Chapter Text
A puddle showed a mirror image of the sun in the sky, right as a familiar pair of red sneakers ran across it and made the image ripple.
The one who ran across it soon came into focus, showing it was a teenage boy with messy green hair that had a slight black tint to it, and large emerald green eyes. Freckles adorned his cheeks as well. His current attire consisted of a black gakuran-style uniform for Junior High with faded gold buttons, and a yellow backpack that looked stuffed to the brim.
"RAH!"
Hearing that sound, the boy turned to see a giant man with dreadlocks, a face with a shape that would make one think of a T-Rex, and clothes that pretty much screamed he was a thug had appeared by Tatooin Station out of nowhere!
"Whoa... that's one huge villain!" Izuku said, looking excited.
What was happening right now wasn't some special effect, a giant robot, or a projection being used for an action movie... it was real! This was an actual villain that had an actual superpower!
No one knows how it all started, just that it began during the Year of 2025, in the Chinese City of Qing-Qing.
A small power surge happened one late of night and caused all the lights to turn off for 10 minutes, making a newborn baby in a hospital's nursery start crying out of fear.
It was expected that the baby would have stopped once the lights eventually turned back on. However, this wasn't what happened, as only 2 minutes after the lights went out, the baby's father, who was watching them at the time and stayed when the power went out, saw the child glow!
He caught the phenomenon on camera, and soon, scientists were rushing to figure out what caused this.
This question was left at a stalemate for years, only to be answered when children across the globe who had been born after the Luminescent Baby started showing weak, yet unnatural abilities around the time they turned 4-years old.
While the answer of why this was happening had yet to be answered, and wouldn't be discovered for years to come? One thing had become clear to the entire world...
Superpowers were no longer a fantasy!
It's been more than a century since these... quirks, as the world eventually decided to call them, manifested into the world.
With these powers marking the next stage in the road of Humanity's evolution? Society itself had changed to become like the comics and anime of old as those who abused those powers became the first villains.
In turn, this caused those who fought for justice to become the first heroes and making it the newest job profession.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" The thug screamed.
He swung his arm, causing bystanders who had begun watching the scene to gasp as debris to fall towards them. However, before it could land on and hurt anyone...
"No you... don't!" Someone shouted.
Rushing under the debris in question, a man held up his arms and then jumped to catch it. He had a square jaw which jut out a notable amount, small eyes, and short white hair that spiked out behind his head.
His hero costume consisted of a cyan cardigan, which exposed his muscular chest and pectorals, dark blue pants with white stripes down each side, and plan black shoes.
The real theme behind his outfit, however, came from the large head band with a yellow and black-striped caution pattern, along with matching wrist-guards and a belt around his waist, which had a square and a triangular decoration sitting in its center.
"Alright, way to go Death Arms!"
A nearby police officer soon saw a rope of water pass by, with some parts of it taking a wheel shape with an X-shape inside as another Hero arrived.
"Please, stay back! This area's far too dangerous!" He warned.
The man in question had a hero costume based on a firefighter, from the yellow jacket down to the red fireman hat, with his hero identity defined by the white mask with a single orange bead embedded in the center. A thin cannon was strapped to his left shoulder and attached to a red water tank on his back, showing where the water from his quirk was coming from.
"Whoa, the rescue specialist, Backdraft is here? He'll keep us safe!"
Seeing the two heroes gathered before him? Midoriya moved to the front and unzipped his backpack, taking out a notebook labeled Hero Notes V14 on it. As he opened it, preparing to write down anything he saw during this fight, another hero swooped in from overhead.
"Kamui Woods!" Many girls squealed.
The man they cheered for was shown to be a Hero whose costume was a dark blue body suit mixed with wood, along with a mask that made him look like a humanoid tree without any leaves attached to it.
He jumped off a light post and jumped near the ledge of the tracks, making the villain swing one of his arms at him. Kamui was quick to dodge, making the villain growl and look towards him with a strong glare.
"Get away!" The villain screamed.
Kamui Woods stretched out his arms, which began to stretch out. Using his quirk, he swung himself onto another part of the track and situated himself there for his next move.
"Wow! He may be new, but he's already making a big name for himself!" Izuku cheered, already excited.
A man standing by him with plus-shaped horns on his bald head let out a chuckle after hearing that, looking at Izuku with a knowing expression.
"That dopey grin is enough to tell me what you are. A fanboy!" He stated.
"Y-Yeah... sort of." Izuku admitted, looking away in slight embarrassment.
Jumping ahead, Kamui stretched out his arm again to try and restrain one of the villain's arms, only for the thug to roar and toss him around before Kamui released his grip and fell onto the nearby terminal's rooftop.
"Assault, robbery, and illegal use of your quirk during rush hour traffic... you are the incarnation of evil!" He stated.
Part of his arm stretched out, which made many recognize his next move.
"Here comes his special move!" Izuku exclaimed, pointing towards him.
"Lacquered Chain Prison!"
The villain soon felt his entire body constrained by wooden binds, seemingly defeating him... until his angry expression visibly strained itself to the point everyone saw him go from enraged to furious!
"If that's how you wanna play? Then I'll break you, toothpick!" He roared.
His skin gained a red tint as his size grew even larger, and his eyes became fully white. Kamui's eyes widened as the binds of his special move were ripped apart, and the villain threw a right hook towards him...
"Canyon Cannon!"
Only for something noticeably, but not that much larger, to kick him in the face, knocking the thug off the track as his size regressed. Midoriya and the man next to him, along with Death Arms and Backdraft, immediately turned to look at what Kamui Woods himself was now staring at.
"U-Uh..." He stuttered.
Landing next to the villain, the giant object was revealed to be another hero. This one being a voluptuous young woman who had purple eyes with white pupils and long, creamy blonde hair that reached to her waist and two shorter strands that framed her face.
Her costume, which easily showed off her curves and beauty, was a purple and pale tan-colored skintight bodysuit, which is accented with orange stripes. It was paired with purple gloves and boots that both cut off in a deep V-shape by her elbows and thighs respectively. The suit's top also had three peculiar orange diamond-shaped dots under her chest, and a purple domino mask with protrusions shaped like ox horns on the sides.
"Money shot... money shot... money shot..."
Izuku turned as he heard multiple men with cameras repeated that while taking photos of the heroine, making him move away slightly.
"And that is how a new hero should make their debut." The heroine stated.
She soon turned to the male crowd that was still taking pictures of her.
"Hey there everyone, you can call me Mt Lady, the world's next hottest hero." The newly revealed Mt Lady greeted, winking at the end.
More men began taking pictures.
"U-Uh..." Kamui Woods continued.
The police soon apprehended the villain, all while Mt Lady stood beside him and waved to the crowd. This all happened while Midoriya flipped through his notebook, showing a page for Kamui Woods as he opened to a blank section and began sketching Mt Lady onto it, soon followed by information.
In no time at all? Details on her quirk, her fighting style from what he saw, her strengths, and possible weaknesses, had all added to its pages while he mumbled to himself.
"Her gigantification may or may not have a set limit. While she would be good for fighting larger villains or preventing the collapse of large structures such as buildings, she could easily cause damage if she isn't careful when she grows larger or depending on how she navigates. Perhaps she'll see more work outside of cities?" Izuku continued mumbling.
"Taking notes over there, fanboy? It sounds like you wanna be a hero too." The same man noticed.
Izuku paused and then looked at him with a smile.
"Yeah, more than anything!" He stated with confidence.
At least... that's what it looked like on the outside, but on the inside? He was feeling anything but confident.
Following the villain attack, Izuku finally made it to his school, Aldera Junior High, where class soon began.
Currently, his teacher was making a small announcement.
"So... as Second-Year students, it's not time you start seriously thinking about your futures and what you wanna do with your lives yet but better start early. I could pass out some career aptitude tests-" He began.
He soon snatched them off his desk with an angry look. However, it soon turned into a smile as he turned around and threw them behind him.
"But why bother? After all, most of you kids are going for the hero track!" He announced.
In response, everyone began to cheer and then showcase their quirks however they could.
The sole exception being Izuku and one other.
"Yes, yes! All of you have some amazing quirks! Though you know there's no power usage allowed in school, so get a hold of yourselves!" Their teacher reminded them.
At that moment? The student who didn't use their quirk, who had spiky blonde hair and small red eyes, finally spoke.
"Hey, teach, don't lump me in with the rest of these extras. I'm the real deal. The rest of these clowns will be luckily to end up as sidekicks to some busted D-Lister, that is... if they even get onto the hero track at all!" He stated, with both his confident expression and mocking tone in plain sight.
Those words made almost all of his classmates look at him with anger.
"You think you're better than us, Katsuki!?" A male student screamed.
"I don't think, I know!" Bakugo stated, giving a goofy smile to stab his knife of mockery even further into them.
His teacher sighed.
"That attitude of yours aside... you do have impressive test results, so your chances of attending U.A. are high." He revealed, if only to make everyone shut up.
Everyone stared at their teacher in shock, the exception being Midoriya.
"No way... he's going for one of the Four Great Hero schools of Japan?" A male student questioned.
"And the one that everyone claims is the best no less!" A female student added in, equally shaken.
"They only have a 0.2% acceptance rate..." Another male student said.
Bakugo soon broke into a smirk as he jumped onto his desk and let out an explosion from his hands, looking at everyone like he was a king, and they were peasants.
"Which is exactly why it's the only place worthy of me." He stated, pointing one of his smoking hands at himself.
He pointed at the students to his left.
"I aced the mock test, and my quirk has more uses than anyone else at the crappy excuse of a school!" He declared.
Then he pointed at the students to his right.
"However, I won't just get accepted there..." Bakugo continued, his confidence growing larger.
He then pointed at himself with a toothy grin and a focused gaze.
"I'll become the one who surpasses All Might himself as the Number 1 Hero! The only thing standing in my way of that goal is my last year here and graduating from there, then taking the hero scene by storm!" Bakugo announced, still grinning.
Realizing that what he said only made things worse? The teacher decided to take a gamble by saying something else, hoping it wouldn't go as badly as he expected it to.
"Oh yeah, Midoriya wants to attend U.A as well." He revealed.
Bakugo froze as Izuku flinched, as his classmates slowly turned to look at him. The teacher was about to say more, trying to stop the fire he set off, but before he could... it had already burned.
*LAUGH!*
Aside from Bakugo, who was still standing in place, frozen by the words he just heard? His entire class began to laugh at Izuku.
Most of them were only doing so because they thought what their teacher said was funny. However, some of them took it a step further.
"Oh, that was a good one teach!" A male student laughed.
"As if a Quirkless loser like him could ever enter the Hero Course at any school, much less U.A.!" Another male student stated in a mocking tone, one whose quirk allowed him to extend his fingers up to half of his overall body height.
Hearing those words, Izuku lowered his head slightly.
Unfortunately, even after a century since quirks had first appeared... 5% of the population was still without one.
Most who qualified under this were older people from earlier generations when the rates for being quirkless weren't as low as now.
However, for Izuku's generation? The chances of being born without a quirk were as difficult as getting into U.A., and by the research available... in 5 short years, it would become completely impossible for anyone to be born without a quirk.
"DEKU!"
The boy screamed and fell off his chair as Bakugo turned towards him and let off his quirk. Even though he wasn't anywhere near Izuku, he was familiar enough with the short-tempered blonde's quirk to react when aimed in his direction.
Aside from the two who were mocking him, the rest of their class now showed looks of fear and/or horror. Some were familiar with this reaction, while others had only heard of it until that very moment.
"Listen up! You're even worse than all these extras here, you quirkless wannabee! Do you really think they'd take someone like you when they could have me!?" Bakugo said with a wide scowl on his face.
As Midoriya tries to explain his reasoning, Bakugou slams his hand down setting off an explosion that knocks the cinnamon bun off his desk. “COME ON, DEKU!!!” The maniac towers over the cowering boy. “You’re totally Quirkless. And you think you can rub shoulders with me?!”
Midoriya futilely scoots away. “Wa-wait, no, Kacchan. I wasn’t trying to compete with you! Not at all! It’s just… been my dream. Since I was little, and well… there’s no harm in trying…”
“TRY?! Try what?! The Entrance Exam?!” Sparks and smoke from Bakugou’s palms threaten to end the boy’s very existence. “What can you even do?!”
Said boy looked down at his feet as he shrank down in place.
"Get back in your seats you two, I have to actually teach now." Their teacher stated.
The two went back to their seats. As class officially began after that mess, Midoriya tightened his fists as he held a poker face.
Despite what Bakugo had said, Midoriya hadn't given up. He had no intention to give up on entering U.A. High's Hero Course...
Except, was that even possible for him?
It was the end of class, and Izuku had planned to just go home like usual when Bakugo and his lackeys stopped him. Stealing his notebook from him, Bakugo held it away from Izuku, a cold look on his face.
“I don’t know what you’re doing Deku but we’re not done.” He said, waving the notebook in Izuku’s face mockingly. One of his lackeys looked at the notebook, before asking.
“What you got there?”
“Don’t tell me you’re taking notes on how to be a hero?” The other asked, but it was more of a statement.
“It’s so pathetic!” They both laughed.
“He’s delusional!” They continued to chortle.
“Yeah, real funny guys. Just give it back.” Before Izuku could reach out a hand and retrieve his notebook, Bakugo used his quirk to explode it, throwing it out the window.
“That’s so mean!” Izuku cried, mourning the loss of his notebook.
“Most first-string heroes show potential early on. People look at them and just know they’re destined for greatness. When I’m the only student from this garbage Junior High to get into UA, people will start talking about me like that. They’ll realise I’m legit, the next big thing, that’s not ego talking, I just know I’m good.” Bakugo explained like it was fact rather than his big head talking.
Apparently, his lackey agreed as a singsonged. “Ego.” Escaped his mouth.
Then, Bakugo smiled. Izuku didn’t like that smile. It was a smile promising pain and punishment if Izuku didn’t do as he said.
“Here’s a little word of advice nerd. Don’t even think of applying. Or else.” Bakugo placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder and he could feel the explosions burning into his gakuran. The smoke made him a little dizzy, but he was used to it now, with all the bullying over the years.
As if he’d just finished imparting an order, Bakugo stalked out of the classroom, lackeys in tow.
“That’s just sad. I thought you had at least some fight in you.” Lackey No. 1 said as he walked out behind Bakugo.
“He finally gets it. He’ll never be a hero. Better to find out now instead of later I guess.” Lackey No. 2 added as they kept walking, throwing a glance back at Izuku. There was no pity there, just cold detachment as they agreed with Bakugo’s words.
The bully himself stopped just as they reached the door.
“You know, if you really want to be a hero that badly, there might be another way.” He turned around and Izuku could feel hope spark in his heart. Was Bakugo… being nice? Did he realise what he said was wrong? The answer was no and Izuku could feel burning anger in his chest as what Bakugo said next registered with him.
“Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of a building.” Izuku was furious at the bully’s words and his fingers twitched as he adjusted his shirt, after how they’d been damaged by Bakugo.
Bakugo really was irredeemable. Izuku knew that people like Bakugo didn’t deserve to be heroes. But what could he really do? He was a quirkless Second-Year middle schooler with no one to support him.
While Bakugo was a talented boy with a powerful quirk, a boy whose chances to get into U.A. were so great that the school as a whole would side with him.
The golden boy, the pride of Aldera and Izuku Midoriya's existence was nothing but a monster. And Izuku will one way or another destroy him.
Through his anger, he felt like he was close to spitting flames like his dad. How dare Bakugo say something like that to him?! What if he really jumped huh? What then? Bakugo would be a murderer then! And that’s just him with the ego of a middle school bully! If he was ever a hero…Izuku froze.
If he was allowed to be a hero and said something like that to a fan of his… that fan might actually do it. If Bakugo was ever right about anything, it was that heroes held a lot of influence. Hearing something like that from your hero… Izuku knew that would be more than enough to push anyone off the edge.
As those thoughts began to fade, Izuku was shown to have already left school and began heading home, going through a short tunnel that had a sewer lid... which slowly began to rattle.
"Huh?" Izuku blinked, turning around.
Once he did? He quickly wished he hadn't.
Rising from the gap between the lid and the surface, the Sludge Villain from earlier slowly reformed, making Izuku's eyes widen and his face pale. The villain's eyes opened up as he saw the young boy before him.
"A... a villain!?" Izuku said as he began to panic, feeling his legs shaking.
"Yes, you'll make the perfect skinsuit for me to hide in!" The villain smirked.
Izuku screamed before he started running.
The villain reacted only seconds later, moving three times as fast, and capturing him in seconds before forcing some of his slime down his mouth. Izuku notebook fell out of his hands and clattered onto the ground as the villain began to cackle.
"Oh, don't worry kid. I'm just going to take over your body! It'll be easier for both of us if you stop struggling, since you won't feel anything soon enough!" The villain stated.
'I... I can't breathe, and... I can't... pull him off!' Izuku thought, trying to claw off the villain in vain.
Since the villain's body was made of a flexible sludge, it was like trying to grab a fluid. There was nothing he could do to escape on his own. Worse was even if he could pull him off, Izuku was already feeling himself getting weaker.
"Thank you kid, you're a real hero to me. Now I'll be able to get out of the city before he tracks me down." The Sludge villain said, his eye squinting in selfish joy.
As he began to lose his remaining strength, Izuku teared up.
'This can't be the end. Someone, please... help me!' He begged.
The sewer lid shot up, making the Sludge Villain pause... then slowly turn around before his eyes widened in horror.
"No! He already found me!?" He panicked.
"You don't need to worry anymore..."
The man who had been chasing him was crouched down from having just left the sewer, covering him in the tunnel's shadow, but then he stomped onto the ground and was slowly revealed by the light peeking through as he stood up straight.
An incredibly large man with an equally muscular and well-defined physique that easily resembled the typical western comic book superheroes of old age.
His hair was short and blonde in color, and swept backwards with two distinct tufts that stick up above his head, leaning slightly to each side like a giant V on his forehead. While his face had a bright smile and blue eyes that were unseen, due to being shadowed by his strong expression.
Right now, he wasn't in his hero attire. Wearing nothing more than a white shirt, green khakis, and plain brown shoes while holding the same bag of groceries from earlier... though none of it reduced the awe he emitted.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!" All Might exclaimed.
The Sludge Villain panicked and swung his arm like a sideways whip at the Number 1 Hero, only for All Might to duck under it and then dash towards him. The villain then tried again with his free arm.
All Might stopped himself with his left foot at that moment before pivoting himself on his right, then threw back his right arm.
"Texas..."
Which he immediately shot forward, creating wind pressure around the incoming punch.
"SMASH!"
And slammed it right into the villain's arm. The Sludge Villain's eyes widened at the overwhelming power, which continued until it struck his own body and started to send his sludge flying!
"I can't... hold... together!" He grunted as panic surged through him.
He let out a powerful scream as his body fully broke apart, which freed Midoriya as he slowly began to fall towards the ground. For a brief moment, his blurred vision looked at All Might's heroic form, with his mind struggling to register the sight.
"Is... is that...?" He mumbled.
Right at he finished saying these words, Midoriya began to black out. Only for the sensation of something lightly hitting his cheek wake him.