of those hardcore villains!" One of the citizens pointed out before another just right beside them lifts his fist into the air and yells out in encouragement "Go get em heroes!!"
Unfortunately, there were major complications to be had.
"A single lane street? Are you freaking kidding me? I need there to be at least two lanes!" Mount Lady complained, having very extreme trouble maneuvering through the blazing city due to her humongous size.
On the opposite side of things; despite having no problem getting to the villain's location, Kamui Woods couldn't bring himself to go "Explosive fires happen to be my weakness. Somebody else has to take care of this one!"
"Thanks, but my hands are tied here! Isn't there anyone that can do the job?" Backdraft implored, using his quirk to spray out mighty volumes of water towards the fire that has been spreading at a rapid rate.
Death Arms, even with his amazing strength, had difficulties capturing the villain at large. He took a breather, sweat dripping down his face while aiming to assess the situation "They're way too slippery to get a hold of! Though it seems their hostage with the explosive quirk appears to be resisting!"
"It's a minefield I tell ya! There's just nothing we can do about this triple play." One of the heroes states, scratching the back of their head through a level of uncertainty "This really doesn't seem like it'll be smooth sailing from here. What on earth do we do?"
The punching hero was currently at a loss, his mind utterly voidless. However, he wasn't just gonna give up so easily "To be frank with you, I don't know. But as long as we can find some sorta opening, we should be able to-" Feeling a pair of hands grab ahold of his shoulders, Death Arms stopped speaking before he gazed behind him to see a grimacing Tesaki and Hashiga.
"You gotta get him outta there! If you don't, he's gonna die!" The longer haired teen raved, their eyes just as watery as his friend whose teeth grinded in worry "Yeah! What he said!"
"Can't you see we're working on that?!" Death Arms replied in frustration, shooing them away from the premises before looking back at the hellish display "How's everything holding up over there?"
As it turns out, things were not holding up well in the slightest. Somehow, the chaos that ensued had grown substantially higher. Even with the additional heroes called in, the sludge villain's slippery body combined with Bakugo's power proved to be way too much to handle.
"No good! There's no one here who can possibly stop them!" Kamui Woods declared, being forced to witness the rampage persisting all over the area. Another one of the pro heroes within his vicinity took note of his words, making sure to avoid any of the sludge villain's attacks "In that case, we just gotta wait for someone with the right quirk to handle the job!"
"Until then, make sure to keep the damage to a minimum!" Backdraft instructs before continuing to hose down the ongoing blaze. As for one of their sidekicks, their attention was focused on the blonde's confined state, worried that he may die given the lack of progress "I sincerely hope that kid holds on just a bit longer."
"We all do, now hurry up and assist me!" The water pumping hero ordered when suddenly, an explosion more dangerous than the last took him and his entire group out by surprise. The city was in even more shambles, and civilians from all around were having their doubts. Heck, even Death Arms, a pro hero himself, was beginning to express his wariness as well "Shoot! If only I had the power to blow that piece of gunk away!"
While the heroes struggled immensely, a worn out All Might had just arrived at the scene, only for his eyes to be met with a horrifying image. His heart skipped a few beats as he surveyed the destructive nature before him, their face bearing a look of disbelief 'I can't believe this. Dealing with that fan led to all of this?!'
"Dude, when's All Might gonna show up? You'd think he'd be here right now" One of the civilians expressed, followed up by a retorted response from an acquaintance of theirs "Oh cmon, don't act so gloomy. Do you realize who we're talking about here? He's gotta show up, trust!"
Unbeknownst to the two of them, as much as All Might wanted to, he couldn't. With his duration reaching towards the very limit, there was no way he could magically appear and save the city from absolute disarray 'God, how pathetic am I!'
…
…
…
"God, how pathetic am I?" Tsubasa utters to himself, slowly pacing through the street with his head faced down "What was I even thinking? No shit I wasn't gonna be a hero! The signs were all there, and yet my sorry ass had to believe in miracles! Why am I such a fucking idiot?! Damnit, I really need to calm myself down."
Sitting down at the nearest bench to ease his nerves, he slouched against it while thinking back to his painful memories. Among those memories was one detailing the first encounter he had with his former friends after being diagnosed quirkless.
Tsubasa could remember the anxiety pushing towards the very edge as he reached closer and closer to where Bakugo and the others usually meet up. Sweat dripped down his face, taking in deep breaths every now and then while playing over in his mind the potential conversations that would go down the second he revealed his loss.
Just as they were experiencing sudden doubts, he saw them from afar, their laughter echoing through the otherwise empty park, a very stark contrast to the silence that followed him like a shadow. The sight showcasing their unbridled camaraderie made his chest tighten even more.
Tsubasa knew they'd be confused, maybe even pity him, and he wasn't ready for that. But sooner or later, he'd have to be questioned at some point in time, so it would be best to just rip the bandage off.
Being now just a few feet away from them, the three watched in bewilderment at the nervous state Tsubasa was in. Hashia in particular was the first to take note of that "Yo dude, something up with you? You're seeming a little off."
"No kidding! You look like you're about to wet your pants my guy!" Tesaki added before he immediately began to chuckle at his own comment.
On the other side of the spectrum, there was Bakugo. Being the more aggressive one of the group, he was practically the main source to Tsubasa's agitation. Had it just been Tesaki and Hashiga, it would've been no problem. But with the abrasive blonde in the picture, he now finds himself delving into dangerous territory.
"The hell are you idling at? Just hurry up and tell us whatever bullshit you're dealing with. We have no time to lounge around." Bakugo angrily voiced, crossing his arms in vexation while waiting for whatever comes out of the chubbier teen's mouth.
Through a deep exhale, Tsubasa used up all his internal power to finally reveal a painful reality that he himself still didn't want to come into terms with "Guys…I…I don't have a quirk anymore."
As expected, they all react with confusion. To them, it was like hearing a mythology turning out to be true. Just the idea of somebody losing a quirk sounded way too surreal to be the case.
"I'm sorry, what? You've gotta be joshing us right now." Tesaki declared, his serenity showing a complete lack of seriousness "I mean c'mon, how could you possibly lose your quirk? Did some terrifying wizard cast a spell on you??"
"Or better yet, maybe he got hit by a truck and found himself in a different world." Clearly as unconvinced as his friend, Hashiga holds in a laugh when in two seconds flat, the goofy atmosphere dissolves right as Bakugo swaps his hand into a fist, creating an explosion in the process "Are you being fucking serious?"
Witnessing his explosive personality take shape, Tsubasa could feel a hesitancy rising in his throat before he eventually gathered enough courage to respond "Of course I'm being serious! Why the hell wouldn't I be?! Do you really think I'd be joking at a time like this?"
"Well I mean the day just started, so…" Tesaki hypothesized, causing a light smack to the back of his head. Their eyes then darted over to Hashiga who looked rather nervous about the whole ordeal, sweat materializing from every part of his skin "Maybe it's best if you stop running that demented mouth of yours. Things are about to get messy around here."
"So my ears weren't screwed loose, you really did lose your quirk. And now you have the nerve to treat this like some sorta joke?!" Bakugo bawled, alarming the chubbier teen who took a few steps back so as to not be met with any punches to the face "Woah woah woah! Where the hell did you get that idea?! I'm just as appalled as you are! Look, my granddad, he-"
"Just shut the fuck up!!!" Immediately, everything surrounding them had turned silent. The three all watched with fear as they could sense the rage ready to burst out of the blonde, his eyes having become wild like an angry buffalo "I don't give a shot what happened! You lost your quirk, and that's that!! So from now on, we're not friends anymore. Got it?!"
"What…?" Tsubasa was more or less stunned to say the least. He definitely expected some fuss to come out of Bakugo, but to this extent? That possibility never once occurred in his mind "You have to be kidding me here, right…?"
"Does it look like I'm kidding?! Were you really expecting me to go along with some quirkless nobody? How fried must your brain be to act so god damn dense? You know, you're really lucky I don't kick you down to the curb, that's how generous I'm being right now. And just for the record, I better not see you show up here ever again. Otherwise…" Another explosion pops outta his hand, sending Tsubasa a clear message.
The blonde then leaves the scene, followed by Tesaki and Hashiga who look back at their now former friend with reluctance before ultimately finding themselves staring ahead.
"Dude, he's gonna be so ticked at us." The boy in ownership of the elongated fingers declared. As for his sharp toothed friend, he just nodded solemnly while his eyes peered down in extreme guilt "No kidding…but maybe he'll understand our situation. After all, don't friends forgive each other?"
"Y-yeah, I guess you're right. Friends do forgive each other. Whatever happens, I'm sure he's gonna be just fine!" Despite his overly confident demeanor, Tesaki knew that it wasn't gonna end well for them. And in spite of that knowledge, he and Hashiga couldn't for the life of them find the willpower to change the course of history. In their cowardly minds, what would even be the point in making sacrifices that amounted to nothing?
Then there was Tsubasa who couldn't look any more despondent. He gazed back at them in sorrow, wishing that today would have ended much more differently. Alas, this was an utterly cruel fate he put himself in. And now here he was, slouching on a bench with no hopes or dreams to help soothe his pain.
"I'm such an idiot. Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to tell them I lost my quirk? I should've known Bakugo and that easily provoked temper of his would go absolutely fucking ballistic! If only I had the power to go back in time, then at the very least…I'd still have my friends."
"Heh…you're starting to sound pretty foolish." A sudden voice manifests out of thin air, startling Tsubasa as he looks to his right, seeing another person seated next to him. As it turns out, it was the same middle aged man he came into contact with not too long ago "Oh shit, it's you again."
"You're darn right it is! Who else is guilty of these star shaped whatchamacallits? Seriously, I have no clue what these things are called. The name's Sotaro Hoshi!" He introduced with a toothy grin plastered on his face, prompting a light chuckle from the teen who could feel a sliver of solace cascading down on him "Ryoma Tsubasa, nice to meet you…again. Say, what do you mean by foolish?"
"Well for starters, this Bakugo fellow you speak of doesn't seem so fun to be around. In fact, I'd say you just dodged a bullet right there. Do you really wanna stick with some angry greaseball?"
"I mean…not really. Not only does his attitude fucking stinks, but I pretty much have to walk on eggshells to avoid trouble from him. And that's not to mention the other two who'll leave you to the streets to rot if it means saving their own skin. They're just the worst man…"
"Yeah, that definitely sounds rough. But now I'm starting to get a little confuzzled here. If they are as bad as you say they are, then what's the freaking point in even getting back with those guys?" Hoshi questioned with his arms crossed, gazing at Tsubasa for a brief moment before going back to speaking some more "Genuinely, you're better off without them."
"Well actually…that's the thing, I'm not. Did you hear what I said? You know…about the whole losing my quirk thing. Yeah, that really left a gigantic toll on me. And ever since then, I've been trying to find some semblance of hope in this godforsaken reality. But after a recent conversation I had with uhhh…some pro hero I stumbled across, that has completely left the window. Now I'd rather much be with those shitheads, even if they suck major balls. At the very least, I wouldn't be flying solo anymore."
"Wow, aren't you a melodramatic youngster? It's not the end of the world man. Trust me, I've been through some rough times back in my day. But hey, look at me now! I'm in my forties and still kicking!" The man proclaims, his gravelly voice filled with amusement while he lets out a loud cackle.
The more that this guy blabbered on, the more that Tsubasa could feel a lightheartedness rising back to the surface. Even then, there was still an existential dread lurking around his head that couldn't be contained. No matter how hard he tried, All Might's lingering words weren't able to disappear.
You can't be a hero without a quirk
Once his eyes met with Hoshi again, a question popped in his mind that he felt needed to be asked "Errrr…you're quirkless, right? Did you ever want to become a hero?"
"You've just hit the nail on the head! Yeah, I'm quirkless alright. And I'd say somewhere around when I just turned about five or six, I had dreamt about being a pro hero myself. But as you can guess, that wasn't really an option for me."
"Yeah…so how did you deal with that for so long? Not to sound like I'm intruding on your personal life or anything but uhhhh…doesn't it suck? You know, like not being a hero?"
"Hah! You're one naive kid. Look, I'm not gonna act like I wasn't all upset about not being some badass savior, because I definitely was. But does it end there? No!! I've gone to greener pastures and have never looked back since!"
"Greener pastures? Pfft…yeah right. Like you expect me to believe there's anything better than becoming a hero." Tsubasa shot back, finding the man's lecture to be nothing but baloney "What makes your life better?"
"To put it simply, it's not. But even then, I'm a whole lot happier than I was before. I now run a fish market close by here, and not to brag or anything…but it's pretty successful. It's not like the fancy schmancy ones you see in the city, but it's got its own charm. And the smell, oh boy, you get used to it. It's part of the job description, I guess." Hoshi chuckled in delight as opposed to the teen who watched in confusion "So wait a minute, what's the lesson here exactly? That I should own a market or something?"
"Nope, though you could certainly try! All I'm saying is that you'll do just fine. Once you get past these few days, you're gonna eventually find a dream just as fulfilling as being a pro hero!"
"Yeah, we'll just have to see about that." The boy states, his conservative mind now wandering off to the very recent memory capturing All Might's suggestion 'Should I really take his advice? I don't know…with how aggressive I am, being a police officer sounds like it could lead to a lotta trouble. There's gotta be something else, but what?'
Just as Tsubasa was in the middle of piecing the puzzle together, his ears were bombarded by Hoshi's voice which rang throughout the entire perimeter "Hey! Come to think of it, how on earth did you lose your quirk? We sorta glossed over that part."
"O-oh! Right, I guess we did. Well you see…what happened was-" Suddenly, an explosion rocked the quiet street, shattering any form of calmness that came about this early evening. Tsubasa in mid-sentence froze, his eyes wide with shock as the explosive sound echoed all around.
The once clear sky was now a tumultuous mess of reds and oranges as flames from left and right licked the buildings in the distance. His heart raced as he looked around, searching for the source of the chaos "What the hell is going on??"
Curious, both him and Hoshi stood up from the bench they once sat before traveling aimlessly around the city for what felt like eons when an audience of terrified citizens entered their field of vision. Upon closer inspection was Tsubasa able to be met with a familiar sight; the sludge villain that attacked him earlier 'What?! It can't be! Did All Might let them go? Wait, he must've dropped the bottle! Then that means…oh fuck.'
"Why're the heroes just standing around and doing absolutely nothing?' A spectator asks in annoyance, followed up by another voice that answers for them "By the looks of it, they're in some sort of dilemma. The villain seems to have grabbed some middle schooler."
'Huh?! Someone was grabbed?! Oh god…that means whoever is in there is going through the same shit as me!' The horrifying realization hit him like a truck, watching the disastrous scenery unfold while being succumbed to a multitude of voices surrounding him.
"Hey, that villain. Isn't it the one All Might was chasing!?"
"All Might?! No way! He's really here?!"
"Yeah, I saw him earlier today."
"Then what the heck is he doing now?"
"Wherever he is, they better hop to it and fast!"
Oblivious to the reason behind the pro hero's absence, they continued watching the battle take place while Tsubasa watched as tears streamed down his face.
Not only was the city forced to endure another massive threat. Not only did the symbol of peace not have the strength to combat against the villain standing before him. But along with that, an innocent bystander was going to die. And it was all because some douche wanted to be a hero 'This is all my fucking fault! If I had just given up a long time ago, then none of this shit would have happened! But it's all gonna be okay, right? Someone else will swoop in and save the day. Yeah, that has to be it. It just has…to be…'
At that very moment, the sludge villain revealed more of their unfortunate prisoner during its ongoing rampage, giving the quirkless boy a chance to see who had unfortunately been captured. It was none other than Bakugo who was held captive, his face written with fear all over.
"Bakugo?!" Tsubasa shouted, his voice cracking in a mix of anger and disbelief. The villain had been taunting the people, flaunting the captured teen like a trophy. Realizing that the situation was worse than he had imagined filled him with a newfound urgency to act. He can't just stand by and do nothing.
And without even realizing it, he couldn't stop running.
